Grant Horvat’s latest YouTube offering hit me in a way a lot of modern golf content simply does not.
I am an almost 51-year-old golf nut, a three-decade golf industry veteran and a 17-years-and-counting PGA Member. I say that because I know what some people assume when someone like me praises YouTube Golf. They assume it means I am less devoted to the traditional game. Less attached to the history. Less interested in the tournaments, places and rhythms that made so many of us fall in love with golf in the first place.
That could not be further from the truth.
I love the game in its most traditional form. I am a diehard Masters junkie. I can get lost in the romance of hickory golf, the beauty of course architecture and the cadence of a proper tournament week as much as anybody. But I am also not chained to tradition for tradition’s sake. If something is good for golf, compelling for golf and reaching people who might otherwise drift away from the game, I am all for it. That is exactly why I continue to sing the praises of YouTube Golf and why Horvat’s first installment of “Win This Video, Play on the PGA Tour” landed the way it did for me.
Why This Grant Horvat Video Worked
This nearly four-hour video was on in the background while I worked from home, streaming on our 70-inch television as I chipped away at a writing-heavy day.
That was the plan anyway.
In reality, I kept looking up. Then I kept lingering. Then I found myself losing chunks of work time because the video kept pulling me back in. That is about the strongest endorsement I can give anything in this space. Horvat and company created something that had real stakes, natural personalities and enough competitive juice to feel meaningful without becoming stiff or overproduced.
That is one of the great strengths of YouTube Golf. At its best, it does not water the game down. It presents golf in a way that feels alive, current and accessible without stripping out the parts that matter. It respects the game while also understanding the modern viewer.
By the Numbers
1.3 million: Views on Horvat’s “Win This Video, Play on the PGA Tour” within about a day
1 billion+: Hours of YouTube watched on TVs each day
12.4%: YouTube’s share of all TV viewing in April 2025
41%: Growth in U.S. golf participation from 2019 to 2025
Nearly 50 million: Total U.S. golf participants, according to NGF
YouTube Golf Is Event Viewing Now
This is the part some traditionalists still miss.
YouTube is not just something people glance at on their phones between errands. It has become a true big-screen platform. More and more, people are watching creator content the same way they watch sports: on the couch, on the television and for long stretches. That matters because attention is the real currency now. If golf can hold attention in a crowded media world, that is a win for the game whether it happens on network television on Sunday afternoon or on YouTube on a Monday.
That is what Horvat’s video drove home for me. It did not feel like throwaway content. It felt like event viewing built for modern golf fans.
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Why This Matters for Golf’s Business
This is not only about entertainment. It is about reach.
The game is healthier when it has multiple entry points. Traditional tournament golf still matters deeply. So do club golf, junior golf, simulator golf and creator-led golf. Golf is growing because people are entering and engaging with the game through more than one door now. That is not dilution. That is smart expansion.
That is why I reject the idea that loving the Masters and loving YouTube Golf are somehow opposing ideas. They are not. I can adore Augusta National and still enjoy Grant Horvat against George Bryan. I can appreciate a hickory tournament and still love watching Bryson DeChambeau and Steph Curry try to break 50. I can enjoy screen golf just as much as a walk through the game’s history. That is not golf losing its soul. That is golf showing its range.
The Big Takeaways
YouTube Golf is not replacing traditional golf. It is expanding the audience.
Big-screen viewing has made creator golf feel more like event viewing.
Personality, stakes and access are keeping fans engaged for longer.
Creator-led content gives golf another powerful lane for growth.
Modern golf is strongest when it welcomes more than one kind of fan.
Watch This Video, Then Follow Part 2
This is the section where I stop analyzing and simply recommend the thing.
Go watch “Win This Video, Play on the PGA Tour.” Put it on your television. Let it play while you work, clean the house or wind down at the end of the day. There is a very good chance you will do exactly what I did and keep looking up more often than you expected. That is the mark of content that works.
It is long, yes. But it earns that runtime. It feels less like filler and more like a genuine golf event built for the modern fan. It has competitive juice, personality and enough unpredictability to keep pulling you back in. And the video itself points viewers toward Part 2 on the Bryan Bros Golf channel, which gives fans a clear next stop once the first chapter ends.
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What It Means
For those of us who have spent our lives around this game, there can be a temptation to guard the old gates a little too tightly.
I understand that instinct. I really do.
But some of the healthiest things that have happened to golf in recent years have come from letting the game meet people where they are instead of insisting they come to it only one way. Sometimes that means a major championship on a cathedral-like venue. Sometimes that means a municipal course, a simulator bay or a creator-led series on YouTube that gets more people talking about golf on a random weekday than some televised events manage all week.
That is why I keep praising YouTube Golf.
Not because it replaces traditional golf. Because it complements it. Because it expands the audience. Because it keeps the game in front of people in a way that feels fun, modern and real. And because when it is done well, as Horvat’s new series is, it reminds us that golf’s future does not have to come at the expense of its past.
What Comes Next
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The game is healthier when it has multiple stages.
Tournament golf. Club golf. Youth golf. Simulator golf. YouTube golf. All of it.
The strongest version of this sport is the one that makes room for fans who love old-school golf history and fans who cannot wait for the next Bryan Bros or Grant Horvat drop. That is not fragmentation. That is reach. And in a time when every sport is fighting for attention, reach matters more than ever.
Horvat’s new series is entertaining on its own merit. But it is also a reminder of something bigger. Golf is growing because it has become more flexible, more visible and more willing to live in different places without losing what made it special to begin with.
That is not a threat to the game.
That is one of the best things going for it.
PGA of America Golf Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer who serves as Athlon Sports Senior Golf Writer. Read his recent “The Starter” on R.org, where he is their Lead Golf Writer. To stay updated on all of his latest work, sign up for his newsletter or visit his MuckRack Profile.
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This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Apr 29, 2026, where it first appeared in the Golf section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.