These are exciting — and interesting — times for golf.
In 2024, “green grass” golf participation in the U.S. cracked 28 million, representing the seventh consecutive year that participation has grown, according to the National Golf Foundation. Broaden the lens to “total golf participation” — which includes off-course options like screen golf and Topgolf — and the number of participants last year jumped to 47.2 million, which the NGF says is nearly a 40 percent increase since 2019.
As the recreational game booms, though, weighty questions loom over the professional game, in particular the men’s pro game which has been in a state of unrest since LIV Golf arrived on the scene in earnest in 2022. The world’s best players are competing against one another with less frequency, fans have grown disenchanted by the strife (and slow play!) and golf’s TV ratings are in decline. An accord between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf’s backers feels imminent, but that was also true a year ago.
Meanwhile, other questions swirl: How will the golf-ball rollback, slated to begin in 2028, impact the game? Will Tiger Woods’ new simulator league, TGL, be successful? Is YouTube golf stealing eyeballs from more traditional forms of the game? Where are golfers spending their golf dollars? Which parts of their games need the most help, and where are they seeking out that advice? Do golfers think any of the game’s rules or customs need a revamp? More broadly, how do golfers feel about golf in 2025?
For insight into all of these topics — and many more — we want YOUR feedback and opinions. To that end, GOLF is conducting its most sweeping audience survey yet: more than a hundred questions geared toward taking the pulse of the American golfer in 2025. As a thank-you for participating, your name will be entered into a random drawing for one of three 2025 drivers: Callaway Elyte, TaylorMade Qi35 and Ping G440.(To be clear, that’s three drawings with three different winners!)
Thank you in advance! We look forward to processing — and publishing — your opinions.