After TGL’s stadium collapsed at the end of last year, its debut was pushed back to 2025. But as the date draws closer, we now have a significant information about the start-up technology-driven league started by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Sports.
The first night of matches will take place on Jan. 7, 2025, in primetime on ESPN.
“As we plan the 2025 launch of TGL presented by SoFi, we now have the first three Tuesdays in January circled to introduce sports fans to this new form of team golf. January is a tremendous time of year for fans looking for prime time sports and TGL’s launch will complement the start of the PGA TOUR season and take advantage of ESPN’s promotional machine across their coverage of the NFL and college football playoffs,” said Mike McCarley, founder and CEO of TMRW Sports.
Countless PGA Tour stars are involved in the new circuit, including Woods, McIlroy, Max Homa, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler, among others.
Learn everything you need to know about the TGL below.
Atlanta Drive GC
Roster
- Justin Thomas
- Patrick Cantlay
- Billy Horschel
- Lucas Glover
Team logo
What we’re all about.
https://t.co/OeUBMlV0NA pic.twitter.com/47hfiXoqSB
— Atlanta Drive GC (@atlantadrivegc) October 10, 2023
Owner(s)
The Atlanta Drive GC’s ownership is led by Arthur Blank and AMB Sports and Entertainment, which runs the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United and PGA Tour Superstores.
Boston Common GC
Roster
- Rory McIlroy
- Keegan Bradley
- Adam Scott
Team logo
Any early favorites? pic.twitter.com/1mzb3dPu2Y
— Boston Common Golf (@commongolf) October 30, 2023
Owner(s)
Fenway Sports Group owns Boston Common. The group also owns the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Los Angeles Golf Club
Roster
- Collin Morikawa
- Tommy Fleetwood
- Sahith Theegala
- Justin Rose
Team logo
LOS ANGELES GOLF CLUB REVEALS OFFICIAL TEAM LOGO + COLORS https://t.co/SPHvn2oWA0
— LAGC (@WeAreLAGC) October 13, 2023
Owner(s)
Group led by Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Alexis Ohanian.
New York Golf Club
Roster
- Rickie Fowler
- Xander Schauffele
- Matt Fitzpatrick
- Cam Young
Team logo
🚨🐦⬛⛳️ #NEW: The New York Golf Club is the latest team to be unveiled by @TGL. The team which is backed by Mets owner Steve Cohen, will feature PGA Tour stars Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Cameron Young and Matt Fitzpatrick. (Via: @SBJ | @JoshACarpenter) pic.twitter.com/M7ccrZaXLk
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) April 2, 2024
Owner(s)
Cohen Private Ventures.
The Bay Golf Club
Roster
- Wyndham Clark
- Ludvig Aberg
- Min Woo Lee
- Shane Lowry
Team logo
A golf brand that reflects the swagger, joy and fun coming to the game.
A brand that pays homage to the innovative spirit of our home market and the championship pedigree of our roster and ownership group. pic.twitter.com/wPRiqtzxJ0
— The Bay Golf Club (@TheBayGolf) May 6, 2024
Owner(s)
The ownership is lead by Marc Lasry’s Avenue Sports Fund.
Jupiter Links Golf Club
Roster
- Tiger Woods
- Max Homa
- Tom Kim
- Kevin Kisner
Team logo
We are Jupiter Links Golf Club 🌴 pic.twitter.com/aYYCMudpFo
— Jupiter Links Golf Club (@JupiterLinksGC) April 22, 2024
Owner(s)
The ownership group is led by Woods’ TGR Ventures and David Blitzer.
Format
Each match will feature two sessions with different formats. Session 1 will be 9 holes of “Triples,” three vs. three team alternate shot. Session 2 is 6 holes of “Singles,” a head-to-head competition where each competitor plays two holes.
Holes are worth 1 point and the team with the fewest shots on a hole wins the point. Ties are worth 0 points. If a match is all square at the end of the 15 holes, players will compete head-to-head until a team hits two shots closer to the pin than its competitors.
It’s a unique format to say the least, and the Triples session could provide some entertainment. That said, the Singles session may confuse viewers with a revolving door of players, and the closest-to-the-pin overtime tiebreaker has the potential to drag out (remember the first Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson match?).
Players will have 40 seconds to hit a shot, or else a shot clock violation will incur a one-stroke penalty. Each team will have four timeouts per match, two for each session of play. Similar to the NFL, there is no rollover of unused timeouts, and teams cannot call consecutive timeouts during a single shot.
The league also stated a referee “with experience with timeouts, shot clocks, and the dynamics of team sports” will be on hand, which would hint at a basketball referee. A rules of golf official will also be in a booth to monitor the action. The referee and booth official will be responsible for managing and enforcing the shot clock.
– Adam Woodard
Stadium
SoFi Center at Palm Beach State College in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, is a nearly 250,000-square-foot venue that will accommodate approximately 1,600 people on match nights during TGL’s inaugural season. The tech-infused course is roughly the size of a football field.
Players will hit tee and approach shots from real grass tee boxes, fairway surfaces, rough, and sand on long shots into a 64×46-foot screen (roughly 20 times a standard simulator) powered by Full Swing technology.
For shots within 50 yards or less, players will transition from Screenplay to Greenplay to a custom-built “Green Zone” that is larger than four basketball courts and includes three 15×27 foot Virtual Greens, also by Full Swing. Each green features 189 actuators and jacks that change the slope of the green to create a variety of play on every TGL hole.
– Adam Woodard
Point system and playoffs
The TGL regular season points system resembles the NHL: A win in regulation or overtime is worth 2 points, a loss in overtime is good for 1 point, and of course, a loss in regulation is worth 0 points.
At the end of the regular season, the top four teams on the points list advance to the playoffs. The semifinals will be single elimination and the finale, the Championship Series, will be a best-of-three competition. More details will be released on the postseason.
– Adam Woodard
