narrominded
Jake Narro, PGA professional, head golf coach at Southeastern Louisiana University and
Backspin publisher
celebrating and
congratulating wins
Well, not sure how to start this
Narrominded, so I’ll just jump right in. This
will be our last publication of BackSpin as the
demands of our full-time jobs have increased
over the past year or so and squeezed us out
of the time it takes to do the magazine.
The past four years of promoting golf in
the Gulf South region have been extremely
rewarding for both Amber and me. However,
as time goes on, we do not feel as if we can
dedicate the time and eff ort to eff ectively
produce the quality of work we feel the
magazine and its readers deserve.
I’m sure most of you who have been kind
enough over the years to compliment us on
our work realize Amber has been the driving
force behind the project. As a PH.D in mass
communication and journalism, she always
wanted to own her own publication. Also,
as a professor who teaches this very subject
at Southeastern Louisiana University, she
wanted to “practice what she preaches.”
So the idea of doing a golf magazine and
combining our careers was really appealing
to us both.
However, when we purchased BackSpin
in January of 2015, I was a bit nervous as all
I’ve ever done with a magazine is read them.
The legwork of the project was spearheaded
by Amber, with an assist from our son
Shayne, and my job was to write my article
4
and provide the contacts in the golf world.
Providing the contacts was very easy for
me due to my time in the golf business.
My great “pal” Gamon Manne, PGA
Head Professional at the Country Club of
Louisiana, has joked numerous times the
reason for myself having lots of contacts is
that I’ve been a member of the Gulf States
Sections for 75 years. While Gamon does
tend to exaggerate a bit, he is right that I
have been around.
The hard part for me was sitting down and
writing my article. Amber would yell at me to
“just do it,” and I would have to remind her
that not everyone is good at writing. I’m sure
many of you feel the same way. As usual, she
was correct about that as well as once I got
started on my article, it was not as tough as I
made it out to be.
To say this project was a labor of love
would be appropriate. I am so proud of the
work she and I have done promoting the
game we both love. I am so very lucky to
have her in my life and cannot wait for the
next “project” we take on as a team. We all
know when certain doors close, others open.
Perhaps now that we have created a little
extra time by ending BackSpin, Amber may
actually be able to play a little golf herself.
Jake