Guests of the Pod
Seaton Carew: Story of a Golf Club
Seaton Carew stands apart for a number of reasons. Some might think its because of the unique 22 holes on site, facilitating a number of layouts throughout the year, or the fact it's a pure links course shaped by Dr Alister MacKenzie, but most importantly it's serves as a beacon for exceptional golf which remains focussed on being accessible for all and affordable on England's North-East coast. We've loved visiting Seaton for a number of years now, and every time we've been amazed at the improvements that are constantly happening to the course. Alex, Tom and the rest of the team do a brilliant job, and this film is a great reminder of its proud history which stretches back to 1874, making it the 10th oldest club in England. https://youtu.be/vnWUvhcoUJ8
374 – PGA Championship Recap
Tom, Sam & Half Par sit down to discuss Aaron Rai's amazing victory at the 108th PGA championship at Aronimink. Latest Products
079 – Preparing Royal Birkdale for an Open with Sean McLean
Bledge sits down with Sean McLean to discuss the changes and preparations for Royal Birkdale for the upcoming Open in July. Latest Products
373 – Donald Ross
Sam & Tom both do some homework on Dornoch man Donald Ross, who would go on from an upbringing on the ancient Scottish links to become the most prolific golf course architect in the United States. Designing and working on over 400 courses, his journey is a fascinating one.With the US PGA taking place this week at Aronimink, it is our third instalment on biographies of some of the game’s most celebrated architects.Having studied under Old Tom Morris in St Andrews, a chance encounter with Harvard professor Robert Wilson would see him take the leap of faith and move to the US, working at Oakley Country Club. He would then turn another chance encounter with an attorney into a career-defining move, as he set up his winter office at Pinehurst, designing four of the courses over many decades and using it as a base from which he met [...]
Royal Birkdale & Formby – our 2026 Spring Meeting
Much like the Sunningdale Foursomes or the Halford Hewitt, the Cookie Jar Spring Meeting has become something of a curtain raiser to the season for many of golf’s biggest nerds. This year, we were fortunate enough to stage it at Birkdale and Formby, just three months before The Open returns to Birkdale. A fairly surreal way to begin the year. It is hard to go wrong with 32 likeminded golf obsessives across two of the country’s finest clubs, but this year was made even better by the company of Mike Howard from Mackenzie & Ebert and Joe McDonnell, who talked us through the recent work at Birkdale and Formby respectively. A huge thank you to Titleist and FootJoy for supporting the event, to both clubs for their exceptional hospitality, and to everyone who joined us. If you’d like to come along to future events, make sure you’re signed up to [...]
Match Report: Spring Meeting
WORDS BY HUGO CORNELL Glastonbury Festival has long been considered the toughest ticket ballot going, but that is no longer the case. The ballot for this year’s Cookie Jar Spring Meeting has smashed that long standing preconception to pieces. Purchasing Oasis tickets for their reunion was much less of a scrum than the hotly contested seat at the table as one of the lucky 32 golfers who turned up at Royal Birkdale and Formby in mid-April. Day 1 saw the Spring Meeting participants gather at Royal Birkdale for food, then golf. Two sleeves of C.J. logo'd Titleist ProV1x golf balls were generously placed for the field on the place mats at lunch, acting as both a lovely memento and more obviously six shells of premium ammo. It was a room full of nervous energy, a re-run of the first day of new school year. The attendees on the more severe [...]
