There’s nothing better than a light, refreshing cocktail on a hot summer day, especially when you’re outside. And for many golfers across the United States, that drink has become the Transfusion.

The National Golf Foundation cites an impressive 38% jump in participation for the sport from 2019-24. The Transfusion’s stardom has similarly grown in clubhouses around the country during that timeframe. 

This cocktail, typically made with vodka, ginger ale, grape juice, and a squeeze of lime, is simple and as easy-drinking as they come. But unless you’ve been out to the range lately, you may not have heard of it.

A brief history of the Transfusion

The origins of the Transfusion are unknown, though it appears to show up midway through the 20th century. It’s a cocktail that’s always been linked with golf.

One popular theory is that former President Dwight D. Eisenhower created the drink as he played golf, based on the ingredients the course had on hand. But the Eisenhower Presidential Library couldn’t find any evidence to support this claim, citing that Ike was more of a scotch man.

“It’s just a fixture on the golf scene,” says Eric Bandauski, assistant director of food and beverage at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. “The oldest reference I could find was that it’s been around since the 1950s.”

Eric Bandauski, assistant director of food and beverage at Pinehurst Resort, North Carolina

“It’s thirst-quenching, it’s light, and it’s carbonated, so it’s easy to drink on a hot day or a cold day. I think it just kind of hits all of the right spots.”

— Eric Bandauski, assistant director of food and beverage at Pinehurst Resort, North Carolina

As for the name? The general consensus seems to be that the Transfusion will bring you back to life, whether that be from a hangover or dehydration on a hot day.

“This has always [my] assumption,” says Sherard Rogers, director of food and beverage at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Oregon. “[It is] much like a blood transfusion. All of a sudden, you get revitalized. And the color of it, too. That dark red, purple color is your blood transfusion.”

While the drink has been around for 75 years or so, Bandauski says its surge in popularity started around 2018 and has exploded ever since around golf courses. 

“It’s thirst-quenching, it’s light, and it’s carbonated, so it’s easy to drink on a hot day or a cold day,” he says. “I think it just kind of hits all of the right spots.”

Bandauski points to a younger demographic taking root in golf as a reason why the drink has become so popular. 

Transfusions are everywhere

It seems nearly impossible not to find a Transfusion on the drinks menu of a golf course. A host of ready-to-drink (RTD) options have also appeared in recent years from brands like FORE Craft Cocktails, Link’s Drinks, and Cutwater.

Since its launch in May 2021, FORE claims it has produced just over one million cans of its Transfusion drink. At Tobacco Road Golf Club in Sanford, North Carolina, the RTD is the top seller on the course’s bar cart.

There’s also Transfusion merchandise. Golfing apparel brand Holderness & Bourne says that its hats embroidered with the cocktail have been the top-selling logo-bearing accessory for the past four seasons.

As for the cocktail itself, the drink makes for quick business on the golf course. 

“We sell somewhere north of 50,000 Transfusions a year throughout all of our golf courses,” says Rogers. According to Christina McCall, Pinehurst’s director of procurement, the resort has sold more than 100,000 of the drinks over the past five years, and it’s on track to sell 20,000-plus this year. 

Make an at-home version

Trying Transfusions off the course may be tricky. The cocktail isn’t well-known outside of golf. 

Bandauski theorizes why the drink hasn’t gone mainstream. “I think the creation and the presentation of the Transfusion being so quick service-friendly suits golf courses,” he says. “When you have a bar, you have a lot more available ingredients and utilities and liquors, and you can create a lot more cocktails, rather than just ginger ale and vodka, essentially.”

But it’s worth it to ask your bartender if they can make a Transfusion. The limiting factor might be the availability of grape juice. Cranberry juice isn’t an acceptable substitute.

The good news is that a Transfusion is an easy drink to make at home. It takes virtually no time to make and uses readily available ingredients.

“Vodka gets sort of teased by cocktail-nerdy nerds because, by nature, it is characterless, but it makes it a perfect vessel for something really light and crushable,” says Jessica Backhus, lead mixologist at Wild Dunes Resort, located outside of Charleston, South Carolina.

Tito’s Vodka is a popular brand across golf courses. Backhus recommends using the Fever-Tree brand for the ginger ale. She says it’s not overly sweet and has more ginger notes than some of its counterparts.

The amount of grape juice you used is key. Too much will overpower the drink. Start with a half-ounce and taste, and work your way up from there. Most recipes use between 1-2 ounces of Concord grape juice.

A squeeze of lime can balance the sweetness in the drink. At Wild Dunes, the team uses a quarter-ounce of fresh lime juice.

“What we discovered is that little bit of lime juice really just makes the drink pop,” says Backhus. “It turns from something you crush, like a Vodka Soda, into something that has a little more texture and flavor to it, and a little more balance. It actually makes it easier for people to drink more of them.”

Transfusions are usually served in a Collins glass with regular ice, but golfers often take them on the course in plastic cups. 

Looking to shake things up? Add tequila in place of vodka. Some people call this a Confusion, rather than a Transfusion.

At PL8TE, one of Pinehurst’s restaurants, Bandauski’s team replaces ginger ale with ginger beer and adds muddled mint and fresh lime juice. He says it makes a “slightly spicier version that is a little more dry and less sweet, but equally delicious.” 

The next time you’re looking for a bright and refreshing highball, give the easy-going Transfusion a try. 

“If you know, you know,” says Rogers of the cocktail. “And I think once people have a Transfusion, they realize, ‘This is a great drink.’”