Why 2026 will be the best golf year ever

When tasked with this assignment, I wasn't sure where to start. Why would 2026 be any better than 2025? Was 2025 better than 2024? Could I even explain it if it was? 

These questions turned existential and quickly led to more - for the larger golf world but also for myself. And the truth is, the answer to why 2026 could be the best golf year ever is always deeply personal. More diary than Excel doc.

So to try and answer the question for you, I pulled myself back. I zoomed out as wide as could be. And suddenly there were some pretty obvious answers why right now (and the upcoming year) is better for golfers, golf fans, etc. than ever before. My thoughts are rooted in this one truth: golf is everywhere you look. 

It's on Instagram. LeBron James' Instagram, to be exact. The sport has officially grabbed one of the biggest celebrities on the planet and will only surely hold him for many years to come. But if you've been paying attention to other athletes and celebrities, golf is kind of grabbing hold of everyone. Justin Bieber. The Kelce brothers. Catherine Zeta-Jones. Yes, the President of the United States. 

It's on YouTube. Golf is on YouTube so much that the phrase "YouTube Golf" has become its own industry … and it isn't going anywhere. Sponsor exemptions into pro tournaments are gifted to YouTube golfers. Tommy Fleetwood has suddenly decided to try and play golf left-handed … exclusively on YouTube. To say nothing of Bryson DeChambeau intimating recently that he might lean less in the direction of LIV Golf and more fully into YouTube Golf. 

It's on TV … more than ever. It may have felt odd that TGL would push its season forward into greater competition with NFL football, literally starting its year on a Sunday afternoon in the winter, but look around. There aren't that many spots available to televise more sports. And golf continues to hold more TV spots than plenty of other sports. There's TGL on ESPN and (occasionally) ABC. There's increased TV coverage at the Masters seemingly every year. There's opening rounds of PGA Tour play on ESPN+. LIV Golf fills FOX Sports airwaves often in the summer time. The LPGA Tour's broadcasts will be new and improved in 2026 thanks to a recent deal with FM Global and Trackman. To say nothing of the longtime stewards of the pro game, NBC and CBS. 

It's on Reddit a lot. I'm glad you're here, on GOLF.com reading the work my colleagues and I put together. But there are other places you can find simple camaraderie, expert advice, travel tips, etc. from everyday golfers around the world. This is on helluva connected sport, and you can find that in droves on places like Reddit's Golf page. Regulars on there post about their recent scores, trips, tips, equipment finds, etc. There are feeds devoted to pro golf, LIV Golf, even the talking points on popular golf podcasts. There's a lot out there. You just have to go find it. 

It's in your imagination. By that I mean it's customizable. You can get your own wedges printed just like the pros do. You can get whatever color grip you'd love to see when you pull clubs out of your bag. For the longest time, all you could do was buy wacky headcovers, but now the custom elements of the game are everywhere. Golf shoes are endlessly customizable. You can simply buy sneakers and screw little golf cleats into the soles. Whatever golf look you want, you can achieve in about an hour online. We didn't have that five years ago! 

Golf is like a college class. Bring your roommate with you. We'll make this our last note - it being one I like to invoke often when talking about the game. This hobby, recreation, sport, whatever - it's just like going to college. You're in pursuit of a degree and you're surrounded by all kinds of others who are trying to do the same. You're probably pretty close to (and love pursuing alongside) some others on campus. It's all at your disposal, and everyone is at different levels. Perhaps you're the froshy, wearing your lanyard around your neck, still figuring out how to move the ball from right to left instead of just left to right. 

Perhaps you've declared your major and are taking the entry level classes in that realm - like golf travel. The people ahead of you on the travel/courses front? They're in the 400-level class, studying Raynor and MacKenzie and Doak. The graduate level stuff in that major? That's the message boards on Golf Club Atlas. Or diving into YouTube rabbit holes on agronomy. 

Maybe you're more into instruction. The 900-level classes will teach you about different "P" positions of the swing and the biomechanics of your body that go along with it. If that's too much, yes, you can hang out in the quads much as you'd like, dabbling with a bunch of elective classes on whatever catches your eye. That's the brilliance of golf right now, on the eve of 2026. There are so many avenues to access it. Pick whichever fancies you most. 

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