Golf Digest has launched an iPad application for its 2011 Hot List Special Issue, which lets users read reviews of all 94 featured clubs, watch video tutorials and product demos and buy clubs directly from retailers.

The application is available for $4.99 in the App store. The Hot List Special Issue is life-sized and interactive, letting users see and touch all medal winning clubs, listen to drivers being hit, watch balls rise out of a bunker on a cloud of sand, look on as Butch Harmon teaches the game and listen to stories told by none other than Lee Trevino.

?We want to be wherever golfers want us to be,? said Bob Carney, brand editor at Golf Digest, New York. ?They want golf information and content where it?s convenient for them.

?For some of our readers it means being available cross-channel and for others it may just be one specific channel,? he said. ?But either way we don?t want to have anywhere they cannot reach us.

?Apple is out there and it was first. Its seeing great uptake and so we decided we need to be there. We are perfectly open to working on other platforms because we want to be where the people are. So if they?re buying a Samsung tablet, we want to be there."

The special issue
The Golf Digest Special Issue offers more than 400 views of the 94 featured clubs from various angles. It provides 360-degree spinning views of the four Editor?s Choice clubs.

Additionally, the app provides Golf Digest readers with an interactive reading experience. With a simple tap of the screen, users can decide what information they want to see about a specific club, including stats, features and angles of view.

Golf enthusiasts can view pictures and product details for every medal-winning putter series. In total, there are 35 putters that readers will not see in the print edition.

Another interactive element of the application is the ability to take quizzes, including, for example, one to help users decide which irons fit them best.

The application lets consumers buy, via an app-within-an-app experience. In other words, users get instant shopping through the ?Golf Digest Rewards? program, without having to leave the Golf Digest application.

The application also connects interested readers to club manufacturer?s live Web sites, in case they are interested in getting even more information on a particular item.

Advertising
Advertising partners for the launch of the iPad app include Nike Golf, MasterCard and Aldila.

Nike Golf is pushing its SQ MachSpeed Black club via a video ad that focuses on its power, speed and angle.

Nike Golf ad features a click-to-start video ad unit

Aldila is promoting its graphite shaft through the application.

Aldila does atap for more info ad unit

The MasterCard ad celebrates the brand?s Priceless Play initiative, which highlights famous golfers and their most memorable plays in 2010.

Consumers that interact with the ad can scroll through a slideshow of priceless plays, brought to them by MasterCard.

Mastercard opts for a high-resolution slideshow to engage golf fans

Mr. Carney said that because the Hot List Special Issue for iPad is a specialty application, there are a limited number of sponsorship opportunities.

?Right now we?re  a specialty app, and so there are a limited amount of sponsors,? Mr. Carney said. ?Whenever it?s possible, we want to be able to offer a subscription.

?Once we start, we want to do the April issue, the master?s issue, on the iPad,? he said. ?It would be the full issue and not a specialty app and there would be even more advertising opportunities within that."

Mobile Marketer editorial assistant Rimma Kats reported for this article.