Editorial Standards

Independence & ownership

AsiaGolfReview is owned by Asia Press Centre Group (APCG), a Singapore-headquartered media network. We disclose that ownership here and wherever it is relevant to a story. Ownership does not direct our coverage, and neither do advertisers. Commercial relationships (advertising, sponsorship, events, awards) are handled by a separate commercial team. No advertiser or partner sees editorial content before publication, chooses what we cover, or removes what we have published.

The review policy

We play what we review. Every course review is based on on-site play by the reviewer, not on brochures, scorecards or other people’s photographs.

Until our panel has played a course, what you see is a course profile, not a review: what can be established from published fact: layout and architect, yardage, green and caddie fees, dress code, seasons, access and how to book. A profile carries no score, never describes playing the course, and is marked “Score pending”.

We would rather show you an honest blank than a number nobody earned.

Hosted visits are disclosed. Golf media has always travelled partly as guests of courses and tourism boards; pretending otherwise would be dishonest. Our rule is simpler and stricter: when a visit is hosted, the review says so, in a standing line: “AGR played as a guest of the host.” Hosts never see a review before publication, never approve a score, and hosting never changes one.

A course that hosts us buys our attention for a day, not our opinion.

Scores follow published criteria. The AGR Score rates design, conditioning, experience and service, and value for money, to the weightings published on our Methodology page. Scores are never negotiated. Before publication we offer every course a chance to correct facts such as fees, yardages and policies, but not to argue the verdict.

Facts are dated. Green fees, caddie fees and policies change; every fact file carries a “Fees checked” line with the month, and we remind readers to confirm with the club before travelling.

Accuracy & sourcing

We verify before we publish. Facts are checked against primary sources wherever possible: the clubs themselves, official announcements, on-the-record interviews and our panel’s own play. News and analysis are kept distinct, and opinion is labelled as opinion.

Corrections

We correct errors quickly and visibly. Material errors are corrected in the article itself, with a note stating what changed and when. Minor typographical fixes that do not alter meaning are made without annotation. We do not quietly delete mistakes. If you believe we have published an error, write to editor@asiagolfreview.com with a link to the article.

Clear labelling of commercial content

Three labels mark commercial content on this site, and their meanings are fixed.

Sponsored: content paid for by an advertiser and produced to the advertiser’s brief. The advertiser has approved it before publication.

Partner Content: content produced by our studio with, and paid for by, a commercial partner. The partner has input; our team writes and produces it to our standards.

Press Release: an announcement supplied by an organisation and published in full, without editorial rewriting, in the Press Room only.

These labels appear on the article page and wherever the piece is promoted on our site. Commercial content never appears in editorial streams unlabelled. Inclusion in editorial coverage is never for sale: no payment, at any price, buys a review, a score, a place in a ranking or an award result.

Use of AI

We use AI tools to assist research and drafting, much as we use search engines, transcription and databases. What we do not do is publish automatically. Every piece that appears on AsiaGolfReview is reviewed, verified and approved by a named editor before publication, and responsibility for it rests with that editor, not with a tool. AI is not used to write scored reviews, which require play. Course photography on this site shows real courses; we do not present AI-generated images as photographs.

Bylines & authorship

Editorial work carries the byline of the person or people who reported and wrote it, and our editors and review panel are listed on the Team page. Short collective briefs may carry the byline “AGR Editors”; a named editor remains responsible for each one.

While the title is building its newsroom, some coverage publishes under a standing desk byline rather than an individual’s name. Those bylines identify the desk responsible for a piece and the editor accountable for it. They are not a claim that a named correspondent was on the ground. Aggregated briefs and supplied announcements are credited to AGR Editors.

Bylines are never attached to commercial content. Sponsored and Partner Content pieces are credited to the studio or the partner, not to our journalists.