Bentham is the perfect place to spend your golden years. More than half of those living in the sleepy village in North Yorkshire are over the age of 50. However, recently there has been an influx of unlikely visitors: young people armed with golf clubs.
Some have even made the nearly two-hour drive from Manchester to putt balls and swing their irons at Bentham golf course. “Covid started it off. It was the only way they could see mates and have a beer,” said John Marshall, 32, the club’s operations manager. “Sometimes it turned into more of an outdoor pub. Then it carried on from there.”
Golf has long been seen as a sport for the grey-haired and retired. This has changed since Covid, with popularity booming among young people. According to England Golf, the average age of club members decreased from 56.18 to 54.99 in 2024 alone and, in the US, research from the National Golf Foundation found that 71% of the rounds played post-pandemic were by golfers under 50.
When lockdown restrictions began to lift, golf was seen as the perfect activity to socialise while staying safe. “Lots of my friends were meeting up to play golf,” said Toby Warner, who was 23 when he took up the sport. “At first, it was mostly just a vehicle to see my friends but the addiction took hold from there.”
Warner, now 28, who works in sports marketing, has continued to hit the course every other weekend. “It’s a really good way to spend a day. You’re outside, having a walk and chat with your friends while playing golf.”
Golf has undergone a cultural resurgence. The US president, Donald Trump, is well known for his love of the game. He even squeezed in a round at his Turnberry club in Scotland during a visit to the UK in July. The golf-themed comedy Happy Gilmore 2, a sequel to the 1996 Adam Sandler cult classic, was a sensation when it was released on Netflix in July, drawing 46.7m views in its first three days. Even Spider-Man himself, Tom Holland, has hit the course, competing in the 2024 BMW PGA Celebrity Pro-Am.
The greater attention paid to the sport has led to booming business for Marshall. He said there had been a big increase in junior memberships and young people filled the course in the evenings, when fees are slightly cheaper.
Golf influencers have also increased the sport’s appeal to young people, with golf-themed challenge videos racking up hundreds of millions of views on YouTube. Bolton-born Rick Shiels is the most followed golf YouTuber with 3 million subscribers, a number that has soared since he first took the title in July 2019 with 561,500 followers.
The two-time US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, who recently featured Trump in one of his videos, has nearly 2.4 million subscribers. The British influencer supergroup the Sidemen have also joined in, starting a channel last year called Big Wedge Golf, which already has more than 700,000 subscribers.
Marshall saw a big increase in players after the YouTuber Golf Mates, who has more than 200,000 followers, filmed a video on the Bentham course. “The phone just didn’t stop ringing,” said Marshall.
Other golf influencers, including Paige Spiranac, who has more than 4 million followers on Instagram, have helped get more women into the sport. Amber Mayes-Long, 29, runs a TikTok account called AmberGolfs, where she shares her passion for the sport, despite being a beginner. Before playing, she “thought it was an old man sport” but after being introduced to golf by her fiance, she took to it immediately.
“I was thinking, men have been gatekeeping this. It was so nice, going out and walking for four hours with no phones. It was peaceful,” she said.
She spends about 25 hours a month playing golf. The sport has completely changed how she spends her weekends. “I used to spend my Sundays hung over. Now I’ll not drink on Saturday night because I want to be fresh for golf,” she said.
Mayes-Long said golf clubs were becoming more inclusive. “Women can still get funny looks when they go to a golf course but I think it is getting better. There are still some barriers, like there being no toilets on the course. Men can just go in the bushes and women can’t.”
With some clubs enforcing strict dress codes and good quality irons starting at about £600, golf is known for being a pricey hobby. “I’m very much a budget golfer,” said Mayes-Long. She buys secondhand golf clothes and clubs. “As a beginner or casual golfer, I just don’t think it’s worth spending £1,000 on clubs, that’s not my financial situation.”
Back at Bentham, Marshall said clubs needed to adapt to the modern age to bring in younger members. Before Covid, the club had experienced a steady decline in numbers before rebounding thanks to young golfers. The club offers age-banded memberships, where younger members pay less, and a points-based pay-as-you-play system for greater flexibility. “Golf has an obsession with trying to make everyone a member. It shouldn’t. The more people you get playing golf is the way you get more members,” he said.
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