Chili's is opening its first restaurant on a golf course, and it will be gone in 48 hours.
The chain takes over the clubhouse at DeBell Golf Club in Burbank, California, on August 28 and 29 for the Chili's Golf Club.
What outlasts the pop-up is the merch, a nine-piece Rhoback collection running from $54 to $158.
The apparel will keep selling online even after the clubhouse closes.
The whole thing centers on the 19th hole, the post-round stop where golfers eat, drink, and inflate the story of their best shot with every retelling.
Guests can order Chili's staples like the Triple Dipper alongside two exclusive drinks called the "Transfusion Marg" and the "Tee Time Marg."
They can also browse a limited-edition apparel line in the on-site pro shop.
"We created the Chili’s Golf Club to be a celebration of the Chili’s of golf — the unserious side of the game," Matt Sorrell, co-founder of It's Advertising Time, told DesignRush.
He defines unserious as "mulligans, 'accidental' nudges, generous gimmes, questionable scorekeeping, and plenty of time spent at the 19th hole."
"Oh, and margaritas. Triple Dippers. And some new Rhoback merch.
Did we mention cheese pulls? Ok so it's mostly Chili's. BUT — it’s still a little bit golf. Just the right balance," he added.
The chain designed the apparel line with Rhoback, which Chili's calls one of the fastest-growing active-lifestyle apparel brands.
The partnership gives the campaign a sales channel that outlives the two-day window at DeBell.
The Pro Shop Lineup
The Rhoback X Chili's collection stretches across nine pieces, all stamped with the official Golf Club crest.
Polos take their names from the round itself, including the Mulligan and the Champion's Dinner, both priced at $132.
The Hesi hoodie, built for early tee times and late stays at the clubhouse, runs $142.
A performance Q-Zip sells for $154 in men's sizing and $118 in women's. Hats round out the line at $54 each.
Everything is sold online at rhoback.com/chilis while supplies last, pushing the activation to fans who never set foot on the course.
The collection also grounds a campaign film that targets the everyday golfer, with cameos from:
- Wesley Bryan
- Caleb Pressley
- Jena Sims Koepka
- Chaz Bowker
- Josh Kelley
- JaNa Craig
Shared across Chili's and its partners' social channels, the film highlights the gap between how golfers play and how they describe it afterward.
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Pricing a polo at $132 puts Chili's in the same tier as the golf apparel labels it is borrowing credibility from.
It's a co-branding move that trades on Rhoback's price authority as much as its design.
The Muni Course Advantage
A muni is a city-owned course open to anyone who books a tee time and pays the greens fee, and Chili's picked one for a reason.
U.S. golf participation hit a record 48.1 million players in 2025, on and off the course, according to the National Golf Foundation.
On-course play alone reached 29.1 million golfers, and about 70% of core golfers got their start at municipally owned courses.
DeBell puts Chili's in front of the players who started at a muni and stayed there, a group no country club could deliver.
The apparel line then follows them home, since anyone can buy the collection without booking a tee time at DeBell.
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The Chili's Golf Club activation reinforces three marketing principles:
- Go where participation is growing: Brands should activate at accessible, public venues. In Chili's case, doing so allowed it to reach the golfers driving the sport's expansion.
- Give a limited activation a permanent shelf life: Selling the apparel collection online after the two-day event extends reach and gives customers multiple ways to partake in the campaign.
- Let product names carry the story. Naming apparel after in-round moments like the mulligan turns the merchandise itself into a piece of campaign storytelling.
Picking a muni over a country club gives Chili's a natural way to claim golf without pretending to belong to its elite side.
Our Take: Why Skip the Country Club Entirely?
Most golf marketing chases the top of the sport: the majors, the swing coaches, the guys who actually break 80.
We think Chili's found something better by ignoring all of it and setting up where the only expectation is that you'll have a good time.
It tells the golfer who shoots 110 and loves every minute of it that they're the reason the club was set up.
There's no velvet rope here, just a clubhouse, a menu, and a polo named after your eighth mulligan.
We'd like to see more brands realize that meeting people where the sport is enjoyed the most can beat aspirational marketing.
Connect with these top experiential marketing agencies to build activations that meet your audience where they already show up.
