Golf isn’t just a game — it’s a business goldmine for influencers who know how to play it right. With the rise of social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, golf enthusiasts have turned their passion for clubs, balls, and gear into serious cash flow.
From testing out the latest drivers to reviewing high-end golf tech, these influencers have become trusted voices in the golf world. Their reviews don’t just inform players — they drive sales for brands, making influencers a crucial part of modern golf marketing.
1️⃣ Sponsored Content – The Pay-to-Play Deal 💸📸
How It Works
Brands pay influencers to create promotional content that features their clubs, balls, bags, and other gear. In exchange, influencers showcase the gear in authentic, creative ways — often through product reviews, swing tutorials, or “what’s in my bag” content.
Why It Pays
- 🔥 Direct Payment: Influencers negotiate flat fees for the posts, with some making $1,000 to $10,000+ per post.
- 💥 Exposure for Brands: Brands get instant exposure to an influencer’s audience, driving visibility and sales.
- ⚡ Exclusive Access: Brands may also offer influencers early access to new gear, giving them a “first look” advantage on social media.
Real-World Example
- Paige Spiranac (Instagram influencer with over 4M followers) is known for her sponsored posts featuring Callaway gear. Estimates suggest she earns $8,000 to $12,000 per post, similar to pro athletes.
- Rick Shiels (YouTube influencer) often features sponsored segments from club brands like TaylorMade or Callaway, showcasing how specific gear can improve a golfer’s swing.
Insider Tip
If you want to become a golf influencer and land sponsorships, focus on building a strong, engaged audience. Brands care more about engagement than follower count.
2️⃣ Affiliate Marketing – Earn While You Sleep 🌐💵
How It Works
Influencers create content that includes affiliate links to golf gear. When a follower clicks the link and makes a purchase, the influencer earns a commission — often between 5% to 20% of the sale. The more clicks and sales, the more they earn.
Why It Pays
- 📈 Passive Income: Once a link is live, it can generate revenue for months (or years) with no extra effort.
- 💰 Multiple Revenue Streams: Golf influencers often link to Amazon, brand stores, and platforms like eBay or Dick’s Sporting Goods.
- 🔗 Link Placement Power: Affiliate links can be added to YouTube video descriptions, Instagram bios, and blog posts.
Real-World Example
- Golf Sidekick (YouTube personality) frequently links to clubs and accessories featured in his golf course challenge videos. His audience clicks to buy the same gear he uses, giving him a steady stream of passive affiliate commissions.
- Golf Monthly and other golf blogs embed affiliate links in their “Best Clubs of 2024” lists. Each time a reader clicks a product link and buys it, the site earns a cut of the sale.
Insider Tip
Diversify your affiliate programs. Instead of using just Amazon, join direct affiliate programs from Callaway, Titleist, and other major brands that offer higher commissions.
3️⃣ YouTube Ad Revenue – Monetizing Every View 🎥💸
How It Works
When golf influencers upload gear reviews on YouTube, they can monetize their videos with ads. Every time someone watches or clicks an ad, the influencer earns money.
Why It Pays
- 📺 Video Longevity: Videos on YouTube have a long shelf life, meaning you could get paid on a review you did 2 years ago.
- 💸 Recurring Revenue: Every view, every ad click, and every replay means more money for the creator.
- ⚙️ Ad Placements: Pre-roll ads, mid-roll ads, and banner ads are all revenue opportunities.
Real-World Example
- Rick Shiels makes gear reviews on YouTube that sometimes get 500K+ views per video. With YouTube’s ad revenue model, he could be earning between $3,000 and $10,000 per video, depending on ad type and CPM (cost per 1,000 views).
- Good Good Golf creates fun golf course challenge videos where they test gear. These videos drive high engagement and lead to ad revenue of up to $10,000+ per video, depending on video length and viewership.
Insider Tip
YouTube’s watch time matters more than views. Longer gear reviews (10+ minutes) allow for more ads, increasing your ad revenue per video.
4️⃣ Brand Partnerships & Ambassadorships – The Long-Term Deal 🤝✨
How It Works
Instead of one-off sponsored posts, brands sign long-term partnerships with influencers to be official brand ambassadors. This means influencers get access to exclusive products, early releases, and monthly retainers for continuous promotion.
Why It Pays
- 💸 Consistent Paychecks: Ambassadors get paid monthly, providing consistent income.
- 🎉 Access to Exclusive Gear: Ambassadors receive early access to new drivers, irons, and putters before the public.
- 🔥 More than Reviews: Ambassadors don’t just review gear — they may do public appearances, live streams, and co-branded content.
Real-World Example
- Peter Finch partnered with FootJoy as an ambassador, wearing their gear in every video. His ongoing presence in FootJoy clothing is a subtle, recurring ad for the brand.
- Erik Anders Lang works with Titleist as a brand ambassador, which allows him to showcase customized golf balls and Vokey wedges with his name and logo.
Insider Tip
Build partnerships with smaller golf brands first. Newer brands are eager to work with rising influencers, and these partnerships often evolve into brand ambassador roles.
5️⃣ Custom Merch & Product Lines – Turn Your Brand into a Business 🧢🎉
How It Works
Golf influencers create and sell custom merchandise to their followers, often inspired by the gear they review. This could be anything from headcovers, gloves, and hats to branded golf apparel and accessories. By launching a product line, influencers not only promote the brand they’ve built, but they also keep a larger share of the profits compared to affiliate marketing.
Why It Pays
- 💸 Higher Margins: Selling your own products means you control the profit margin, often earning up to 70% of the sale.
- 🎉 Brand Building: Custom merch builds brand loyalty and increases visibility when followers wear the merch on the course.
- 🔥 Control & Creativity: Unlike brand deals, influencers have full creative control over the product design, look, and feel.
Real-World Example
- Good Good Golf launched its own line of hats, shirts, and golf towels, turning its loyal YouTube audience into loyal customers.
- No Laying Up (a popular golf media brand) sells exclusive headcovers, apparel, and stickers on its website, which generates recurring revenue every time they drop a new collection.
- Bryson DeChambeau launched a range of golf hats branded with his signature “flat cap” look, creating an iconic and recognizable style that became part of his personal brand.
Insider Tip
Start with simple products like hats, headcovers, or gloves. These items have lower production costs and can be drop-shipped to avoid inventory issues. Platforms like Printify or Printful make it easy to set up a print-on-demand store.
6️⃣ Paid Golf Events & Experience Days – Play & Profit 🎉⛳
How It Works
Some of the biggest influencers in golf have turned their fame into live events, such as golf tournaments, meet-and-greets, or VIP golf experience days. Influencers charge fans to participate, and brands often sponsor these events for additional cash. These events offer exclusive on-course experiences, hands-on lessons, and chances to play with the influencer themselves.
Why It Pays
- 💸 Event Tickets & Entry Fees: Fans pay for the chance to participate in exclusive tournaments, mini-golf challenges, or VIP experience days.
- 🤝 Brand Sponsorships: Brands pay influencers to feature their logos, giveaways, and swag during events.
- 🎉 Content Creation: Golf events generate hours of fresh content for YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, which means even more ad revenue.
Real-World Example
- Good Good Golf regularly hosts their own golf tournaments, selling out tickets for fans to attend, play, and engage with the crew. These events are often sponsored by club brands like TaylorMade or ball companies like Titleist, generating even more revenue.
- Erik Anders Lang (golf content creator) organizes golf retreats and immersive experience days where fans pay for the chance to play exclusive courses with him.
- Fore Play Podcast (by Barstool Sports) organizes tournaments where listeners pay to join and compete, with branded swag provided by sponsors like Callaway and Peter Millar.
Insider Tip
To start, focus on small local events like charity golf tournaments. Reach out to local golf courses for discounted rates and promote the event on Eventbrite or social media. As you build experience, you can scale up to more exclusive, branded experiences.
7️⃣ Paid Online Courses & Swing Tips – Turn Knowledge Into Cash 🎓💰
How It Works
Instead of relying solely on YouTube ads or affiliate sales, some golf influencers sell online courses, swing tutorials, and private lessons. By packaging their expertise into digital products, influencers create recurring passive income from golfers who want to learn how to improve their swing, increase their drive distance, or lower their handicap.
Why It Pays
- 💸 Direct Sales: Courses can be sold for anywhere from $50 to $500, depending on the depth of content.
- 🚀 Passive Income: Once the course is recorded, influencers sell it over and over with no extra effort.
- 📈 High Demand: With millions of amateur golfers looking for ways to improve their game, there’s always demand for swing lessons and improvement tips.
Real-World Example
- Clay Ballard’s Top Speed Golf is a masterclass-style course that promises to improve swing speed. His online program has generated 6-figure revenue from memberships and private access.
- Me and My Golf offers a subscription-based learning platform where users pay a monthly fee to access their exclusive training videos, swing drills, and live coaching sessions.
- Golf Sidekick focuses on strategy, offering players a chance to learn about “breaking 80, 90, and 100”, and then links his paid private lessons for those who want a deeper experience.
Insider Tip
Create mini-courses first, such as a 3-lesson series on improving short game. You can sell them on platforms like Teachable, Thinkific, or Kajabi. As demand grows, expand it into a full course.
8️⃣ Exclusive Memberships & Patreon – Fans Pay for VIP Access 🎉💳
How It Works
Some golf influencers create exclusive members-only content for their most dedicated fans. Platforms like Patreon, YouTube Memberships, or private Discord groups allow influencers to offer paid subscriptions for exclusive perks like:
- Early access to gear reviews.
- Behind-the-scenes content.
- Private live streams or “members-only” Q&A sessions.
Why It Pays
- 📈 Recurring Revenue: Fans pay monthly, so influencers get a predictable, steady stream of cash.
- 🔒 Exclusive Content: By offering premium content, influencers keep their most loyal followers engaged and paying.
- 🎉 Community Loyalty: Members feel like part of a special club, which increases their long-term loyalty.
Real-World Example
- Rick Shiels offers YouTube Channel Memberships that provide early access to reviews, member-only live streams, and custom emojis for comments.
- Erik Anders Lang (host of Adventures in Golf) offers VIP event invites and behind-the-scenes content through Patreon.
- Good Good Golf runs a merch members club, offering members early access to exclusive product drops, which builds excitement and increases sales.
Insider Tip
Start by offering exclusive live streams and early content access — these perks are easy to set up and require no extra production costs. Use platforms like Patreon or YouTube Memberships for a fast launch.
9️⃣ Licensing Content to Brands – Get Paid for Your Best Content 📸💼
How It Works
When influencers create high-quality golf content, brands often ask to buy the rights to that content for use in their own marketing. Instead of asking the influencer to post it, brands may pay to use the content in:
- TV commercials.
- Website ads and email campaigns.
- Product demos on social media.
This strategy allows influencers to get paid twice — first for creating the content, and second for licensing it.
Why It Pays
- 💰 Double-Dip Opportunity: Earn revenue from content views AND licensing fees.
- 🔥 High Demand for Quality Footage: Brands need authentic content to showcase products, and influencer reviews fit the bill.
- 📷 Long-Term Use Rights: Brands pay a one-time licensing fee but often reuse the content for months (or years).
Real-World Example
- Rick Shiels created content for TaylorMade, and the footage was later used in paid advertisements.
- Good Good Golf has seen their “on-course challenges” featured on websites and in social media ads for golf clubs and training gear.
- Golf Digest often licenses influencer content for use in “Top Gear” features and promotional content for its gear awards.
Insider Tip
Watermark your best video clips, swing slow-motion shots, or review footage. Brands that want to remove the watermark must pay for licensing rights, giving you full control over who uses your content.
🔟 Custom-Branded Golf Gear – Launch Your Own Line of Clubs & Accessories 🏌️🧢
How It Works
While some influencers promote brands like Callaway and Titleist, others go one step further — launching their own line of clubs, gloves, headcovers, or gear. Instead of earning a cut from Callaway or TaylorMade, they create their own private-label products with their name, logo, or design.
Custom-branded gear includes:
- Golf apparel (hats, shirts, and polos).
- Headcovers and gloves.
- Custom ball markers, tees, and divot tools.
These products are sold through their personal websites or Shopify stores, allowing influencers to build full-scale e-commerce businesses.
Why It Pays
- 💸 Full Ownership: Unlike affiliate links or brand partnerships, you keep 100% of the profit.
- 📈 Brand Building: Custom gear helps influencers build their personal brand, leading to larger sponsorships later.
- 💥 High-Profit Margins: Simple items like headcovers and ball markers can be produced cheaply but sold at premium prices.
Real-World Example
- Good Good Golf sells its own line of headcovers, hats, and apparel, generating thousands of dollars in revenue from loyal fans.
- Rick Shiels has been linked to potential plans to create a signature line of training aids, which would allow him to monetize his coaching expertise.
- Barstool’s Fore Play has sold thousands of custom headcovers and polos through their website, selling out drops within hours.
Insider Tip
Start with simple, low-cost products like custom ball markers or divot tools. Use platforms like Alibaba to source products, or try print-on-demand services like Printify to avoid upfront production costs.
