How Topgolf Is Helping Make Golf Cool For the Culture

Outside of a couple notable exceptions, the culture’s traditionally viewed golf as a stuffy sport for rich people. Polos and khakis at the country club have long defined the sport’s aesthetic. But now, golf is cool. That’s thanks in large part to a pandemic-era boom that broadened its reach, hooking a wide range of people from cultural and economic backgrounds that were traditionally shut out of the golfing world. These days, skaters, athletes, and musicians are flocking to the links in huge numbers, creating a positive feedback loop of coolness that’s only making golf bigger and more hip by the day. 

Beyond the pandemic, there’s been another huge factor in golf’s growing popularity: Topgolf, a modernized golf experience that makes you feel like you’re at a bar, rather than a driving range. Golf is all part of the party at Topgolf, thanks to its unique vibe that features gourmet food, great drinks, loud music, and TVs spread across each facility. Topgolf currently has nearly 80 locations in the US alone, giving it a huge platform to draw veteran golfers and first-timers to the game with its ethos of “bringing more play to the world.” 

According to the National Golf Foundation, off-course golf participation has surpassed green-grass golf, with about 10% of the green grass golfers crediting Topgolf as their introduction to the sport. It’s a complete 180-degree shift from what golf previously was, an expensive and difficult sport to begin playing. Now people from across the country can easily spend a night at Topgolf and test the waters of the sport at a fraction of the time and cost. There’s no longer an intimidation factor of starting the sport and learning the rules, especially when Topgolf breaks down those walls thanks to an accessible format surrounded by a welcoming environment. Golf isn’t quiet anymore, it’s loud and fun, and full of people from all walks of life. 

The culmination of this boom in popularity reached its apex at the recent Topgolf Open, a star-studded Los Angeles event held to honor the city’s hosting of the U.S. Open Championship for the first time in 75 years. It appeared to be the biggest golf party of the year. Topgolf showed its huge reach by bringing out nearly every golf-adjacent person of influence in Southern California. On top of that, the event proved how big the game has grown, welcoming iconic skaters, top athletes, and LA graffiti legend OG Slick to paint a giant mural at Topgolf’s El Segundo location. Golf was undoubtedly the reason for the celebration but the culture of Los Angeles shined just as bright throughout the night. The event allowed attendees to tangibly feel the current shift in golf and also see how bright the future of the sport can be. 

Ahead of attending the recent Topgolf Open, Complex spoke with Geoff Cottrill, the company’s Chief Brand Officer. He told us about welcoming the golf boom with open arms, embracing the game's newly diversified fan base, along with all the fashion, style, sneakers, and attitude that come with it, not to mention Topgolf’s inclusion in the Special Olympics as a medaled event. Watch a Topgolf Open recap clip below, then read on to learn more about Topgolf’s mission to be the torchbearer for the sport’s future.

So with nearly 80 locations in the U.S. alone, Topgolf has officially cemented itself as a huge part of mainstream culture. I was curious if you could have predicted this level of growth more than a decade ago?
I don't think anybody could have predicted the growth of golf that came out of COVID. The game lent itself nicely to social distancing and getting outside and having fun. We've experienced a tremendous amount of growth. We've been around for over 20 years and we like to say, We're golf, we're not golf, we're Topgolf. We're there for golfers who know how to play, but we're also there for people who've never held a club before and just want to come and have fun. We want that first experience with the game of golf to be associated with a laugh, some music, and being with your friends. Just hanging out with no intimidation factors and no barriers of entry.

And I'm a part of that growth as well, because I also started playing during the pandemic. Obviously there was a massive popularity boom then and you spoke about how the pandemic led to some of Topgolf’s growth because it was so accessible during that time. Was there a serious spike during that time where you saw a significant shift in the number of people golfing and coming to Topgolf?
Yes, we've definitely seen a lot of growth in the last—I'd call it five years—as the game grows in popularity. But as our concept and our experience grows in popularity, we're committed to this idea of bringing more play to the world. We live in a super serious, politically divided world these days coming out of a pandemic. The world could use a place to lighten up and forget about stuff and have fun.

Then another thing is we want to make the game more accessible, first and foremost. And accessibility leads to diversity, so also more diverse, and then more fun. Golf was super intimidating for me as a younger person because it's an intimidating sport if you're not good. So for us it's about that accessibility, making the game more diverse and making it fun.

Then the long-term impact will change pretty dramatically. It's great to see street culture, basketball culture, skate culture coming in, and playing golf now. Coming from the sneaker world, it's fun to see some of the people I worked with now playing golf and reconnecting and reuniting with them in a completely different environment. What's happening in golf right now is for me, really exciting.

We mentioned that NGF study about off-course golf participation surpassing green grass golf participation. And in terms of accessibility I know the reason I wasn't playing golf growing up was because it’s expensive, it's hard to get on a course. Clubs aren't cheap and lessons aren't cheap either. But Topgolf has done such a good job of making it accessible, making that first spark for a lot of people. So in what ways are you continuing to elevate that accessibility?
We have a number of PGA professionals who work at our venues and teach lessons through our Topgolf Coach program. It's a little known secret and it shouldn't be! We also have summer camps, academies, and all kind of stuff for young people. We want to make the game super accessible and fun, simple as that.

You bring up how the sport has become cooler since the pandemic and it's skate people, basketball people, whoever, music, culture. You've got rappers and DJs playing golf now. Since the company emphasizes the power of play so much,  I'm curious how it feels when a big name athlete or celebrity is just there organically and posting about Topgolf. What kind of growth does that give?
It's crazy. The Celtics were down 3-0, they had a film session that they decided to blow off and cancel. So they went to Topgolf in Miami, hung out and hit balls. Had a good time and then came back and won three straight. They didn't win the series, but they came back for a Game Seven. There was a story inThe Athletic that the Celtics were just unplugging for a minute and going to Topgolf. It's just fun seeing what an event like that at one of our locations can do for team building. This is why we do what we do—to bring people together and let them forget their troubles and just have some fun.

I want to ask about how well of a job you've done adapting with the times, especially in social media. Topgolf has seen a lot of viral successes and I'm curious how much weight the company puts towards that and what kind of positive impact you've seen from the viral marketing plays?
For me it's always the most powerful when you work at a brand where other people will speak on your behalf purely because they love your brand or your experience. We've made a lot of what we call “friends of the brand” doing a lot of really interesting things. I think in today's world it matters what you do and who you do it with as much, if not more, than what you say in your campaigns. Granted, you need to have the marketing that brings people in, but the things that you do matter most.

So we have seen a lot of success in social, but it’s because we have a strategy to do right by people and make sure we show them a good time. And if we're doing that, then everything takes care of itself.

While we're on the topic of social, as golf influencers have skyrocketed during the pandemic, you've done a really good job of bringing them in. And like you said, it seems like it's very organic. It's not forced.
One of the things I really can't stand is the word “influencer.” Every brand in the world is talking about their influencers and every single person on the planet has influence. Everybody is important, every interaction, every experience we give is important and we need to make sure they're right. We scoured what was happening in the world and we looked at the people who weren't influencers but were more game changers. There's a whole bunch of really interesting brands percolating up through golf and changing the aesthetic. So we decided to go out and just get to know these people and do things with them instead of showing up and saying, Hey, can we pay you for a video? You just have to be comfortable with who you are as a brand and as a team. The LA event we have coming up is going to be epic with all the people that we've got. OG Slick is going to do one of his famous hand murals on our building and it's cool that a brand like ours gets to work with people like that.

How did that come together and what was the reasoning behind the whole event?
The U.S. Open is in LA and that's a big deal in such a big market filled with so many golfers. It's been years since it's been there, so we wanted to do something at our El Segundo venue. We decided to host a big event to celebrate LA in all of its forms, from car culture, to street art, to golf itself, to music, and to some of the iconic things that are in and around LA. We invited all of our friends of the brand, and it's just our way of showing up during a week when golf is in one of the biggest and most important cities in the world, LA. We just want to have some fun and put our own little spin on the whole U.S. Open.

Another exciting thing on the horizon is that in 2024 Topgolf will officially be a sanctioned event with the Special Olympics, which I think is awesome. It's marking the first time a brand has become a medaled event. It seems like a monumental moment and one that obviously brings a ton of positivity, and so I'm curious if you could speak on how that came together and what plans you have for those events?
It's an incredible honor. It's the first time any brand has had a medaled event. When we talk about making the game more accessible, more diverse and more fun, I can't think of a better example of us putting our desire to do that in action. Every once in a while in your life, you get to do something that is really, really good. And we all feel really proud of what that's going to become.