Star Gazing. Celebrities have helped to grow this great game.
- SHANK
- Sep 30, 2025
- 5 min read
25 years have passed since the decision was made to move from the Alfred Dunhill Cup to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, a move which has been popular in some quarters, but not universally with locals. The thing is, it kind of doesn't matter what the locals, the hardcore golfer, thinks, because over the last century celebrities have been integral to popularizing the game among the masses, and as we mark 40 years of dunhill golf in St Andrews, it is clear they still have an impact in 2025.
Bing Crosby could be said to be the most influential celebrity ever to play the game, hosting his Crosby Clambake, which became the Bing Crosby National Pro-amateur, and eventually the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am. The event was first played in 1937 as a one-round event, before becoming a 36-hole tournament through World War II, and in 1958 it expanded to become the regulation 72-hole event we know today. Played at a variety of courses in the northern California area until it settled on the Monterey Peninsula, and Pebble Beach, Cypress Point and Monterey Peninsula Country Club. The likes of Spyglass Hill and Poppy Hills have also been used over the years, before a significant change was made in 2023, making the Pebble Beach Pro-am a signature event, featuring 80 professionals and 80 amateurs over just Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill, with the pro-am concluding after 36 holes.
Crosby was one of the most famous and charismatic entertainers the world has ever seen, starring in more than 70 movies and recording more than 1,600 songs.
He starred in classics such as Holiday Inn, White Christmas, Road to Rio, Going My Way, The Country Girl, High Society and Stagecoach. He was nominated for fourteen OSCARS for his music, winning four times, a record which still stands today.
Crosby sold close to 1 billion records, tapes, CD's and digital downloads, making him one of the greatest selling artists of all-time. So a person of his stature and fame playing the game of golf and supporting it in such a visible way was huge for the sport during the post-war era.
Participants in the Bing Crosby National pro-amateur between 1937 and 1977 (the year of his death) included Actors Johnny Weissmuller, Randolph Scott, Van Johnson, and Jack Lemmon (a frequent participant who missed the cut many times). Bob Hope (Crosby's longtime associate and frequent participant), Singers Gordon MacRae, Don Cherry (winner of the 1953 Canadian Amateur and a pro-am participant), and Buddy Rogers. Sports Figures Lefty O'Doul (baseball), Bob Lemon (baseball), Ernie Nevers (football), and Leo Durocher (baseball). Dean Martin, Jack Lemmon, Clint Eastwood, James Garner, Phil Harris, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Don Adams, Ray Bolger, Hoagy Carmichael, and Johnny Weissmuller.
These superstars were renowned worldwide, and their participation in the tournament, and the general fact they played the sport, unquestionably made the sport more popular, and the same is still true today.
Justin Timberlake played in the 2019 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, and he is arguably the biggest celebrity ever to play in the event, with 72 million followers on Instagram, 40 million followers on Facebook and 58.5 million followers on X. The above photograph was shared across the SHANK platform, and it received 113 likes, was shared more than 30 times, and is the biggest Facebook post in the history of the platform in terms of reach.
But when it comes to numbers, there is one celebrity above and beyond anything SHANK has ever covered. Jamie Dornan.
The 50 Shades of Grey star played in the 2016 and 2017 tournaments, and posts shared on X (formerly Twitter) generated 2329 likes, 678 retweets, had 19,311 engagements and 228,007 impressions. No posts with any golfer, not even Rory McIlroy, comes anywhere near close to these numbers. Coverage of Catherine Zeta Jones playing in 2023 generated more than 300 likes, so like it or not, celebrity matters, and their contribution to popularizing golf, and this event, is more than significant, it is seismic.
Bob Hope was Bing Crosby's closest associate, and he played in many Bing Crosby National pro-amateurs, before putting his name on the Thunderbird Invitational, creating the Bob Hope Desert Classic in 1965. The tournament is now known as the American Express, and is one of the early season events on the PGA TOUR prior to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am.
Celebrities to have played in the Desert Classic include Bing Crosby, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Phil Harris, Desi Arnaz, Ray Bolger, Hoagy Carmichael, Glen Campbell, Don Adams and Dwight Eisenhower (the first U.S. President to play in the pro-am).
Many of the greatest golfers in the world also have played in and won the professional tournament over the years including Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson, David Duval and Jon Rahm to name just a few.
One of the greatest celebrity supporters of this great game though is former US President Dwight D Eisenhower, who played in the Desert Classic and Pebble Beach pro-am. He was one of the first significant golfing Presidents, but his contribution goes far beyond just playing and making the sport popular among the masses.
The World Amateur Team Championships take place this week in Singapore (we will have coverage on www.shank.golf), and the men's tournament is named after Eisenhower, the Eisenhower Trophy was first played here, in St Andrews in 1958.
Eisenhower was a member of Augusta National Golf Club and has a cabin named after him.
Since he was in office, the role of American President has sometimes been known as Golfer in Chief, with Bill Clinton, George W Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump all being passionate golfers.
When Barack Obama played the Old Course in 2017 the crowds which congregated around the course, and particularly at the 18th had to be seen to be believed. They rivalled the final day of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship itself, so much was the popularity of a President with that much fame playing the Old Course.
Within Golf the golfers are famous, the likes of Tiger and Rory transcend the sport to a wider audience, but still, despite the social media world, most golfers are anonymous globally, so when a big celebrity plays this game it can only help inject new enthusiasm into the sport, create a new audience for it, and drive participation.
The days of the Dunhill Cup are over, despite some locals yearning for it to return, so it is vital for the future of this tournament that it attracts bigger celebrities, whilst continuing to be attractive to the best golfers in the world.
SHANK, written by Matt Hooper
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