Golf, Reborn

Take everything you know about golf, tee it up, then drive it 400 yards into a hazard. Today's sport has evolved in several directions at once (fore!), becoming more accessible and fun. Here are the reasons why.

- By Graham Averill

PUTT-PUTT IS ALL GROWN UP

FORGET THE WINDMILLS.

No volcanoes, either. The greens at PopStroke, an 18-hole putting course, have more in common with TPC Sawgrass than the Putt-Putt you grew up playing. Think of real PGA Tour-level greens, like Augusta's 12th hole sandwiched by bunkers, but stacked back-to-back and connected to a bar and restaurant. Oh, and Tiger Woods helped design these greens.

Putting is half of golf, but people overlook that, says Greg Bartoli, founder of PopStroke. This is an elevated putting experience... designed by the greatest putter in the history of the game.

But don't get intimidated. Sure, caddies and pros will spend time at PopStroke working on their finish, but the beauty of putting is that it's accessible, whether you're 7 or 77, and PopStroke makes it fun without being silly. A huge screen displays the leaderboard of putters playing (low score of the day gets a free round), music plays from the bar and people are playing ping-pong and cornhole on the edges. It's part of the latest trend to further gamify the game of golf, and it's working.

PopStroke has two locations in Florida right now and will expand to Arizona and Texas with seven more locations by the end of 2022, And each Pop Stroke course will feature different greens, so no two locations are identical.

COURSES ARE GETTING WEIRD, IN A GOOD WAY