Travel + Leisure Golf to Close

American Express Publishing has folded Travel + Leisure Golf as a result of the brutal ad climate. Eighteen employees on the business and editorial sides worked for the bimonthly title, which the company launched 11 years ago, and a spokeswoman for the company said it would use “all available resources to place them,” despite recent rounds of layoffs there.

According to the Publisher’s Information Bureau, the magazine carried 437.81 ad pages in 2008, down 13.9 percent after several years of flat or slightly down performance, even in rosier times hovering around 500 ad pages. Through the March/April issue, its last, Travel + Leisure Golf was down 30 percent. American Express Publishing will continue with its Player’s Club affinity group under which members pay dues to access discounts on golf travel and equipment, get golf advice and book tee times online.