Golf Channel is angling for a younger demographic during the lead-up to next month’s WM Phoenix Open.
The network announced on Thursday that it will be teaming up with the YouTube golf stars of Good Good to air a primetime competition the day prior to one of the PGA Tour’s premier events of the season. On Wednesday, February 5, at 8 p.m. ET, Golf Channel will air the Good Good GolfNow Desert Knockout from Grass Clippings Rolling Hills in Tempe, Arizona, a public course that offers night golf.
The competition involves one of Good Good’s signature formats: the knockout. In a knockout competition, players play successive holes, with the worst score eliminated in each hole until a winner is determined. Next month’s event will feature “members of the Good Good Golf crew, along with golf content creators and current and former players,” though an official lineup has yet to be revealed.
In what appears to be a strategic programming play from Golf Channel, the competition will begin exclusively on Good Good’s YouTube channel at 7 p.m. ET and transition to an exclusive broadcast on Golf Channel one hour later. The idea is to leverage Good Good’s massive digital audience and bring them over to Golf Channel’s linear broadcast.
This isn’t the first time Golf Channel and Good Good have partnered. Last year, the network hosted two similar events. As the announcement states, future events will be announced in the coming weeks.
“We’re excited to expand our partnership with Good Good Golf in 2025 and present live coverage of the Good Good GolfNow Desert Knockout on Golf Channel,” said Glenn Grimshaw, VP, franchise development, Golf Channel. “Golf Channel strives to showcase innovative golf content and reach as many golfers and golf fans as possible. The Good Good guys create fun, engaging golf content that connects with their young audience of passionate followers. Live golf under the lights with the Good Good guys and thousands of fans should make for an awesome event in primetime on Golf Channel.”
For a sport whose television audience is decidedly older, partnering with a brand like Good Good can help introduce Golf Channel to an entirely different demographic. Whether the network can make long-term inroads with young people remains to be seen, but these types of partnerships are certainly a good starting point.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.