Free Golf
Since the beginning, our mission at Whim has been to advance golf in a way that’s thoughtful, creative, and scalable. We have designed, built, and operated 9 different putting green popups open for more than a combined 600 days across Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City over the last 6 years.
“Free Golf” initially began as a fun experiential retail concept but quickly evolved into a design methodology all on its own. We both aim to provide free access to play golf and also to liberate it from the stigmas related to who does and who does not belong in the game.
We know that people with parents who play golf have a 1-in-4 chance of picking up the game where people whose parents don’t play golf have a 1-in-250 chance of picking it up. Young parents and parents to-be (18-35 years old) make up the biggest age cohort in the United States. With this in mind, we believe the Free Golf Initiative can help shape a youth movement and more diverse future by encouraging non-golfers to give golf a chance.
Golf is broccoli?
Our hypothesis is that most people don’t think they will like golf and the data backs this up.
According to the National Golf Foundation, 10 million out of 115 million people ages 18-35 played golf and another 15 million wanted to play golf last year. This means that 90 million people age 18-35, or 79%, don’t want to play golf. Our goal is to open up spaces in cities for people who have never tried golf and don’t plan to because they don’t think it’s for them.
We apply our background in design, advertising, and events to produce an interactive experience that investigates the lack of accessibility in golf, especially in context of other sports. Cities provide the government infrastructure for soccer, basketball, tennis, ping-pong, handball, baseball, and more however there’s a noticeable gap in golf. While there’s hardly room for an 18 or even 9 hole golf course in Manhattan, prospective players and would-be golfers don’t need a proper course to have a positive first impression with the game that plants the seed to grow into a permanent player.
Support Free Golf
Over the years we have partnered with a wide range of brands on our Free Golf putting greens big and small. Brand partners include Reebok, Oakley, Jarritos, Topgolf, Sauz, Sidestreet Golf, Head Golf, Callaway, Bettinardi, Tom’s Juice, The Baer Fax, Something Special Studios, and more.
Brands can sponsor our permanent space in NYC for single-day events or month-long activations and we can also bring Free Golf to brands with our portable putting green designs.