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A Gallup survey conducted in 2025 reported that alcohol consumption among adults in the United States had dropped to 54%, a new low in the 90 years the poll has been running.
Don't tell that to golf courses, though, which continue to serve - and occasionally over-serve - golfers at a healthy rate. Purely anecdotally, the number of imbibing golfers I have noticed has skyrocketed in the post-COVID years, and shows little signs of slowing down. What does slow down, though, is pace of play. I have observed golfers I've been paired with take longer to play on the back nine when they have elected to get a couple of drinks at the turn.
I am not a teetotaler myself, but I tend to regard alcohol as purely a post-round indulgence. On the occasions when I have had a drink on the golf course, it has not done my game any favors. Some sort of refreshing cocktail or a good pint of hard cider are my preferred 19th hole orders.
What is golf's ideal adult beverage?
In researching various golf cocktails, it is clear that the most golf-friendly ones are light, refreshing and a little fruity. This is no surprise; golf being a warm-weather sport, we crave something to cool us down. Certain Scottish clubs like to share a sweet liqueur called Kümmel, which tastes overwhelmingly of caraway seed - more suited to carrying golfers through cold, windy and rainy conditions.
For stateside golfers, here are five cocktails worth challenging your home course bartender to make.
The Transfusion
It is probably a coincidence, but the purple hue of this concoction of vodka, ginger ale and grape juice sure does contrast nicely with the green grass of a golf course. Experts disagree about the Transfusion's beginnings, though it is generally thought to have emerged in the 1950s. Some claim 35th president Dwight Eisenhower popularized it as his go-to golf beverage both in Palm Springs and at Augusta National.
The post-pandemic golf boom has taken the Transfusion nationwide, with golfers ordering it from thousands of beverage carts from chic private clubs to humble munis. It has also ridden the canned-cocktail wave; you can buy cases of it from companies like Cutwater and many others at your local package store. If you want to make it yourself, it is as easy a home-brew cocktail as any, with no special technique required beyond simple mixing. The Transfusion is such a hit that I have even seen it embroidered on golf course merch of late.
The Southside
The East End of Long Island has as much going for it as any golf-rich district in the world, with sublime summer weather and several world-class golf courses available to those with money, connections or enough game to qualify for an event like the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. The main tipple around here is the Southside, a light elixir traditionally consisting of gin, simple syrup, citrus juice and some mint for extra herbal heft.
Like the Transfusion and countless other cocktails, the history and origins of the Southside are a matter of debate. Some believe the name derives from a reference to the South Side of Chicago, with the story going that the cocktail originated during Prohibition and might even have ties to Al Capone's gang. Others insist on a closer-to-home origin: New York City social clubs in the 19th century.
This Reddit thread proffers two different recipes with common elements but city-specific variants. The New York version calls for Bombay Sapphire or Plymouth gin and lemon juice, while the Chicago one insists on Beefeater gin and lime juice, plus a few drops of bitters. My opinion on Southsides is the same as hot dogs: I'm personally leaning New York but would not turn away the Chicago version as an occasional diversion.
The Bootleg
For golfers in and around the Twin Cities, summer means golf, boating and the Bootleg, a highly customizable platform of semi-thawed frozen lemonade and limeade, mixed with spirits of the drinker's choosing: generally gin, rum or vodka. Every country club in and around Minneapolis/St. Paul has its own version. The name refers back to the drink's Prohibition-era beginnings. Both F.Scott Fitzgerald and Al Capone feature in its origin stories.
Golf's alcoholic milkshakes
Just across Rae's Creek from Augusta National, Augusta Country Club has its own popular potable called the Velvet Hammer, the recipe for which is a fierce club secret but is assumed to incorporate vanilla ice cream with vodka and some theoretical melange of Kahlua, creme de cacao and triple sec. Bay Hill has its own cousin, with a publicly available recipe: the Bay Hill Hummer, which brings together vanilla ice cream, brandy, creme de cacao and vodka - the King's favorite Ketel One, of course.
Is an Arnold Palmer a cocktail?
Definitions of what precisely constitutes a cocktail vary. The Oxford English dictionary defines it as "a particular type of alcoholic drink" while its Cambridge counterpart describes it as "a drink, usually an alcoholic one, made up of two or more drinks," leaving the door open enough for me to put the iconic blend of iced tea and lemonade on this list, last but certainly not least. Put vodka or whiskey in it or don't; either way you're taking part in golf history when you sip one. I hope the third nine at Hartford Golf Club still has its own A.P. mix in the water jugs like it did when I caddied there. And I hope every golfer watches the greatest "This is SportsCenter" commercial with the same fondness I have for it.
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