What TGL’s new hole designs reveal for golf and travel

“T” in DATE does not stand for travel. But at the height of its second season, the professional indoor simulator league has adopted some distinctly tournament-like elements. The place remains the same: SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. But in each match, each team will play a custom-designed hole inspired by the city it represents.

Tiger Woods’ the team, for example, will take a par-5 called “The Jup Life,” with an island green and a virtual rendering of Jupiter’s red beacon looming in the background. Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy’s team will take on Storrowed, a winding par-5 framed by the Charles River and Storrow Drive.

You get the picture: fantasy holes, real-world landmarks.

At the most obvious level, the idea is branding. Anchoring each team to a familiar location underscores civic identity and, in theory, helps cultivate fan loyalty. But something else is happening here. Like all thoughtful golf architects, the designers behind these holes—among them Gil Hanse, Beau Welling and Agustín Pizá—are trying to create a sense of place.

Which is essential to the appeal of golf. The best courses are transportable. They take you on a journey through an unforgettable landscape, shaped by unmistakable local features. Each round can feel like a form of travel, even when the terrain is imagined, the landmarks are digital and you’re watching from your couch.

Or can it? As technology mediates more in everyday life, the line between the physical and the virtual continues to blur. Fiction borrows from reality, and reality increasingly resembles a simulation. In that sense, TGL’s new holes feel very much of their time—and in step with where golf finds itself today, a traditional game that’s testing its limits and experimenting with new formats.

However, simulation has its limits. I grew up in Boston, and as much as I appreciate a digital rendition of my city, I also know that I’m not really on Storrow Drive unless I can hear a massive pothole or imagine a delivery truck about to go under an overpass. And I’m not sure I’m in LA unless there’s smog, brake lights, or creeping anxiety about being late. TGL’s LA slot, called Showtime, has the ocean and a play on the Hollywood sign, but none of the others.

In that sense, the virtual league functions as a form of primetime escapism, and I have no doubt that it signals where parts of the game are going. In the future, more golfers will “play” with headphones and instantly “travel” to distant courses. But more than anything, the league’s new holes sharpen my appreciation for the unrepeatable. A virtual lighthouse can frame a shot beautifully. It cannot remove water or salt in the air. That’s another way of saying I might join TGL for the show, but I’ll look elsewhere for my golf and travel.

There is no real trick.

3 things I’m thinking

7 mile beach opens: I had heard about this project for so long that I was beginning to think it might be a simulation. But it’s true: After many delays, 7 Mile Beach, a Mike Clayton and DeVries design in a dreamy coastal location in Tasmania, has officially opened. It tops my 2026 wish list.

Rodeo Dunes goes to: This first 18-hole course is complete and a second is in the works, along with a 7.5-acre Himalayan-style course scheduled for completion in 2027, when the clubhouse is also expected to be ready. Amid a flurry of activity at Rodeo Dunes, in the hills less than an hour from downtown Denver, ownership has put out a call for “founders” — a membership program whose perks include free play for spouses and children and half-price green fees for accompanying guests, among many other perks. Founders deposit is $95,000 by December 31st. More information here.

Travel planning tips? As I draw up my travel plans for 2026 (St. George, Utah, Dominican Republic and New Zealand are already on the list), I’d welcome thoughts on public access courses and destinations that deserve more attention. It’s a big world with more than 58,000 courses, so I know my coverage has plenty of gaps. Any suggestions on what I should complete first? My email is josh.sens@golf.com.