Guests of the Pod
205 – Ryder Cup Recap
Sam, Tom & Bruce convene for a rambling recap of the action at the weekend at Marco Simone in Rome. We'll save the hat puns this time, but it was a special weekend of golf which we enjoyed from the comfort of our own armchairs from start to finish! An emphatic win for Team Europe with 16.5 points versus 11.5. A comeback from Team USA which fell just short on 16 with Rickie Fowler finding the water, followed only moments later by a spectator who seemed high on life (and Peroni). Our roving reporter Charlie was on the ground for CJG and will no doubt be sharing his thoughts on the blog section of our website so keep your eyes (and ears) peeled for that! Congratulations once again to Luke Donald and Team Europe, as well as Patrick Cantlay who now shares his wedding anniversary with our 205th podcast episode! [...]
204 – Ryder Cup Special
Bruce, Sam & Tom discuss the history of the Ryder Cup through three lenses. Sam discusses the importance of the Captains in previous Ryder Cups, Bruce discusses the importance of Captain's picks and Tom discusses the importance of the World #1 during the Ryder Cup. Niche prevails. Latest Products
203: Course Diaries – Worcestershire Golf Club
We sit down with friend GCA guru and member of The Worcestershire - David Thomas - to hear more about the history of the oldest club in our own county. Golf goes all the way back in Malvern to the 1870’s and a young H.S. Colt lived here from the age of 2, meaning this is where it all began for the young man who would go on to become one of the most influential course architect in history. Mackenzie would later become the course architect when the club moved site in the 1920’s, and Colt despite being a member of the club for several decades was unsuccessful in being appointed by the club. Fascinating chapter of history that little is spoken about. For overseas listeners, much has been made of the correct pronounciation. Worcestershire is pronounced; ‘Wu-stuh-shuh’ Latest Products [...]
On-Call, on the Course.
Alister MacKenzie gained the nickname ‘The Good Doctor’- he served as a field surgeon in the Boer War not long after graduating from Cambridge, then it was time to ply his trade around Leeds, his hometown. He traded the scalpel for topography maps and golf course design after World War One. Harry Colt gave up his Law career after a couple of years to design courses, while MacKenzie saw out nearly twenty (intermittently) as a Doctor. I suspect the Good Doctor was less-than-full time at the Doctoring during these years; he produced Alwoodley GC as his first design in the middle of this period. Colt wasn’t cash strapped- he took the Sunningdale Secretary job for £150 a year when the average London Lawyer was earning £1500 per annum. These men partnered up in design for a brief period of time but [...]
202: Post-BMW Catch Up
Tom, Bruce & Sam talking about a wide range of topics in here. Travels through France, takeaways from the BMW and looking ahead to the Ryder Cup, Hagestads recent win in the US Mid-Am and more... Latest Products
Les Bordes: The New Course – Gil Hanse
As part of the recent development work at Les Bordes under the stewardship of the Private Equity group RoundShield who acquired the estate in 2018, a second 18 has been built on the higher sandy ground nearer the entrance to the 1,400 acre estate (the second largest privately owned estate in France... the largest being Disneyland in Paris). Gil Hanse was commissioned to design and layout the course with one simple brief; ‘This is a members club, a second club for almost everyone and as such it was important to create a course which was walkable and enjoyed short transitions between holes’ In contrast to The Old which is verdant and watered, The New sits on firm sandy soil, rich in fescue with the occasional smattering of heather. This is a course built with the charm of the Surrey/Berkshire heathlands and the fast running Carolina’s in mind, taking some of [...]
