The Serial Cheerleader strikes again! In a posted response to my blog on the Washington Post throwing the TravelGolf.com golf bloggers some love, former TG employee Dale Leatherman writes that the Post “must have missed the Rebel Blogger’s blatant attacks on travel writers, calling them ‘media whores’ for accepting comp trips.” She goes on to say their article “neglected to mention that Travel Golf’s own writers also accept comps. Looks like the pot calling the kettle black.”

Pot calling the kettle black, Dale? Hardly. Does TravelGolf.com accept comps? Certainly. But our writers do not accept anything as a quid pro quo (and unlike most members of the Society of American Travel Writers, we don’t just say this is the case, it is the case!). Parties that offer to sponsor review trips for TravelGolf.com writers are told up front that all we promise is a fair, accurate and objective review of their facility, region, product … whatever. And that’s just what we do. The fact is, the owners of Cannon Ridge Golf Club comped Chris for this review. And what of Tim McDonald, our national golf editor? Suffice it to say that he hasn’t made a ton of friends with his coverage of travel writers’ scams and truth-talking about the problems that do exist down in the islands.

Compare these critical reports to the stories posted here or any of the excerpts posted at daleleatherman-dot-com. Someone – anyone! – find me a “review” in here that doesn’t come to the conclusion that the destination is marvelous, breath taking, delightful, stunning, majestic, irresistible. Stop me before I soil myself! By all accounts, Dale enjoyed a cushy run here as editor of CaribbeanGolf.com. I’m told the gig netted her a lot of free travel and time at marvelous, breath taking, delightful, stunning, majestic, irresistible destinations. But at some point the jig was up – TG head Robert Lewis got wise and took radical steps (not only with the Serial Cheerleader) to weed out the sugar coaters and bring in writers with integrity. The question is: What took him so long?

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