Silver Screens and Putting Greens, Kathryn Newton's Love for Acting and Golf Have Never Been Mutually Exclusive

We live in this moment in time where golf has never been so mainstream. There are crossovers between the culture at large now more than ever before—we're seeing our favorite actors, musicians, and influencers playing with their friends, showing up to tournaments, and repping golf brands as streetwear. It's a steady crusade into relevancy and strategies are beginning to shift.

Since the pandemic, different players (brands) have entered the space. But we're five years removed from the post-COVID golf boom—and consumers want more. Not more in the quantitative sense, more as in more from these brands to play their role and do it well. It's not enough to just create cool stuff, the messaging is just as, if not more, important. Your reach and how you obtain it matters.

Enter lifestyle ambassadors.

People we see outside our golf bubble who carry influence. They may be other athletes. They may be your favorite rapper or country artist. They may star in your new favorite TV show or movie. No matter what they do—they're the driving force in the cross-pollination of golf X culture.

But there's one in particular, who we've grown familiar with over the last decade who isn't just a celeb who picked up the game while filming on set. She's been at this golf thing since before she could walk properly and has a handful of her high school golf team's state championship rings that she rocks walking the red carpet.

Kathryn Newton is a certified golf sicko, just like you and me. It's woven into her DNA and she doesn't shy away from her love of the game. It's a massive component of her identity and she's continuously bridging the gap between her life on the silver screen to her passion for golf. From her partnerships with The First Tee and J.Lindeberg to playing all over the world in different pro-ams—she's showing her Hollywood counterparts how it's done.

I got to chat with Newton inside the J.Lindeberg showroom in New York City to discuss the state of the game, the trickling impact of celebs in golf, and what it all means.

*Photography by Connor Laubenstein

ADDIE PARKER: You were introduced to golf at what age?

KATHRYN NEWTON: I grew up in Miami. It says Orlando on Wikipedia—it's not true. I've been playing around courses in Miami since I was 8 or so, but I have pictures of me putting with my dad when I was a toddler.

AP: I know you're an actress...but who do you think should play you in your biopic?

KN: I think Nelly Korda should give it a shot. I mean they would have to be a golfer, because my biopic would have golf in it. There's no actress who can swing like me. But a golfer can act like me, though. Acting is way easier than golf. And I think if they can play professional golf, they could do a movie pretty easily.

AP: Are there any aspects of golf and it's individuality that you transfer over to your career in acting? How do you marry the two in your life?

KN: I have athlete mentality. I have the mentality of 'just don't quit'. If you don't quit, you work hard, you have a good attitude, you're probably gonna be all right. You're probably gonna make it. You gotta believe in yourself, though.

When the going gets tough, if you don't have that foundation to fall back on, like you would in a sport, and you don't have a lot to support yourself you have to figure that out the hard way. Which is why golf has been such a good thing for me and my career, because it is objective. No one can take it from me. When I had a good day and in acting, people can take it from you. You could get cut out of a movie. You could do a movie and think it's gonna change your life, and no one watches it—it's it's all up to someone else. But in golf it's really all on you, I love that and I try to stay rooted in that.

AP: In this new J.Lindeberg ambassadorship that you have, how do you hope to be the bridge from pop culture to golf culture? Do you feel like a pioneer of sorts being a celeb that plays golf at a high level?

KN: People who don't know me that well are confused by it [my game]. They are like, "Are you a golfer?" "Are you a pro?" No, I'm actually an actor who plays golf at a high level. They're not the same. It's much easier to be an actor, than it is to be a professional golfer. But it's just something I've always loved, so it's authentic to me. I don't feel like I was at the start of anything, because it's just something I've always done. I've always brought my clubs to set. I always sneak a golf club or something in a movie, because it's just who I am.

To see people and my peers, other actors, joining in because golf is something you can do alone or with people is so cool. I'm glad a lot of people are playing golf who are more famous than me, because I want to grow the game. Golf has given me so many opportunities, even talking to you today and being a part of a brand like this—it wouldn't have happened without the game. I've met so many cool people, and you can play forever—that's what I'm trying to push.

AP: What's been the biggest shift as golf becomes embedded into the culture at large?

KN: It used to seem unattainable. The game always felt like you had to know somebody, or you can't play. And now, the secret is out. But the truth is, it's always been here for you, but a lot of people didn't know that, and that's crazy. It is [becoming] accessible, but we need to show people how to breakdown that wall and make it accessible for everybody and realize—no, you don't have to be a part of the country club to play. I'm not a member anywhere. I'm America's guest and I like it that way.