Rick Shiels

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]

Early in 2025 ^[18] Shiels announced he had signed a lucrative contract with the Saudi Golf League "LIV" Golf to be an Ambassador for Saudi Golf. Shiels made it clear he was not there to play golf himself but rather to advocate for the Saudi League and help to expand it's presence and influence in mainstream society.

In August 2025, Shiels participated in the inaugural Internet Invitational, a YouTube golf tournament organized by Barstool Sports and Bob Does Sports.^[19] The tournament aired between October and November 2025 and garnered over 25 million views online.