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A new season of TGL presented by SoFi is quickly approaching, with more teams, more players, and more fast-paced team golf live from SoFi Center.
For the first time, the league is expanding with Motor City Golf Club joining as a seventh team. Team rosters are also expanding to five players per team, up from four players last season.
In another milestone, the offseason produced TGL’s first trade, which sent Shane Lowry from The Bay Golf Club to Boston Common Golf.
So, why did Brooks Koepka and Jackson Koivun land with Motor City? How did Lowry join Rory McIlroy in Boston? And what will five-player rosters mean on match day?
Here is everything you need to know ahead of the new season.
RELATED: Shane Lowry Traded to Boston Common Golf
Why Are TGL Rosters Changing for 2027?
One of the key changes for the 2027 season is the arrival of Motor City Golf Club, TGL’s first expansion team. Motor City joins Atlanta Drive GC, Boston Common Golf, Jupiter Links Golf Club, Los Angeles Golf Club, New York Golf Club and The Bay Golf Club to give the league seven teams for the upcoming season.
At the same time, every team is expanding its roster from four players to five. The final five-player rosters for each team will be announced on Tuesday, Oct. 20.
Teams will still choose three players to compete in each match at SoFi Center, but the additional roster spot creates more depth and flexibility for strategic lineup decisions across the season.
How Did Rosters Change Over the Offseason?
The TGL roster process began with the league’s six returning teams.
Each team had the option to keep up to four players from its 2026 roster. Alternates like Akshay Bhatia (Jupiter Links GC) and Chris Gotterup (Atlanta Drive) who appeared for a team during the 2026 season were also eligible to be retained by that team.
After this retention period, teams had to fill their rosters up to five players.
So how did the remaining roster spots get filled?
Selection Process
An available player pool was created, featuring a group of golfers who are available to compete in TGL during the upcoming season.
Teams selected from this pool round-by-round to fill any open roster positions.
Motor City Golf Club picked first as TGL’s expansion team, building its roster with the opening selection in each round of the process. The rest of the teams were ordered in reverse of the finishing positions from the 2026 SoFi Cup Standings following the playoffs.
Each retained player counted as a selection for the purposes of the roster process, so teams that retained four players only selected after all other teams also had four players.
Motor City's First Selection
Motor City began its roster with the selection of five-time major champion Brooks Koepka, giving the new team an accomplished cornerstone for its debut season. Since all six other teams had kept at least one player, Motor City used the next selection to add Jackson Koivun.
Together, these initial selections give Motor City a combination of championship experience, emerging talent and team-golf credentials as the club prepares to represent Detroit for the first time.
RELATED: What Jackson Koivun Brings to Motor City Golf Club
The round-by-round process continued with teams selecting until all five-player rosters were filled.
Those final five-player rosters will be confirmed on Tuesday, Oct. 20.
A First-Ever TGL Trade
The offseason also featured the first trade in TGL history.
Boston Common Golf acquired Lowry from The Bay Golf Club. The familiarity in team competition between Lowry and Rory McIlroy gives Boston Common Golf one of the most recognizable partnerships entering the new season.
In exchange, The Bay received Boston Common Golf’s fourth-round selection in the roster formation process for the 2027 season, the right to swap one selection position with Boston Common Golf during one of the next three TGL offseasons, and commercial considerations.
The transaction provided both teams with something valuable for 2027. Boston Common added Lowry to its lineup, while The Bay used the acquired selection to create lineup flexibility and secured an additional option for a future offseason.
Why Five-Player Rosters Matter on Match Night
Teams will continue to select three players for each match. The difference is that they will now choose those three from a five-player roster rather than a four-player roster.
That added depth could be helpful in several ways:
More lineup combinations: Teams can create different three-player groups over the course of the season.
Greater flexibility: A deeper roster gives teams more options when accounting for player availability.
More strategic choices: Teams can consider which combination offers the best fit for a particular opponent or matchup.
Stay Connected
Every team must determine how to use its additional depth and which three-player combinations give it the best opportunity to win on each match night.
The new season of TGL gets under way on Sunday, Dec. 27. Sign up now to be the first to know when the TGL schedule is released for the upcoming season.