7 Reasons to Get Involved in Golf's New No-Rules Era

Whether the pandemic prompted you to buy your first set of clubs or you’ve got a standing tee time with your pals, a new wave of colourful pros, genuinely cool brands, and unstuffy courses means there are more ways than ever to feed your obsession.

I was not the only one who turned to golf for solace during the pandemic. Maybe you were bitten by the bug long ago, or rediscovered the game during the doldrums of a WFH summer. Perhaps you fell into it for the very first time. What’s clear is that the sport wasn’t just a lockdown respite. You’re not just imagining that demand at your local course is still up: The great 2020 golf boom reportedly resulted in a net increase of 60 million–plus rounds of golf—the biggest one-year gain since 1997, when a young man named Tiger Woods won his first major. And last year alone, more than 3 million people hit a golf course for the first time, according to the National Golf Foundation.

Why is this happening? Start with this undeniable fact: Playing golf is fun. But the fun can only get you so far, which brings us to the second thing: We are living in a golden age of gateway drugs to the game. In recent years, a number of new products, podcasts, publications, courses, clubs, shows, and stewards of the sport have redefined how a new kind of golfer might indulge their passion. Fellow golf sickos got busy inventing things that didn’t yet exist but that they themselves wanted. If the sport that millions and millions of people are getting into feels different, that’s because it is. This is golf’s new no-rules era.