By Todd Dobson | Grass League
I do this every year. Before the first tee shot flies, before the draft picks are made, before the lights come on at Grass Clippings Rolling Hills — I put my predictions in writing and I own them, good or bad. No hedging. No asterisks. Just what I actually believe is going to happen in 2026.
And this year, I believe a lot.
The 2026 Grass League season is shaping up to be the deepest, most competitive field this league has ever seen. The three major events on the calendar genuinely feel big. Massive, even. In the league’s brief history, there are franchises that have thrived while others have barely shown a pulse — but the dynamics of the league are changing, and they are changing fast. With all of that said, the stakes continue to rise.
Here are my five bold predictions for the 2026 Grass League season. I’m going on record. Hold me to it.
PREDICTION #1 | THE DALLAS HORSEMEN WIN THEIR FIRST TOURNAMENT
The Dallas Horsemen have left a lot to be desired from their rabid fanbase since the inception of the franchise. They’ve only managed to notch 3 top-10s across five tournaments and somehow have recorded 2 DFLs (Dead Lasts). We harp on it ad nauseam: the Horsemen ownership group is composed of Good Good Golf, who more than anyone should have access to a bevy of golf talent. Well, that correlation hasn’t materialized into anything yet.
They have shown glimpses of what could be.
They led Day 1 of the 2025 Grass Clippings Open with Brad Dalke and Sean Walsh at 9-under. They threw their best at the field and came up short in last year’s opening event. You can chalk it up to nerves, or the fact that a famous haboob swept through the tournament grounds as Dalke and Walsh made their way down the final stretch of holes.
Regardless of the past, the future has reason for optimism. Matt Kendrick and the Good Good brass went out and retooled the roster for what they believe has a real chance at righting the ship. First and foremost, they brought back their best-performing pair — Ryder and Hunter Epson (ranked 10th and 11th nationally) — who were the one reason the 2025 campaign wasn’t a complete dumpster fire.
Most notably, they brought in Cameron Sisk, a former three-time All-American at Arizona State University, and another former collegiate stud from UCLA in Mason Greene to add much-needed firepower to the ranks. My prediction is a big swing: I believe the Horsemen will finally win a Grass League tournament. The optimism is tempered, however — I don’t believe they will win the Season Long Points Race. The roster is far too top-heavy, but the heavy hitters are good enough to win on any given night.
PREDICTION #2 | HOLLYWOOD HITTERS WIN THE SEASON LONG POINTS RACE
Speaking openly and honestly, I initially pegged the San Diego Munis to go back-to-back and win the Season Long Points Race given their performance last year and the additions of DJ Lantz and Cody Massa — but learning that Matt Ryan, Kevin Lucas, and Hayden Wood will all be sitting out the 2026 Grass Clippings Open changed my perspective entirely. Those absences will open the door for other franchises to grab an early lead exiting the first event of the season.
Enter the Hollywood Hitters. A franchise that seemed lost at sea appears to have finally caught the wind in its sails. GM Brian Doxator pulled off a masterclass in roster reconstruction, as the Hitters shrugged off the departure of Colt Knost with an even more potent lineup heading into 2026.
The Season Long Points Race rewards consistency above everything else — and no franchise in the 2026 Grass League is built for consistency quite like the Hollywood Hitters. While last year’s champions, the San Diego Munis, won the inaugural points title by accumulating steady contributions across the entire roster, the Hitters have quietly assembled something that looks even more dangerous: a lineup with virtually no weak spots from top to bottom. John Peterson, an NCAA champion who finished inside the top 4 at a U.S. Open, anchors a roster alongside long-tenured PGA Tour veterans Willy Wilcox, Martin Flores, Jonathan Randolph, and Peter Tomasulo — players who won’t be rattled by heckling fans or a championship environment. Behind them, Nate Smith and TJ Vogel bring elite college pedigrees and Korn Ferry Tour-level sharpness, and even the depth pieces — Hale and Edwards — are still tour-caliber talent, not fillers. In a team format where every pair counts toward the aggregate, having six or seven genuinely dangerous pairings is a massive structural advantage. Most franchises have one or two elite pairs, but nothing like what the Hitters have assembled. Remember, the Munis didn’t win a single event in 2025 and still claimed the Season Long Points Race — the Hitters’ lineup won’t feel the pressure to win every event, and that freedom could be a powerful thing for such a talented group. Hell, John Peterson has yet to play a single Grass League event, but he doesn’t seem the least bit nervous about it. “I will be playing the @grassleague in a swimsuit,” he wrote on X the other day.
Honorable Mentions: Michigan Auto Aces, New York Blue Birds, and Phoenix United
PREDICTION #3 | MATT PARZIALE WINS THE 2026 GL MVP
Yearly predictions are inherently meant to be big swings, and that’s exactly what I’ve done here by predicting another Tampa Bay Swamp Dawg to win GL MVP. Let me introduce you to the newest member of the Tampa Bay franchise: Matt Parziale.
This one might be the boldest pick on the board — but hear me out. Matt Parziale is not your typical Grass League player, and that’s exactly why he wins MVP. The Brockton, Massachusetts native is a 2017 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion who showed up to the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills — one of the most brutal major setups in modern history — and walked out as low amateur while sharing the course with the best players in the world. He did all of that while working as a firefighter. Let that sink in. This isn’t a guy who grew up groomed for the tour and faded out on the Korn Ferry. This is a grinder in the truest sense of the word — someone who has spent his career proving he belongs in rooms he was never supposed to be in, and then refusing to leave. That mentality is tailor-made for a Grass League environment, where the lights are on, the crowd is loud, and the moment is big. Just ask his upcoming playing partner Billy Hanes — the 2024 GL Champion, a man who drained a 45-footer from the back of the green in a playoff to steal a title — who together form one of the most dangerous and intriguing duos the Swamp Dawgs have ever put on the course. Parziale doesn’t need to be the best player in the field to win MVP. He just needs to be the most memorable. And if his career has shown us anything, it’s that Matt Parziale was made for the unthinkable.
Honorable mentions: Ty Strafaci, John Peterson, Cameron Sisk, Kurt Watkins, Matt Kang, John Chin, Will Kropp, Ben Herman, Andrew Augustyniak, and Drew Stoltz
PREDICTION #4 | A DRAFTED TEAM WINS A GRASS LEAGUE EVENT
This one is for the grassroots.
Every year, the Grass League Draft brings in new players who haven’t been signed to franchises — qualifying earlier in the week, being drafted on the spot, and then stepping onto the same course as the players who seemingly didn’t need to prove themselves. It’s one of the most democratizing concepts in the sport.
And in 2026, I’m predicting that a drafted team wins a tournament.
We’ve seen it build. Last year, following the 2025 GL Draft, two drafted pairs finished in the top 10 of the Grass Clippings Open (T3 Swanson & Patton and T6 Keenan & Augustyniak). Drafted pairs have been in contention. They’ve shown that the GL format — scramble, short course, lights, atmosphere — levels the playing field in a way that no traditional golf tournament can. The Grass League was built on the idea that incredible things happen when you put competitors in the right environment and let it rip.
The 2026 qualifying field is as talented and deep as anyone could have ever imagined. To put it in perspective, Steve Ford is one of 200 golfers playing in the 2026 GL Qualifier — the same Steve Ford who played in the 1988 Masters, the year Sandy Lyle claimed the title. Talk about a golf connection you never thought would be made on a par-3 golf course.
So mark my words: in 2026, a pair of players who walk in as unknowns, qualify on Wednesday, and get their names called on draft night will etch their names in Grass League history with a tournament win. It’s the most Grass League thing that could happen. And it’s going to happen.
PREDICTION #5 | 8-HOLE-IN-ONES ACROSS THE 3 MAJOR EVENTS
Golf statisticians generally estimate that a scratch or plus-handicap golfer holes out on a par 3 somewhere between once every 2,500 and 3,500 attempts. At that rate, with this volume of attempts across the 2026 season, you’d conservatively expect somewhere between 5 and 8 aces on talent alone. Now factor in that this isn’t a field of scratch golfers — it’s a field of golfers who have competed at the highest levels of the sport. The probability curve tilts even further.
We’ve already seen aces climb year over year in the Grass League, and the evidence is stacking up fast. Taylor Wood made one on hole 15 at last year’s Grass Clippings Open — the hardest hole on the course. Ryan Ruffels flew the ball into the cup on 17 during the stretch run of the GL Championship, only to watch it bounce back out — which doesn’t count, but tells you everything about the quality of ball-striking this field produces. Now add the newcomers. Willy Wilcox made a hole-in-one on the iconic 17th island green at The Players Championship, one of the most pressure-packed par 3s in professional golf. John Peterson aced a hole at the 2012 U.S. Open. Jennifer Song had three holes-in-one during the 2024 LPGA Tour Season. These aren’t players chasing their first ace — these are players who will be hunting one on every single tee box, at every single event. A big difference.
The rosters across every franchise have never been deeper heading into 2026. More talent, more attempts, a scramble format, an all-par-3 course, and a proven track record of year-over-year improvement. Ten hole-in-ones across three events might sound ambitious in March, but could very easily look like a massive undercount come December.
Players w/ an Ace: Will Wilcox, Gavin Cohen, Aaron Grimes, John Chin, Jennifer Song, Kevin Lucas, Chad Hambright, Tony Bagneschi, Paul Misko, and Will Kropp
