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Golf Channel, Rory McIlroy launch GolfPass. Will you subscribe, GolfWRX Members?

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Today, Golf Channel solicited the help of Rory McIlroy to launch GolfPass. The subscription service will offer customers instructional videos, a bevy of discounts, and one round of golf per month for $9.99 per month or $99/year.

“It’s sort of like, for me, like Golf Channel 2.0,” McIlroy said at the launch press conference. “If you’re going to start a golf business, you probably wouldn’t do a 24-7 TV station or network like what happened 25 years ago.”

The service draws inspiration from Amazon Prime, which, in addition to streaming video, offers free delivery on goods and other benefits. Will McIntosh, Golf Channel’s executive vice president, hopes GolfPass will help hobbyists make the jump from watching golf to playing the game and offer a nice perk for avid golfers.

With respect to playing, more than 7,000 golf courses are available. Not surprisingly, GolfNow, also owned by NBC, is the facilitator of this element of the service. TPC Sawgrass, PGA National, Pasatiempo Golf Club, and Royal Portrush are among the course offerings.

While GolfPass won’t include any live tour events, the service will offer on-demand instruction videos (more than 4,000), including several featuring McIlroy himself. Original features, such as “My Roots: Rory McIlroy,” will also be offered.

Subscribers will also get a dozen TaylorMade balls and assorted discounts on apparel, accessories, and golf resort stays.

“I’m really trying to carry the torch that Arnold lit 25 years ago,” McIlroy said. “I know I have very big shoes to fill and I’m not trying to compare myself in any way to Arnold, but I was able to forge quite a good relationship with Arnold in the later years of his life and I know how much the game meant to him. I think he would be very proud that I’ve taken on this role to try and give golfers a better experience of playing the game and living that golfing lifestyle. I couldn’t imagine my life without golf.”

Rory McIlroy will co-host (along with Carson Daly) a monthly podcast via the service.

GolfPass+, a premium membership, will be offered for $199 per year. The “plus” version will include cancellation protection and waived convenience fees on GolfNow.

McIlroy discussed GolfPass on an appearance on Morning Drive.

So, what do you think, GolfWRX Members, will you be signing up for GolfPass at any of the subscription levels?

Will you subscribe to GolfPass?

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18 Comments

18 Comments

  1. Jim

    Feb 6, 2019 at 12:06 pm

    If it’s associated with GolfNow, I wouldn’t trust this deal! GolfNow is not a good product, too complicated by excessive rules and conditions supported by lousy customer service!

  2. Randy

    Feb 6, 2019 at 11:07 am

    Not happy with Golf Now’s no refund policy. Looked for a Sunday tee time on a Tues. night. The time I selected was then not available so it said search a new time. Instead of staying on Sunday times it sent me back to Wed. (which I didn’t notice until booking a Wed. time). Called the course first thing Wed. am and cancelled. Golf Now gave me a credit only good for Hot Deals after 12 Mon-Thurs. Thanks for nothing! Double bogey service. Will use Tee Off or call. No more Golf Now.

  3. Tom Grady

    Feb 5, 2019 at 5:37 pm

    Lindsey Vonn is c oalburning m udshark. She has betrayed her race dating dirty n iggers.

  4. c

    Feb 5, 2019 at 4:21 pm

    this is weird considering Rory has said he doesnt care about growing the game

  5. Clancy

    Feb 5, 2019 at 3:49 pm

    I’ll hold off to see the list of participating courses.

  6. Tom

    Feb 5, 2019 at 3:42 pm

    Golf Channel’s Morning Drive has become like the “View” a bunch of people with opinions that I don’t care to listen to. Not much substance from GC anymore, they basically went off the air from mid Dec thru early Jan….running old shows and tournaments.

  7. Tmack

    Feb 5, 2019 at 3:12 pm

    As a cord cutter if it included the actual golf channel live golf coverage I would be interested.

    • Scott Francis

      Feb 5, 2019 at 3:31 pm

      Exaclty like someone else menioned if included a Pga Tour live subscription I would but $200? pass on Golfpass.

  8. Mike Knights

    Feb 5, 2019 at 1:50 pm

    I dont understand why tour pros promote going to a website to watch a video to fix your swing when we all know they spend 100’s of hours with their coaches working on their swings. why in the world would you tell and Amateur to go watch a video and they will get better. Ugh!

  9. Gunter Eisenberg

    Feb 5, 2019 at 1:47 pm

    Doesn’t the Golf Channel also own Revolution Golf that offers that same instructional video content?

    • JJ

      Feb 6, 2019 at 11:25 am

      That’s where the 4000 videos will come from

  10. Scott

    Feb 5, 2019 at 12:46 pm

    Is there a place to find out what 7,000 courses are playable with the free round each month, and what restrictions there will be on that? I can’t seem to find that information on the GolfPass website.

  11. Stixman

    Feb 5, 2019 at 12:39 pm

    Sorry, Rory is not the torch-bearer you seem to think he is, he just isn’t, he’ll let you down and send you the memo.

  12. Matt

    Feb 5, 2019 at 11:45 am

    Carson Daly? WTF

  13. Thunder Bear

    Feb 5, 2019 at 11:45 am

    Wait, so for $9.99 per month, I can play TPC Sawgrass or one of their other elite courses once a month? That seems too good to be true even if you have to play on Monday thru Thursday.

    • Simms

      Feb 5, 2019 at 12:44 pm

      Guess again, it will be the same as with all their “Hot Deals” specials..it will be afternoons Monday thru Thursday..and many courses will be exempt..In California you will be playing after 12 in months you cannot finish because of time change. You have to think about the fact also there are only so many “HOT DEALS” after 12 in your area..Hot Deals do not bring any money into the golf course and are only given out by the course to Golf Now for advertising and use of computer scheduling programs….and many course look down on that “HOT DEAL” tee time and treat you like your cheating them…..and notice with the $99 price there is no mention of waved fees or free cancellations that comes at the $199 price….

  14. Joshua

    Feb 5, 2019 at 11:24 am

    The free golf seems enticing into you read the fine print. If I didn’t have a job and could golf Monday thru Thursday afternoons…

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Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

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I’m going to gush in this intro paragraph, to get the emo stuff done early. I’ve not pulled harder for a professional to win, than Cameron Young. I coach golf in New York state, and each spring, my best golfers head to a state championship in Poughkeepsie. I first saw Cameron there as a 9th grade student. I saw him three more times after that. I reconnecected with Coach Haas from Wake Forest, an old interview subject from my days on the Old Gold and Black, the Wake newspaper. He was there to watch Cameron. After four years at Wake Forest, Young won on the Korn Ferry Tour, made it to the big tour, almost won two majors, almost won five other events, and finally got the chalice about 25 minutes from the Wake campus. Congratulations, Cameron. You truly are a glass of the finest. #MotherSoDear

OK, let’s move on to the Tour Rundown. The major championship season closed this week in Wales, with the Women’s Open championship. The PGA Tour bounced through Greensboror, N.C., while the PGA Tour Americas hit TO (aka, Toronto) for a long-winded event. The Korn Ferry lads made a stop in Utah, one of just two events for that tour in August. The many-events, golf season is winding down, as we ease from summer toward fall in the northern hemisphere. Let’s bask in the glory of an August sunrise, and run down a quartet of events from the first weekend of the eighth month.

LET/LPGA @ Women’s Open: Miyu bends, but she doesn’t break

Royal Porthcawl was not a known commodity in the major tournament community. The Welsh links had served as host to men’s senior opens, men’s amateurs, and Curtis and Walker Cups in prior years, but never an Open championship for the women or the men. The last-kept secret in UK golf was revealed once again to the world this week, as the best female golfers took to the sandy stage.

Mao Saigo, Grace Kim, Maja Stark, and Minjee Lee hoped to add a second major title to previous wins this season, but only Lee was able to finish inside the top ten. The 2025 playing of the Women’s Open gave us a new-faces gallery from day one. The Kordas and Thitikulls were nowhere to be found, and it was the Mayashitas, Katsus, and Lim Kims that secured the Cymru spotlight. The first round lead was held at 67 by two golfers. One of them battled to the end, while the other posted 81 on day two, and missed the cut. Sitting one shot behind was Miyu Yamashita.

On day two, Yamashita posted the round of the tournament. Her 65 moved her to the front of the aisle, in just her fourth turn around a women’s Open championship. With the pre-event favorites drifting off pace, followers narrowed into two camps: those on the side of an underdog, and others hoping for a weekend charge from back in the pack. In the end, we had a bit of both.

On Saturday, Yamashita bent with 74 on Saturday, offering rays of hope to her pursuing pack. England’s Charley Hull made a run on Sunday closing within one shot before tailing off to a T2 finish with Minami Katsu. Katsu posted the other 65 of the week, on Saturday, but could not overtake her countrywoman, Yamashita. wunderkind Lottie Woad needed one round in the 60s to find her pace, but could only must close-to’s, ending on 284 and a tie with Minjee for eighth.

On Sunday, Yamashita put away the thoughts of Saturday’s struggles, with three-under 33 on the outward half. She closed in plus-one 37, but still won by two, for a first Major and LPGA title.

PGA Tour @ Wyndham: Young gathers first title near home

Cameron Young grew up along the Hudson river, above metro New York, but he also calls Winston-Salem home. He spent four years as a student and athlete at Wake Forest University, then embarked on tour. This week in Greensboro, after a bit of a break, Young opened with 63-62, and revved the engine of Is this the week once more. Runner-up finishes at the Open, the PGA, and a handful of PGA Tour events had followers wonder when the day would come.

On Saturday, Young continued his torrid pace with 65, giving him a five-shot advantage over his closest pursuer. Sunday saw the Scarborough native open with bogey, then reel off five consecutive birdies to remind folks that his time had, at last, arrived. Pars to the 16th, before two harmless bogeys coming home, made Young the 1000th winner of an official PGA Tour event (dating back to before there was a PGA Tour) throughout history. What’s next? I have a suspicion, but I’m not letting on. Mac Meissner closed with 66 to finish solo 2nd, while Mark Hubbard and Alex Noren tied for third.

Korn Ferry Tour @ Utah Championship: Are you Suri it’s Julian?

Who knows exactly when the flower will bloom? Julian Suri played a solid careet at Duke University, then paid his dues on the world’s minor tours for three years. He won twice on two tours in Europe, in 2017. Since then, the grind has continued for the journeyman from New York city. At age 34, Suri broke through in Beehive state, outlasting another grinder (Spencer Levin) and four others, by two shots.

Taylor Montgomery began the week with 62, then posted 64, then 68, and finally, 70. That final round was his undoing. He finished in that second-place tie, two back of the leader. Trace Crowe, Barend Botha, and Kensei Hirata made up the last of the almost quintet. As for Suri, his Sunday play was sublime. His nines were 32 and 31, with his only radar blip a bogey at ten. He closed in style with one final birdie, to double his winning margin. Hogan bloomed late…might Suri?

PGA Tour Americas @ Osprey Valley Open presented by Votorantim Cimentos – CBM Aggregates

Some tournament names run longer than others. This week in Toronto, at the Heathlands course at TPC Toronto, we might have seen the longest tournament title in recorded history. The OVOPBVCCBMA was a splendid affair. It saw three rounds of 62 on Thursday, but of those early risers, only Drew Goodman would stick around until the end. 64 was the low tally on day two, and two of those legionnaires managed to finish inside the top three at week’s end. Saturday brought a 63 from Patrick Newcomb, and he would follow with 64 on Sunday, to finish solo fourth.

Who, then, ended up winning the acronym of the year? It turns out that Carson Bacha had the right stuff in TeeOhhh. Bacha and Jay Card III posted 63 and 64, respectively, on day four, to tie for medalist honors at 23-under 261. Nathan Franks was one shot adrift, despite also closing with 63. If you didn’t go low on Sunday, it was about the check, not the championship.

Bacha and JC3 returned to the 18th hole twice in overtime. Card nearly chipped in from the thick stuff for birdie, while Bacha peeked and shoved a ten-feet attempt at the win. On the second go-round, Card was long with his approach, into the native grasses once more. He was unable to escape, and a routine par from the fairway was enough to earn the former Auburn golfers a first KFT title.

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Photos from the 2025 Wyndham Championship

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GolfWRX is live this week from the final event of the PGA Tour’s regular season, the Wyndham Championship.

Photos are flowing into the forums from Sedgefield Country Club, where we already have a GolfWRX spirit animal Adam Schenk WITB and plenty of putters for your viewing pleasure.

Check out links to all our photos below, which we’ll continue to update as more arrive.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.

 

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BK’s Breakdowns: Kurt Kitayama’s Winning WITB, 3M Open

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Kurt Kitayama just won his 2nd PGA Tour event at the 3M Open. Kurt is a Bridgestone staffer but with just the ball and bag. Here are the rest of the clubs he used to secure a win at the 2025 3M Open.

Driver: Titleist GT3 (11 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD VF 7 TX

3-wood: Titleist GT1 3Tour (14.5 degrees, A3 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX

7-wood: Titleist GT1 (21 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7MB (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-14F), Vokey Design WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Newport 2 Tour Prototype
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy 1.0PT

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Bridgestone Tour B XS (with Mindset)

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