After a headline-grabbing debut, Tiger Woods’s and Rory McIlroy‘s TGL is back for its second season. Launching on December 28th, the league is pushing boundaries with high-tech advancement. Season 2 comes with a few changes, and here are three massive upgrades the fandom will see.

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1. TGL will see a bigger, and smarter GreenZone

This one is simply the most dramatic change for season 2. The putting surface has expanded by 38%, growing from 3,800 to 5,270 square feet. Now it’s on par with the average PGA Tour greens. Golfers will now have to compete on 12 pins instead of 7, dialing up the difficulty level.

Under the surface, the Full Swing morphing greens have also grown. There are now 608 actuators, shaping the contours and slopes. Now, the field will be surrounded by more breaks, more creativity, and more pressure-packed putts.

A subtle change in slope design is also going to be seen. The highest knoll on the green is 18 inches less, reportedly improving fan sightlines. The chipping area has a variety of approach shot options on the table, mimicking an actual PGA Tour event. One of the three bunkers has been removed. The other two have enlarged by 50%. Now, all the shots will carry real risk, rather than an artificial menace.

All these designs have been manifested in collaboration with Beau Welling Design. 

2. Team identity meets next-gen virtual golf

One thing that TGL’s season 2 leans on harder is the team culture. Now, each of the six teams has a custom “Team Hole.” These are designed with visual cues and terrain, copying their home courses. The aim is to create a stronger team identity, with more psychological home-course advantage.

The six teams are as follows: Atlanta Drive GC (the defending champs), Boston Common Golf, Jupiter Links Golf Club, Los Angeles Golf Club, New York Golf Club, and The Bay Golf Club. A seventh team, called Motor City Golf Club (Detroit), has also been announced, but it will not play until Season 3.

At the same time, six returning holes from Season 1 have been redesigned with advanced graphics. There are new tee boxes, landing zones, and more strategic features. The new Unity 6 engine software is behind such an upgrade.

3. TGL Golf is now a prime-time theater

The SoFi Center, one of America’s largest expandable stadiums, has 79 tech-infused cameras for the TGL. From an 8K ultra-slow-motion swing to the returning SmartPin Cam, with a 360-degree view, the atmosphere is going to be immersive.

Virtual camera angles have also been introduced, and these will offer reverse angles from the fairway back to the tee and perspectives above the green. Vantage points are now visible, something impossible in traditional broadcast golf.

New shot comparisons will also be possible with the help of Virtual Eye technology, live shot tracing, and trackballs, even before they hit the screen—all of these will give a storytelling effect to the viewers. The broadcast booth this year has PGA Tour pro Roberto Castro, who is going to join ESPN’s coverage alongside Scott Van Pelt, Matt Barrie, and Marty Smith.

These experiments are not just mere upgrades but rather an aggressive approach to shape golf’s future. The old game of swings and clubs isn’t traditional anymore; it’s futuristic.