April 2025

Junior Opens you can’t miss

2025-04-03T08:55:36+00:00April 1st, 2025|Blog|

Words by Peter Handcock While many of us are gearing up for the season ahead, thousands of junior golfers across the country are doing so on a much more serious level. Junior Opens are the backbone of many boys' and girls' summer holidays, offering competitive golf at incredible venues for unbeatable value. Half Par—who, despite his appearance, aged out of these events a terrifying 10 years ago—reflects on why he now values them even more than national tournaments, before highlighting a range of standout Junior Opens taking place this year. If you’ve got a son or daughter and [...]

The best golf book you’ve never read

2025-04-07T07:47:16+00:00April 1st, 2025|Blog, Uncategorized|

words by Peter Handcock This week, 640 school alumni make their annual pilgrimage to the Kent coast for the 101st year of the Halford Hewitt tournament. A festival of golf where 10 old boys (and girls) from a fixed list of 64 public schools across the Isles compete in a team scratch foursomes knockout at Royal Cinque Ports (and Royal St George's for the opening rounds). Some aim to survive round one, others chase another title—but for all, it’s a reunion first, where golf takes a back seat to the camaraderie and spirit of the game. Half Par [...]

March 2025

A Unique Contest Ahead of Its Time

2025-03-25T10:21:45+00:00March 10th, 2025|Blog, Uncategorized|

words by James Burn While The Players happens this week over in Ponte Vedra Beach, another tournament will be taking place in the leafy suburbs of London, long regarded as the curtain raiser for the season. For those wishing to keep an eye on results and the draw, please hit the link here.  Friend of Jar - James Burn - took to his macbook to write a few words about the history of the event and what makes it so unique. Table of Contents A Unique Contest [...]

February 2025

1971 Walker Cup – When David beat Goliath

2025-02-20T08:34:38+00:00February 20th, 2025|Blog|

With just over six months until the golfing world shifts its focus from the pro game to the Walker Cup—one of the game's purest events—at the legendary Cypress Point, the countdown is well and truly on. Walker Cup expert and friend of the Jar, Darragh Garrahy, looks back on the 1971 match at St Andrews, where Michael Bonallack led a supposedly tame GB&I (or just GB, according to Golf World) to a stunning victory over a star-studded US side that hadn’t lost the cup since 1938. ''1971, when David beat Goliath'' words by Dr Darragh Garrahy [...]

January 2025

Rugby, Golf, and the Six Nations: A Grand Slam Tour with Clubs in Tow

2025-01-31T20:01:30+00:00January 31st, 2025|Blog|

There’s something poetic about the Six Nations. For me, the six nations always starts in the depths of the cold, dark winter. But as the weeks go by and the ever dwindling possibility of Wales winning the six nations fades, a new excitement arises. The dawning of the golf season. For whilst the six nations begins in February in Winter, it ends in April and the shoots of Spring emerge - indicating the beginning of grass growth, the longer days and the start of the golf season. The six nations also brings the clash of rugby titans, the pilgrimage [...]

A penny for your thoughts, £30 for a round

2025-01-31T19:04:08+00:00January 21st, 2025|Blog|

In the post-Covid world, where green fees are soaring due to golf's popularity boom and an ever-growing appetite among Americans to turn once-in-a-lifetime UK golf pilgrimages into twice-a-year rituals, the era of reasonably priced rounds at Britain’s best courses is, sadly, often a thing of the past. To help combat this, Half Par Kid has compiled a list of Britain’s 20 best value green fees for the year ahead - 10 under £50 and 10 between £50-£100. From off-the-beaten-track 9-hole gems to Top 100 courses that refuse to follow their competitors into eye-watering territory, there’s plenty to explore. [...]

December 2024

Our Daily Bread

2025-01-02T18:47:04+00:00December 31st, 2024|Blog|

Travelling the length and breadth of the UK, wearing out the British motorway network is tiring work, but someone has got to do it. Our content producer - Luke - has done this as much as anyone in CJG in 2024 shooting golf courses and indulging in the culinary delights of clubs up and down the land. In this editorial, Luke reflects on his year of ‘eating beige’ and shares the culinary highlights that stood out, much of which is sandwiched between some form of bread. words by Luke Davies Q: For those [...]

Secret Diary of a Club GM: vol. III – Course Closures

2024-12-06T11:56:44+00:00December 5th, 2024|Blog, Diaries of a GM|

He's at it again. Our mystery General Manager has found some time to tap out some musings on a sensitive topic... Course Closures! Winter Golf: Course Closed? Table of Contents Winter Golf: Course Closed? Ah, winter golf in the U.K. The days are shorter, the temperatures are lower, and the courses? Well, let’s just say they’ve entered “hibernation mode.” For the avid golfer, it’s like being handed a box of Ultras at Christmas when you asked for Pro V 1’s. Disappointing. But before you toss your clubs into the [...]

November 2024

The Berrie Portrait, words by Dr Steven Reid

2024-12-10T06:54:50+00:00November 29th, 2024|Blog, Golf History, Uncategorized|

Dr Steven Reid is a lifelong member of Royal Lytham & St Anne's Golf Club, an author and historian with more than a slight interest in the life of Bobby Jones. After our podcast discussing the 1926 Open Championship (brilliantly chronicled in his book; 'Bobby's Open', talk turned to the famous Berrie portrait which was commissioned by Wallasey member and ex-captain Sir Ernest Royden, and painted by John A.A.Berrie. In this excellent article, Steven takes us closer to how a portrait from 1930 came to become the most iconic image of Bobby Jones and one that we all [...]

Ocean’s Thirty Eight – The 38th Walker Cup at Ocean Forest

2024-11-24T20:12:06+00:00November 24th, 2024|Blog, Book Reviews, Uncategorized|

Following our recent podcast with Walker Cup legend Nigel Edwards, our very own Walker Cup correspondent and self-proclaimed Professor of Pace Putting - Dr Darragh Garrahy - took to his library and did some more digging on the 38th playing of The Walker Cup at Ocean Forest. 'Ocean's Thirty Eight' words by Darragh Garrahy A.K.A 'Dr Lag' Table of Contents The Lindy Effect Something called the Lindy Effect theorizes that the longer a non-perishable item is around, the more sure their future is- if a golf course has [...]

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