Guests of the Pod
363 – Pete Dye (pt 2): ‘The Kid Who Played With Clay’
In part 2, Tom takes us through Pete's trip to Scotland that inspired his work with Alice as a course designer. Latest Products
362 – Pete Dye (pt 1): ‘The Kid Who Played With Clay’
Pt 1 of our 2 part special on the life and legacy of Peter Dye: 1925 - 2020. In part one, Tom takes us through the first 38 years of the life of Pete Dye, beginning with his early years in Ohio and growing up on a course built by his father Paul. Pete would go on to quite school early, enlist in the Army and take a career defining trip to Scotland with wife Alice. This is part of an exciting series we are running this year where we explore the life and legacy of the architects that have shaped the 4 major venues in 2026 (+ the players)! Latest Products
073 – A Q&A With Bledge
In this episode, Bledge takes center stage to tackle a massive range of questions submitted by our Instagram community.Bledge shares his wealth of experience on everything from the fine details of turf management and the realities of life on the course to career advice for the next generation of greenkeepers. This is a masterclass in the industry from a man who lives and breathes it. Whether you're in the industry or just love the behind-the-scenes of the game, this is a great listen. Latest Products
TPC Sawgrass: Story of a Golf Club
In the swampy marshlands of North Florida, Pete Dye was tasked with the impossible: creating architectural theatre from a site once home only to alligators and rattlesnakes. The result was the Stadium Course, a modern temple of golf that felt entirely alien to the "pretty" aesthetic of its era. While other courses sought to find beauty in nature, Dye embraced a "mean pretty" philosophy. Using a primitive but brilliant method of moving muck and reclaiming sand, he and his wife, Alice, manufactured a landscape defined by visual intimidation and psychological warfare. His "switchback" design ensures that no two consecutive holes play in the same direction, forcing a constant recalibration against the wind. The 17th remains the ultimate symbol of this ingenuity—an island green born of necessity from a sand excavation pit. Alongside the daunting, water-lined 18th, it forms a finishing stretch that remains one of the most nerve-shattering tests in [...]
361 – Course Diaries: Conwy Golf Club
Sam & Tom sit down to review their visit to Conwy Golf Club on the north coast of Wales. With a history stretching back to 1869, and Hoylake professional Jack Morris the man behind the initial design, Conwy is a breathtaking piece of land on which to play golf. We had a great time here, settling a club championship match in a four-club wind.In more recent years, Frank Pennink re-designed much of the course following the two World Wars in the first half of the 20th century. Most recently, Mackenzie & Ebert’s work with the club has seen gorse removed, green sites enlarged, and bunkers returned to more naturalised shapes.For those of you who follow the trials and tribulations of our matches on the road, the ‘Club Championship’ section of the website is filled with match reports as we go, along with a league table tracking our performance [...]
