Kevin Hart launched his golf channel with a wonderfully familiar ambition: breaking 100. The title of his first video, “Can I Break 100 On My First Try?” could just as easily describe somebody’s Saturday plans at a public course.

There is real value in that choice. A man whose work is built around entertaining people has made room for a golf pursuit that recreational players can understand. Getting through 18 holes in fewer than 100 strokes is plenty of story.

Golf should be delighted to have him. We can enjoy the comedy while taking seriously what happens when somebody known for something else decides this maddening game deserves a recurring place in his life and on his channel.

The golf ball, incidentally, has yet to sign on as a cooperative cast member.

Hart Is Selling the Part Golf Usually Edits Out

In a September interview with Front Office Sports Tonight, Hart described his golf journey as “starting off at something being bad, trying to get better.” Front Office Sports also reported that Hart and LeBron James were planning a YouTube golf match, with both giving themselves time to improve. Hart did not disclose a date.

That decision to allow some practice before the big showdown is endearing. Two famous men have a match to promote, and they would also like to hit the ball reasonably well when they get there. Somewhere, a golfer preparing for a buddies trip understands completely.

The admission of being bad interests me more than a celebrity’s equipment or access to beautiful courses. Golf asks a beginner to do something uncomfortable: make an uncertain attempt while other people can see the result. Being willing to let an audience follow that process gives Hart’s channel a purpose beyond the guest list.

Think about the golfer who watches a professional flight an iron toward a tucked flag. There is plenty to admire, but it can be difficult to locate your own game in that shot. A goal of breaking 100 offers a much more recognizable assignment: keep enough balls in play, get the short shots onto the green and stop letting one hole consume the round.

Those are legitimate golf problems, and they deserve airtime.

I would rather a new player arrive expecting some ugly shots than believing the game will feel easy after a few swings. A channel built around trying to improve has room to show how much work remains after the first promising strike. The entertainment can help a viewer stay interested long enough to care about that work.

Hart also brings a reason to click that has nothing to do with swing mechanics. Someone can come for the comedian, learn what breaking 100 means and begin following the attempt. Golf does not need to be the viewer’s first interest to become one of them.

LeBron Brings His Own Reason to Watch

James chose a different starting point. YouTube’s Aug. 17 announcement of his golf channel described a debut built around a Scotland trip with former teammates from the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers championship team. The reunion included Kevin Love, J.R. Smith, Richard Jefferson, Tristan Thompson and Channing Frye.

For a basketball fan, those names supply the context before anyone pulls a club. The people are already familiar. Golf becomes the activity through which the viewer gets to spend more time with them, rather than a subject the viewer must first decide to study.

That is a useful distinction for a sport that can overwhelm a newcomer with terminology. A Cavaliers fan does not need to understand links architecture to have a reason to watch a championship reunion in Scotland. The golf knowledge can come later.

James’ basketball résumé cannot tell him how much a downhill putt will break. Golf gives an accomplished athlete a new set of judgments to learn, with plenty of chances to be wrong. That learning is worth following even when the audience already knows how the basketball story turned out.

Should the Hart-James match happen, I hope the production leaves enough golf in it to follow what they are actually trying to do. Keep the banter, certainly. But let the audience see the shot that needs fixing and the decision that follows it. There is comedy available without editing away the struggle that makes the players relatable.

Both men are Black, and the familiarity they bring may also matter to a young Black viewer who knows them well but has little connection to golf. No celebrity can represent every person’s experience. Still, seeing someone you already admire take an interest in the game can give you a personal reason to look at it.

The people watching will have different reasons to stay. Some will want better golf; others will want more Hart.

A golf video is allowed to satisfy both.

The Course Has to Deliver After the Video

There is a limit to what we should claim. Views and subscriptions tell us something about a channel’s audience; they do not tell us how many people booked a lesson, played nine holes or came back a month later. The reporting here does not establish that Hart or James caused participation to increase.

The National Golf Foundation’s 2025 participation snapshot identifies retaining and converting newcomers as an ongoing industry challenge. Celebrity content is relevant to that work, but a facility still has to make the first visit manageable. A viewer inspired to try golf needs to know what it costs, whether clubs are available and where to go upon arrival.

I would put a plainly explained beginner session ahead of another vague promise to grow the game. Tell people what they will do and what they need to bring. Give them a place to hit an imperfect shot without feeling that they have interrupted everybody else’s afternoon.

Stephen Curry offers a substantive example of celebrity interest extending into opportunity. In 2019, he pledged six years of support for establishing Howard University’s Division I golf program. His Underrated Golf program also runs regional competitions for young players and describes access and equal opportunity as its purpose. That is work a person can identify beyond a video’s view count.

Hart has an upcoming project worth watching on that front, too. Taco Bell and Topgolf announced a Nov. 2 Live Más Open hosted by Hart that is designed to put qualifying fans in foursomes with celebrities, athletes and creators. It is a commercial promotion, but including fans gives the concept something more concrete to examine than celebrity exposure alone.

And yes, its winners are supposed to receive purple jackets and a say in bringing back a Taco Bell menu item. Golf has found a way to make a putt consequential to lunch. I am willing to hear it out.

The responsibility for welcoming a curious beginner still belongs to the people who run and teach the game. Hart can give that person a reason to try.

When the person arrives at the range and tops the first ball, the welcome needs to survive the shot.

PGA of America Golf Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer who serves as Athlon Sports Senior Golf Writer. Read his recent “The Starter” on RG.org, where he is their Lead Golf Writer. To stay updated on all of his latest work, sign up for his newsletter or visit his MuckRack Profile.