TGL Sets Dec. 27 Opener With Boston Common Facing Koepka's Expansion Club
The simulator golf league's third season opens with two matches at the SoFi Center before a postseason begins March 1.
By Noor Graham ·
Rory McIlroy's Boston Common Golf will face Brooks Koepka's Motor City Golf Club when TGL opens its third season on Dec. 27 at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The Motor City squad is the first expansion team in the league's history.
The league founded by McIlroy and Tiger Woods released a 14-match schedule that sends each team into four regular-season matches before a postseason starting March 1. The postseason runs through March 23, with dates and start times still to be announced.
The opening slate includes a second match Dec. 27 pitting Woods' Jupiter Links Golf Club against Los Angeles Golf Club, the defending champions. Whether Woods plays will be decided closer to the contest. The league's two co-founders are expected at the venue for the season's first day.
Koepka's roster carries five players, matching a league-wide change from four players per team to five. Three players appear in each match. Boston Common acquired Shane Lowry in a recent trade.
The schedule spacing is light. Boston Common plays Dec. 27, then does not return until Jan. 12, with further matches Jan. 31 and Feb. 23. Rosters grew to five while match lineups stay at three players, and each team adds one expansion club, bringing the league to five teams.
Matches run 15 holes across two sessions. Holes 1 through 9 use three-on-three alternate shot with a fixed rotation; holes 10 through 15 shift to one-on-one singles play. Full-swing shots are hit off grass, rough or sand platforms into a simulator screen. Putts and short shots under 50 yards are played on a rotating, adjustable green inside the venue.
Each hole scores one point, ties score zero, and there are no carryovers. A team may throw a yellow weighted flag called the hammer, which doubles a hole's point value; the opposing side can accept and play for two points or concede the hole. Each team holds three hammers per match. Players have 40 seconds per shot, with a one-stroke penalty for exceeding the clock, and each side gets four timeouts per match. Overtime is settled by a three-on-three closest-to-the-pin competition.
Source: CBS Sports
