Swinging for birdies and subscribers

Cuyler Gauthier of Grantham has attracted 5,800 subscribers and nearly a million views for his YouTube golf series, Muskrat Links. (Courtesy photo)

For Cuyler Gauthier, golf and video editing were his passions growing up in Londonderry. At the age of 31, the current resident of tiny Grantham has melded these into a fledgling career as a content creator.

Muskrat Links is the name and YouTube golf videos are the game for Gauthier who is trying to make it in the challenging digital world using family, data, a foam-ball golf course on his property, a home-built golf simulator, but mostly fun.

“I see myself as a promoter of golf,” he said. “It’s a sport where contrary to belief, you don’t need to be rich or a low handicap to play and have fun.”

The Muskrat Links videos are almost exclusively shot in New Hampshire and have a folksy feeling.

“I want to bring light to New Hampshire golf, which I think is underrepresented in the YouTube golf world,” Gauthier said.

The first steps of the journey took place in 2021 when Gauthier became a stay-at-home dad with his newborn. That year, he videotaped every step in the building of a 22-hole foam ball course around his property. Muskrat Links was still in its creative stage, and he wanted to have a course where you could chip around competitively with friends and family. It was a labor of love, which included a staggering seven tons of gravel.

The Aug. 5, 2022, video of Gauthier’s building of the course was his debut release on the Muskrat Links YouTube channel. Since then, he has put out at least one long-form video a week. Besides his home foam-ball course, Gauthier will use his garage golf simulator for content.

The video of Gauthier building the simulator has over 190,000 views, his most-watched. In the past year, he has become a resource for other golfing fanatics who want a similar device in their garage or basement. Ironically, during the interview for this article, Gauthier received a message from a subscriber asking about a parts list for a home golf simulator.

“I feel I can say I’m an expert and can show how to make one at a reasonable price,” he said.

As of the new year, Muskrat Links has 5,800 subscribers, over 200 published videos, and nearing a million total views. All of those numbers are above average for a YouTube content creator.

“I know how YouTube works. There isn’t Muskrat Links content on any other platform,” he said. “I want to focus on YouTube right now.”

YouTube golf has become a huge business. People are still watching the PGA Tour, but its primary viewership is over 40 years old. The younger generation, raised on the internet, has turned to that medium to get its golf content.

The current gold standard for YouTube golf content creators is Good Good. It’s a funny name, but these half-dozen young men in their mid-20s decided to film themselves playing golf and hanging out. The viewers love it, and each has become rich, earning a living in a way that typifies the internet age — making money by just golfing.

The Good Good YouTube channel has 1.4 million subscribers and its own merchandise brand. It’s got a sort of Jersey Shore-type vibe for golfers. The internet pegs each of the six having an annual income of around $2 million, with endorsements pushing them higher.

In September, Gauthier posted a video about how content creators make money on YouTube, so this article won’t go into technical details. In that video, Gauthier reveals how much he made in the 13 months of regular content creation. Hint, the total has yet to reach four figures.

The challenge of creating quality video content is real. YouTube is littered with channels started by people thinking that money would start pouring in upon posting, not realizing the return on investment, at first, is limited. OK, nonexistent.

Colton Flint of Baldwinville, Mass., just south of the New Hampshire border near Jaffrey, created 18 golf vlogs during the summer of 2020. He was playing local courses such as his home course, Gardner Municipal, a tract that golfers in southwest New Hampshire regularly visit. Of these 18, he also played famous ones like Pebble Beach in California.

When he golfed, he set up a tripod to film every one of his shots, adding comments about which club he was using or historical knowledge about the hole. It was a one-man show. The videos were less sharp than Good Good, but for anyone looking to get a feel for one of his courses, they were fascinating. The filming and production soon became too much, and Flint stopped in the fall of that year.

“I found it to be too stressful to try and record a round of golf myself and then also try to play a round of golf at the same time,” Flint said. “I found that I was getting annoyed, and it was impacting my scores and enjoyment. So I stopped.”

Flint also reported that it took him about three hours to put together a video, which to him wasn’t enjoyable.

Cuyler Gauthier

Gauthier loves editing and puts in between 12 and 24 hours of work for each week’s professional installment.

“Since I’m a video editor by trade and am pretty good at it, I enjoy the challenge,” Gauthier said. “I’ve always felt most free when I can direct the viewer’s emotions or experience just by adjusting how I cut together my videos. Through high school and college, I’ve edited on every major product: Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premier Pro, and I currently use DaVinci Resolve, as it is free and has video, audio and color suites built into it. Honestly, I think my videos look professional.”

Gauthier has loved the YouTube journey. It’s evident in his videos that he is having fun. Adding to that, he often includes friends and family in his content. Family and golf have been intertwined since he was young. Gauthier and his father, Ken, are both solid golfers. Each sports a handicap in the 7-9 range, and the charismatic Ken has been a supporting actor in many of the Muskrat Links videos.

“Cuyler loved golf from the beginning and we’ve just kept playing,” the proud father said. “I mean, how else can a dad feel when his son calls and asks to play golf?”

Gauthier had Muskrat Links in his mind as a brand name for years, coming to him when he and his wife were in their early stages of dating and witnessing muskrats running around on walks. The muskrat on the logo is wearing a fishing hat, replicating the one that Gauthier often wears in videos.

“That was my grandfather’s hat, which he always wore. He gave it to me before he died.”

Gauthier understands branding and has different items with the logo. He is planning on opening a Muskrat Links merchandise online store soon. The foam-ball course has both official-looking scorecards and pencils, similar to what you’d get in the pro shop of a standard course. He has balls with the muskrat on them, so if any golfers find them in the woods at your local course, contact Cuyler; he’ll probably make a video about it.

Now, 18 months in as a full-time YouTuber, Gauthier is pleased with the progress, despite his schedule of child care during the day and video editing deep into the night. Would he have done anything differently from the start?

“I think I would posted YouTube Shorts sooner,” he said. (Shorts are videos that are no longer than a minute.) In these, Gauthier cuts open golf balls and dissects them, or does cool golf trick shots. Something different than his long-form videos.

“It took me several months to start regularly posting Shorts, and they have been a great source of new subscribers.”

During the winter months, Gauthier and his dad play in a simulator league at Mulligan’s in Derry, which of course is providing content for the channel. The goal is to eventually get Muskrat Links to be something that brings in enough income to support his family, a la Good Good and other YouTube golfers. Gauthier sees the potential and is doing his best to reach the mountain top.

“I’m always designing new logos, graphics, shirt patterns, prints and color palettes that match my content,” he said. “I’m excited to move Muskrat Links into the merchandise, apparel and accessories market, as I feel that my skills will shine there. If you aren’t looking up, you are going to hit your head on the ceiling.”