From grandpa’s game to Instagram fame: Golf’s new era | Canada Voices

Jeannine Go takes her golf clubs everywhere. “I even took them to Bali to play one game,” she laughs, as she prepared to leave for a weekend in Montreal, clubs in tow. “It’s an obsession.”

Six years ago, the Brampton native had never picked up a club. But the company she was interning for needed another woman to join an outing. “I took one trip to the range, then it was straight to the tournament.”

She even won one of the fun contests on one hole, landing her ball nearest to a rope laid on the fairway. “I was hooked,” says Go.

Now, the 27-year-old client service manager is a golf ‘creator’, with an Instagram account called Golfing With Go that tracks her progress. She has attended Adidas golf events and developed friendships with high-profile golf influencers like Sara Winter, a former Miss Canada who’s on a journey to turn pro.

Go is part of a new generation as golfers and promoters aim to broaden the sport’s appeal. When 26-year-old rising star Min Woo Lee won his first PGA event this March, Justin Bieber was one of the first to congratulate him on Instagram. The Australian player, who has 600,000 followers on Instagram, is among the cohort that’s attempting to take the sport to new levels on social media.

According to the PGA Tour, the number of players aged 6-17 grew 48 per cent since 2020, driven in no small part by the algorithmically driven golf content they’re seeing and sharing.

Golf can be addictive to play, but for the uninitiated can be seen as buttoned up and often boring to watch. YouTube golfers are changing all that with zingy trick shots and laid-back camaraderie and how-to videos that millions watch every day.

To tap into this cultural shift, the PGA Tour devised the Creator Classic, a series that has brought together top golf influencers like Grant Horvat, Paige Spiranac and Canadian Mac Boucher to professional tour events.

“We wanted to show these golf creators what it’s like to have thousands of fans around and have cameras on them live,” says Chris Wandell, senior vice president of Media at the PGA Tour.

One event was held at TPC Sawgrass in Florida, and the next, presented by YouTube, is happening on May 7 in Philadelphia. It will include influencers like Dude Perfect’s Tyler Toney, tech creator Marques Brownlee and Call of Duty champion Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag in a team format.

“This whole thing is a bit of a grand experiment,” says Wandell.

He describes one Creator Classic moment where Trent Ryan from Barstool Sports hit four balls in the water, then finally hit the green. “It wound up being this amazing viral moment. The crowd went absolutely bonkers.”

Wandell says the combined creator-generated videos from the events have reached 113 million people, with a social media valuation of US$17.4-million – huge numbers in the attention economy.

Another part of making the tradition-rich sport more enticing for younger generations is golf fashion. Trendsetting golf brand Malbon (a Gen Z favourite) has started to reshape golf fashion on and off the fairways, with Canadian brands Reigning Champ, Lululemon and Tilley Sport recently joining the fray.

“There’s a preppy-chic sport moment we’re seeing through editorial pages. It’s no longer just your grandfather’s chinos,” says Kim Newport-Mimran, Tilley Sport designer and a golfer herself.

Go, who attended a Tilley Sport launch, is looking forward to improving her game and making new golf friends via her Instagram. Some people she’s met have recognized her, saying “You’re Golfing with Go.” “It’s the weirdest thing to be called by your handle,” says Go.