Golf Digest has long featured a motto of “How to play, what to play, where to play” golf. You might have seen the phrase on our cover over the years. It’s even a registered trademark. But more importantly, it serves as a guiding principle and reminder of what audiences have valued from us for more than 75 years.
That most golfers, including members of our staff, are primarily concerned with their own games tracks with this compilation of our most popular Golf Digest+ stories of 2025. The list includes the results of our famed course rankings and our golf equipment Hot List, along with instruction from some of the leading teachers in the game—all resources that can help golfers play better and enjoy the game more. And yet even stories focused on others—an interview with Keegan Bradley ahead of his Ryder Cup captaincy, the incredible tale of convict-turned-champion pro golfer Ryan Peake—deliver on this mission, because part of understanding golf is appreciating how the game is played under extraordinary circumstances.
You’ll notice certain features include more than one story, and that’s because we grouped high-performing entries that are part of a series together.
10. Does a wet ball cost you distance off the tee? More than you think (and that’s not all)
Our Mythbusters series, overseen by associate editor Drew Powell, uses a combination of player and robot testing to challenge some of our conventional beliefs about common golf topics—including the distance cost of moisture on a golf ball.
9. We’ve been practicing all wrong
What’s wrong with banging balls at a driving range? Plenty. With insights from top coaches, my story examines the ways we can be more constructive with our practice time, whether we have access to a state-of-the-art facility or a simple net in the backyard.
8. Why American golfers drink more
Ahead of the Open Championship, Max Adler expounds on a notable distinction between U.S. golf and the game abroad that has nothing to do with shot trajectory: We like our on-course cocktails.
Adler dives deep into an intricate heist that began with the theft of a simple green-and-white Masters-logoed towel and escalated to “the most brazen thefts the game has ever known.”
6. The incredible story of Ryan Peake, a former gang member and convict—and the most unlikely golfer competing at Royal Portrush
How did a convicted felon straighten his life around to win the New Zealand Open and qualify for the Open Championship at Royal Portrush? That’s what writers Joel Beall and Evin Priest set out to explain in this compelling profile.
5. Under Ultimate Pressure: U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley prepares to define his career
Plenty has already been written about Keegan Bradley’s missteps at last fall’s Ryder Cup. But one thing that has never been in question, and is apparent by this Bradley interview with our Beall, is how much Bradley cared.
4. The longshot our experts love at Augusta National
Our panel of better experts, which includes Golf Digest editors Steve Hennessey and Christopher Powers, gambling analysts, and an anonymous PGA Tour coach, stayed hot in 2025, as evidenced by one successfully tabbing Rory McIlroy to complete the career Grand Slam.
3. Mark Blackburn’s moves you can steal from the pros
Golf Digest’s top-ranked teacher Mark Blackburn shares the secrets worth studying from the best players in the game, from full-swing fixes to shots around the green.
2. The Hot List: the best new golf clubs and balls of 2025
Our annual Hot List equipment guide features everything you need to know about the best new clubs on the market, with insights from a team of player testers who hit them all. And that extends to our review of the best new golf balls that help you determine which might best for you.
1. America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses, America’s 100 Greatest Courses and the Best New Courses of 2025
Our franchise golf course rankings, powered by a network of trained panelists nationwide, were massive hits this year, featuring a mix of seminal layouts and surprise entries, and expanded to our assessments of the best courses recently opened.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
