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…
In this installment of The Americans in Pinehurst Series, Matt, Fred and I discuss the new Southern Pines Golf Club experience. In the hands of a new ownership group, which also owns nearby Pine Needles and Mid Pines golf course resorts, Southern Pines has undergone a significant renovation and restoration effort from noted architect Kyle…
This episode is about fun. Finding fun, having fun, being fun. It’s about being serious but not taking ourselves too seriously. It’s about golf that’s fun, without any of the other stuff that gets in the way. I speak with Brad Woodger, operator of The Royal & Ancient Chappaquiddick Links, located on Chappaquiddick Island. “Royal…
Today’s episode puts a spotlight on the turf side of the golf course industry. My guest is Brian Laurent. His journey in golf has taken him from collegiate golfer to running multiple Ohio sections of the Golf Course Superintendent’s Association of America, before launching his newest venture, the Superintendent Network. He is also the caretaker…
In this third and final installment of The Americans in Wisconsin Roundtable, we discuss the experience of playing the Links Course at Lawsonia. Nestled above Green Lake, the Links at Lawsonia simultaneously reminds me of several great Midwestern courses I’ve played and looks unlike anywhere I’ve seen before. From the hands and minds of the…
This is the second part of my conversation with my friend, Head Golf Professional at Kearney Hill Golf Links, Chris Boysel, PGA. We talk about keeping golf fun, the practical effect of distance in golf, and why the rest of us are so important. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Google Podcasts | Spotify…
Today’s episode presents the first half of my conversation with Chris Boysel, who is the Head PGA Professional at Kearney Hill Golf Links here in Lexington. He is one of those golf pros blessed with natural enthusiasm for golf and the gift of gab. He and I could literally sit down and talk golf all…
My special guest for this episode is Chicago’s Kris McEwen. He’s a man of many parts, with his Venn Diagram covering several sides of golf through his growing multi-media empire. We talk golf courses, media, travel, Chicagoland, and more. Links to Kris’s various works are listed below. Enjoy! Driving Range Heroes where you can find…
This episode presents the story that I’ve been wanting to tell you for more than a year and a half. It’s a little bit of the story of the once and future Park Mammoth Golf Course in Park City, Kentucky. And to help me tell it’s story, we’re speaking again with friend of the podcast,…
In this second installment of The Americans in Wisconsin Roundtable with friends of the show, Matt and Fred, we pickup where we left off in Episode 2, moving from the discussion of the Sand Valley Course to this week’s insights on The Sandbox Short Course, the Mammoth Dunes Course, and the luxury the resort experience…
Jim and I discuss out-of-the way golf adventures, old-school caddies, unsung heroes of construction, and of course, his excellent new book, The Secret Home of Golf: The Authorized History of King-Collins Golf and the Creation of Sweetens Cove. Plus if you stick around to the end of the interview, Jim profiles his 10 favorite Blind…
Erstwhile friends of the show Fred & Matt join me to discuss the annual summer Guys’ Golf Trip. This 2021 version found us at Sand Valley Golf Resort. In this first edition of the Americans in Wisconsin mini-series, we discuss the gem that this the Coore + Crenshaw designed Sand Valley Course, caddies, walking golf,…
To start Season 3 of the podcast, I provide a brief glimpse of the golf courses worth playing depending on where you may be visiting or passing through Kentucky. I get asked a lot about where to play when someone plans a visit to Kentucky, either for work or leisure. This episode is the bullet…
This is the final Americans in Pinehurst Roundtable, this time with friend of the podcast John Mark Kennedy, wherein we delve into that most special of Sandhills’ courses, Tobacco Road. I’m often asked by folks that haven’t made the pilgrimage to Sanford, North Carolina, what makes the course so special, and I invariable struggle to…
Welcome to another episode in my series of discussions about Public Golf in America, this time through our local scene here in Central Kentucky, Justin Mullannix, PGA. After serving as the head golf professional at Kearney Hill Golf Course and Gay Brewer Jr. Course at Picadome, Justin is now charged with overseeing Lexington’s golf leagues,…
Today, Fred and I recap what made our recent Winter Golf Getaway to Chattanooga, Tennessee so special and fun. We lament a canceled event at Sweetens Cove, the mother of all Plan B’s, and also do a brief deep dive on what makes Black Creek Club a very special place. Black Creek Club is the…
A front nine of thoughts to close out the winter off-season and move towards the active spring golf window, a monologue riff on what we’ve been up to at the Blind Shots Podcast and what we’re looking forward to. Topics include a recent golf trip that was ruined, then miraculously salvaged, all within a half…
It’s Round Four of The Americans in Pinehurst Roundtable, with erstwhile friends, Matt and Fred. In this episode we discuss a bit of a Sandhills Unicorn: a relatively new golf course, by Pinehurst area standards. I mean, of course, the Dormie Club, the 2010 Coore + Crenshaw masterwork located just 10 minutes from the heart…
In Episode 26, Scott Laffin and I bounce around ideas golf and golf course businesses.He has carved out a non-traditional role for himself in golf course design and construction through is firm, Feature Golf Consulting, as the guy behind the guy. A professional landscape architect by training, he’s enjoyed backdoor access and hands-on experience to…
Today’s episode is another in my series of discussions about Public Golf in America. This version is a special treat, as I have a wide-ranging discussion with one of the smartest, most intriguingly credentialed people working in golf, Mike McCartin, co-founder of the National Links Trust. With a bachelor’s degree in economics from that esteemed…
It’s Round Three of The Americans in Pinehurst Roundtable, with our friends, Matt and Fred. In this episode we contrast two courses that I strain to find nominal similarities, but in reality, couldn’t be much more different. I’m talking about Donald Ross’s Southern Pines Golf Club, and Rees’ Jones New Course at Talamore, both in…
Welcome to the second episode of The StoneCrest Series, an in-depth look a very special golf course in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. Brad Reynolds is the course’s superintendent and general manager, so there’s few people who could know StoneCrest better. We talk everything from collapsing greens to amazing scenery to community assets and municipal…
Welcome to Episode 22! To start the new year, I bring you the voice of someone new to the game. Many of you are lifers or golf tragics, like me. I find chatting or playing a round of golf with someone that has just been newly bitten by the golf bug to be a wonderfully…
The COVID-19 induced golf boom of 2020 was one of the weird silver linings in a year unlike any other. Participation rates, numbers of rounds, and memberships sold were up across the board in places where golf was deemed a relatively safe form of recreation. For the purposes of this discussion, it paused many municipalities’…