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Hello GBR,
Today’s Golf Bizz Review is, in several ways, about where golf goes next, and who is best positioned to benefit.
Trump Golf is expanding its footprint in Asia while adding a new format at Turnberry. CityGolf is betting on a full 18-hole indoor experience in Nashville, Topgolf is extending its reach through Special Olympics, and Royal Dornoch is already seeing commercial returns from major investment in its clubhouse.
Elsewhere, the professional game continues to reshape itself, with a report in The Telegraph confirming that LIV is canceling its £30 million season finale while the PGA Tour builds towards its new 2028 structure.
But the biggest long-term question may sit further down the age curve. Junior participation is rising rapidly. Today’s Big Read looks beyond those headline numbers to ask where young people are discovering golf, what happens after that first experience, and which businesses will succeed in keeping them within the golf economy.
Enjoy today’s edition of Golf Bizz Review.
THE BUSINESS OF GOLF
BASE GROUP TO BUILD TRUMP-BRANDED GOLF CLUB IN HANAM
Base Group will establish Trump International Golf Club in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province. The Korean conglomerate said the project will be the first Trump-branded golf development in Northeast Asia, with Hanam selected for its access to the Seoul metropolitan area and Eric Trump saying the Trump Organization sees “tremendous potential” in bringing the brand to Korea. Base Group chairman Kim Sung-jib called the project “a milestone” for the company and Korea’s golf industry, adding that it aims to create a premium golf destination for Korea and the wider region. The announcement follows scrutiny over Base Group’s $2 million payment to the Trump Organization, which the company and Trump family have said was linked to the golf project, while the group also faces questions connected to Korea Aluminum after a U.S. Commerce Department preliminary ruling that could raise tariffs on its exports to 105.8%.
TRUMP TURNBERRY OPENS NEW 12-HOLE PAR-THREE COURSE
Elsewhere in the Trump golf portfolio, Trump Turnberry has opened Trump’s Twelve. The new 12-hole par-three course, which officially opened on August 10, has holes ranging from 70 to 206 yards and joins the Ailsa and King Robert the Bruce courses as the resort continues investment across its golf facilities. Built on land previously occupied by the Arran Course, the layout was designed by Trump Turnberry’s in-house team, led by director of golf courses and estates Allan Patterson, with shaping and groundworks by GolfLink Evolve, multiple teeing areas on each hole and SYNLawn UK artificial tee-lines using Tee Strike+ technology. Eric Trump said the course “completes an exceptional collection” at Turnberry, while academy manager Alistair Kyle said it would support coaching, junior development, family experiences and short-game work alongside the resort’s Trackman Range, Trackman iO simulators, short-game facilities and PGA instruction.
TOPGOLF COMMITS $1.5M TO SPECIAL OLYMPICS GOLF PARTNERSHIP
Topgolf and Special Olympics have expanded their global golf partnership. The three-year, $1.5 million commitment builds on a 2023 agreement that gives Special Olympics athletes with intellectual disabilities up to two free hours of weekly access at Topgolf venues worldwide, with Special Olympics Mexico and Topgolf Monterrey joining as new partners ahead of the largest Special Olympics Topgolf Invitational on August 29. Topgolf chief executive David McKillips said the program showed that “golf is for everyone”, while Special Olympics chief executive David Evangelista said the partnership helps athletes “sharpen their skills” and brings people together through sport; the model has already supported new programs including a 10-week Unified Golf season in the UAE, where athletes improved season scores by 60%. Topgolf has raised $765,699 through related initiatives, led by $573,835 from the inaugural Pro-Am, and the 2026 Invitational will feature 18 local programs from the United States, UAE, England and Scotland across more than 30 Topgolf venues, with singles and Unified pairs competing for medals and Toptracer technology syncing scores globally in real time.
LEATHERMAN GOLF REPORTS 25% REVENUE GROWTH AFTER POWER TEE UPGRADE
Leatherman Golf Learning Center has grown its range offer with 34 Power Tee automatic teeing systems. The facility also includes Trackman technology, miniature golf, professional instruction and a fully stocked golf shop, positioning it for golfers of all abilities, families, corporate groups and casual visitors. Owner Chris Leatherman said Power Tee had “absolutely helped elevate our business”, with revenue growth of more than 25% since installation, while the ability to lease the system helped the centre modernise without a large upfront capital cost. Power Tee founder Martin Wyeth said facilities such as Leatherman are redefining the modern golf experience, with automatic tee-up technology designed to improve pace of play, increase bucket sales, attract more visitors and create a more convenient entertainment-led practice environment.
CITYGOLF USA TO OPEN FIRST FULL 18-HOLE INDOOR COURSE IN NASHVILLE
CityGolf USA will open its flagship venue in Nashville. The company says the site will be the first full 18-hole indoor golf course in the United States, using a digital golf-course model pioneered by GOLFZON founder Kim Young-Chan and developed with Nessie Capital, GOLFZON, Parlay Capital Holdings and the Tennessee Golf Foundation. The venue will combine sequential 18-hole play, GOLFZON simulators, real putting surfaces, dedicated short-game areas, a simulator driving range, a chef-led restaurant and bar, retail pro shop, private event spaces, corporate and social driving-range bays, and PGA-certified professionals offering lessons, leagues and player development initiatives. Tony Graffia Jr., CEO of CityGolf USA and managing partner of Nessie Capital, said the concept lets golfers play “before or after work, year-round”, while COO AJ Zahn said Nashville was the starting point for “a true indoor golf course supported by a full hospitality ecosystem”.
ROYAL DORNOCH CLUBHOUSE DRIVES RECORD DEMAND AND NEW LOCAL JOBS
Royal Dornoch’s new clubhouse is delivering immediate commercial returns. Since opening in December, the Highland venue in Northern Scotland has seen unprecedented demand from members, guests and visitors, with food and beverage manager Graeme Twaddle saying May was busier than the club’s historically strongest month of August, with kitchen output doubling, pints poured rising from 2,000 to 8,000, five extra freezers added and six local staff recruited. Twaddle said the club had invested in new kitchen and sustainability-focused equipment, including ovens capable of producing 180 plates in 18 minutes and a steam-recycling dishwasher, adding: “Right now, we are well ahead of our targets in every shape or form.”
ST MELLION MARKS 50 YEARS OF GOLF IN CORNWALL
St Mellion Estate, Cornwall, south west England, is marking its 50th anniversary in 2026. The resort, opened in September 1976 by farmers Martin and Hermon Bond, has grown from one 18-hole course and a modest hotel into a 36-hole golf, leisure and conference venue with an 80-bedroom AA Four-Star hotel, the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course and the Kernow Course. Anniversary activity includes a new 50th logo, commemorative course flags, limited-edition Signature Memberships and county-level tournaments. The venue’s history includes 14 European Tour events, most notably The Benson & Hedges International Open, often featuring the best players in Europe in the early 90s such as Sir Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle, and won by the likes of Jose Maria Olazabal, Bernhard Langer, and Seve Ballesteros, which was played over the Nicklaus Signature Course that opened for play in 1988. Nicklaus said St Mellion would “always have a special place in my heart”, while Bangarra Group founder Jeff Chapman said the celebration was “about the community”, the staff and the golfers who travel to play “these magnificent golf courses set in the Cornish countryside”.
TOUR NEWS
LIV TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP CANCELED AS SEASON FINALE DROPS OFF SCHEDULE
James Corrigan of The Telegraph has reported that LIV Golf players have been told that the league’s £30 million season-ending Team Championship has been canceled. The event had been scheduled for August 27-30 at The Cardinal at Saint John’s in Plymouth, Michigan, but the league has not yet made a formal public announcement. The cancellation follows the earlier scrapping of LIV’s New Orleans event and comes amid continuing uncertainty over the league’s future funding, despite chief executive Scott O’Neil saying recently that a lead investor had signed a term sheet for 2027. It remains unclear how LIV will settle its season-long team race or whether the team prize money will be paid, with next week’s Indianapolis event now expected to close the 2026 season.
DP WORLD TOUR SET TO RESUME LIV GOLF SANCTIONS IN 2027
Today’s Golfer’s senior writer, Ben Parsons, reports that the DP World Tour is expected to resume fines and tournament suspensions for LIV Golf players from 2027. Golf Monthly, citing The Athletic, reported that current LIV players who remain DP World Tour members have been notified that the 2026 conditional-release arrangement is unlikely to continue beyond this season. That agreement allowed Laurie Canter, Thomas Detry, Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin, Adrian Meronk, Victor Perez, David Puig and Elvis Smylie to play LIV events this year after paying outstanding fines, dropping appeals and committing to additional DP World Tour events, with Jon Rahm later reaching a similar deal. The issue carries Ryder Cup implications, particularly for Rahm and Hatton, and comes as LIV prepares a reduced 2027 schedule, potential player equity model and a weakened pathway after the Asian Tour’s move back towards the DP World Tour and PGA Tour ecosystem.
Further reading: Writing in Fried Egg Golf, Kevin Van Valkenburg examines the increasingly interesting predicament that Jon Rahm finds himself in, with the Spaniard supposedly still owed $150 million.
RAYMOND JAMES TAKES GREENSBORO EVENT INTO PGA TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Raymond James has been named title sponsor of the PGA Tour’s Greensboro-area event. The tournament, which dates back to 1938 as the Greater Greensboro Open, will be rebranded as GO by Raymond James from 2027 and played as a full-field event at Sedgefield Country Club before joining the PGA Tour Championship Series in 2028. The multi-year agreement gives one of the Tour’s longest-running stops a place in the new top-tier structure, which will include roughly 23 to 24 events across the majors, The Players, postseason, international team competitions and selected regular-season tournaments. PGA Tour chief commercial officer Dhruv Prasad said Greensboro has “one of the richest histories in men’s professional golf” and that the Tour is “excited to launch this new chapter by bringing the best players in the world to the Piedmont Triad region.”
NEW EQUIPMENT
TAYLORMADE ADDS FULLY FORGED HI-TOE 5 WEDGE LINE
TaylorMade has launched its new Hi-Toe 5 wedges. The range joins MG5 in the company’s short-game family and is built on a fully forged soft-carbon-steel platform, with full-face saw-milled grooves designed to give players a forged wedge system from gap wedge through lob wedge. Hi-Toe 5 and MyHi-Toe 5 are available for pre-order through TaylorMadeGolf.com, with retail availability from September 3 at $199.99 for Hi-Toe 5 and $249.99 for MyHi-Toe 5. The line includes ATS, ATV, ATX and ATW sole grinds in the standard range, while the low-bounce ATC grind is offered for right-handed players through custom options and the MyHi-Toe 5 personalization program.
THE BIG READ
WHO OWNS GOLF’S NEXT GENERATION?
Junior participation is rising sharply, but the bigger commercial opportunity lies in understanding how young people discover golf, and what persuades them to take the next step.
Golf does not appear to have a junior participation problem. In the United States, just under four million 6-to-17-year-olds played on a course in 2025, 58% more than in 2019 and the highest total since 2004. Outside the US and Mexico, The R&A’s latest Global Golf Participation 2025 report estimates that 47.1 million juniors participated in some form of golf during 2025, up 3.2 million, or 6%, in a year. Adult participation rose just 1%.
The R&A also estimates 824,000 registered junior golfers in 2025, up 26% year-on-year, although it cautions that junior data remains limited in some markets. More important for the industry is what sits behind those numbers. The R&A now defines junior participation across 18-, nine- and six-hole golf, par-3 and short courses, pitch-and-putt, putting experiences, adventure golf, driving ranges, simulators and golf on school pitches.
That matters because the commercial question is no longer simply how many children are playing. It is where they are discovering golf, what gets them to try it, and whether the industry is making the next step easy.
