This paper explores the formation of subfields, a relatively under-examined mechanism of field change, by analyzing how actors interpret uncertainty and reestablish field stability following an exogenous jolt. Using a longitudinal case study of golf in the United States—disrupted by the advent of television— we illustrate how a group of tournament players, through efforts to make sense of their shifting environment, inadvertently catalyzed field change, culminating in the creation of the professional golf subfield. Specifically, we demonstrate how non-dominant central actors engaged in environmental sensemaking by constructing and testing accounts of their emerging power. These validated accounts, coupled with peripheral actors’ rejection of the status quo, catalyzed the establishment of a subfield with its own identity and logic, ultimately re-stabilizing the broader field. Our process model of subfield formation advances research on institutional change by theorizing how and why subfields emerge in highly institutionalized settings through co-constructed sensemaking, shedding light on the role of non-dominant actors and the intentionality in institutional change.
