Online, golf is for everyone

There's a long-held credo among the Golf Powers That Be: Grow the Game. Held in those three small words are a multitude of complex truths including, but not limited to, a tacit acknowledgment of elitism surrounding the sport, the slow pace and high cost of participation, the modern need to adapt, and the idea there is room for all kinds of people to enjoy golf.

What the Golf Powers That Be have always struggled with is...growing the game, due to....the elitism, costs, pace, and general air of exclusion surrounding the upper echelons of the sport.

But in the last few years, the game has not only grown but it's also adopted an online presence that's surprisingly fun and far-reaching. TikTok's rise to the center of the golfing universe has opened new worlds. Not everything is stodgy, and in fact, the game's becoming cooler, more stylish, and, hell, even entertaining.

The TikTok account St. André has racked up more than 230,000 followers in just one year by posting comedy sketches about golf.

"It's only natural that with the creator economy and the golf world exploding simultaneously, there’d be an influx of golf creators," said Aaron Chewning, 33, who founded the account with two friends, in an email exchange. "For years, there have been armies of golf instructors creating content and golf vloggers filming themselves playing, but it seems like this new golf boom has opened the door for all kinds of people to make golf-centered or golf-adjacent content."

That golf boom in question? That's due, in large part, to COVID. The interest in golf ballooned during the worst of the pandemic because it was an outdoor, socially distanced sport that folks working from home suddenly had time to play. It's only kept growing. By 2021, the sport had erased 21 years of decline in rounds played.

A niche sport is becoming increasingly mainstream — so much so that St. André has collaborated with pro golfers and major brands, including 15-time major winner Tiger Woods.

And St. André is still rapidly growing, thanks to its focus on a specific corner of the golf world: comedy.

"Golf is ridiculous. If you’re a golfer, you know that golf is maddening and thrilling and hilarious and embarrassing and wonderful all at the same time," Chewning wrote. "It might seem super specific to some, but once you dig in and poke around, golf really is such a broad backdrop for comedy (and content in general)."

And other savvy creators have ridden that content wave. The Foreplay Podcast at Barstool Sports took an everyman approach to the game, creating videos and pods that have taken off and landed them major partnerships. Robby Berger, of the YouTube account Bob Does Sports, took a similar approach and recently signed with UTA for representation across all areas.

The game is growing, but it's also changing. Most golfers are weekend warriors at municipal courses, not old-money boomers in polo shirts at the country club. With that in mind, the style is changing, too. With celebs like DJ Khaled and Tom Holland being avid golfers, it's now cool to golf. Harry Style caused a whole kerfuffle by golfing in — gasp — flared pants. Korean celebrities like BLACKPINK's Jennie, TWICE's Jihyo, and actor Park Seo-joon are helping to revitalize the sport among Gen Z consumers worldwide, turning golf attire into luxury trends.

"DJ Khaled, Harry Styles, any and everyone posting golf-related content online — we’re all doing PR for the game in our own way," Chewning said. "Whether you’re a fan of DJ Khaled or not, him having a blast on a golf course introduces millions of new people to the game and lets them know it can, and should, be fun as hell."

That's not to say golf is cheap and really for anyone. The average cost of a round hovers around $40, but nicer courses can be way more expensive. And that's not to mention that a brand new beginner's set of clubs will likely cost at least a few hundred bucks. Golf Magazine found golfers spend between $500 to $1000 per year on gear alone, though perhaps a novice would spend less. Even with that cost, the aesthetic of golf is catching on, likely in part to the emergence of cheaper, cooler options like Top Golf. But there's also the fact that culture is heading golf's way. Preppy styles are fully back in, and that's an aesthetic to which golf is inextricably linked. Tyler the Creator's prep-adjacent streetwear line is simply called Golf.

With the golf aesthetic on the rise, new golf brands have cropped up to serve a customer base looking for golf clothes that aren't ugly. Criquet, one such brand, actually started years back in an effort to revive old-school, cool-looking men's golf shirts while having the brand exist almost entirely online. If you like golf at all, you've probably seen their ads on Instagram.

"Social media ads have been the backbone of our growth," said Hobson Brown, 48, co-founder of Criquet.

The company's ads give off the vibe a guy who might play nine holes, without keeping score, then go drink five to six Miller High Lifes at a dive bar. They are the exact kind of brand Matthew McConaughey would be pictured wearing. That's hardly how golf has been perceived in mainstream culture (think: the too-tight, weirdly patterned, "performance" polo of the 2000s).

Golf and golf style used to be solely for avid golfers. The serious folks who probably aren't much fun to play alongside. But now golf is becoming more commonly enjoyed, and it's led to an emerging aesthetic that less centered on the actual sport and more focused on the spirit of the pastime. The dominant men's shirt right now is a flowy, shortsleeved collared shirt. What is that if not golfcore?

The Criquet founders know that golf is just a part of what makes their brand successful. In fact, golf is hardly why they wear their own product.

"We like to play as much as we can, but we're also dads we don't have a ton of time," Brown said. "We wear our shirts much more often just to work and [go] out and about."

Ultimately, the democratization of the sport is what's led to this uptick in golf creators, golf content, and golf style. It's now more egalitarian in nature. You don't have to be good at golf. Chris Titmas made a whole brand out of being perfectly average at golf. His TikTok handle is @mulliganplusthreeputt, which is a joke about taking a free shot and being bad at it. All he does is play holes of golf, talk about how he played (often not great), respond to comments making fun of him, and curse. It's perfect content.

Titmas is probably better than your average bad player (me) but nowhere near as good as some golf creators, such as the guys at @goodgood_golf or @joshmayergolf. Golf has become big enough online that those creators are able to build huge followings off being aspirational while Titmas is a mid-sized creator (about 200k followers) by being relatable. Golf has caught up to the creator economy.

"When I was when I was growing up, you know, Jackass was very popular. When I was a kid like we would record ourselves doing all kinds of dumb shit. I would make videos," Titmas said. "It just kind of happened the same way with golf where I just told my brother to record this shot one time. And then, you know, started recording a little bit more."

Over time, he figured out his formula, building a solid audience and side gig alongside a normal corporate sales job.

"I haven't had to pay for a round of golf for a year and a half," Titmas said. "It's good enough where my wife lets me golf every single weekend, without problems. So we're definitely net positive."

That's part of why golf has grown so much online in the TikTok era — because it's possible for a normal person to capitalize and participate. You turn a hole of golf into a quick video with hardly any effort. All you need is a tripod, a phone, and the TikTok app. There are also easy-to-install and simple apps that track your shots, creating neat graphics on the spot. Not to mention that a hole of golf itself already has the built-in narrative of a beginning, middle, and end. It's a lot like cooking videos in that way: there's room for high-skill, low-skill, and everything in between.

"Golf can can so easily be broken down from one round, to nine holes, to one hole, to one stroke," Titmas said. "Early on, it was so easy for me to create content because on TikTok you could put up seven seconds and you can get 10 million views."