A new era on the green: How My Golf Kaki is rewriting Singapore’s golfing script

This post is sponsored by NTUC Club.

For more than two decades, My Golf Kaki (MGK) has stood in quiet service to Singapore’s golfing faithful – a place where enthusiasts gather not just to refine their swing, but to find their belonging. By 2023, the sand beneath the fairway began to shift. Golf, for all its heritage and quiet elegance, was facing an existential challenge in Singapore.

Traditionally seen as a preserve of the elite – set behind country club gates – golf had become culturally distant, especially for younger generations. The escalating cost of living and the symbolic loss of public spaces such as the Marina Bay Golf Course, Singapore’s first public 18-hole course, pushed the sport further away from everyday Singaporeans.

And yet, within the folds of adversity lay an opportunity. What followed was not merely a revival, but a reinvention – a rethinking of what golf might represent to the modern Singaporean. The sport was thus recast as something far more resonant: a cultural movement grounded in accessibility, inclusivity, and a renewed sense of connection.

A fairway for everyone

NTUC Club leaned into one visionary insight: golf is a deeply social game. It’s not just about skill or competition, but shared experiences and community.

Driven by this understanding, NTUC Club reframed MGK as not merely a golf membership, but a lifestyle that anyone can enjoy. One where camaraderie trumps competition, where first-timers feel as welcome as long-time players, and where golf is seen not as a mark of status, but a doorway into a connection. Through this new lens, golf wasn’t just a sport, it was a lifestyle of fun, fellowship, and growth.

A new complexion

MGK’s evolution did not come from fancy campaigns. It recognised the rising expectations of the people and met them where they were: online, on the ground, and in the game.

MGK began by breathing new life into its digital presence, trading stiff promotional posts for vibrant, and often playful content, across Instagram, Telegram, and TikTok (@mygolfkaki). It also introduced a suite of new programmes and storytelling formats designed to disarm the sport’s formality – bite-sized tutorials, behind-the-scenes peeks, and community profiles that made golf more like an open invitation.

Offline, it reshaped the very experience of the game, favouring laid-back social events and overseas golf trips over rigid tournament structures, allowing players to ease into the sport on their own terms.

A partnership with the Singapore Golf Association anchored these shifts in credibility, lending institutional weight to MGK’s new identity, while keeping the doors firmly open to those who had never imagined themselves picking up a club.

Senior manager Alexsondra Tan, of NTUC Club’s group marketing, communications, and brand, said: “MGK expanded the game’s horizons – figuratively and literally. By embracing a steep digital culture, celebrating diverse player stories, and redefining what it means to ‘belong’ in the game, MGK turned a critical juncture into a generational opportunity.

“For a brand under NTUC Club, whose very mission is to champion affordable, inclusive lifestyle experiences for working people, this was a bold extension of it."

A new direction

NTUC Club’s redefinition of MGK’s identity has reaped measurable results. Members aged 35 and below – once a marginal segment – increased from 9% to 16% of the base. Participation among those 21 and under grew by 75%.

Over half the lessons booked at the MGK Academy now come from the under-35 demographic. Meanwhile, the historically dominant 55-plus segment declined slightly from 41% to 32%, signalling a strategic and necessary pivot towards longevity and relevance.

This has been a cultural breakthrough. MGK isn’t just attracting younger players, it is reshaping the meaning of golf for them. By redefining golf’s place in Singapore culture, MGK has created new access points and new reasons for people to fall in love with the sport.

Playing the long game

MGK’s journey holds a quiet reminder for brands and communicators. Even the most established names, in this case MGK, must stay in motion to revisit its voice, its values, and the ways it reaches out. A clear, unfussy message often resonates louder than a complex one. Golf, after all, can appear daunting, but MGK reframed it – stripping away the stiffness and making space for joy and play.

On social platforms, authenticity speaks volumes. Especially to younger audiences, the gloss of perfection matters less than the ring of truth. Trust, it turns out, is built not by polish, but by presence. And then, perhaps most crucially, MGK listened, learned, and responded to the audience.

Building a stronger community

MGK’s evolution marks more than a victory for golf. It’s a case study in community-first branding and the quiet power of reimagined narratives. Anchored by NTUC Club’s broader mission to make lifestyle experiences more accessible to all Singaporeans, MGK recast the sport as a movement on the rise. What it demonstrated was this: it redrew the boundaries of the game.