What's new heading into second season of TGL

Mark SchlabachDec 23, 2025, 10:40 AM ET

CloseSenior college football writer
Author of seven books on college football
Graduate of the University of Georgia

The second TGL season tees off Sunday with a rematch of last year’s SoFi Cup finals, in which Atlanta Drive GC defeated New York Golf Club in a pair of one-point matches on the final hole to capture the inaugural title in the tech-infused indoor golf league.

The six team rosters remain unchanged from the inaugural season, although 15-time major champion Tiger Woods and two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas won’t compete, at least at the start of the TGL season, while they continue to recover from back surgeries.

Woods, who turns 50 on Dec. 30, is expected to attend Jupiter Links GC matches and wear a microphone as he cuts up with teammates and competitors. All of the matches will be broadcast on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and/or ESPN+.

Last season, Jupiter Links GC and Rory McIlroy’s Boston Common Golf were the only teams not to make the playoffs. In fact, those teams combined to win only one of 10 matches.

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“I think all of us are ready to not suck anymore,” said Tom Kim, a member of Jupiter Links GC. “We’re ready to win, especially for a guy who’s not used to losing as much. And he’s on our butts to get into the playoffs.”

So what is new in the six-team league that will play five matches each in a regular season that starts Sunday and ends March 3?

Larger GreenZone putting green

There’s a bigger and badder GreenZone putting surface, which is 38% larger than last season, according to TGL. It increased from 3,800 square feet to 5,270 and now has 12 hole locations (there were seven previously).

TGL said 608 actuators will be used to morph the putting surface and two larger full swing virtual greens under the turf are now 1,250 square feet, which is 60 square feet larger than last season.

“Obviously, the green is almost double the size,” said 2023 U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark, a member of The Bay Golf Club. “I’ve heard that it’ll be easier to read and a little more consistent, which I think is awesome for any of us, but especially guys that pride themselves on being good putters.”

The upper tier of the green has fixed topography and doesn’t move, according to Andrew Macaulay, chief technology officer at TMRW Sports. The large knoll in the middle of the upper tier was dropped by about 1½ feet to give in-arena fans a better view of the action. A small bunker was also removed to increase the putting surface.

“We’ve made the two other bunkers bigger and riveted edges around them, so a much nicer-looking and easier transition from sand to fairway around them,” Macaulay said.

Another big change is that turf was laid down grain all the way toward the middle, eliminating tricky into-the-grain shots that perplexed players last season. Long iron shots on par-5 holes that might have stopped last season are now more likely to bounce on the green and toward the hole.

“Now, every chip’s down grain, which I think will create more excitement for the viewership, because we’ll be able to do anything we want with a golf ball,” Clark said.

Signature holes for every team

Among several new holes from golf course architects Gil Hanse, Beau Welling Design, Pizá Golf and Nicklaus Design are six that have been updated to become signature holes for each of the teams.

For instance, The Bay Golf Club’s “Bay Breaker” hole features towering redwoods and fog. Alcatraz and the San Francisco skyline can be seen in the distance. Macaulay said the hole was inspired by Pebble Beach Golf Links, TPC Harding Park and Lincoln Park golf courses in the Bay area.

“Every team has their own hole, and, of course, any given match between two teams, those two holes will be played,” Macaulay said. “It’s an advantage for the team because they get to play their hole every single match, whereas their opponent, during the regular season, only gets to play it when they’re playing against The Bay, for example.”

Beyond the signature holes, there are a number of other new holes that were added.

Hanse’s first hole for TGL is a par-5 called “Stone & Steeple,” which has Sahara-style cross bunkers off the tee and a stone wall down the left side that separates the playing area from a graveyard next to a New England-style church.

“Players must be accurate with their approaches — the church provides a grim reminder that any shots hit too far left are not long for this world,” the TGL description said.

A par-4 hole called “Stinger” was inspired by Tiger’s signature stinger shots. A natural rock formation encourages golfers to hit stinger shots off the tee, no higher than 50 feet or so.

“Those brave and skillful enough to take it on successfully will be rewarded with a boost of extra roll beyond 260 yards into position A on this double-dogleg hole,” the TGL description said. “There is an alternative option: a short, mid-to-high draw off the tee to skirt the rock formation. But where’s the fun in that?”

A new par-3 hole takes its name from the natural limestone sinkholes of the Yucatán Peninsula, which were sacred to Mayans.

“We can still have the traditional holes, but we can have some holes that you would see in a video game,” said Atlanta Drive GC member Billy Horschel. “Because in some sort [of way], this is a video game that we’re playing. We’re playing a high-tech video game in a sense.”

New graphics and technology

TGL is promoting its new shot comparison graphics, which will use Virtual Eye technology to track golfers’ shots on fairways and greens. The league said “data-rich, augmented-reality graphics overlaid on the green will also illustrate shot quality at pivotal moments by comparing to team averages and the best approach ever on that hole.”

“[L]ive shot tracing will track balls in flight before they hit TGL’s massive screen, the largest simulator in all of golf,” TGL said in a news release.

Additionally, SoFi Center now has 79 cameras to capture every angle of a match, “including the return of the award-winning SmartPin Cam, which provides live, 360-degree views from the perspective of the pin flag” and “new camera angles, such as a reverse shot from a fairway back to the tee or hovering perspective above the green.”