TGL presented by SoFi, the new team golf league backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Sports, announced Toptracer as the Official Ball-Tracing Partner of TGL presented by SoFi. TGL consists of six teams of PGA TOUR superstars competing in a progressive, fast-paced form of team golf within the custom-built SoFi Center, a 250,000 square foot venue on the campus of Palm Beach State College in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. The league’s inaugural season begins Tuesday, Jan. 7 in prime time on ESPN and ESPN+ in the U.S. Today’s announcement was made by Scott Blevins, General Manager, Toptracer, and Andrew Macaulay, Chief Technology Officer, TMRW Sports.
Toptracer’s ball-tracing capabilities are a central part of TGL’s technology mix, which incorporates Toptracer’s camera sensors to track ball flights on tee and approach shots taken into TGL’s massive screen and accurately extrapolate the remaining trajectory of each shot. TGL’s tee boxes are set 35 and 20 yards from the screen, which is 64×53 feet and nearly 24 times larger than a standard simulator screen. All ofToptracer’s data will be fed into TGL’s data engine, providing viewers and second-screen users a depth of insights, learnings, and predictive data on every shot.
“We’ve been relentlessly collaborating with TGL over the past two years on how to deliver the best fan experience, with all our learnings from broadcasting golf’s biggest moments, our 1,000+ strong network of golf facility operators across the globe—including Topgolf, the biggest off course operator—and golf governing partners,” said Blevins. “As leaders in modern golf, we’re excited to be part of this groundbreaking format and deliver a new way for fans to be engaged with the sport.”
“For two years, TGL presented by SoFi has been working with Toptracer’s technology team to refine how we accurately merge live action and virtual technology. With the flexibility, accuracy, and reliability of Toptracer’s ball-tracing technology, we’re gathering an extensive amount of data on each shot to help accurately transition into the virtual landscapes of our custom-designed holes,” said Macaulay. “Using Toptracer’sball-tracing has added to the scale of TGL, allowing for our tee boxes to be a long way from the screen and for shots to be hit from any lie and location.”
Toptracer is the No. 1 range technology in golf, integrated into more than 1,000 driving range facilities around the world—including Topgolf venues—and provides broadcast TV ball-tracing technology for all of golf’s major tournaments. Toptracer’s versatile capabilities can be seamlessly integrated into an indoor setup, which was first tested in Stockholm, Sweden in 2022 and contributed to the development of TGL’s playing field.
TGL presented by SoFi:
TGL presented by SoFi consists of six teams of PGA TOUR superstars competing in progressive, fast-paced team golf within the custom-built SoFi Center, a 250,000 square foot, steel-supported venue on the campus of Palm Beach State College in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. TGL’s inaugural season begins Tuesday, Jan. 7 in prime time on ESPN and ESPN+ in the U.S. and with other prominent media partners around the globe. To learn more about TGL, its teams, rosters, competitive format, and technology, visit TGL’s Explainer Page.
Community-building activities for TGL’s six inaugural teams will continue to be unveiled this year, as will the season schedule and other fan-centric elements. Each TGL team is comprised of four PGA TOUR players and will have three players compete in each match:
- Atlanta Drive GC: Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel, and Lucas Glover. Ownership: Arthur M. Blank, AMB Sports and Entertainment (Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United, PGA TOUR Superstores).
- Boston Common Golf: Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott, and Hideki Matsuyama. Ownership: John Henry, Tom Werner, Mike Gordon, and Fenway Sports Group (Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC, Pittsburgh Penguins, RFK Racing); as well as limited partner Niall Horan.
- Jupiter Links Golf Club: Tiger Woods, Max Homa, Tom Kim, and Kevin Kisner. Ownership: Tiger Woods’ TGR Ventures and David Blitzer (Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils, Cleveland Guardians, Washington Commanders, Crystal Palace FC, Real Salt Lake).
· Los Angeles Golf Club: Tommy Fleetwood, SahithTheegala, Collin Morikawa, and Justin Rose. Ownership: Founding investor and owner Alexis Ohanian, Seven Seven Six, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams; as well as limited partners the Antetokounmpo brothers, Alex Morgan, Servando Carrasco, Michelle Wie West, Tisha Alyn, Carolyn Tisch Blodgett, and Shonda Rhimes.
· New York Golf Club: Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele, and Cameron Young. Ownership: Steven A. Cohen (New York Mets) and Cohen Private Ventures.
· The Bay Golf Club: Wyndham Clark, Ludvig Åberg, Min Woo Lee, and Shane Lowry. Ownership: a group led by Avenue Sports Fund with Marc Lasry (former Milwaukee Bucks), Stephen Curry; as well as limited partners Andre Iguodala, Klay Thompson, Alex Albon, Leonardo Fiorvanti, Kanoa Igrashi, and John Stones.
TGL’s venue, SoFi Center, is an unprecedented, tech-infused arena for golf and creates an intimate and unique “greenside” fan experience with 1,500 seats wrapping around TGL’s field of play, which at nearly 100 yards long and 50 yards wide is the size of a football field.
- Screen: The integration of TGL’s technology mix starts with teams teeing off from real grass tee boxes to play custom-designed, virtual holes projected onto a 3,400-square-foot screen (64’x53’), nearly 24 times larger than a standard golf simulator screen (16’x9’). The tee boxes feature real grass at fairway and rough length, as well as real sand for approach shots from fairway bunkers.
- Green: Once teams are inside approximately 50 yards they will transition to live action and finish each hole within a 22,475-square-foot short game complex that transforms between holes. TGL’s green uses advanced technology to make each hole a unique challenge for the teams, including changing approach angles with a 41-yard-wide turntable that rotates the green and three bunkers, as well as morphing its topography using nearly 600 motorized actuators embedded under the synthetic putting surface.
- Broadcast Enhancements: TGL’s technology mix allows for every shot to be broadcast live, teams playing within a 40-second shot clock, all players being mic’d, delivery of advanced shot data, and other broadcast enhancements.
