My 7 Favorite Emerging Trends In Golf

Last week, I wrote about the most annoying trends happening in golf.

It only made sense to look at the opposite—all of the amazing trends happening in golf (of which there are many).

Here are my favorite seven trends happening in the game today.

7. Unparalleled access to data for gear selection, club fitting and course strategy

You know we love our data here at MyGolfSpy.

Not to toot our own horn but we’re immensely proud that MGS is a (free!) resource for millions of golfers to gain unbiased, data-driven insights to a wide variety of clubs, balls, soft goods and more. Tens of thousands of golf shots go into our testing, recommendations and reviews.

Of course, golf data goes well beyond MGS. Golfers have never had so much information at the tip of their fingers.

Personal launch monitors are reasonably priced. Club fitting is a more precise process. AI caddies for course strategy have become far more reliable and useful.

Getting better at golf is hard. Gaining information about your game so you can track improvement? Getting the right equipment to match your skillset? It’s never been easier.

And that leads me into …

6. Zero-torque putters changing the game

Gone are the days of picking up a random blade putter and hoping it works out.

Based on our recent Most Wanted testing where golfers tried out different putters, 88 percent of our testers had their best results with a zero-torque putter. The other 12 percent had their best results with a mallet.

Not a single tester finished with a blade being their best putter. Not one person.

This is based on real Strokes Gained data. There is no hiding here!

Zero-torque is more forgiving for the average golfer. Mallets are appropriate for some golfers but zero-torque can truly transform a golfer’s ability to roll the ball on line.

These putters are definitely hot for a reason.

5. YouTube golf becoming a wealth of entertainment and information

I picked on YouTube golf in my “annoying trends” article—the golf influencer chase has gone too far—but I want to give the genre some flowers on the other side of the equation.

Never in history has passive golf entertainment become so decentralized and a la carte. YouTube golf has every single subgenre available to you and more are on the way.

Bob Does Sports is comedy. Channels from Grant Horvat, Bryan Bros., Good Good and Bryson DeChambeau promote high-level golf packaged in an entertaining way. Fried Egg is a golf architecture nerd’s delight. No Laying Up is outstanding for its Tourist Sauce travel series and shot-by-shot Film Room content.

I am leaving out a lot of channels by necessity but you get the idea.

Now we have the Internet Invitational exploding and the Your Golf Tour where YouTube golf is going to take on a more serious competition tournament format. That’s exciting.

And I haven’t even mentioned all of the outstanding instructors you can find on YouTube. Yes, this is a dangerous rabbit hole to go down but golfers are always looking for guidance.

My only issue is that I don’t have the time to watch all of it.

4. Modern architecture promoting playability

For a long stretch in the 20th Century, golf course design was based mainly around real estate development. Course playability was an afterthought. Most places were execution tests with narrow corridors.

Over the past 10-15 years, there has been a huge pushback against this type of design. New courses (and renovated courses) are creating wider fairways, less rough and more interesting green complexes.

They are still challenging but in a more captivating way. Instead of looking for golf balls, you are looking for the best angles to the hole. There is legitimate strategy involved.

Along with this, modern architecture values tee box variability and appropriate yardages. Not every course has to be designed to host a major championship. It’s even OK if the course is just 12 holes or something like a par-67.

The standard norms of golf course design have been challenged in the best ways. It makes the game way more inviting.

3. Off-course golf entertainment venues

While I understand avid golfers have complicated feelings about places like Topgolf—that it’s a product not designed for real golfers—the popularity of off-course golf entertainment venues is definitely a net positive.

We’re talking Five Iron, X-Golf, PopStroke, PuttShack and the many local simulator clubs that are popping up in bigger cities.

First of all, simulators are awesome. Add them into a social setting and you have a product that is meaningful for all levels of golfer.

Maybe a place like Topgolf or PopStroke is meant specifically for casual golfers or non-golfers. Is that so bad? It’s getting people more acquainted with golf in an environment that lacks pressure.

And there are now plenty of avenues for hard-core golfers to find off-course golf entertainment centers that suit their needs.

I think it’s an amazing development in our game. These places cut through some of golf’s classic barriers to entry. And, ultimately, they are just fun to experience.

2. Dress codes being relaxed or eliminated

I’ve talked a lot about how I am more of a golf traditionalist. I like to look and play a certain way on the course.

However, I am still a big proponent of golf evolving to fewer restrictions in terms of apparel.

There is nothing inherently wrong with someone playing golf in athletic wear, a hoodie, a T-shirt or whatever else makes them comfortable. Private clubs have the right to impose dress codes for their members but even those rules are being relaxed significantly as memberships become younger.

You don’t need a tucked-in collared shirt or a golf shoe with spikes to play golf. It’s just a standard that has existed for centuries because of tradition.

The bottom line: wear whatever makes you feel comfortable.

1. The expansion of short courses

If you look at the most popular golf resorts across the country, virtually all of them have at least one par-3 course. There are even places like Bandon that have multiple offerings.

I took a deep look at the short course phenomenon a couple of years ago, and the concept has only grown since then.

The great man, Connor Lindeman, also wrote about why short courses are his favorite way to play golf.

The advantages are clear. Short courses are faster to play. They are also easier while still maintaining certain challenges. They are friendly to beginners and juniors. They typically cost less.

As golf expands and adds new players, short courses are highly valuable. They are a terrific way to introduce someone to the game.

And at a higher level, places like Grass League are showing how high-stakes par-3 golf can gain a ton of traction.

So those are my favorite trends happening in golf right now.

What are some of yours? Let me know below in the comments.

Top Photo Caption: Access to golf data has transformed how golfers understand their games. (GETTY IMAGES/Orlando Ramirez)