What does it take to engineer an entirely new sport that fuses live gameplay and virtual environments into a single seamless experience? That’s the challenge Andrew Macauley and the team at TMRW Sports tackled with TGL, the groundbreaking indoor golf league.

In this episode, Andrew takes us behind the scenes of building one of the most technologically complex venues in the world: a 5-story, 64’x-53’ impact screen stitched together by 9 projectors, and a 500,000-pound rotating green that transforms in real time. He shares how they solved everything from absorbing 200+ mph drives without ricochet, to making a virtual course feel physically real for the athletes hitting the shots.

From his early work at Topgolf, Andrew breaks down the process, testing, and iteration that brought this sport to life. He also previews what’s next for Season Two: larger greens, higher resolution visuals, expanded hitting areas, and a tech stack built to push the limits of “sports entertainment”.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• The behind-the-scenes experimentation and late nights that turned the bold idea of “what if golf was reimagined for TV?”
• How Andrew’s background at Topgolf shaped the systems thinking and precision engineering that underpin TGL’s entire tech stack
• Why the league’s design team intentionally built failure into early prototypes
• What surprised players most when they first hit into the 5-story screen, and how athlete feedback continues to drive innovation between seasons
• How TMRW Sports is pushing the boundaries of fan experience and redefining what “live” means when digital and physical worlds converge

Resources and Links:

Connect with Andrew Macauley on LinkedIn and learn more about TMRW Sports on their website.

Learn more about Next League on our website and LinkedIn. We are leading sports organizations into the digital future.

Next League is partnering with Sports Business Journal for the Rising Woman of the Year Award. Nominations are now open! Learn more here.