This woman is going viral for her hilarious anti-golf TikToks, but she's not in it just for the laughs
- Abbie Richards, a 23-year-old comedian, is going viral on TikTok for her anti-golf content.
- Richards said she was inspired to address her hatred of golf after running past a golf course that she viewed as "a waste of resources and space."
- She's gone on to upload several videos addressing the social, economic, environmental, and political implications of the sport.
- Her humor, coupled with her strong convictions about environmentalism and economic equality, has won her attention on both TikTok and Twitter.
- While Richards says she hadn't planned on viral fame, she hopes to continue creating anti-golf content and spreading her message.
Abbie Richards hates golf. The 23-year-old comedian, who holds a bachelor's degree in environmental science, thinks the activity is a "waste" of limited green spaces, "elitist," and "not a sport" — and she's been sharing her opinions in viral TikToks that are racking up hundreds of thousands of views.
Richards, who spent the last year performing standup comedy in Australia, recently returned to the United States to weather the COVID-19 pandemic with her family. Since coming home, she's used her time in quarantine to make TikToks covering a range of material, from drinking Manischewitz wine to playing Cards Against Humanity with her cat.
Her videos, she says, were originally intended to be entertainment for her friends, but since she began posting anti-golf content, her account has received a wave of online attention — and her videos have received 1.1 million likes.
Richards was inspired to take her hatred of golf online when she went for a run and passed an empty golf course with a 'no trespassing' sign.
"I just looked at all this unused space and thought about what a waste it was," Richards told Insider. "I was just like, 'wow, man, golf sucks.' And I remembered learning a bit about it in school, like, learning about what a waste of resources and space it really is."
From there, a series of political anti-golf videos was born — content that seems to be resonating with a wider audience.
In her first golf-related post, Richards joked about her upcoming presidential candidacy.
"I'm running for president. I'm gonna be single-issue candidate," Richards says in the clip as she chops lettuce. "When I become president, we will make golf illegal. All golf courses will become public parks, all country clubs will become low-income housing, we take all the water that we would've used to water the golf courses and we drink it. Now we're, like, the best-hydrated country on the planet, we all have gorgeous skin, and anyone caught golfing gets eaten."
In three weeks, the video has been viewed 1.7 million times and racked up over 570,000 likes.
"YOU HAVE MY VOTE. ABOLISH GOLF," one commenter wrote.
"But wait, this like actually kinda makes sense," another said.
A few concerned viewers inquired about the role of mini golf in Richards' new order, to which she replied that mini golf is, in fact, acceptable.
After the video went viral, Richards says, her TikTok account "kind of took off" — and she became determined to deliver more informed anti-golf content.
"I found it interesting and was also astounded by how many people supported it," she recalled. "Then I started doing more and more research, and golf is the kind of thing that the more research you do, the more you hate it."
Richards' TikToks have gone on to address the environmental impacts of golf courses, as well as the larger economic and political implications of the sport — and her content is getting noticed on Twitter.
"My favorite person on Tiktok is this socialist teen who exclusively posts about how much she hates golf," writer Alison Herman tweeted to her 17,000 followers.
"Goodnight to the socialist anti-golf girl from TikTok only," another Twitter user joked.
Part of the appeal of anti-golf content, Richards says, is the sport's fraught history that has affected marginalized groups.
"The thing about the hatred of golf is its intersectionality to some extent," she explained. "Golf has a deep history of racism and antisemitism — and it has been historically used to keep women out of boardrooms. So there are so many different ways that you can tackle the issue to bring people into it."
Another reason for the success of her videos, she says, is the way her content "walks the line of comedy and truth" to tackle complex issues.
Still, Richards is surprised by her moment of viral fame.
"I'm definitely trying to capitalize on [virality] because I want to keep pushing this. I thought it was going to say pretty niche, but then suddenly a lot of people were reaching out to me," she said. "I wasn't really ready for it. It was a shock, but it's exciting to see such a low profile issue, striking a nerve with so many people."
Going forward, Richards plans to create more anti-golf content.
"I'm definitely not an expert — I'm still learning — but the more I learned about it, the more I want to share that. And I feel like there's a good fight here to be fought," she said. "I'm going to keep diving into it. And I have so many people who love the content. Maybe one day I can reclaim my own golf course."
Richards' TikTok bio now reads "CEO of canceling golf."
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