It’s not possible right now to hit golf balls and remind
ourselves how hard the game is. Watching pro golf on Sky or the Golf Channel is
fine but that’s not the same as getting out with friends, having a laugh,
duffing a few shots, and hopefully hitting enough good ones to keep us coming
back. Thanks to YouTube, it’s easy to at least watch others doing that. You can
also get an insight into other places and courses as well as a few hints and
tips for when we can get onto the course again.
There are thousands of content creators putting golf material
on YouTube and I can’t claim to have seen them all. Some big names tend to dominate YouTube golf (looking at you Rick Shiels) and you can see
why. They publish product reviews, coaching tips and playing challenges, often
producing broadcast quality material, and mixing that with the classic YouTube
handheld selfie video cam. As much as I like their content, and I do, Rick
Shiels and a few other big names don’t make my personal favourite list. That’s
the thing about personal favourites, they’re personal, and these are the
channels I’ve gone back to over and over during lockdown. If you have a bit of
time and want a golf fix, give them a watch
Best
Overall
Dan is a golf pro at Torquay golf club and runs this channel
with a few friends. The focus of the channel has developed to be on course
Vlogs but there are occasional product reviews and coaching tips. Sadly the course Vlogs have dried up a bit in recent weeks because of lockdown but the archive is fantastic.
Why it’s great:
There’s going to be a theme here. All my favourites tend to
specialise in one thing. Dan does some product reviewing and coaching videos and
he brings a good approach to those, but where this channel excels is the course
Vlog. These are easily the best I’ve seen on YouTube. He has a group of friends who
are mainly golf pros or scratch golfers and they play informal games, capturing
the banter around good and bad shots and at the same time giving a bit of
background about the course. They’ll play a full round divided into six parts
with separate videos released over the course of a week. The tone is perfect,
like having a good day out with friends and although they are all good golfers
there’s absolutely no posturing and no hiding the bad shots. As you go back
through the history, you can see how they have improved the format and the
photography and they now produce some stunning images of great courses. There’s
also a regular Sunday morning show with Dan and his main sidekick Lester
catching up on what’s been happening on the channel and sometimes in the wider
world of golf. That’s become a regular watch for me. Again, the tone is just
right as you feel you’re joining a great chat with a couple of friends – with
bonus dancing (you have to watch to get that!).
Could do better:
My only complaint would be that sometimes the sound quality
drops, especially with the on-course chat. I think they rely on (good) microphones
attached to the cameras rather than individual mics and as people move further
from the camera words can get lost.
Best
Coaching tips
Matt is a PGA pro from the north of England. He does
occasional product reviews and on course Vlogs but short coaching videos are
his focus.
Why it’s great
Matt keeps it simple, with short focused ‘lessons’ filmed on
course or at the range. Covering all aspects of the game. The bite sized format
works really well, and he’s got an engaging, straightforward approach that I
think most people will relate to. I’m looking forward to seeing if any of his
advice makes a difference when I get back onto the course
Could do better
He tends to jump about a bit from topic to topic. It would
be good to get a series of videos on a theme.
Best Entertainment
Liam Harrison has assembled a cast of characters aged from
18 (young man Josh) to 80 (old man Pat) and various points in between. The main
content is short 3 or 4 hole matches between two or more of the regulars who
are all mid to low mid handicappers with occasional guest slots from pros. The
matches are the usual golf formats; match play, strokeplay or stableford with
occasional imaginative twists and catch phrases (which you see some of below) added
for laughs. It’s based around Golf, but the emphasis is very much on the Mates
with Liam’s regular message being, ‘this channel doesn’t have subscribers,
you’re all Golf Mates’.
CB (career best)
It’s great fun. Nothing is taken too seriously, and Liam
brings a level of warmth and enthusiasm that has struck a chord with viewers
around the world. There’s a lot of humour some good and bad golf and some
terrible singing. Looking back, you can see how much the production quality has
improved and it’s now probably the best produced channel on this list, with the
sound quality giving it the lead over Dan Hendriksen.
Chicken and rice
The channel works best in the short match format.
Occasionally it moves into different territory, for example chat sessions or
product focused shows and these are a bit hit and miss.
Best
Geekfest
We all like to get into the technical aspects of golf from
time to time. If you are the kind of person who is looking for numbers, and lots of them, to support product reviews or coaching tips or techniques this is the
place for you. It’s the science of golf taking full advantage of tracking
technology.
Why it’s great
You really will be astonished that there’s so much in it and
Mark brings real enthusiasm to his analysis, drawing you in even if you’re not
playing at the level where this makes a huge difference.
Could do better
Unless you’re an absolute enthusiast around the technical side of
golf it will get a bit much sometimes but there’s still plenty to keep coming
back for.
Others you should check out:
It’s hard to talk about YouTube golf without mentioning Rick
Shiels and Pete Finch for great all round good golf content. One other channel I’d highly recommend that nearly made my list is Bad Golf. Two comedians with a shared
enjoyment for the game. It’s fun and a reminder that golf can be enjoyed even
if you’re not able to carry 250 yards every time you pick up a driver.
So there you have it, YouTube channels that have kept my golf fix going through lockdown. I'm always on the lookout for more though so, as every good YouTuber would say, comment below if you've got any favourites you'd recommend or any thoughts on the channels I mentioned.
