On the second night of Christmas, I reflect on what it means, if anything, that I played the best golf of my life in 2022. Can I continue to get better? Or is this as good as it gets? And will any of it ever be good enough? Happy Boxing Day, everybody
On the first night of Christmas, I look back at the courses I played for the first time in 2022. Merry Christmas everyone!
This episode is another installment of the Americans in the MidSouth episode. This time, Fred and I share memories and platitudes of the Course at Sewanee, located on the campus of Sewanee: The University of the South, just up the road roughly 50 miles west of Chattanooga.
To me, the Course at Sewanee, a nine-hole, 2014 Gil Hanse renovation, does community golf hub unlike most anyplace else I’ve visited on this side of the Atlantic. It is an arresting and engaging golf course, folded seamlessly into the fabric of the University Domain up on the Bishops’ Mountain. The greens and the visuals at Sewanee are superb, perfectly nestled into the larger landscape of the course, all of which left a lasting impression upon me, and a desire to return sooner rather than later.
Kieran Clark, the Digital & Social editor at Golf Shake, lives in St. Andrews, Scotland, which gave him a unique experience when the 150th Open Championship was played there on the Old Course this summer. He gets to the essence of what make the Home of Golf so special on any given day, and how those magical qualities are amplified by the buzz and excitement of an Open Championship.
Three years ago, Matt, Fred and I embarked on a journey to the Home of Golf. That trip, those places, that golf, that Scotland, it changed us forever. So much has changed since the fall of 2019, so on this third anniversary of the trip, the fellas and I get together and reflect on such…
The Do Something Golf Club in Lexington is bringing golf into the schools and communities that otherwise might not otherwise have any exposure to the game we love. Its founder and driving force, Shed Lacefield, shares the journey of his brainchild program that began as a few kids learning to swing a golf club after…
What the fellas found at the end of the Road to Savannah Harbor.
I was charmed by what I found at The McLemore, high atop Lookout Mountain above Rising Fawn, Georgia. In this conversation with Duane Horton, president of The McLemore, as well as the Scenic Land Company, and Charlie Rymer, McLemore Executive VP, we discuss how the community and development is transitioning from a traditional golf residential…
Lawrence Donegan’s essay titled Adventures in Junior Golf from McKellar #5 was the most important article I’ve read in 20 years. In it, Donegan examines the Youth Sports Industrial Complex through the lens of his experiences as the dad of a junior golfer, weaving tales of woe and lessons learned with the bad and the…
My conversation with Mike from the Chasing Scratch Podcast, tracing his and Eli’s journey towards a scratch golf handicap and a community they never expected.
Matt Considine is a co-founder of NewClub Golf Society, an official golf club modeled after the golf societies of Great Britain and Ireland. NewClub offers a home to golfers that desire the best elements of a golfing community: camaraderie, competition, and a commitment to stewardship of the game we all love. Matt’s passion has become…
Each August, on the heels of our annual golf getaway, I reflect on what revealed itself in the build-up, execution, and aftermath of the three (or sometimes four) day spectacle. Organizing those thoughts into something coherent and valuable takes as long to plan as the actual golf trip. Here is my attempt for the 9th…
Welcome back to the Blind Shots Podcast. I’m excited to be back in the studio and truly jazzed about some of the forthcoming episodes for Season Four. Today, co-hosts Matt & Fred sit in to talk about Buddies’ Golf Trips. We frame the discussion within our decade of experience together to try to isolate what…
A few thoughts on twilight golf.
Golf can be hard. It can also be a lot of fun.
Everywhere that I look in golf, there appears universal, unified messaging on only a single point: I need to hit the ball further. It’s a golf-centric spin on a tale as old as time, increasingly woven into the fabric of the consciousness of any middle-aged man quickly moving closer to his athletic mortality, with his…
This episode is the second half of my conversation with Matthew McCrady, the Director of Operations at Man O’ War Golf in Lexington, Kentucky. We pick up where we left off, discussing the present and future states of merchandising and golf equipment for golfers and meander towards how Matthew sees the dynamic between grass roots junior golf on public courses and exposure to more aspirational courses as children grow into the game.
What if LIV Golf Investments, the corporate vehicle of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, bought or tried to buy the Ladies European Tour (“LET”) to conquer and disrupt the LPGA Tour instead of stalking the best players in men’s golf in an effort to reshape professional golf?
This episode is the first half of my conversation with Matthew McCrady, the Director of Operations at my home practice and fitting facility, Man O’ War Golf in Lexington, Kentucky. We talk all around and thru the state of the golf business, as I try to touch on what makes this stand alone practice facility so special.
Buckle up, folks, because we’re going around the world today with Mandarin Media’s Hal Phillips. We talk global golf course design, American soccer revolution, and Chinese political economy. Seriously.
Jason Straka & I talk about Kenwood Country Club, the course renovation, and the LPGA tournament, as well as his passion for sustainability in golf course design and maintenance, and the insular nature of a lot of golf-centric conversations.
The truth of Matt’s final point, that playing up to just a slightly shorter overall yardage still presents interesting challenges yet in a less stressful manner, is the hallmark of a well-designed golf course. Moving up from one set of tees to a shorter set doesn’t magically make a good golf course boring or easy; it makes the challenges less stressful and more enjoyable.
On today’s episode, we class up the joint a bit by welcoming author, writer, golfer, and native Kentuckian gone rogue, Michael Croley. Michael grew up in Corbin, Kentucky, but now lives in the Columbus, OH area, shaping the minds of tomorrow as an Assistant Professor of English and Journalism at Denison University, developing his own creative writing portfolio, and working the golf journalism beat for more than a handful of publications.
Today’s episode is one where you and I get to listen to my friend entertain us with some stories, and make us think with a few others. Matthew Wharton is one of my most cherished friends in golf; smart, funny, curious, serious, and kind. We talk golf courses, golf industry, golf shots, and golf’s future,…
Winter has arrived in earnest, as the chaos of the holiday season subsides, so this week the podcast takes a look at some of the bests and worsts of golf in 2021. We also cast an eye forward to 2022, previewing a few things that we’re already getting excited about. The off-season, or winter in…