Welcome to this week’s Golf Insider, everyone!
The inaugural Women’s Team Golf League (WTGL) season begins this Sunday, Nov. 8, and I thought I’d get you primed for it. I’ve already highlighted the indoor, team format competition’s announcement and shared the league’s first five teams, but let’s talk about what the WTGL season will actually look like, with the help of TGL/WTGL Explained.
WTGL matches will be played in SoFi Center, a custom-built golf simulation venue on the campus of Palm Beach State College in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. SoFi is unique, having been created with specific technology fit for the TGL/WTGL format. The venue is fit with a giant golf simulator screen; a tee off and shot area with real turf and sand; and a putting green with adjustable undulation and real sand greenside bunkers. It sounds crazy, but it’s quite impressive.
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Two teams will face off in each WTGL match. Each team chooses three of their five players to compete in said match. The match consists of 15 holes, each worth one point, unless otherwise noted (we’ll get to that). The team with the fewest shots on the hole earns the point. If the hole is tied, zero points are awarded. At the end, the team with the most points wins. If the match is tied through 15 holes, a closest-to-the-pin competition decides the winner.
The 15-hole match is split up into two sessions. The first session is nine holes, and the second session is six. In the first session, called “triples,” the two teams face off in what’s essentially an alternate-shot format. The designated first player takes the first shot, the second player takes the second and the third takes the third. Each player has designated holes that they’ll tee off on each session. This keeps the playing order, well, orderly.
In the second session, called “singles,” players face off individually in head-to-head matches, each playing two holes. This is certainly more akin to the match play singles format, where an athlete plays their own ball against the other team’s athlete in a one-on-one battle. Each player on each team plays two holes in the singles session, so the workload is evenly distributed.
Now, remember when I said that each hole is worth one point unless otherwise noted? WTGL has a unique element called “The Hammer” that raises the stakes. A team can “throw the hammer” to increase a hole’s point value by one. If the opposing team accepts the hammer, the hole’s point value increases. If the opposing team declines the hammer, it concedes the hole and the points. Each team begins the match with three hammers, represented by orange flags kept near the teams’ benches.
A hammer can be thrown at any time before a shot is hit, but a hammer must be accepted by the opposing team if it’s thrown before any tee shot. It can’t be declined. Throwing a hammer before the first tee shot is even hit is the ultimate power move.
So, of course, there’s a strategy for when to throw each of your three hammers, which players to put under pressure and when to accept or decline hammers. Can you get those points back if you accept and lose a hammer hole? Can you sacrifice conceding points if you decline the hammer? It all depends on how much faith you have in your teammates to deliver under pressure. Confidence, trust and strategy are at the heart of WTGL.
There’s also a strategy for deciding to counter a team’s hammer with a hammer of your own for the ultimate double or nothing. When matches get tight down the line, sometimes throwing a hammer is the only thing that’ll get you back in it. Here’s an example of a double hammer, when The Bay won a hole worth three points to extend their lead in the match.
What really makes WTGL feel like an arena sport is yes, SoFi Center’s ring-style layout, but also the shot clock. Players have a 40-second window to hit their shot; otherwise, they’ll receive a one-stroke penalty. A player can choose to take a timeout if they feel like they need more time. Each team has two timeouts per session, and unused timeouts cannot be carried over from triples to singles. Spicy, right?
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This indoor league keeps you on your toes, forces you to be on the same train of thought with your teammates and, of course, helps you have a little fun during the offseason. I’m sure it’ll take the LPGA players a bit to get used to the format, but it’s a new and entertaining way to play golf, interact with one another and prepare for the next season. Plus, players will be mic’d up throughout the match, so it’s a chance for them to show their personalities and take things a little less seriously.
“I mean, it’s fun for us, but for the fan it’s really different side of watching normal golf,” Jeeno Thitikul said in a press conference in September at the LOTTE Championship.
“That just really totally different than 18 holes of golf. They just can sit down and grab some beer and just watching us play like basketball games or football games, right. I feel like it’s kind of be more creative and fun like the vibe around us, and we can be more aggressive and the character of the players can come out really like easy.”
TGL/WTGL Explained has everything I told you (and more) in a fun, animated video format, so I absolutely recommend checking those out. There’s so much technically that went into this league, and I’m so excited to see the LPGA stars tackle SoFi for the first time.
The inaugural WTGL season kicks off on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 3 p.m. ET, when Michelle Wie West and Los Angeles Golf Club take on Lydia Ko and New York Golf Club. You can catch it on ESPN.
See you next week, golf fans.
This week in women’s golf
LPGA News
Support the LPGA Foundation in 2026 and be a member for a day
Miyu Yamashita holds off Yan Liu to defend her Maybank Championship title
Yan Liu earns runner-up finish at Maybank Championship
How to watch the 2026 TOTO Japan Classic
Field breakdown: 2026 TOTO Japan Classic
Featured groups: 2026 TOTO Japan Classic
Nelly Korda earns 2026 Rolex Player of the Year award
Making moves: Player of the Year honors clinched and Race to the CME Globe bubble heats up
WTGL News
Annika Sorenstam designs Nordic-style hole for inaugural WTGL season
New partnership lets golfers play TGL, WTGL competition holes at Topgolf
LET News
Alexander storms to third title of 2026 LET season with victory at Wistron Ladies Open
Alexander clinches 2026 LET Order of Merit title with two events remaining
LET returns to Mission Hills China for 2026 Aramco China Championship
Field breakdown: 2026 Aramco China Championship
Watch live: 2026 Aramco China Championship
10 spots at LPGA Q-Series Final Qualifying up for grabs at end of Aramco China Championship
Defending champion Liu hoping to finish season on a high at 2026 Aramco China Championship
Cheenglab excited to be back at “favourite” course after runner-up finish in 2025
Huang aiming to stay consistent after celebrating 18th birthday
Epson Tour News
Epson Tour graduate Mirabel Ting caps landmark season at Maybank Championship
Riding Maybank momentum, Liyana Durisic ready for LPGA Q-Series Challenge
Brooke Biermann and Camille Boyd post 6-under 66s in windy opening round of LPGA Q-Series Challenge
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Five at The IX: Miyu Yamashita successfully defends Maybank Championship title in Malaysia for third LPGA Tour win of the season
On Sunday, Nov. 1, Japan’s Miyu Yamashita became the first player to defend their title at the Maybank Championship. Yamashita closed with a final-round 68 to cap off her week of four rounds in the 60s. Her tournament total 266 (-22) was better than her 2025 total by four shots. The 25-year-old now has three wins on the LPGA Tour this season and five total. With the victory, she moved into second place in the Race to the CME Globe standings, inching closer to Nelly Korda’s number one spot. Yamashita and the number three athlete in the standings, Jeeno Thitikul, are both in the field this week at the TOTO Japan Classic. Here are some quotes from Yamashita after her fifth career LPGA Tour victory.
ANNIKA MAYERS: All right, joining us after the final round of the Maybank Championship is our 2026 winner Miyu Yamashita. Miyu, this is the first time in your career that you have defended a title. What was that experience like for you?
MIYU YAMASHITA (through translation): I’m just really happy to have won the title, and I honestly didn’t expect to be able to win this tournament two years in a row, so I just focused on playing all four days.
MAYERS: You were in contention yesterday leading. Every time that you’ve led after the final round you’ve gone on to win. What do you think that says about your mental strength in your game?
YAMASHITA (through translation): So today was an especially hard round for me, and I think Yan Liu was playing really well and making birdies from early in the round, but I’m glad I was able to stay focused and I was able to play with a good level of nervous energy and stay focused throughout the round.
MAYERS: You are the fastest Japanese player to reach five wins. What does that mean for you?
YAMASHITA (through translation): So it’s been really great seeing so many Japanese players doing so well again this year. It’s really motivating for me as well. And Yuri who [won] last week has been playing some great golf, too.
It’s really motivating for me as well and I honestly didn’t expect to win three times this year, so I’ve always had a strong desire to win.
Q. What have you learned about yourself as a player over the past year?
YAMASHITA (through translation): So last year I’m competing as a rookie, and then like I won one of the majors and it was like my target, it was my goal. And this season like I tried to focus on like each games and also try to stay in good condition throughout the year.
So it makes me like really playing really good golf here.
MAYERS: You are heading to Japan this evening to prepare for the TOTO Japan Classic. How has this week set you up to go play in your home country?
YAMASHITA (through translation): So I’m really looking forward to going back to Japan next week and then playing in front of all the Japanese fans. The TOTO course is different rather than like last year, so it’s a little bit tricky. There are so many nice Japanese players out there so next week I will do my best.
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