Golf content on YouTube has become hugely popular in recent years with now-famous names like Grant Horvat, Luke Kwon, the Bryan Bros, Peter Finch, Erik Anders-Lang, and Rick Shiels, to name a few; and channels like “Good Good,” “Bob Does Sports,” “Fore Play Golf,” and a few others boasting hundreds of thousands of subscribers and millions of visits. Though the fan engagement isn’t quite on a “MrBeast” or “Dude Perfect” level, perhaps, it is impressive, nonetheless.
One report I read stated YouTube’s most popular golf channels target 18- to 34-year-olds, and two things immediately occurred to me—one, an 18-year-old golfer is usually very different from a 34-year-old golfer as measured by number of spouses, number of children, number of full-time jobs, number of mortgages, time for golf in their life, golf spend, on-course dress, etc.; and two, that probably rules out a good many LINKS readers.
You’ve probably noticed tastes change as age increases. That’s okay—we just begin to like different stuff. So rather than looking for matches between players we barely know, and which probably won’t be the subject of discussion at work tomorrow, we might instead be searching for something that helps us play a bit better or plan a trip.
And though channels that offer that sort of golf content tend not to attract nearly the same number of page views, there are plenty that have what you may be looking for—just type what you need into the YouTube search bar, be it “how to hit a draw,” “the best new drivers for 10-handicappers,” “Bobby Jones wins the Grand Slam,” or “unknown gems of Scottish golf,” and see what comes up.
There are innumerable sources for entertaining and useful content these days, but the sheer mass and variety of coverage on YouTube makes it utterly invaluable, and golfers of every age should embrace it. I’ve been watching its golf channels rather intensely for a few months now and, while events like the Creator Classic might not have grabbed my attention necessarily, I certainly did find an awful lot that was of interest.
Some of my favorite golf on YouTube undoubtedly comes from Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf. The show ran on CBS for 10 years starting in 1961 before being revived on Golf Channel (Jack Nicklaus Productions) in 1994 and running for another 10 years. In all, 96 matches were recorded and dozens of them are still available. And because of some of the venues—the short, clipped commentary from Gene Sarazen, George Rogers, Jack Whitaker, Dave Marr, Jimmy Demaret, etc.—and the speed with which the players hit (watch Billy Casper and Harry Bradshaw at Portmarnock in 1963), even some of the more obscure encounters (Dave Ragan vs. Bob Charles or Jackie Burke vs. Stan Leonard) are every bit as enjoyable as the bigger name match-ups like Sarazen vs. Cotton, Hogan vs. Snead, Player vs. Thomson, Azinger vs. Ballesteros, Faldo vs. Norman, and Nicklaus vs. Snead, Palmer, Trevino, Watson, or Miller.
Reruns of major final rounds get you in the mood for upcoming championships. Ahead of the 2025 U.S. Open, I watched the 1994 (look at those trees!), 2007, and 2016 editions from Oakmont Country Club.
Searching for video of your favorite player’s swing or a certain shot (it’s great to know two of Seve Ballesteros’s most unforgettable swings—his second shot into the 13th in the final round of the 1986 Masters, and the “touch of class” shot on the 5th at St. Andrews during the third round of the Open Championship in 1984—and many of Tiger Woods’s most incredible shots will forever be available to us); an “Every Hole at…” of a great course; or truly effective instruction from Danny Maude, Me and My Golf, Mr. Short Game, Tom Saguto, etc., is time well spent. No Laying Up’s “Strapped” Series is extremely well done; Fried Egg Golf’s course histories and profiles are always worth watching; and TaylorMade has posted a number of informative and entertaining videos with its impressive stable of players—Tommy Fleetwood, Nelly Korda, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler, and Tiger Woods (the long-iron clinic with McIlroy, Scheffler, and Woods is absolute gold).
Then there’s the player who’s really taken YouTube golf by storm over the last couple of years. Bryson DeChambeau currently has over two million subscribers and has posted over 200 videos and, though he hasn’t always been everybody’s cup of tea, his “Can I Break 50 with…” and “Can I Break a Public Course Record in One Try” series certainly have some enjoyable moments and have millions of views. I’ve been among those millions lately and, though I never really got carried away with the whole hitting a ball over his house thing and don’t watch many of his posts to the very end, I certainly did watch all 48 minutes and 27 seconds of his tour of Oakmont prior to the third major championship of the year (his practice round didn’t prove terribly useful as he missed the cut by three shots, but at least it was good content).
It’s very satisfying to see a two-time U.S. Open champion engaging so personably with his audience. If you’d told me a few months ago I’d be watching Bryson DeChambeau videos on YouTube… and genuinely enjoying them, I’d never have believed you. But here we are.
Do you watch golf content on YouTube? What are your favorite channels and/or videos?
