The Sobering of Golf

A new national organization connects players who love golf (but not the drinks on the links)

BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

Like thousands of Americans, Corey Davis discovered the joy of golf during the pandemic.

“In 2020, I became obsessed with the game. I wanted to play a lot,” Davis says, calling from his home in New York State.

“My problem was that everyone I knew who golfed also liked to drink while they played, and I was sober,” he says.

“I think there is this expectation to partake and if you don’t, you’re kind of lame, you’re kind of a loser. Golf has historically been synonymous with drinking culture.”

The National Institute of Health agrees. An NIH study on alcohol and golf published in 2021 noted:

“Few sports have integrated alcohol as seamlessly into their experience as golf (the second most popular sport among U.S. adults), where golfers can consume alcohol during and after a round.”

Google “golf and alcohol” and you find hundreds of references from Birdie Juice to Swing Oil to sipping a John Daly or a Transfusion at the 19th Hole.

Corey Davis slowly found friends who were on the same path as he is. “I started looking for a golf group that supported sobriety and I could only find a few regional organizations and social media sites,” he says.

The experience sparked the golfer to launch Soba in January 2025 as a national nonprofit organization.

“Soba is a wellness community focused on the intersection of sobriety and golf. Members can meet up locally with others to play golf and receive support,” Davis says.

“I’m happy for people to enjoy the game the way they want. I just want to offer an alternative.”

Soba has already formed nine independent chapters across the country, including one in the Denver area. According to Davis, Soba members range in age from 20 to 55. Each Soba group is a grassroots effort, completely run from the ground up locally.

“The game of golf has absolutely exploded at the same time as the larger conversation about mental health and well-being. Meanwhile, the stigma around addiction and substance abuse issues has really lessened,” he says.

Davis notes that alcohol is not the only substance being used by players on Colorado golf courses. Cannabis is widely referred to as golf’s “tempo fixer” on the Internet. While cannabis is legal in Colorado, public consumption is not, and courses ban it. However, near-smokeless vape pens and edibles make policing consumption a challenge.

“We want people to know that living this lifestyle is actually really cool and it includes tons of people. I think sober golfing should be like any other hip golf brand targeting a niche community of players across the country,” he says.

Many of those players are part of the next generation of golfers that courses and clubs want to recruit as new members.

A recent World Finance survey indicated that members of Generation Z (now 13 to 28 years old) drink 20 percent less than Millennials, who also drink less than the Baby Boomers, who are starting to age out of active golfing.

Losing the battle and finding sobriety

Davis did not grow up playing golf, but he did learn to drink at an early age.

“At first, it was a lot of fun, right? I’m 13 and exploring and expanding my mind. Very quickly, alcohol became a crutch in my life,” he says.

“At 18 years old, my best friends are going away to these wonderful universities and I’m headed to a community college and still living in my parents’ basement. It wasn’t that I wasn’t competent. It was that every time I had to step up to my responsibilities, I’d get high or drunk.”

Change did not come into his life until his situation was dire, according to Davis.

“I contemplated not being here anymore and I had some terrible car accidents. Things were getting really dark when someone in my life who was dealing with addiction ended up getting sober. Little by little, I noticed this person changing. We were talking and they said, ‘Do you want help?’ I was 22 and I saw hope in them and I was in rehab the next day. I haven’t had a drink since, and I still work on it every day.”

Wellness golf trips and honest talk about sobriety.

Corey Davis had never been public about his sobriety journey until January 1, 2025.

“I felt it was important to share honestly about what’s been going on with me and to launch Soba,” he says.

Besides forming chapters, Soba is organizing destination golf trips focused on wellness. “We have a shared house or location where it’s mutually supportive. We have a clinician on staff to host meetings,” Davis says.

“In the morning, we have meditation, yoga and breathwork before we play golf. Instead of spending time at the bar, we’re trying to better ourselves so we can be better versions of ourselves when we go back to our lives.”

Davis is also producing Soba Stories, a series of podcast discussions with golfers about sobriety.

His recent guests have included Stephen Malbon of Malbon Golf, Tom Coyne, senior editor of The Golfer’s Journal, and tour golfers.

Their discussions have included talking about the death of 30-year-old PGA golfer Grayson Murray.

“Murray had won on tour. You thought everything was going the right way. He ended up taking his life last year. Sometimes people forget that sobriety can be a life–or–death situation,” Davis says.

As more golfers embrace an alcohol-free life on the links, Colorado courses are serving more beverage alternatives.

According to NielsenIQ statistics, U.S. sales of nonalcoholic beer, wine and spirits increased by 27 percent to $818 million last year.

“There’s obviously a huge market and audience there now. This isn’t like back in the day when I got sober. The only option in 2010 for non-alcoholic adult beverages was O’Doul’s, which was pretty lame,” Davis says.

“I’ll hang out after a round and partake in a non-alcoholic beer or something. I’m not avoiding anybody. There’s a certain value in shooting the bull after a round.”

For one thing, it can lead to important conversations, according to Davis.

“If somebody asks me why I’m not drinking, I just say ’ I’m retired,’ or ‘it doesn’t agree with me.’ If they dig in more, I’ll tell them my story. The people who are really curious are usually the ones that have a problem.”

Soba’s Corey Davis is planning on playing a round of golf on May 15.

“I’ll be celebrating 15 years of sobriety,” he says.

 

For more about the impact that alcohol has on golf fitness: coloradoavidgolfer.com/the-2024-golf-performance-guide-alchohol

 

Colorado clubs ban birdie juice and stock up on popular zero-proof ales and cocktails

Colorado golf courses have always had a quiet love-hate affair with liquor. Beer, wine and spirits are popular and generate a lot of revenue, but they come with major headaches, according to the people charged with policing them.

“It’s hard dealing with drunk golfers on the course. We really try to keep everyone safe and we do not over-serve,” says Kate Weckerly, food and beverage manager at Ocotillo Restaurant and Bar at Redlands Mesa Golf Course.

According to Weckerly, some longstanding golf “traditions” like birdie juice or hidden six packs are no longer considered innocent fun.

If someone brings in their own flask, it is scary for servers because they could unintentionally over-serve them. You want to know that you’re not sending somebody out on the road that way,” she says.

“It’s illegal to bring any alcohol, even canned beers, on the premises at all. When I see it, I tell golfers they need to put it back in their cars or they can leave politely,” Weckerly says.

The restaurant and golf course in Grand Junction offer a complete bar menu with a few tweaks.

“We offer a range of ales but we do try to choose beers that have a lower natural alcohol level so it’s not too much on a hot day when players are golfing for hours,” she says.

According to Weckerly, the number of golfers asking for non-alcoholic beverages has steadily increased.

“I used to order one case of N.A. beer, but a lot of times it would sit there for an entire season and nobody would order them. In the past few seasons, we’ve started to sell out of N.A. beers. It’s not like ordering Coors Light, but the demand has increased tenfold,” she says.

There is also a new attitude on the course and in the clubhouse, especially among the younger members.

“Back when I started out, if a guy ordered an N.A. beer from the cart, all of his friends would make jokes. Nowadays, it’s totally normal. People really have cut back a lot,” Weckerly says.

Redlands doesn’t offer promotions built strictly around alcohol. “I like the new atmosphere. Pace-of-play seems to have picked up, and there are fewer incidents on the course,” she says.

“Golfers tell me their scores have improved, too.”

On the Menu: What Golf Courses Are Pouring

TPC Colorado, Berthoud: Sierra Nevada Trail Pass IPA and five spirits-free cocktails including the Paloma Fizz: grapefruit soda, lime juice, simple syrup and a lime wedge

Grill on the Gore, Vail Golf Club, Vail: Athletic Brewing Co. Upside Dawn Golden Ale and three mocktails, including a Coconut Mint Cooler

Golden Bee, Broadmoor Resort, Colorado Springs: Grüvi Golden Lager, Guinness N/A Draught and mocktails including the Beekeeper’s Smash: Lyre’s American Malt N/A Spirit, lime, ginger, blackberries and mint

Ironwood Bar & Grille, Flatirons Golf Course, Boulder: Upslope N/A Craft Lager and Grüvi Golden Lager

Ocotillo Restaurant and Bar, Redlands Mesa Golf Course, Grand Junction: Coors Edge, Heineken 0.0, and Corona N/A and at least two mocktails