The Thing About Golf Podcast: Recent Episodes
Golf Australia
Estimates say there are as many as 60 million golfers in the world and we all know at least some of them who are completely addicted. The question is why? Join us as we try to discover the answer to that burning question, interviewing golfers both famous - and not - on a monthly quest to solve the riddle of this maddening game.
If you’re prone to the occasional temper tantrum after a three-putt and you’re looking for some perspective about golf, this is the episode for you.
Michele Watts is a surprise world champion in more ways than one. She never expected to lose most of her sight at the age of 56 and she certainly never expected to go on and win the International Blind Golf Association World Championship three years later. Add a couple of Australian Opens and several state titles and the achievement seems more remarkable, even to her.
Michele’s story is equal parts harrowing and uplifting and while golf is central to it, it’s a story about much more than golf. It’s a compelling conversation and once again bears testimony to the belief that golf is the greatest game of them all.
If you or someone you know is interested in blind golf, either as player or caddie, head to the Blind Golf Australia website (https://blindgolf.com.au/) for more information.
Some golf stories are just part of a much bigger and more important life story and on Episode 144, we meet just such a guest.
Jennifer Lucas won the first Women’s British Open in 1976, but it is what happened later in life, when she discovered a twin sister she never knew she had at the age of 55, that has dominated the last 20 years.
In this engrossing chat with John Huggan, Jenny talks not only about being a pioneer of the women’s game and the Ladies European Tour, but the impact such a major life discovery has when it comes so late in life.
Many in the public eye have taken to speaking without saying much in this modern media age, but not Billy Horschel.
The 38-year-old Floridian has gathered some wisdom and perspective on both life and the game in his 16-year professional career and he’s not afraid to share what he’s learnt.
Forthright and thoughtful, Horschel gives his take on everything from the LIV Golf/PGA Tour divide, to why he thinks young American golfers should consider starting their careers in Europe.
It’s a compelling chat with John Huggan, which is as revealing as it is entertaining.
How much do those who chronicle golf influence broader thinking about the game? And who are the people who cover the game, anyway?
On episode 142, we meet one of those people and he’s one of the best in the business.
Bill Fields is a multi-award-winning golf writer and photographer who has been covering golf at every conceivable level for more than 40 years.
He shares a wealth of knowledge - and wisdom - in this in depth and fascinating chat with host Rod Morri.
He’s familiar to many through his work as a commentator for Sky Sports, but Scotland's Andrew Coltart is much more than that.
A two-time Australian PGA champion alongside two European Tour wins is testament to a well-rounded game and a mind sited to golf’s multitude challenges.
Coltart reveals a keen intellect and a willingness to share his opinions in this engrossing chat with John Huggan.
Every major victory is historic in its own right, but for Sir Bob Charles his 1963 Open win was a first on multiple fronts.
Charles was the first left-handed player to win one of golf’s big four, but was also the first player from New Zealand to do so and one of the last two players to take part in a 36-hole playoff for the title.
Sir Bob sat down with Rod Morri to reminisce on a career in which he won more than 70 times as a professional, yet came about having only ever had two golf lessons in his entire life.
Few people in any industry can claim to have altered the direction of that industry, but David Leadbetter is one.
When a playing career eluded him in the 1980s, he turned his mind and energies to coaching and from humble beginnings, has built one of the most recognisable golf instruction "brands" in the world.
But along the way, Leadbetter’s profile - and that of his successful clients - helped reshape the way golfers think about taking lessons, a change remaining in effect to this day. John Huggan sits down with Leadbetter to talk everything from his transformation of Nick Faldo’s swing, to the one player he never got to work with but wanted to.
They're the voices that accompany our enduring memories of the game but TV commentators often have more to their story - and connections with the game - than we hear about. Such is the case for our guest on episode 138, Andrew Cotter. Cotter will be familiar to golfers and also viewers of rugby, tennis, athletics, the Olympics, boat racing and more. In this wide ranging chat with John Huggan Cotter talks about his start in broadcasting, his lifelong love of golf and gives a peek behind the broadcasting curtain and what it means to be a commentator.
One of the most underappreciated achievements in the professional game is longevity. Earning and keeping a PGA TOUR or DP World Tour card for years spanning into the double digits is rarer than we think and those who manage it -such as our guest on Episode 137, Soren Kjeldsen - have much to offer.
In this wide ranging chat with John Huggan, Kjeldsen reveals not only a keen sense of humour, but a deep love, appreciation for and - perhaps most importantly for many - knowledge about how to play the game.
A four-time European Tour winner (as well as a World Cup victory with Thorbjorn Olsen in our own backyard at Kingston Heath in 2016), Kjeldsen is thought-provoking and articulate and can now add "excellent podcast guest" to his Wikipedia.
Ask most recreational players their dream job and 'professional golfer’ will be pretty high on the list. But not all who have the opportunity to join the pay for play ranks take that path and on episode 136, we meet just such a golfer.
Colin Dalgleish is not only a long-time friend of our correspondent John Huggan, but a decorated amateur who chose not to pursue a professional career, despite winning the 1981 Scottish amateur championship and representing GB&I in that same year’s Walker Cup. He later captained the team twice, in 2007 and 2009.
Don’t miss John Huggan’s fascinating chat with one of golf’s “lifers” and greatest contributors to the game.
Our guest this episode is one of New Zealand’s most successful professional players, boasting four European Tour titles and nine victories in this part of the world, including two New Zealand Opens.
But there is much more to Turner than just golf. The long-time touring professional turned course architect and commentator sits down with The Thing About Golf host John Huggan to talk all things golf and life in a compelling discussion which covers everything from his “just by chance” start in the game, to the current state of professional play.
Golf is different things to different people, which is part of the game’s great charm. For some, it’s clubs and gear which grab the attention, while others focus on the swing. But for a select few, it is the laws governing the game, and one of the best in the business - recently retired R&A rules guru David Rickman - joins John Huggan on this episode for a fascinating chat about life around the top echelons of the game and the ever-evolving rules we play by.
He first burst onto the scene as a talented amateur with a sensational finish in the 2014 Australian Masters, followed by an 11-hour overnight drive to Sydney to qualify for the following week’s Australian Open.
It has been 11 years and five professional tournament victories since and Lucas Herbert has amassed some stories - and wisdom - along the way. Unafraid to share his opinions, Herbert is always a good interview and this sit down with John Huggan doesn’t disappoint.
From LIV, to Q School, to the mixed Australian Open format, the 29-year-old pulls no punches in what is an entertaining and thought-provoking chat.
It was a meteoric rise to fame for Karen Stupples when she claimed the 2004 Women’s British Open with a final-round 64 after opening eagle-albatross on Sunday.
However, Stupples was never guaranteed to get to the LPGA, nor even play golf for a living.
In fact, if she didn't hate washing dishes so much, she might have ended up doing something else entirely.
Stupples talks about that and much more in this delightful chat with John Huggan.
There are many in the golf commentary business who add little to a broadcast, but Sky Sports’ Tim Barter is certainly not among them.
From on-course interviews to breaking down golf swings, Barter is a master of multiple crafts and in this absorbing conversation with John Huggan, he tells the story of his journey to becoming regarded as one of the best in the golf broadcast business.
Rich Beem is one of the game’s best characters of the past 30 years and his 2002 PGA Championship win over a charging Tiger Woods remains among the most entertaining finishes to a tournament this century.
John Huggan sat down with Beam recently to learn about where he came from, what it’s like to win a major, Team USA’s best chance of winning the Ryder Cup away from home and plenty more.
Beem is engaging, thoughtful and eloquent and knows how to tell a good story, which all makes for an excellent listen.
John Huggan sits down with Seve Ballesteros’ son, Javier, to talk life, golf, the Ryder Cup, the state of the world game and plenty more.
Few golfers have made an impact on the game comparable to Seve. The Spanish magician entertained and thrilled crowds worldwide with his extraordinary skill and matador-like personality. He remains to this day one of the most popular players in history.
John’s chat with Javier for episode 129 offers a fascinating and compelling insight into events and people, past and present, from a perspective we rarely get to see.
There is perhaps no more familiar voice in the game than that of Jim Nantz, host of CBS’ golf coverage, including almost 40 years of The Masters.
In this candid chat with John Huggan, Nantz reveals his journey from humble beginnings in the game to his start in broadcasting and a career so successful, he now owns a home (with its own golf hole) at the iconic Pebble Beach.
Nantz is charming, funny and articulate and has a knack for telling a good story, of which he has plenty.
At the age of four, Peter Baker wrote down that he wanted to be a professional golfer. At 14, he played representative golf with the seniors. At 21, he claimed his first European Tour title and five years later - the same year he represented Europe in The Ryder Cup - he added two more.
A lifetime spent in the game has taught Baker much about both life and golf. In a fascinating episode 127, he sits down with John Huggan to reflect on a 37-year career playing the game for a living.
For most, golf is a passion, but for many others, it’s also a business. The golf industry is both large and diverse, ranging from tour professionals and media companies to travel and retail equipment sales.
So how does the game stack up in the world of sports business and what are the similarities — and differences — to other sports? Sports business expert and journalist Richard Gillis has a duel interest in golf, both as a lifelong player and having covered the game professionally.
His takes on LIV, the media environment, the long-term viability of TV as a financial support and much more are intelligent and thought provoking — whether you are in the golf business or not.
Rarely has a player sported the green jacket with such style than our latest guest and one of golf’s greatest assets, Trevor Immelman.
However, there is more to the 2008 Masters champion than a pretty golf swing.
The 2022 International Presidents Cup captain sits down with John Huggan to talk about his beginnings in the game, his thoughts on the Presidents Cup, the LIV/PGA Tour negotiations, where TV commentators get it wrong and much more.
Immelman is one of the game’s best ambassadors and after listening to this chat, you’ll gain an insight into why.
Our special guest this week discusses the new media landscape, building a media business when you had no intention of ever doing so and the challenges of monetising what started out as a hobby.
There is no shortage of underdog stories in Hollywood, but in real life - in the day to day news media - those narratives are harder to find.
Media has changed, though, and with social media eliminating almost all barriers to entry, there are new players finding their voice - and an audience - in the space formerly occupied by legacy media.
This is as true in golf as any other section of the media and Ryan French is one of the players in this space, although it is more by accident than by design.
This week John Huggan catches up with a true golfing stalwart who has spent more than 20 years plying his trade on the European Tour.
Stephen Gallacher has four wins and a Ryder Cup appearance to his name, placing him in some elite company. Having grown up around golf with his famous uncle Bernard as a mentor, Gallacher still lives and breathes the game.
With the senior tour fast approaching and a thriving junior foundation bearing his name, Gallacher is as busy as he’s ever been and chats with John about everything from LIV Golf and the future at the top level, to why encouraging junior participation is so important.
He was part of one of the most epic duels in Open history, when he and Phil Mickelson went head to head for the Claret Jug last time golf's most prestigious tournament was held at Troon in 2016 ... and he is also John Huggan's latest interview guest.
There is so much more to Henrik Stenson than a brilliant golf game … he also has a sense of humour and a perspective on the world a bit broader than many of his professional brethren.
Stenson sat down with our very own John Huggan recently to reflect on a career which has produced some remarkable highs, but also some equally intense lows.
Few figures in Australian golf would boast a better pedigree, or could claim a longer contribution to the game, than 1997 Women’s Australian Open winner and TTAG special guest Jane Crafter.
An almost-25-year playing career has been followed by an almost equal number of years behind the microphone as an in court and booth reporter at events worldwide.
Born into a golfing family, Crafter’s journey in the game is unique and compelling, as you’ll discover in this wide-ranging discussion with Rod Mori.
He might not be the best-known name in golf, but England’s Howard Clark was a stalwart of the European Tour in a time of major changes for the professional game in the 1980s and '90s. John Huggan caught up with the former Ryder Cupper at his home in England to talk life, golf and a life in golf.
A stalwart of the European Tour during the boom years of the 1980s and '90s, Mark James had a ringside seat to some of the most exciting times the men’s professional game has known. In the era of Seve, Faldo, Lyle and Langer, the Englishman managed to amass 18 victories (32 globally) before going on to captain the 1999 Ryder Cup in one of the most infamous matches in history. In this fascinating chat with John Huggan, James reminisces on a career that spanned almost 20 years from his first European victory to his last and which included stints behind the scenes working to improve the Tour for the players.
There are few writers in golf whose words have appeared in as many publications and on as many different “new media” platforms as the prolific Geoff Shackelford. In this episode he tells Rod Morri what the future holds for the game’s media landscape.
There might not be a more polarising voice in modern golf media than Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee and he doesn't disappoint in this wide-ranging chat with John Huggan. From why he thinks a brutal US Open is a good thing, to a breakdown of the type of player who wins at Augusta, this one is heaven for golf nerds.
He is known as one of the nicest people in golf, but he might also be one of the most thoughtful. Ian Baker-Finch, 1991 Open champion, sat down with John Huggan at Augusta National this week to talk the Masters, his career in both golf and television and his thoughts on the modern state of the game.
Two-time Masters winner Ben Crenshaw is as much a part of Augusta folklore as any past champion. Now one of the game’s leading course designers, Crenshaw sat down with John Huggan to talk all things Masters — and everything else to do with golf.
Three-time DP World Tour winner turned Sky Sports commentator Nick Dougherty is a firm believer in golf as metaphor for life and the 41-year-old has had his share of ups and downs in both.
John Huggan recently caught up with the Englishman to talk about a lifetime in the game, highlighted by playing with Tiger Woods at his peak in the third round of the 2007 U.S Open.
Dougherty also talks openly about the impact of losing his mother suddenly in 2008 and his struggles in the aftermath before finding a second career as a TV broadcaster.
From the humble courses of southern Sydney to the top levels of the game, Wayne ‘Radar’ Riley has been in and around the game of golf for more than 50 years.
Having started at the age of seven, he became a six-time winner at the professional level including one of the most iconic Australian Open victories of the modern era.
Riley now spends his time analysing and critiquing the world’s best on television as an on-course reporter for Sky Sports in the UK.
In this wide-ranging chat with John Huggan, Riley looks back on a career and life that has been full of adventure and always plenty of golf.
Anyone who spends a lifetime in golf will have gathered plenty of knowledge and insight which simply can’t be learned from a book.
Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort’s Head Professional, Evan Droop, is one such golfer. Evan’s father was the head professional at Yarrawonga before him and he has two sons, both PGA of Australia members, who may well take the job after him.
In between, he managed five years on the Australasian Tour including a life and career-changing near miss at the 1992 Malaysian Masters. Droop recalls all that and more in this insightful and wide-ranging conversation with host Rod Morri.
From child prodigy to multiple European Tour winner, Ronan Rafferty has seen just about everything in golf.
Popular wherever he went, Rafferty has a particular fondness for Australia — where he won five times between 1987 and 1992 — and credits his years spent Down Under as a crucial element in his international success.
In this delightful chat with John Huggan, Rafferty reflects on his amateur career, what it was like on the European Tour in the halcyon days and how the game has changed over his lifetime.
Not every great amateur turns professional but that doesn’t mean they can’t make a living out of the game.
Vinny Giles is one of the game’s great amateurs having won the U.S and British Amateur titles as well as the U.S Senior Amateur. He also represented the United States four times at the Walker Cup, winning three times.
What is less well known is his long-time business role as a player manager, having at various stages guided the careers of Tom Kite, Davis Love III, Lanny Wadkins, Beth Daniel and Meg Mallon.
In this fascinating interview with John Huggan, Giles talks about how the game has changed over his many decades as both a player, businessman and devotee of the game.'
Some people have never known a life that didn't include golf and while they may not have a high profile those people are almost invariably among the most interesting and thoughtful in the game. Henry Cussell is just such a person.
Head professional at Yarra Yarra Golf Club at the age of 20 and one of the earliest employees at The National Golf Club on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, Cussell has likely forgotten more about the game than most people could ever hope to learn.
In this wide ranging chat with Rod Morri, Cussell covers everything from 'foxing' balls as a youngster to the unique business he recently set up in Melbourne's Sandbelt with one of the great custodians of Australian golf history, Ross Baker.
Nine wins from 15 starts including all six Australian state titles and the national championship as well … If somebody told you a golfer had achieved all this in a single year you wouldn't believe them, but a golfer has and, ironically, that golfer struggles to believe it themselves.
Nadene Gole has, not surprisingly, risen to the top of the Senior Women’s Amateur world ranking and the former touring professional says she still has improvements to make.
But the journey hasn’t all been about golf for Nadene, who went almost two decades barely touching a club before accidentally falling back into the competitive game.
It's a decision that’s paid dividends as a new and improved Nadene Gole, at the age of 55, is finally living up to her potential.
In many ways Matt Fitzpatrick is an unlikely major champion. His game isn’t as flashy as some but he works hard — and smart — to get everything out of his talent.
In this revealing chat with The Thing About Golf host John Huggan, the Englishman looks back on his remarkable U.S Amateur/U.S Open double at Brookline, shares thoughts on the Ryder and Walker Cups, explains how he added 20 yards to his game off the tee and also why he switched to cross-handed chipping.
The recent winner of the Dunhill Links at St Andrews, alongside his mum, has had quite the journey so far and the likeable 29-year-old looks far from done yet.
Few in Australian golf have seen as much of the game as Andrew Langford-Jones.
From hanging with Tiger Woods to advocating for halving field sizes in Australia, he has been an integral — and active — part of the local professional scene for almost 35 years.
As his career winds down ‘Langers’ sat down with Rod Morri to reflect on an extraordinary life in the game.
We like to complain about them but those who commentate golf on TV create the soundtrack of the game’s history.
Gary Koch, the 2023 Payne Stewart Award recipient, will likely be best remembered for his iconic ’better than most’ line at the 2001 Players’ Championship. But there is much more to his story than that shot, or even his more than 30-year TV career.
A standout amateur and six-time PGA Tour winner, Koch sits down for a chat with John Huggan to reflect on a life intertwined with the game and some of its greatest players.
Professional golf can be a roller coaster but even by those standards England’s Oliver Wilson has been on an epic journey.
From leading amateur to successful professional to twice losing his game almost completely, the affable 43-year-old has seen and done just about everything golf has to offer. In this episode, Wilson sits down with John Huggan for a fascinating chat about life, golf and everything in between.
Search ‘Ryder Cup’ on the internet and it won’t take long before you find an image of Sam Torrance, arms raised to the sky after holing the winning putt at The Belfry at the 1985 matches.
The Scot is the son of one of the game’s greatest coaches. Bob, but also a pivotal figure in both the Ryder Cup as we know it today and the European Tour.
On the eve of the 44th matches between Europe and the United States, Torrance sits down for a fascinating conversation with The Thing About Golf host John Huggan, to talk all things Ryder Cup as he reflects on a career spanning more than 40 years.
Some names are synonymous with the Ryder Cup and on the European side Bernard Gallacher is one.
Eight times a player and three times a Captain, Gallacher oversaw a time of great change in the matches from before European players became part of the team to the height of hostilities at Kiawah Island in 1991.
His chat here with The Thing About Golf host John Huggan is as compelling as you would expect and the understated Gallacher reveals more than one story that has never been told before.
There are few more thoughtful or interesting voices in the game than Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell.
In this wide-ranging chat with The Thing About Golf host, John Huggan, the 2010 U.S Open champion talks Ryder Cup, Pebble Beach, the move to LIV and why he doesn't think he deserves a voice on the DP World Tour.
Agree with him or not there is one thing guaranteed with McDowell: you’ll be entertained (and he’ll make you think).
It's been just over five years since Australian golf lost one of its most popular players in Jarrod Lyle.
On episode 100 of The Thing About Golf podcast, host Rod Morri catches up with Jarrod’s wife, Briony, to talk about how the couple met, the realities of living on the road, Jarrod’s legacy and what life is like as a non-golfer in a golfer’s world.
Her voice is familiar to golf fans the world over but there is much more to Dottie Pepper than what we see in the televised golf coverage.
A world class player, major champion, and passionate advocate for all forms of the game, Pepper is an intelligent, articulate speaker and thinker about the game.
These attributes are on full display in this broad ranging discussion with The Thing About Golf host John Huggan, which covers everything from the Solheim Cup to the possibilities of Saudi Arabia increasing its involvement in the women’s game.
One of golf’s greatest assets, especially when compared to other sports, is the range of people who can enjoy it.
Age, gender and even disability can all be accounted for in golf and in that last category one of the best in the world is recent inaugural G4D Open winner Brendan Lawlor.
The Irishman captured the title at Woburn in May and in this wide ranging chat with Rod Morri delves into the fascinating — and frankly underrated world — of disability golf.
It's not often you get an insider’s perspective on one of the game’s most important championships but that’s exactly what David Begg, former press officer for The Open Championship, gives us in this lengthy chat with John Huggan.
From Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino to Greg Norman and Nick Faldo, Begg had a front row seat for some of golf’s most memorable moments.
Rare is the person who swings from indifference, or even dislike of the game, to becoming a committed and passionate golfer but that has been the journey for our guest Dr Hannah Brown.
An accomplished and highly regarded scientist, Hannah found the game later in life and brings a perspective that we in golf rarely get to hear.
From what makes the game so addictive to the things we do that look so silly to the outside world, Hannah has some fascinating takes on what golf gets right — and wrong.
About the only people in golf who attract more criticism than the players are those who commentate on the game on TV. But not Judy Rankin.
The 26-time LPGA Tour winner and former Solheim Cup Captain is universally regarded as one of the best to ever pick up a microphone and in this broad ranging chat with John Huggan she covers everything from her beginnings in the game to the future of the LPGA Tour.
Jim Furyk occupies an unusual place in the professional game.
Without the profile and attention of the likes of Tiger or Phil or Rory, he more than comfortably held his own in that company for the best part of 20 years.
A Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup stalwart, Furyk has some fascinating insights into the game and the people who play it as you will hear in this compelling chat with John Huggan.
Lots of professional golfers like fast cars but none can quite match PGA Tour of Australasia Legends Tour player Tomas Mezera.
Mezera spent most of his life as a professional car racer including winning Australia’s prestigious Bathurst 1000 in 1988. But at 50, his career took a different turn when he signed up for — and succeeded — at the Legends Tour Q-School.
Mezera's is a remarkable story about much more than just golf and in this wide ranging chat with Rod Morri he talks about escaping communism in Czechoslovakia at 20, discovering golf at the age of 30, playing with Greg Norman as an amateur and now life on the over 50s circuit.
Winner of the 2006 US Open, Geoff Ogilvy is known as one of professional golf’s best interview subjects and in this wide ranging chat with John Huggan he shows why.
From growing up in Melbourne where being a caddie at Royal Melbourne gave him access to the course to playing and winning on the biggest stages in world golf alongside the likes of Tiger Woods and Seve Ballesteros, Ogilvy has done it all with a critical eye and an active mind.
In this chat we find out where his love of golf architecture was born and how three months at the start of the century set up an entire career.
Among the most unique perspectives in professional golf is that of the on course reporter.
Unlike the rest of the commentary team or the viewers on TV, those who walk with the players get to see everything, not just what the director chooses. For many years in Australia that voice belonged to Chanel 7’s Pat Welsh, a Brisbane sports TV icon and one of the industry’s most likeable characters.
Welsh had a front row seat to some of Australian golf’s greatest moments and relives many of them in this wide ranging chat with Rod Morri.
Peter Dawson has been as influential an administrator of the game as anyone in history.
Appointed Secretary of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in 1999 it was Dawson who oversaw the creation of The R&A in 2004 to take care of the club’s commercial operations, including The Open, through one of its biggest growth periods.
Among the highlights of his tenure were announcing Tiger Woods four times as the Champion Golfer of the Year and several years refereeing at The Masters.
Dawson and John Huggan have known each other many years and while they share a love of the game there is much they don’t agree on which makes for a fascinating discussion.
It’s a long way from Wales to Augusta National and the Ryder Cup captaincy but it’s been quite the loaf journey for 1991 Maters champion Ian Woosnam.
In a special Masters week edition of The Thing About Golf the former World No.1 sits down with John Huggan to reflect on his career.
From starting in the shadow of fellow Masters winner Sandy Lyle to eventually going all the way to the very top echelons of the game.
It’s been 25 years since Mark O’Meara slipped on the green jacket after a tense final round battle with Fred Couples and David Duval.
In this sit down chat for a Masters week special of The Thing About Golf with John Huggan the two time major winner (and Australian Masters champion) reflects not only on that week and but a rich, full life in golf.
He touches on Augusta, Tiger and so much more.
Charlie Earp is an Australian golf icon.
He’s best known for his work with Greg Norman and Wayne Grady early in their careers but his influence on the game reaches far wider than just the professional ranks.
The Head Professional at Royal Queensland for 45 years, Earp was also a dedicated PGA administrator and has worked with countless club members along the way.
He is of an era and generation we hear too little from as will become clear in this chat with Rod Morri.
Playing professional golf is a dream for millions but not everyone who has the skill to pursue it ends up enjoying it.
Elaine Farquharson-Black is just such a player.
In the latest episode of The Thing About Golf podcast, the two time Curtis Cup captain and standout Scottish amateur talks to fellow Scot John Huggan about her life in – and out of – golf.
There are few in golf whose contribution to the game could be compared to that of Sir Michael Bonallack.
Unquestionably one of Britain’s greatest amateur players he has also been a long-time administrator of the game serving as both Secretary of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and later Captain of the R&A.
As a player, he enjoyed great success but few years were as glorious as the summer of 1968 when the then 33-year-old won the third of his five Amateur championships, his fifth English Amateur, the Brabazon Trophy and was the leading amateur at The Open Championship.
In this lengthy chat with The Thing About Golf host John Huggan, Bonallack reflects on that wonderful summer and his extraordinary life and career in the game.
Christine Fraser is one of only a few women in the golf course design business but the Canadian native is one of the most eloquent speakers and broad thinkers about what golf course design can and should be. While understanding the importance of how golf holes are laid out, Christine has a unique ability to consider design through a much broader prism than simply the shape of golf holes. She’s an eloquent speaker and out of the box thinker and covers a lot of territory in this in depth chat with Rod Morri.
Like many TV analysts it’s easy to forget Sky Sports’ Ewen Murray was a player long before he ever sat behind a microphone.
In this wide-ranging interview with The Thing About Golf host, John Huggan, he looks back on his playing career on the European Tour, the putting yips, how he got into television, his fallout with Tiger Woods and what he thinks of the current LIV Golf controversy.
It’s a broad and rambling discussion from a man whose life has been immersed in the game and it’s well worth a listen.
The name Thomson is synonymous with golf, not only in Australia but globally. Five times Open Champion Peter is, of course, one of the game’s greats but ask his wife Mary and she’ll tell you that you never would have known it.
The Peter Thomson the public saw, listened to and read his words was the same Peter Thomson Mary saw at home and the couple enjoyed more than 50 years of marriage, which remained strong from the day they met in the 1960’s to Peter’s passing in 2018.
Mary Thomson is a remarkable woman and in this detailed chat with host Rod Morri, she gives an insight into life with one of golf’s greats that few got to see.
The voice will be familiar but there is much more to Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner than most golf fans would ever guess.
From humble beginnings growing up on a family-owned driving range and miniature golf course in a tough part of Allentown, Pennsylvania, Lerner fell in love with the game. A by-product of his time working the range, is a single figure handicap and a couple of club championship trophies from the 1980s.
After years of working in the media, he finally achieved his dream job – one of the most sought-after seats in golf television. Here, Lerner shares some fabulous stories with John Huggan in another excellent episode of The Thing About Golf.
A golfer can only beat the field assembled on any given week under whatever conditions are present at the time and that’s exactly what Stephen Allan did at the 2002 Australian Open at Victoria Golf Club.
Allan joins The Thing About Golf host Rod Morri to look back on what was not only one of the most controversial tournaments in recent memory but also the highlight of the Victorian’s lengthy career.
Can golf be more than just a game? 100 percent yes, according to our guest on Episode 79 of The Thing About Golf.
Tony Blackburn is the founder of Golf in Society UK, an organisation whose goal is to help – through golf – those afflicted by dementia, Parkinson’s Disease and other chronic illnesses.
Tony joins host Rod Morri for a fascinating and powerful discussion on the therapeutic power of the game for patients and carers alike.
From an early age Nicolas Colsaerts knew he was good. Not in a cocky way, just an acknowledgement he could do things with a golf ball others couldn’t.
But Colsaerts is also well aware there is much more to life than golf and his thoughts on both the game and topics beyond make for fascinating listening in this chat with The Thing About Golf host, John Huggan.
Jackie Newton and Kathie Shearer have been staunch friends since the early 1970’s when they met and married two of Australia’s finest golfers, Jack Newton and Bob Shearer.
Earlier this year both lost their golfing icon husbands, Bob in January and Jack in April.
In this episode, The Thing About Golf host Rod Morri sits down with Kathie and Jackie to get an insight into what life was like with two of Australia’s favourite — and most successful — golfing sons.
Women and caddies – two perspectives we don’t hear enough of in golf media and both bundled up in one interview.
The Thing About Golf's John Huggan sits down with lifelong friend, mixed foursomes partner, former European Tour caddie and now one of the first women members at Scotland's Muirfield, Lindsey Garden.
Lindsey caddied for Wayne Riley in his memorable 1991 Australian Open win at Royal Melbourne and that’s just one of many great tales in this chat.
Golf is a lot of different things to a lot of different people but for Uganda’s Isiaih Mwisege it is a calling.
Isiaih found golf in 2003 through caddying and has since made it his life’s work to introduce as many Ugandan children as possible to the sport.
The AFRIEYA Golf Academy provides opportunities not only in golf but also education and thanks to the dedication (and money) put up by Isaiah, continues to grow across the African nation.
If not for a knee injury sustained playing Gaelic football as a teenager, Paul McGinley’s life may have turned out very different.
That injury saw the Irishman turn to golf and he went on to become a European Tour stalwart, hole a Ryder Cup winning putt and later Captain the Europeans to victory over the Americans. But McGinley has much more to offer the game beyond his fine playing credentials.
In this extensive chat with host John Huggan, McGinley covers everything from his unusual start in the game to the impact of LIV on professional golf.
For 77 of his 88 years on the planet Alex Mercer’s life has been dominated by golf.
A good player in his own right before a back injury early in his career, Mercer turned to coaching and having worked with the likes of David Graham, Steve Elkington, Brendan Jones and Michael Campbell (among others) successful doesn't begin to describe his career.
His deep love of the game, keen mind and gift for communicating complex concepts in a simple way are all on show in this wide ranging interview with Rod Morri.
Eddie Pepperell is a two-time European Tour winner and owner of some of the game’s most unusual swing drills.
But he’s also one of golf’s most interesting thinkers on matters both golf and more broadly.
He has opinions on topics as diverse as world economics and market forces to how LIV Golf fits in Saudi Arabia’s bigger geopolitical strategy. He touches on all of it in this fascinating chat with The Thing About Golf podcast host John Huggan.
Jose Maria Olazabal was one of the best of his generation – a dual Masters winner with one of the most admired short games in history.
But it is for his legendary pairing with Seve Ballesteros at multiple Ryder Cups — and his own heroics as captain in the 2012 ‘Miracle at Medinah’ —that he will be best remembered.
John Huggan caught up with Olazabal during The Open Championship at St. Andrews for a wide-ranging interview on all things golf, and what it is about this game that he is so passionate about.
He’s not a household name or a prolific tournament winner but at the age of 48 Cameron Percy continues to achieve something most never do: keep his card on the most competitive Tour in the world.
Golf aside, Percy is an engaging personality and interesting thinker whose political views often see him at odds with his peers. Yet he remains both popular and likeable as you’ll hear in this wide-ranging interview with Rod Morri.
The Victorian discusses representing his state and country before earning a spot in his club pennant team, bringing a shoe shine kit on Tour during his rookie year and covers armlock putting and Will Zalatoris.
Technically, writing is just the putting together of words to form sentences. However, like golf, that undersells by quite a margin the gift some have for it.
Jaime Diaz is one of those gifted people, a giant of the golf writing fraternity who somehow remains as genuinely humble today as the day he started in the business.
From his work with Tiger Woods and Seve Ballesteros to the drama of the 1999 Ryder Cup at Brookline, Diaz is at his best in this expansive conversation with John Huggan.
In the past three decades the high profile golf coach has become a thing.
What was once a behind the scenes job, now often comes with a dash of celebrity and the names of those who work with the game’s best are easily recognisable. But not Denis McDade.
McDade is the very definition of humble, quietly guiding the games of some of Australia’s best players of the past 20 years – including Marc Leishman, Todd Sinnott, Marcus Fraser and Matt Griffin to name a few – while simultaneously helping those who struggle to break 90.
He’s also part owner of Yarra Bend golf course in Melbourne and a passionate advocate for junior golf as we find out in this broad ranging discussion with the Thing About Golf podcast host, Rod Morri.
2023 will mark Lee Westwood’s 30th year as a professional and while the game’s Grand Slam titles have eluded him, he has achieved every other measurable milestone in the game.
At Whistling Straits last year, he matched Sir Nick Faldo’s record for most Ryder Cup appearances with 11 and was one of only three players to win his singles match in an otherwise heavy defeat.
Westwood has played — and won — all over the world and including the 1997 Australian Open in a play-off over Greg Norman, and been one of the game’s best international ambassadors.
In this candid and length chat with John Huggan, the Englishman talks about all that as well as perhaps his most controversial career decision to date: playing in the much-maligned Saudi Golf League.
He wasn’t a prolific winner but Nick O’Hern might be one of the most consistent golfers Australia has ever produced.
Never one to overpower golf courses, the left-hander nonetheless spent a lot of time near the top of leaderboards at the highest levels of the game. In this in-depth chat with host Rod Morri, O’Hern talks about how he went from a handicap of four when he turned professional to being a top-20 ranked player in the world.
He also expands on his work with some of the game’s rising stars and his somewhat unexpected second career as an author and his latest book, Play Your Best Golf.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Order his books, Play Your Best Golf or Tour Mentality, on Booktopia
To work with Nick, you can get in touch him via his website
For a generation of golf watchers, he was the voice of CBS broadcasts, breaking down swings courtesy of the Konica Minolta BizHub Swing Vision camera between bringing insightful on course analysis.
But there is much more to the Peter Kostis story than his TV work, from his own playing background to his coaching work with Tour players, like Paul Casey.
Find out all this and more in this engrossing chat between Kostis and long-time friend, John Huggan.
Brendan Jones is one of Australia’s most successful yet lowest profile international golfers.
15 times a winner on the Japan Tour, Jones is the very definition of laid back and in this chat with Rod Morri explains, among other things, how he could take a year off during the pandemic to be a landscaper — then almost win in his first start back.
A career in journalism outside the game has informed and shaped Eamon Lynch’s work within it, making him one of the most important public voices of this modern tumultuous time in golf.
In this Masters week Thing About Golf bonus episode, John Huggan sat down with the Northern Irishman at Augusta National to find out about his connections to golf, the modern media and —most importantly — The Masters and what might unfold this week.
He might be best known for a brilliant hole-in-one that ultimately embroiled him in a lengthy legal dispute with the tax man, but there is much more to Vaughan Somers than that magical 6-iron on the 17th hole at Coolangatta and Tweed Heads Golf Club in 1981.
Somers played the European Tour for 11 years in an era many believe was the circuit’s Golden Age. From 1977 to 1988 he saw and played with Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle and Bernhard Langer, and still counts Nick Price among his closest friends.
Listen in as Vaughan, who is today a highly regarded coach in Melbourne, talks all things golf with host Rod Morri – from why modern Tour players are sooks to why you should never cut your fingernails during a tournament.
She made history by captaining back to back winning European Solheim Cup teams and finished top-10 in 18 different majors with one win, at the 2009 Women’s British Open.
Catriona Matthew is one of Scotland's most decorated players (and the 1996 Australian Women’s Open champion) but what makes her tick?
John Huggan has spent much of his career — and hers — writing about Matthew’s play and sits down for a wide ranging chat with the 52-year-old at her home in North Berwick.
In urban centres across the world there is pressure on public courses and the space they occupy. From developers looking to profit from housing, to councils keen to convert courses to parks, many believe golf is not an efficient use of public space.
But as our guest on episode 60 will attest, that is a narrow view of the role public golf plays in communities.
PGA professional Sandy Jamieson is a champion for public golf and in this wide-ranging chat with host Rod Morri he explains why he prefers the grassroots of the game to his days coaching stars on the PGA Tour.
It was one of the most brutal Opens in recent memory but Paul Lawrie's brilliance in winning at Carnoustie in 1999 is all too often overlooked.
The comical scenes of Jean van de Velde wading in the burn beside the 18th green dominate most people’s memories of that event but that does Lawrie a disservice.
To win, despite starting the final round 10 shots behind was rightfully the highlight of his career but there is much more to Paul Lawrie than his lone major triumph, as you’ll hear in this revealing interview with John Huggan.
Geraldine O’Callaghan is one of just a handful of female course superintendents in Australia.
A one-marker, who plays pennant for Melbourne’s Southern Golf Club and holds a pilot’s licence in her spare time, Gerri was recently appointed to the top job at the recently redesigned Sandringham Golf Links.
With Sandringham being managed by neighbour Royal Melbourne Golf Club, that means Gerri is in the pecking order to perhaps one day be course super at one of the world’s most revered clubs. It’s been a remarkable journey for the Cohuna native whose other life ambition was to fly jumbo jets as a commercial pilot. Gerri chats with Rod Morri about the journey that brought her here.
He’s best known by an entire generation for his TV commentary, but Frank Nobilo was a formidable player in his day.
Struck down by injury long before his prime, the New Zealander has built a second — and almost as impressive — career in the commentary booth. A deep thinker with a naturally analytical mind, Nobilo gives great insight into every facet of the game in this candid and detailed chat with John Huggan.
From his early days on the European Tour to his relationship with former Golf Channel colleague Brandel Chamblee, Nobilo is equal parts forthright and reflective about the game he clearly still loves.
TV is how most of us consume the bulk of our golf and those who are the face and voice of the medium help shape how we view the game.
The BBC’s Hazel Irvine has been one of the best in the business for more than 20 years and offers some terrific insights into both the game and – the broadcasting of it – in this chat with John Huggan.
The notion of the career amateur is long gone but among the last of that crop was today’s guest, two-time British Amateur champion Peter McEvoy.
One of the best of his generation, McEvoy was a stalwart of UK amateur golf for decades from a successful amateur playing career through to captaining two winning Walker Cup teams. Over that time, he has collected his fair share of wisdom about the game in all aspects and he shares some of that with host John Huggan in this fascinating episode of The Thing About Golf.
There's almost no end to golf instruction and it’s a world that can quickly overwhelm players at almost any level.
Enter Dr Karl Morris and co-author Gary Nicol and their ‘Lost Art’ series of books.
As you’ll hear in this in-depth chat with Karl Morris – a sports psychologist who has helped some of the world's best players win major championships – there is an awful lot involved in playing good golf and focussing solely on technique isn’t always the best way to do it.
If you do nothing more than take on board some of Karl’s ideas in this interview your golf will improve. But if you really listen, you’ll find nuggets of wisdom that offer rewards well beyond just improving your score.
He’s been one of the game’s great storytellers for more than 30 years and while he retired last year the work of Guys Yocom will endure for generations to come.
He is best known for his iconic My Shot column but Yocom has a resume far beyond his magazine work.
A natural story teller with a flair for fun, Yocom sits down with long time friend and former colleague John Huggan for a lengthy chat and to ponder life’s most important question: What is The Thing About Golf?
When you think of the world’s golf hot spots it would be fair to say Iceland doesn’t spring immediately to mind.
But not only is the Nordic country golf mad (the game is second only to football in participation) but it is home to some of the world’s most interesting courses.
Icelandic course architect Edwin Roald is one of the industry’s most thoughtful and eloquent speakers and in this wide-ranging chat with host Rod Morri, he introduces us to golf in Iceland as well as offering thought provoking takes on topics as broad as golf as a vehicle for carbon capture as well as social harmony.
To read some of Roald’s articles and view some of the his design work, visit https://www.eureka.golf/
John Huggan describes Neil Coles as the best golfer Americans have never heard of.
An aversion to flying meant one of the United Kingdom’s best players had limited exposure in the US but that takes nothing away from his remarkable resume.
Coles played in eight Ryder Cups between 1961 and 1977 and is credited with 50 professional victories in a playing career spanning more than 40 years.
Huggan sat down with Coles recently at his home near Wentworth in London. They had an engaging chat about all things golf, from his start in the game to staring down the Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus, in the Ryder Cup.
Like so many in golf Christian Hamilton originally dreamt of being a Tour player, but there are a whole army of golfers with a disability that should be thankful that career path never panned out.
Now the Programs and Inclusion Senior Manager at Golf Australia, Hamilton sees his role as ensuring the future of the golf population in Australia reflects the actual population of the nation more accurately.
It’s a task that has a long way to go but is one that would be much further behind if not for Hamilton and his approach to changing the face of the game.
For a generation of golf fans Roger Maltbie is known only as a TV commentator but the NBC stalwart is so much more than that. The winner of the inaugural Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in 1976, Maltbie was also a legitimate contender at more than one major and is a five-time PGA Tour winner. Known among his peers as one of the game's more colourful characters, this lengthy chat with host John Huggan shows Maltbie to be not only a shrewd analyst of the game but a warm and engaging story teller.
He's coached some of the best players in the world to some of the game's biggest titles but to sit and talk to Ian Triggs you'd never know it. In a world where being a high-profile coach can be a lucrative business, Triggs is as happy working with Brookwater's double digit handicap members as he is mentoring rising stars like Elvis Smylie. In this enlightening chat with host Rod Morri, Triggs reveals how the search for answers to what derailed his own promising playing career led him to be one of the most sought after coaches of his generation.
Peter Alliss might have had golf’s most recognisable voice but it’s almost a dead heat with Scotland’s Renton Laidlaw. In a career spanning more than 50 years there is barely a medium he hasn’t contributed to, from books and newspapers to magazines and TV. Renton, as he is simply known to so many, sat down with The Thing About Golf’s John Huggan to reflect on a lifetime in the game unlike few have ever experienced.
Who would have thought that a summer spent in the UK visiting family would prove the start of a journey that ended in Australia's first Masters green jacket? Phil Scott, father of former World No.1 Adam, chats with The Thing About Golf host Rod Morri about his accidental start in the game to Adam's surreal 2013 Masters victory and almost every facet of the golf industry in between. From club building and design to course construction and management, there isn't much Phil Scott hasn't touched in golf and he reflects on it all in Episode 46.
From Colin Montgomerie to Francesco Molinari, and countless others in between, there isn't much Denis Pugh hasn't seen or done in the world of elite player coaching. To listen to him, though, you'd never know it. The down-to-earth Englishman brings a rare and engaging mix of humour and bluntness to any conversation and this delightful chat with John Huggan is no different. Pugh was generous with his time and thoughts in this episode and it is one you'll want to listen to at least twice because there is simply too much insight to take in in one sitting.
In the world of golf course architecture Bill Coore is considered royalty. His design work alongside partner Ben Crenshaw coupled with mentoring many of the game's current top architects is legendary. And yet, it would be difficult to imagine a more grounded or genuinely humble human being. In Episode 44 of The Thing About Golf, host Rod Morri chats with Coore to try to pinpoint just what it is about golf that has seen him devote his life to the game. We cover topics as varied as his latest Australian project - the stunning Bougle Run short course at Barnbougle Dunes (you can read Golf Australia magazine editor Brendan James’ review at www.golfaustralia.com.au) - public golf, course presentation, the future of the game and more.
Three majors and a Ryder Cup captaincy might be the highlights of a stellar career but as John Huggan puts it in the introduction, the most impressive thing about Padraig Harrington is that he's basically a good bloke. Harrington sits down with Huggan a week after finishing a remarkable T4 at the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, a performance that went largely unheralded thanks to the even more remarkable play of Phil Mickelson. The pair talk elite golf, how to know if a player choked, slow play, the distance debate and much, much more in a wildly entertaining episode of The Thing About Golf.
In the male dominated industry of golf club management, Yarra Yarra Golf Club General Manager Andrea Watson stands out but not only because she's a woman. Completely new to golf when she took her first job in the dining room at Peninsula Country Club, Andrea has gone on to become one of the game's most respected club Managers. Here, she chats with host Rod Morri about her career in golf and offers some interesting insights into what the future might hold for the golf industry.
He's remembered by most - and rightly so - for his two US Open wins, but Curtis Strange's achievements in the game go far beyond that. A Ryder Cup player and captain, one time holder of the course record at The Old Course at St Andrews and a not infrequent visitor to Australia, he is a thoughtful and eloquent speaker about the game. In this broad ranging chat, John Huggan explores one of the most interesting careers of the modem era with a player regarded as one of the most competitive ever to pick up a club.
Since its inception nine years ago the combined men's and women's Vic Open has been a roaring success on all fronts. Now an LPGA and European Tour event, it would have been all but impossible to predict just how big the tournament would get when it was first conceived by then acting Golf Victoria CEO David Greenhill. While quick to (rightfully) credit others with the eventual success of the event, none of it would have happened without Greenhill's vision. On Episode 40, Greenhill reflects on how an idea which came to him while walking the dog morphed into one of the most talked about tournament in the world.
In the world of golf administration there is no more important role than Chief Executive of the R&A. Former London-based businessman Martin Slumbers was appointed to that role in 2015 and has quietly set about evolving the culture at the organisation to something more in keeping with modern society. A lifetime golfer with an understanding of the game at the grass roots level, he has demonstrated a capacity for innovative thought in his six years in the job to date and, as he reveals to John Huggan in Episode 39, there is more to come.
At the age of 46 Matt Millar is an anomaly in the modern professional game. Despite being one of the shortest hitters on the PGA Tour of Australasia he remains a competitive force in fields of much younger - and more powerful - players. A combination of great accuracy and an enviable short game explain much of his success but as Millar himself admits in this chat, the real key is mental.
Of all the players who have ascended to World No.1 since the rankings began in 1986, Zimbabwe's Nick Price is the one who attracts the least attention. Universally regarded as one of the best ball-strikers of his generation, Price's distinctive swing saw him hold the top position for 43 weeks. With three majors to his name and as a two time Presidents Cup Captain, there isn't much Price hasn't seen or done in the game. This is a captivating chat with John Huggan, which covers everything from modern equipment, winning majors and life in Zimbabwe in the 1960's and 70's.
There isn't much Mat Goggin hasn't done in the game of golf, from Australian Amateur champion to professional tournament winner. But what makes the Tasmanian such a compelling interview is that his interests are broader than just the game. An intelligent and articulate speaker who is widely read, Goggin often gives unexpected answers to seemingly simple questions and always keeps the listener - and interviewer - on their toes. Now in his mid-forties and heavily involved in the Seven Mile Beach development in Hobart, it would be easy to assume Goggin's playing days are over. But as you’ll hear from the wisdom dispensed in this interview, that would be a real shame both for Goggin and for fans of the game. One final note: whether before or after listening to this episode it is also recommended to read the blog post linked below. In it, Goggin explains some of his beginnings in the game and how the Seven Mile Beach project came to be. It is a wonderful accompaniment to our chat and also helps to answer that opening question: What's The Thing About Golf for Mat Goggin? https://7milegolf.wordpress.com/2021/02/14/10-years-and-counting/
For more than 30 years Laura Davies has been a breath of fresh air in the game. A combination of prodigious length and attacking play has delivered 85 professional victories but it is her down to earth nature and sense of humour which has endeared Davies to fellow players and fans alike. In this wide-ranging discussion with John Huggan, the World Golf Hall of Famer is typically forthright on all topics from pros using hybrids (hint: not a fan) to the importance of the Solheim Cup.
Luckily for the game of golf there are people like Sue Thomson - one of the army of unsung heroes upon whom the game relies around the world. Sue is the junior coordinator at Perth's Mt Lawley Golf Club, but the title hardly conveys the impact she makes. We first heard of Sue through Australia's most recent major winner, Hannah Green. Long before she holed that extraordinary putt on the 18th green at Hazeltine, Green told host Rod Morri: "if it wasn't for Sue Thompson, I wouldn't even play golf." Morri immediately wanted to meet this woman. And so he did... now you can too.
Tom Callahan is one of the best all-round sports writers in the world. Golf has been lucky to have such a fine wordsmith, with a genuine love for the game, witness its biggest moments and tell the stories of champions. In a career spanning five decades, he's has had enough experiences to last a few life times from having Ben Hogan critique his swing, to Arnold Palmer making him drinks to trekking through a Vietnam jungle looking for the family of Tiger Phong, the soldier after whom Earl Woods nicknamed his son. In this episode to close out 2020 for The Thing About Golf podcast, host John Huggan chats with Callahan about his colourful career that has included working as a columnist for The Washington Post, long-form writing for Time magazine and authoring best-sellers like In Search Of Tiger and Arnie: The Life Of Arnold Palmer among others. And it shouldn't surprise that he apart from writing good stories, he tells good ones as well.
This episode of the The Thing About Golf has a distinct Scottish flavour as we welcome John Huggan in his debut episode as co-host where he chats with Scotland's most promising young professional in Robert MacIntyre. Huggan caught up with MacIntyre the week after he claimed his maiden European Tour title, the first of what many good judges believe will be multiple career victories. MacIntyre is not your run of the mill Touring Professional and in this fascinating conversation with Huggan reveals some insight into an upbringing surrounded by foster brothers and sisters, his passion for the little known Scottish pastime of Shinty and why he'll never win his club championship playing right handed.
Twice a Hong Kong Open winner Ormsby is one of those golfers who has flown mostly under the radar of much of his career. It would be fair to say he was a bit of a late bloomer in terms of his golf but as you'll hear in this conversation he has no regrets about learning his craft on the job, so to speak. Hailing from Adelaide where his father, PETER, also a professional, owns one of the most successful off course retail golf shops in the country we caught up with Wade in his home town where he was into day eight of his 14 day quarantine after returning from the UK. From his multiple successful trips to Q School to a life-long friendship with Adam Scott to the business realities of playing golf for a living, Ormsby is open, honest and reflective in this interview which I hope you enjoy...
The name Jane Lock will be familiar to anybody with an interest in the history of the game in Australia. After all, she won the Australian Women's Amateur three times and was a member of the first Aussie team to win what's now known as the Espirito Santo trophy, the world cup of amateur golf. But beyond that, most of us know almost nothing of Jane Lock. An LPGA Tour player from 1980 to 1986 her professional record never really reached the heights of her amateur achievements. But her contribution to the game in Australia should not be overlooked.
The first time he played golf he shot "about 140." Last year at the Vic Open, James Nitties joined an elite group in the record books when he reeled off nine birdies in a row. In between, the Novocastrian has been on quite the golfing journey and he's here to talk about it all on Episode 29 of The Thing About Golf.
Brad Hughes was always known as a level above when it came to ball-striking and on those weeks when his putting matched he was close to unbeatable. But as the game moved away from the heavy wooden clubs of his youth, Hughes' advantage became less and less. He began a search to understand the swing, a search which has ultimately seen him emerge in recent years as one of the game's most sought after coaches. Hughes is an interesting thinker and an engaging speaker and we hope you enjoy what is a comprehensive discussion about all things golf.
Some people are born to be Generals while some are more naturally comfortable in the role of lieutenant; Dean Herden is the latter. After a playing career that didn't pan out as he had hoped, Herden took what would be an unthinkable step for many: he swapped sides and stated carrying the bag for others. 28 years and 51 victories later, it seems he made the right call. Herden covers plenty of ground in this wide-ranging chat with host Rod Morri, including revealing the secret to the success of Korea's women golfers and a heads up on three up and comers who might just be the 'next big thing'.
There's often an adversarial nature to the relationship between golfers and administrators which is why it's rare to find a successful player who makes the transition to the other side. One shining example is Australian Ladies Professional Golf (ALPG) CEO Karen Lunn - a 10-time Ladies European Tour winner, who now has the responsibility of steering the women's professional game in Australia into a very uncertain future. Never one to shy away from controversy, Lunn talks about modern equipment and its impact on the game to the lack of 'mongrel' in some of the game's younger players. After a lifetime in golf Lunn has collected plenty of nuggets of wisdom and she shares many of them during the course of this interview with host Rod Morri.
It's almost impossible to find anybody in Australian golf with a bad word to say about veteran touring professional Greg Chalmers. And, after this lengthy and expansive chat with host Rod Morri, we hope you'll understand why.
He might not have the profile or resume of Ernie Els or Gary Player but Dale Hayes' contribution to golf in South Africa is not diminished because of that. Despite an extraordinarily promising playing career being cut short by the international response to Apartheid, Hayes has continued to be an integral figure in golf in his homeland. His voice will be instantly recognisable to many thanks to his TV commentary work but his story will be a revelation to a new generation of golfers.
It's a long way from Warrnambool to the dizzying heights of the PGA Tour and for Marc Leishman, the son of a bricklayer, the two worlds could barely be further apart. Perhaps it is this grounded upbringing that has seen Leishman maintain an everyman attitude to life and the game, right down to his obsession with mowing his own lawn. The five-time PGA Tour winner is an intriguing character, one who always looks calm on the outside regardless of the circumstances. But don't be fooled because as he reveals in this interview, there lurks beneath a fiery competitor. From wife Audrey's near death experience from Sepsis in 2015 to his close call at that year's Open Championship at the home of golf, Leishman maintains the perspective of a man who knows three putting is far from the top of the list of things that are important. In a wide-ranging chat Leishman reveals plenty about his journey so far as well as his plans for the future including why Leishman Lager is a big part of his retirement plans.
He's an Australian Open champion, a World Cup winner and a dominant force on the European Senior Tour but to talk to him you wouldn't know any of that because at his core, Peter Fowler is simply a good bloke who happens to be good at golf. Talent, as Mathew Goggin once famously said, is merely the entry fee in professional golf and after that it comes down to hard work, self-belief, dogged determination and - yes - a little bit of luck. In Fowler's case we can add one more characteristic to the list... it's a less common one in professional golf or indeed any elite pursuit but the enduring impression one gets from him is humility. As always on the Thing About Golf our chat is a lengthy and wide ranging one but there is much wisdom to be gained by listening to the man affectionately known as 'Chook'.
Karrie Webb is a self-confessed golf nerd but unlike the rest of us she also happens to be one of the best golfers in the history of the game. Yet, seven majors and a Hall of Fame career are in some way just the beginning for Karrie because as remarkable as it is to consider, in her own mind, the most important part of her golfing life is really just getting started. You'll hear how in this exclusive chat with host Rod Morri.
Too much Trackman, not enough working the ball, Tiger to maybe get to 18 majors before the end of the year... Scott Hend has opinions and he's not afraid to share them! In a wide ranging chat, the popular Australian talks everything from golf in Asia versus America to continuing to travel the world to tee up at the age of 46. He's refreshing, he's honest, he's entertaining and he happens to still be one hell of a player so settle in and enjoy some time with Scott Hend.
Bryden Macpherson will be a name familiar to a few of you though it would be fair to say that even in golf circles he's far from a high profile figure. There's no doubting his talent. He's a very good player – clearly (you don't win the British Amateur and three times as a professional through luck) but he's more than that. He is also an intriguing thinker cut from a very different cloth to most golf pros of his generation. Here he talks with host Rod Morri about a wide range of golf and non-golf related topics and above all, The Thing About Golf.
In his playing days, Tony Johnstone was as much renowned for his on course temper as he was his brilliant short game. Today, he's one of the most recognised voices in the commentary box. In this conversation with host Rod Morri, the gregarious Johnstone talks with some embarrassment about those antics, his second career in television and the multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2003 that saw him chosen for a drug trial which has seen him symptom free for nearly two decades. Johnstone is at his story telling best here as he reveals why he loves golf, bird-watching and why he reckons Greg Norman is a pussy.
The seeds of Mike Clayton’s love affair with golf began as a six-year-old tagging along beside his father during a round at Victoria’s Point Lonsdale course. Clayton remains passionate about the game, which has been his life for the past five decades. Almost everybody listening to this podcast will be aware of Clayton in some capacity be it as a player, commentator, long-time columnist for Golf Australia magazine, part-time caddie and course architect. It is our hope that no matter how well you think you know him, you’ll come away from thi conversation with Rod Morri feeling like you know him a little better.
Even casual golf fans will be familiar with the name Christina Kim, the former Solheim Cup player and three-time LPGA Tour winner. She's one of the game's most popular players and you'll understand why by the end of this interview. But equally interesting is her less well-known but equally well-liked boyfriend and occasional caddie, Duncan French. The Kiwi-born French is a respected bagman in his own right, having helped guide Michelle Wie to her only major victory at the 2014 US Women's Open. They might be an odd couple, but here they talk about their shared passion for the game.
Tom Doak is one of golf's intriguing characters. In the early days of his career, he was best known for his Confidential Guide, a book which featured some blunt and controversial takes on golf courses around the world. For more than 20 years now he has created commercially successful and critically acclaimed courses in almost every corner of the globe, which has seen him become a celebrity in the sub-culture that is golf course architecture. Here, host Rod Morri asks him, "What is the thing about golf?"
To many in the golf world England's Meghan MacLaren is recognisable only as 'that equal pay girl.' But is there more to the 25-year-old two-time NSW Open winner than pointing out the inequalities between professional golfers of opposite gender? The answer is a resounding 'Yes'. MacLaren is intelligent and articulate, thoughtful and engaging and, most importantly, brutally honest. About everything. From the state of her own game to the state of the broader industry, Maclaren has plenty to offer in this wide ranging and fascinating discussion.
John Paramor has spent the best part of 45 years adjudicating on animal scrapes and penalty drops. But the European Tour's chief referee is more than just the best known rules official in the world, he's a passionate lover of the game and an admirer of its very best exponents. He's had a front row seat at some of the great, and not so great, moments in modern golf - from Seve to Tiger and Rory, backstopping and the Patrick Reed affair, nothing is off limits in this conversation.
In the sub-culture that is golf course architecture, Bob Harrison needs no introduction. The long-time design partner of Greg Norman, Harrison was predominantly responsible for most of that company’s work for most of its life. But that doesn’t begin to tell the story of Bob Harrison. From a near partnership with Seve Ballesteros to eventually turning down the design of both courses at Barnbougle Dunes and on to building the widely acclaimed Ardfin course on the Scottish island of Jura, Harrison has a wonderfully entertaining story to tell.
In the brutal, dog eat dog world of modern professional golf David McKenzie has managed to achieve something very few do... to wit, make a living out of playing the game around the world for more than three decades. Needless to say, he's learned a few things along the way and in this revealing chat, David offers some insights into the PGA Champions Tour as well as some of the highs and lows of being a long-time touring professional.
Liz Smylie is an unusual interview choice for a golf podcast. Of course, she is best known for her exploits on the tennis court - winning four Grand Slam doubles and mixed doubles titles in the 1980s, as well as climbing to No.20 in the world ranking. What makes her story interesting is she doesn't play golf at all, but is mum to one of Australia's most promising golfing talents, Elvis Smylie. This interview could have gone horribly wrong, but as you will hear, it didn't.
Golf has more than its fair share of cheerleaders but Golf Australia columnist John Huggan is not one of them. And the game is better for it. Here, we get an insight into his passion for the game – born on the links of Scotland – which has taken him from outside the ropes as a young autograph-hunting fan, to a fine amateur player, award-winning writer and occasional caddie.
For more than 40 years Peter Senior has been plying his trade on the fairways of the world. His relentless competitive spirit and ability to get the job done when the pressure is a thing of folklore. But perhaps, most importantly, he's renown for being one of the nicest people in the professional game.
The 2019 Presidents Cup will shine a spotlight on Dr Alister MacKenzie's Royal Melbourne masterpiece. Course Superintendent Richard Forsyth is charged with the day-to-day responsibility of maintaining this revered layout and here, he talks about all things golf, courses, the Cup and his 'office'.
A two-time Australian Open Champion with a terrific sense of humour and a knack for telling great stories. So it's no wonder Peter Lonard is one of Australia's favourite players, equally popular among his playing peers and fans alike.
Tom Moore is one of only 12 current life members of the PGA of Australia, and he has witnessed just about every imaginable significant change the game has seen. It is this unique perspective that we chat about with Tom on a journey that eventually leads us to discover that for him, the thing about golf is its history and the less than ideal way we treat it.
Any golfer with an interest in golf course architecture is no doubt familiar with the name Paul Daley. For the past two decades, Paul has been publishing books about the sub-culture that is golf course design and it's an endeavour that - as you'll hear - truly is a labour of love. But there's more to this conversation than course architecture.
Richard Sattler likes to call himself a farmer and that is a true and accurate description. But Sattler – the owner of the Barnbougle Dunes complex on Tasmania's north-east coast – is much more than that. Despite not being obsessed with the game or indeed the business, Sattler stands as one of golf's most important people of the past two decades.
Bob and Kathie Shearer are Australian golf royalty. Bob, of course, was one of Australia's premiere international players during the 1970's and 80's. Kathie, on the other hand, didn't find golf it found her and for nearly three decades she has had to deal with the biggest names in the game, while managing tournament media centres around the world. Theirs is a love story... with a lot of golf thrown into the mix.
This is the remarkable story of one of the finest amateur players of recent times that you've likely never heard of, a player whose career trajectory goes against almost all accepted wisdom. She's a plus handicap golfer, prolific tournament winner, mother of four and grandmum to six. This is the Sue Wooster story.
Welcome to this special preview edition of a brand new podcast launching this week, Golf Australia Magazine's The Thing About Golf. If you're a keen player or even a self-confessed golf nut you'll know there is plenty to love about this game. In this monthly series, we will chat with golfers both famous and not to find out just what it is that draws them to this great game.