Rick Shiels (born 3 July 1986) is a British YouTuber and golf professional, best known for his YouTube channel, Rick Shiels Golf.[1] In June 2019, his channel became the largest golf channel on YouTube after surpassing 561,500 subscribers.[2] As of February 2024, he has over 2.75 million subscribers.

Rick Shiels
Shiels in 2019
Born (1986-07-03) 3 July 1986 (age 38)
Bolton, England, UK
Occupations
Years active2011–present
Known forYouTube channel, Rick Shiels Golf

Biography

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Shiels was born in Bolton, England on 3 July 1986.[3] He began playing golf at Hart Common Golf Club in Westhoughton at the age of 11.[4] He earned a diploma in golf studies at Myerscough College.[4] Ten years after he began playing golf, he started working at Mere Golf and Country Club in Cheshire, England after completing his PGA training and becoming a qualified pro.[4][5][6] He then worked at Trafford Golf Centre where, in 2011, he started his YouTube channel, posting videos related to golf as an attempt to gain more customers. In June 2020, he became the first golf vlogger to amass 1 million subscribers.[7][8][9] In 2019, Shiels helped host the first YouTube Golf Day, which raised over £15,000 for Prostate Cancer UK.[10] The event gathered 44 creators with over 19 million combined followers.[2] He has also partnered with many large brands like Nike, Inc., Garmin, and Mastercard to create multiple mini-series on his YouTube channel.[2]

His videos have included celebrities like Robbie Williams and Eddie Hall.[7] By April 2021, he had over 1.54 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, with over 374 million views.[11] His channel's content covers many aspects of golf, including golf equipment reviews, instructional tips, golf stories, and more.[12] Shiels also presents a podcast called The Rick Shiels Golf Show and a second YouTube channel of the same name.[13] In February 2021, Shiels announced on his podcast that he had ended his partnership with Nike, but Nike hoped to get Shiels to switch to a 'paid to post' model with Shiels encouraging viewers to buy Nike apparel; not wanting to do this, Shiels decided not to renew the partnership.[14][15]

As of July 2022, Shiels has a new apparel partnership with the clothing brand Lyle & Scott and Danish shoe brand ECCO.[16][17]

References

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  1. ^ "Richard Shiels - Tournament Results | The PGA". pgagbi.bluegolf.com. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b c GolfBusinessNews.com. "Rick Shiels Becomes World's Most Subscribed Golf YouTuber". GolfBusinessNews.com. Retrieved 28 March 2021. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  3. ^ Matt Cradock (30 January 2022). "15 Things You Didn't Know About Rick Shiels". Golf Monthly Magazine. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "Golf coach Rick Shiels from Bolton is helping more than a million people develop their game". Great British Life. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Where is PGA Professional Rick Shiels from?". www.whywelovegolf.com. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  6. ^ "Rick Shiels – GolfWRX". Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Golfer attains YouTube one million followers first". BBC News. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  8. ^ "Rick Shiels – A Top PGA Teacher". Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  9. ^ GolfBusinessNews.com. "Rick Shiels hits 1 million subscribers on YouTube". GolfBusinessNews.com. Retrieved 4 April 2021. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  10. ^ "YouTube star Rick Shiels enjoys unrivalled year of growth – PGA Publishing". Archived from the original on 28 February 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Rick Shiels Golf - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  12. ^ "WATCH - EXCLUSIVE webinar with YouTube star Rick Shiels". www.pga.info. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  13. ^ Jonny Leighfield (20 February 2024). "YouTube Giant Rick Shiels Celebrates New Milestone". Golf Monthly Magazine. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  14. ^ "Rick Shiels reveals why he has SPLIT with Nike Golf | GolfMagic". www.golfmagic.com. 16 February 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  15. ^ "When did Rick Shiels end his sponsorship deal with Nike?". www.whywelovegolf.com. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  16. ^ Matt Cradock (22 April 2024). "Ecco Releases Limited Edition Rick Shiels Biom C4 Golf Shoe". Golf Monthly Magazine. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  17. ^ Jeff Kimber (8 July 2022). "Rick Shiels Announces New Sponsor". Golf Monthly Magazine. Retrieved 27 June 2024.