Fifteen years ago, Traveling Golfer started with a fairly simple idea: go find great golf, meet the people who make golf destinations special, and share it with readers, listeners and, eventually, viewers.
It began as a golf column in a newspaper. Then came magazine articles, then the Golf Talk Live radio show, then Traveling Golfer TV, and today Traveling Golfer, a golf travel network.
A lot has changed along the way. Streaming arrived. Social media exploded. Phones became television screens, and audiences scattered across more platforms than anyone imagined when it all began.
But one thing hasn’t changed.
Yuengling has been there.
As Traveling Golfer celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2026, D.G. Yuengling & Son, Inc. is marking its 15th year as a sponsor.
Fifteen years of Traveling Golfer.
Fifteen years of Yuengling.
That’s worth celebrating.
More Than a Sponsorship
In the sponsorship world, landing a sponsor is a big deal. Inking a three-year deal is huge. Having a partner for 15 years….well, that’s beyond special.
Yuengling didn’t simply buy advertising around Traveling Golfer. Over the years, the brand became part of the fabric of the show and the experiences it celebrates.
Golf has always been about more than the number on a scorecard. It’s the foursome, the road trip, the story somebody tells after the round. It’s the grill at the turn, the clubhouse after 18, dinner that evening, and the conversations that begin with, “You should have seen this shot…”
That’s the heart of Traveling Golfer, and it’s why the relationship with Yuengling has always felt natural. Golf brings people together. Travel brings people together. And for nearly two centuries, Yuengling has built a brand around the same ideas: tradition, family, authenticity and sharing good times.
Dick Yuengling, President of D.G. Yuengling & Son, Inc., put it simply:
“We’re proud to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Traveling Golfer and our 15th year as sponsors. They’ve been great ambassadors and partners for our brand, and we remain committed to this special relationship.”
In an advertising world built around impressions, clicks and short-term campaigns, that last line is refreshingly old-fashioned. It’s about a relationship. And relationships have value.
Where It Started
Traveling Golfer has never stood still. The column became magazine articles, the articles became Golf Talk Live [with founder Tony Leodora], and the talk show became television and then a network. Each step changed the format and kept the mission.
Yuengling has been part of that story since day one. A partner who stays through every new format is rare.
How the Show Changed, and What Didn’t
When Traveling Golfer began, television was still television. You sat in front of one. Today, a golfer might discover a destination in a 30-second phone video, watch the full episode on a connected TV that evening, and book the trip after visiting the destination’s website. The television didn’t disappear. It multiplied.
So Traveling Golfer changed with it, growing into a multimedia golf travel property across television, streaming, digital video and social. The mission stayed consistent: show golfers places that make them want to pack their clubs and go. Sometimes that’s a famous resort. Sometimes it’s a course viewers have never heard of. Sometimes golf is only part of the story. We’ve found restaurants, breweries, hotels, beaches, small towns and plenty of characters along the way, because golfers don’t stop being travelers when they walk off the 18th green.
You don’t get to 15 years because everything goes according to plan. There have been changes in networks, technology, distribution and advertising. Great years and difficult ones. Long drives, early call times, missed flights, weather delays and equipment failures. But the cameras kept rolling. The show has been named Best Golf Show in America multiple times by the International Network of Golf, and those awards mean a great deal. But longevity tells its own story, and so does a sponsor who stays for the ride.
The Value of Being There
Modern marketing chases what’s next: the next platform, the next audience, the next trend. Sometimes that’s necessary, and we’ve embraced plenty of new technology ourselves. But the value of simply being there, consistently, over time, doesn’t get discussed enough.
Brand relationships aren’t built from a single impression. They’re built from repeated associations. Year after year, golfers watching Traveling Golfer have seen Yuengling connected with golf, travel, friendship and the experiences around the game. That’s not a campaign anymore. That’s an association, and both brands have had 15 years to build it.
America’s Oldest Brewery knows a thing or two about longevity. Founded in 1829, Yuengling has come through prohibition, changing tastes, changing generations, and a changing marketplace while remaining a family business. Neither of us is interested in changing just for the sake of it, but both understand that surviving requires evolving.
The Next 15
Anniversaries naturally make you look backward, and we’re doing plenty of that this year. There are people who helped build Traveling Golfer who deserve recognition, and sponsors and partners who took chances on the show long before anyone knew where the journey would lead. Yuengling is at the top of that list.
The 15th anniversary season brings a new series, “15 for 15,” that revisits the best experiences from the show’s roughly 250 episodes, celebrating the people, places and partners who have been part of Traveling Golfer since the beginning. It also includes new Road Trips, visits to new destinations that carry the same approach forward.
Because after 15 years, the mission really hasn’t changed.
Find great golf.
Find great destinations.
Find great people.
Turn on the cameras.
And take everybody with us.
That’s the approach, and it hasn’t changed in 15 years.
Yuengling will be there again this year, just like they were in year one.
After 15 years together, here’s the simplest way to describe this relationship:
Some sponsors buy a season.
Some sign for three.
The rare partner becomes part of the story.
Here’s to 15 years.
And to all the roads we haven’t traveled yet.
