It’s early April 2023, and as golf’s elite arrived in Georgia for Masters week, the world’s 1,499th ranked golfer was signing off on his 7-under-par 64 at Florida’s Innisbrook Copperhead Course. An impressive round of golf, absolutely. But inconceivable for a player of that ranking? Not so much.
More remarkable about Sebastian Wiis’ bogey-free round, just three shots shy of the course record, was that he managed to do so from 7,000 kilometres away. Oh, and without requiring a putter!
Welcome to a brave new world, one where golf’s grinders are fighting virtually for a shot at the big time and a chance to prove their game can flourish on the fairways that host the game’s greatest tournaments. Make no mistake, the 994 golfers swinging on the NEXT Golf Tour (NGT) are not swapping Pro V1 caps for VR headsets. This is not The Matrix, and only the most competent players will reach the final levels.
This is real skill, real
