Cabo San Lucas, BCS.- Unlike contact sports, the golf experienced a rebound during the Covid-19 pandemic. His practice, adequate for world confinement restrictions at that time, encouraged more and more people of different ages to decide to try.
Although there are no exact figures regarding how many people were added to golf in Mexico after 2020, it is a turning point from the perspective of Joe Mazzeodirector of World Wide Technology (Wwt) Championshipone of the two PGA tournaments that are celebrated annually in Mexico.
“Something that golf has had, especially since the pandemic, in the last five or six years, is that it has become more popular, more played and more received by people. We know that golf participation figures have won greatly since COVID,” Mazzeo told The economist In the previous 2025 edition of WWT Championship In Los Cabos.
Five years after the pandemic and with the golf industry already in normal rhythm, the next step is to renew the show thinking of holding new generations of fans.
According to figures shared by the WWT Championshipthe average age of their attendees ranges from 25 to 50 years. The range is wide, maintaining the weight of traditional older fans and the youngest, looking for innovative experiences.
“I think in any event, or business really, you are always looking to reinvent and be relevant to different segments. So, it is important for us to reach youth,” added Mazzeo, who is part of the WWT Championship since 2006.
“I think the challenge for us, as organizers of these events, is not only to leave fans playing, but to pull them so that they are also enjoying everything that is professional golf. We see it on social networks, today golf influencers are more seen than ever.”
The WWT Championship was born in 2007 as the first PGA Tour tournament held outside the United States and Canada. Since then it has gone through several venues in Mexico, until reaching ‘El Cardonal’ from diamond Cabo San Lucas in 2023.
It is a tournament that has established itself as a reference not only of Mexico, but of Latin America. Apart from its sporting weight, it begins to experience amenities for young audiences.
“This year we made alliances with many local schools and colleges so that children enter free. It is a matter of someone bringing them, we have done a lot to invite the entire teacher staff, to give them tickets in courtesy, also run their voice among families to come those children.
“We also have areas exclusively for children. Maybe they don’t want to be walking in the country yards.
Mazzeo did not rule out that at some point they use artificial intelligence or video games (Gaming) for young fans in their events, although for now there is no specific strategy in those senses.
“It is part of the challenge we have. We are doing it, involving very young children to the sport. They enter the tournament for free, we make a clinic to live with professionals and see that golf is also fun, it is not only about playing quiet. That is part of what we are doing to attack the new generations.”
Show transition
Los Cabos It is distinguished by hosting golf events for more than four decades. One of his current referents in Teaching, José Marcellán, also shared with this newspaper his expectations about the renewal of this sport.
“You have to try to play faster. A golf game can last five hours (…) I would say that the golf challenge is to do a little faster instead of playing and, second, keep talking well and giving people the opportunity to try it without presupposing.”
Marcellán, originally from Spain and member of PGA of America for 19 years, is Head Golf Professional at Grand Solmar Pacific Dunes Resort Golf & Spa, which has an 18 holes field designed by Greg Norman.
“People whenever proveing say: ‘What father is, how fun.’ So, I think that a problem that golf has is the challenge of showing people that it is not an elitist sport, which is for normal people and that you can have fun from the first day. Also that it is not for older people, because if you want to be a great player you have to be in a spectacular physical form, like any Olympic athlete.”
This situation occurred in recent years with baseball, to mention another sports example. Major Leagues (MLB) and all regulatory entities modified rules to accelerate the game time.
“Is there an urgency to rejuvenate fans in golf?”
“I really do not see it like that. Obviously, we have to understand that in the ends the level of golf is different than in Puebla, to cite an example. In Puebla we can see many fields, country private or non -private clubs with culture of having 50 or 100 children in school. Los Cabos is not so, it is more a resort destination. The promotion of golf for Mexican society will be less. People started playing it.
The 2025 edition of the WWT Championship It will be from November 6 to 9 in ‘El Cardonal’, Los Cabos. Among the confirmed relevant players is JJ Spaun, champion of the US Open this season.
WWT Championship 2025 data
- This year it will exceed 112 million dollars in Prize Moey, a record for any golf tournament in Latin America.
- This year he plans to receive more than 630 volunteers.
- 220 countries and territories receive their international transmission.
- 24.9 million dollars of economic spill (average) per edition since the ends moved.
- 3.8 million dollars donated to different philanthropic causes in 19 years of life.
- 4 Main sponsors: Delta, Rolex, Mercedes Benz and Maestro Dobel, in addition to WWT with the insured Naming at least until 2027.
