{"id":49511,"date":"2025-08-07T04:15:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T04:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/49511\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T04:15:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T04:15:09","slug":"gen-z-is-discovering-and-reinventing-the-game-of-golf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/49511\/","title":{"rendered":"Gen Z is discovering and reinventing the game of golf"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forget everything you think you know about golf. The age-old pastime that once symbolized exclusivity and competition is undergoing a transformation, led by Gen Z and driven by the simple idea that golf is about more than hitting a ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the 14th hole, you can see deep into someone\u2019s soul and understand their character,\u201d says Mike Berland, author of the new book Not About Golf: The Life Changing Joy of Playing The Game and a longtime pollster who has advised Hillary Clinton and Mike Bloomberg. \u201cThey can\u2019t hide from you.\u201d<\/p>\n

That insight is also reshaping how forward-thinking companies approach team building, networking and leadership development as younger generations become a force in the workforce.<\/p>\n

Whole new legions of golf fans are rewriting the rules of the game, something people managers should take notice of. During the pandemic, 800,000 women picked up clubs for the first time while players under age 35 flooded courses. What\u2019s more, some 17 million people are now playing in simulators located everywhere from bars to barber shops. What they have in common is the discovery that the game is a uniquely powerful platform for human connection and doing business.<\/p>\n

That said, a traditional 18-hole round doesn\u2019t necessarily fit the fast-paced lives of the young. So besides simulators, Gen Z is also embracing nine-hole rounds, Topgolf-style entertainment venues and night golf with LED balls. \u201cFor this generation, golf doesn\u2019t have to be structured,\u201d as Essential Golf reports<\/a>. \u201cIt can be casual, social and fast \u2014 without sacrificing the joy of hitting a clean shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The golf course has long been a laboratory for observing how people handle adversity and maintain integrity \u2014 something Gen Z, just starting out in their careers, is getting a handle on. \u201cIn golf, you\u2019re not really playing against someone as much as you\u2019re playing with yourself,\u201d Berland explains. \u201cYou have to keep your score. You have to call rule violations on yourself. There\u2019s an integrity to the sport that\u2019s very important.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n “By the 14th hole, you can see deep into someone’s soul and understand their character. They can’t hide from you.” <\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

\n Mike Berland, <\/p>\n

\n author of “Not About Golf: The Life Changing Joy of Playing The Game” <\/p>\n

Mike Doyle of Five Iron Golf has seen it firsthand: \u201cThis is where people are brave, because everybody watches you hit the ball,\u201d Doyle relates to Berland in his book. \u201cDo they judge you, or do they teach you how to get better? You put yourself out there, but you can learn as part of the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

All the while, newcomers to the game are helping to mothball its elitist reputation. \u201cThe biggest surge in golf is women, young women,\u201d Berland emphasizes. \u201cThey\u2019re really making their mark on the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the intimidation factor that once kept people away from company golf outings is also disappearing. \u201cWhen companies used to have outings, only the good golfers would go,\u201d Berland says. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t happen today. If you\u2019re a beginning golfer, they have a program. Everybody\u2019s part of the team. Golf is a way to bring people in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The game creates what Berland calls \u201cforced human connectedness,\u201d time together where phones stay pocketed \u2014 a challenge for digital-native generations, it goes without saying \u2014 and where authentic conversations happen. \u201cYou\u2019re finding out about who they are, what makes them tick,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

Those lessons transfer directly to workplace dynamics, as golf teaches focus and resilience, Berland points out. \u201cIf other thoughts come in your head while you\u2019re golfing, you\u2019re going to have a really miserable experience,\u201d he says. \u201cSo you have to engage on golf, and it allows other things to clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newcomers to the game are also embracing the networking benefits. \u201cMost golfers want to know that you\u2019re someone who\u2019s interesting to talk to, who will contribute to their day and to their life,\u201d Berland says. \u201cThey don\u2019t care how you play golf. They don\u2019t care if you shoot 80 or if you shoot 120. If you\u2019re somebody they enjoyed being around, that they learned something from that day, then that is a successful golf round.\u201d<\/p>\n

As companies struggle with employee engagement and team building, particularly among Gen Z, perhaps the answer isn\u2019t another workshop. Maybe it\u2019s time to take to the green \u2014 or at least the closest simulator. As Berland puts it, \u201cMy worst day of golf with friends is still one of the best days of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Forget everything you think you know about golf. The age-old pastime that once symbolized exclusivity and competition is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49512,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-49511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}