What golfers really cared about in 2025

If 2025 has taught us anything, it’s that most golfers are nothing if not honest, especially when value, time and tradition collide.

The year’s most-read stories weren’t built around tour gossip or shiny headlines. Instead, the Golfshake audience connected with the topics that shape their actual weekends: club membership, pace of play, handicaps, distance benchmarks, and the new golf courses they really should be playing.

The year of the membership question

At the heart of 2025’s reading list was the same conversation happening in clubhouses up and down the country: “Am I renewing… and if I do, what am I getting for it?”

When Golfshake dug into why golfers may walk away from membership, the answers were painfully familiar - rising costs and the growing difficulty of getting a tee time when life allows it. 

And yet the follow-up survey painted a more nuanced picture: nearly four in five members still plan to renew, but the undecided group is where clubs either win loyalty or lose golfers to a more flexible future. 

The message from readers was consistent: golfers aren’t demanding the death of membership - they’re asking for it to evolve. The most popular ideas were points-based options, seasonal categories, weekend memberships, and 9-hole models that reflect how people actually live now. 

And alongside value, golfers want the “basics” taken seriously again: pace, etiquette, booking systems that don’t feel like a midnight lottery, and club management that communicates clearly. 

Pace of play: the subject that never dies

If membership was the year’s biggest theme, slow play was the loudest recurring frustration. Golfers overwhelmingly want sub-four-hour rounds, but many aren’t getting them. 

One of the most-discussed solutions was refreshingly old-school: more two-balls (and even structured foursomes play) to keep the course flowing without turning the day into a conveyor belt. 

Handicaps: WHS and the never-ending issues

The World Handicap System still divides opinion, but so did the old handicap system. But 2025’s readership showed something shifting: less shouting, more practical proposals.

But the big “better or worse?” debate drew a flood of real suggestions: tighten up what counts, handle casual scores carefully, and tweak calculations so extremes don’t distort reality - while acknowledging WHS has made handicapping more accessible for many golfers. 

The distance reality check (and why your mate’s 7-iron “number” doesn’t help you)

Distance content always attracts eyeballs, but the most-read pieces leaned on data and coaching reality rather than ego.

Driver benchmarks grounded the conversation in genuine averages and showed how age and handicap change expectations. 

And when golfers asked “why am I not longer?”, the answer wasn’t mystical - we shed light on how it was measurable: speed, attack angle and spin. 

Courses, winter golf and the never-ending “where next?”

Finally, the list proves golfers are planners and dreamers. You devoured underrated course lists, winter-proof recommendations and bucket-list features and crucially, you didn’t just want the famous names. 

Whether it’s a winter links day at Royal West Norfolk, a “hidden gem” drive to somewhere you’ve never played, or a flight where you’d rather take your own sticks than trust rentals, the appetite for golf experiences remains huge. 

2025’s most-read stories show a community that loves golf deeply. Golfshake readers are an avid bunch: connected to the game, invested in how it’s changing, and always looking for ways to get more out of every round. 

Whether it’s making sense of memberships and handicaps, chasing a few extra yards, tightening up routines, or plotting the next course to tick off, the theme is the same: they want to play more, and they want to play better. 

Thanks for reading throughout 2025. Here’s to more golf, better golf and plenty of great days out there in 2026!