Whose social media posts earn more: World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler or Paige Spiranac? It’s not even close

Here’s how much the average pro golf gets per post … vs. the same for a golf influencer.

After winning a second consecutive Players Championship, Scottie Scheffler has cemented himself as the world’s No. 1 player, according to both the Official World Golf Ranking and the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.

But while Scheffler overcame neck issues to win at TPC Sawgrass, becoming the first player to defend in the tournament’s history, his social media posts can’t come close to demanding the same return as those of influencer Paige Spiranac.

In fact, according to a story at Vegas Insider, Spiranac’s posts often get about four times as much as those from Scheffler, who now has eight PGA Tour victories and a major on his resume.

More from the story:

Spiranac averages around $8,477 to $12,716 per post when using a standard influencer calculation method, which factors in engagement rate per post, extras for the type of post, and additional considerations, culminating in the total rate. On the other hand, Scottie Scheffler, a notable figure in the PGA Golf tour and holding the highest Instagram follower count among his peers on the list with 625,622 followers, only garners an average of $2,000 to $3,000 per post using the same calculation method making Spiranac’s cost per post approximately four times more expensive.

Alex Romo, a prominent golf influencer with the lowest Instagram follower count on the list, just under 40,000 followers, potentially averages $207 to $311 per Instagram post, following industry standards. Meanwhile, professional golfer Chris Kirk, boasting six PGA Tour victories and an average of about 20,000 followers, manages to generate only about $140 to $211 per post, indicating that despite his accolades, his social media presence equates to the same cost as that of a sponsored post by a golf influencer.

According to stats from the website, the average pro golfer gets just less than $1,000 per post while the average golf influencer gets nearly $5,000 per post.

Brokers are scooping up tee times at munis in Los Angeles and reselling them. Golfers are not happy about it

Getting a tee time at Los Angeles’ municipal golf courses is becoming a real problem, according to a report.

In many cities around the U.S., tee times are increasingly difficult to get.

In Los Angeles, it’s becoming a real problem, at least at the city’s municipal golf courses.

In an article by the Los Angeles Times, brokers have gamed the system by scooping up tee times at several municipal golf courses and reselling them for $30 or $40, hiking the price for locals who seemingly have no choice but to pay.

The Times story reports that a local teaching pro and social media influencer, Dave Fink, started a #FreetheTee movement among his 200,000 Instragram followers.

The city courses such as Griffith Park, Rancho Park and Hansen Dam usually only charge about $35 but some golfers in L.A. say that as soon as tee times show up on the booking sites, most are gone within minutes.

“Six hours worth of tee times are gone in seconds,” Charlie (last name withheld) told the Times, which also reported that:

The L.A. Department of Recreation and Parks announced an investigation, roping in the city attorney’s office and the staff at GolfNow, a subsidiary of NBC Sports.

“I know people are frustrated,” said Rose Watson, spokesperson for the recreation and parks department. “At the end of the day, it’s not right, it’s not fair.” She said that “the city is on top of it” but asked for “a little more patience.”

The Times interviewed a broker named Ted Kim, who said it’s “not like I’m taking advantage of technology. I’m booking myself. I’m not doing anything illegal.” Kim said he makes a couple thousand dollars a month as a broker.

Can you ski in Flagstaff then get back to the WM Phoenix Open all in one day? We tried (perhaps foolishly)

Many watch the WM Phoenix Open and think Arizona is wall-to-wall saguaros and oppressive heat. It’s not.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — This week’s “chilly” weather at the WM Phoenix Open puts the metro’s typically balmy climate into perspective. While those who normally partake in the 16th hole chaos often don little more than a tank top, shorts and flip-flops, this week’s rain and cooler temps have brought out winter gear, with some wearing puffy coats and ski hats to watch the world’s best players.

But at its core, the popular event is known for sunshine and blue skies, giving many from around the nation — and the world — the impression that Arizona is wall-to-wall saguaros and overwhelming heat. The Grand Canyon State, however, boasts one of the country’s most intriguing and diverse ecosystems.

For example, while players were starting the first round at TPC Scottsdale on Thursday, students in the mountain town of Flagstaff just 140 or so miles to the north were enjoying their second straight snow day after a series of storms rolled through.

This got us thinking: Could we get up to Flagstaff’s ski area, Arizona Snowbowl, and get back in time to see some afternoon action at the WMPO? We decided to give it a shot.

Here’s how the day unfolded:

Good Good Desert Open to be played under the lights at Grass Clippings at Rolling Hills in Arizona

The first Good Good Desert Open is coming to the first fully lit golf course in Arizona.

TEMPE, Ariz. — The first Good Good Desert Open is coming to the first fully lit golf course in Arizona.

The popular golf influencers will hit the course Wednesday, the eve of the 2024 WM Phoenix Open, at 5 p.m. with a cast of celebrities, pro athletes and content creators in a 14-hole competition in a scramble format. There will be 26 two-person teams in all.

“We’re excited to partner with Troon and Grass Clippings to bring this unique golf event to life,” said Good Good Golf CEO Matt Kendrick.

The event will be live on Peacock.

“The Good Good Desert Open, being live-streamed and played under the lights, symbolizes our commitment to innovating the golf experience and bringing the sport to a wider, digital audience,” said Grass Clippings CEO Jake Hoselton.

Some of the names expected to participate:

  • Garrett Clark and Grant Horvat
  • AJ and Albert Pujols
  • Frankie Borelli and Trent Ryan
  • Matt Scharff and Micah Morris
  • Stephen Castaneda and Brad Dalke
  • Paige Spiranac and Cailyn Henderson
  • Johnny Manziel and Cody Yalt
  • Ryan Sheckler and Jimmy Hosleton
  • Dave Roberts and Pete Wilson

Grass Clippings at Rolling Hills opened to night golf play on Dec. 1. With about 80 LED lights around the course, the executive-length course is a par-3 only course at night.

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Keith Mitchell and friends return for third Tito’s Shorties Classic at Butler Pitch & Putt

It’s a one-of-a-kind golf outing but with a new twist.

It’s a one-of-a-kind golf outing but with a new twist.

The third Tito’s Shorties Classic, which was filmed at Butler Pitch & Putt in Austin, Texas, will air on Golf Channel on Feb. 6 at 10:30 p.m. ET.

The new feature of this year’s event is the collab of PGA Tour golfers with some of the leading social media influencers in the game. The three teams are Keith Mitchell and Robby Berger, Harry Higgs and Nick Stubbe, and Joel Dahmen and Joseph Demare.

“I would say that the Butler Pitch & Putt in Austin is honestly the most fun version of golf I can think of because it really, it’s constant action, it’s quick. It only takes you about an hour to play nine holes. Your level of golf is less important,” Mitchell told Golfweek on Monday from the Monterey Peninsula, where he is getting ready to compete in what he called “the best of the best,” the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. But while Pebble is a pressure-packed PGA Tour event, the Tito’s Shorties Classic is nothing but fun.

“When you get to do the event with the Bob Does Sports crew and Tito’s it just brings an entire additional level of fun to an event that otherwise is pretty unique in the world of golf, where you have the ability to enjoy, you know, a fun, fan-filled event that’s not time-consuming.”

And the game needs this kind of experience, for all types of golfers, Mitchell said.

“That’s what I think Butler Pitch & Putt really embodies. I really hope that more of these venues, regardless of, you know, the Tito Shorties’s Classic, more of these venues could be spread across the U.S. and golf in general because it’s just a very good access point and entertainment value to any level of golfer.

“At Pebble Beach they have The Hay, which is full all the time and that’s a lot of fun. I played it yesterday [Sunday]. Pinehurst, they have The Cradle. And with Butler Pitch & Putt there are just three really good examples of how a good, approachable version of golf could work across the country.”

Check out some photos from the third annual Tito’s Shorties Classic.

Arizona golfer defies the odds, makes two holes-in-one in same round

The National Hole-in-One Registry says the odds of making two aces in one round are 67 million-to-1.

The National Hole-in-One Registry has determined that the odds of making two aces in one round are 67 million-to-1.

Cliff Romme just defied those odds.

Playing Orange Tree Golf Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, the 77-year-old had two holes-in-one in a four-hole stretch during a recent round.

“It started off as probably my worst round in several weeks. I just could not keep the ball in the right spots,” Romme told Phoenix TV station Fox 10 about the inauspicious start to his day. But then came the par-3, 124-yard fourth hole.

After teeing off, he didn’t see it go in. In fact, as he approached the green, he had his wedge in his hands because he didn’t see his ball on the green. That’s when one of his playing partners told him “look in the hole,” Romme said. “And here it was.”

Three holes later was the par-3 seventh.

“I hit it again and the ball, it was another nice hit,” he said. “It felt good, it went up high, had a little bit of a draw, hit the green and rolled down the hill and right in hole.”

This time he kept his eyes, and ears, on the ball.

“Clunk. We could actually hear it,” he said. “I was a little numb. I couldn’t believe it.”

Orange Tree later gave him a red pin flag as a souvenir.

One of 40 in an area golf group dubbed “The Bogey Boys”, Romme did admit that he bought a lottery ticket on his way home, just in case there still some luck left in his day, but he struck out with that purchase.

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Photos: Check out these golf courses covered in snow

Check out some cool photos of golf courses in the winter.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Well, if you’re a golfer, maybe you don’t really want piles of snow covering your favorite 18-hole layout.

Chances are you’ll take a snowman (an 8 on the scorecard) over a snowman made of the white stuff on the tee box or green.

With giant swaths of the nation buried in snow and some places – like Buffalo – postponing football games for two days because of too much of it, many places have golf courses turned into winter playgrounds, with fairways becoming sledding hills.

Check out some cool photos of golf courses in the winter.

Aloha Aspirations: Three weeks in Hawaii includes plenty of golf and a fair dose of island inspiration

“Everybody put a hand on the canoe. Let’s see where she takes us.”

Editor’s note: This story originally ran in May 2023 before a series of wild fires broke out a few months later in August in the state of Hawaii, predominantly causing devastation in Maui. It has been edited to reflect, among other things, that one of the best restaurants on the island, Lahaina Grill, on Front Street in Lahaina, burned to the ground. Tourism is a huge part of the local economy and the reasons to make the journey to Hawaii still ring true.

I signed up for a sunrise canoe trip. It turned out to be so much more.

We paddled across crystalline waters, and I broke a sweat as the beaming sun rose over Mauna Kea on the Big Island. But the 12 of us – the others strangers to me before we met at the surf shack at Auberge Resorts Mauna Lani – who boarded the double-hulled canoe in the blue hour had no idea of the spiritual embrace we were about to experience. Our leader for this adventure called himself Uncle George, and he stood at the front of the boat and spoke to me in a way few people ever have.

“Everybody thought this was a boat ride, right?” he said even before we made our first stroke. “Never think that you were going to really get in touch with yourself. We’re going to help you folks get in touch with yourself, listening not with this ear but with the inner ear that touches the heart that makes you feel like you’re in the belly.

“We’re going out in the ocean and we’re at the mercy of the ocean. We ask the ocean to invite us in, and now we can take these cuffs and shed them off and work on that word, vulnerability, and be open to everything that we’re exposed to – the moon, the sun, the sky, the water. What a wonderful way to start the day, guys. We didn’t even go in the ocean yet. Everybody put a hand on the canoe. Let’s see where she takes us.”

Remembering those we lost in the world of golf in 2023

The world of golf indeed lost some true legends in 2023.

A caddie who expertly worked the grill on the back of his truck.

An Augusta National Golf Club caddie who became the unofficial historian for Masters loopers.

The longtime starter at the British Open who famously never took a bathroom break between the first tee time and the last.

The winner of the first-ever PGA Tour Champions event.

A four-time U.S. Women’s Open champion.

The world of golf indeed lost some true legends in 2023. From players to caddies, course designers to teachers, to many others who contributed their life’s work to the game.

Here’s a closer look at those the world of golf goodbye to this year.

This Florida golf course is known for massive alligators, but that didn’t stop a black belt

Over the years, several people have taken photos of the alligators and posted them on Facebook.


Kurt Tezel has demonstrated karate in very unique places: in front of pyramids in Egypt, on board the USS Intrepid in New York and on a golf course in Cocoa Beach, Florida − in front of a 14-foot alligator about 20 feet away.

Now that’s what some in the martial arts world might call “warrior spirit.”

The sixth-degree black belt, who trains weekly at Ueshiro Merritt Island Karate Dojo on SR 520, was recently playing a round of golf at the Cocoa Beach Country Club last month when he noticed a large alligator hanging out on the bank and another one nearby. In a very so Florida move, he captured the moment on camera. He put his golf club aside and performed a kata (a series of movements in karate).

“You can’t play out there without seeing some alligators,” he said of the golf course. “They chill out on the bank, once in a while you’ll see one walking.”

The video, less than a minute long, shows Tezel in golf wear on the green, demonstrating karate moves in front of a large unassuming alligator, and then ending the kata with a bow. The video then zooms in to show the familiar scaly tail of a large animal. Tezel estimates the gator was up to 14 feet long, and he was about 20 feet away from it. He said there was another alligator nearby, but it’s not easily seen on the video, which was shot by his wife, Tricia Tezel.

Kurt Tezel, president of Supra Color Enterprises Inc. and longtime resident of Brevard, first Merritt Island, then Cocoa Beach, has trained in karate for more than 20 years and holds the rank of Sensei. Had one of the alligators stirred or showed any kind of movement as he did his kata, his instincts as a Floridian would have kicked in: “Run zigzag, run serpentine.” He also was mindful of his wife’s reaction as she filmed the alligator-karate scene.

The Cocoa Beach Country Club is transparent about the possibility of seeing alligators there − so says a notice on the city of Cocoa Beach’s website online: “Wildlife: The waterfowl, other birds, the dolphins, alligators, turtles and raccoons make the Cocoa Beach Country Club a true habitat and wildlife sanctuary for the enjoyment of all golfers. Course features include putting greens, a driving range and a ’19th hole’ where you can get a bite to eat, a beverage of your choice and reminisce over the great golf shots you just made! The CBCC also features banquet facilities at reasonable prices to host those special gatherings and celebrations.”

Over the years, several people have taken photos of the alligators at the Cocoa Beach Country Club and posted them on Facebook. Scroll to see social media photos, some possibly featuring the same 14-foot alligator, from the Cocoa Beach Country Club golf course.

Safety tips: What to do if you see an alligator?

Though Florida residents have learned to coexist with alligators, the potential for conflict always exists, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The wildlife commission recommends people avoid feeding alligators and to keep your distance if you see one. “Swim only in designated swimming areas during daylight hours. And keep pets on a leash and away from the water,” FWC’s site states.

Serious injuries caused by alligators are rare here, but if you are concerned about a gator, call the nuisance alligator hotline at 866-392-4286 or visit myfwc.com.

Alligator sightings at Cocoa Beach Country Club golf course in Florida
Over the years, there have been sightings of alligators large and small at the Cocoa Beach Country Club. Signs warn about critters on the golf course, saying: “Caution. Beware of alligators, snakes.”

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Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. She is a third-degree black belt in Ueshiro Shorin-Ryu Karate USA and trains in Melbourne, Florida. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang.