As the new year begins, it brings a new take on golf and it is called Tomorrow’s Golf League. After many years in the making, two of the biggest names in golf, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy and sports media executive Mike McCarley have been using futuristic technology to accurately simulate an indoor golf tournament.
Located in Palm Beach, FL, the newly built SoFi Center features a massive simulator screen that spans 20 times the size of a typical screen. The players hit from real grass offering different heights for fairway and rough depending on where the ball ends up off the tee. There is an area with sand to simulate hitting out of a fairway or greenside bunker.
The real grass allows the golfers to have the most accurate shots that could not be performed off of turf. Underneath the grass are jacks that can alter the slope of the shot, so the golfer could be hitting on a downslope or upslope to produce a precise golf shot. To formulate the best approach shots, the green rotates giving the golfers a new angle each time.
Luke Krombholz, junior golfer from Metuchen High School, said, “I think TGL is unique, fresh and could have an impressive future in the game of golf. I believe that the tech can only get better and more creative, so seeing something like this could create a whole new space in the game.”
TGL is not only golf incorporated with the most advanced technology, it features some of the world’s best golfers. The league consists of six teams of four golfers. It includes major champions such as Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Adam Scott and of course, Woods and McIlroy. Each team represents a city: New York Golf Club, Atlanta Drive Golf Club, Boston Common Golf, Jupiter Links Golf Club, Los Angeles Golf Club and The Bay Golf Club.
Each match is between two teams and is a 3-on-3 matchup. The debut took place on Jan. 7, 2025 with The Bay GC defeating New York GC to start their season. The league was originally set to debut at the start of 2024, however the dome of the arena collapsed due to inclement weather which pushed it back by a year. The match is 15 holes, 9 holes being an alternate shot format and then the last 6 played in a singles format.
The golfers play a custom designed digital golf course with features that we would not see on real-life golf courses. Each hole is worth one point and whichever team has fewer strokes on that hole gets the point. This upscale professional golf league is open for the public to attend, but has very limited tickets.
All teams have different celebrity investors. According to cnbc.com, famous names such as Eli Manning and Derek Jeter are investors of the New York GC. Tennis player Serena Williams, NBA player Steph Curry, soccer player Alex Morgan, NFL player Josh Allen and Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton all represent some of the teams and their respective sports.
Krombholz said, “I think [TGL’s] fast pace and more relaxed feel could certainly get more people into the game of golf. Investors like Steph Curry that have already brought more people into the game with programs such as Underrated [Junior Golf Tour] bring many more eyes on this as a legitimate product.”
According to todays-golfer.com, Woods called TGL the “next evolution within professional golf.” Across all sports, this innovative version of golf invites the younger generations to try something new.