The NCG Golf Podcast

The Slam Podcast: Has Zach Johnson made the right Ryder Cup picks?

The 2023 American Ryder Cup side is complete, but has Zach Johnson made the right Captain's picks?
In a special episode of The Slam Podcast - in association with Callaway - Matt Chivers and Matt Coles discuss the six selections that joined the US side for the matches in Italy earlier today.
Justin Thomas was picked after some golf fans doubted if he'd be chosen, so how important is it for the two-time major champion to perform well at Marco Simone?
Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa, and Rickie Fowler were also chosen as well as Brooks Koepka - the only LIV Golf player to make the American side.
Should Bryson DeChambeau have joined his LIV colleague on Team USA? Matt and Matt discuss how DeChambeau would've contributed to the team atmosphere when travelling to Europe.
Sam Burns is set to make his Ryder Cup debut having won the WGC Match Play in March - but was the runner-up Cameron Young unfortunate to miss out on a Ryder Cup bow?
The team also discuss other candidates that missed out such as Keegan Bradley, Lucas Glover and Denny McCarthy - while also looking forward to Monday, September 4 when Luke Donald is set to name his six Captain's picks.
Listen to The Slam right here!

The Slam Podcast: Does the PGA Tour NEED the PIF for financial survival?

As we near the end of the 2023 PGA Tour season, Matt Chivers and Matt Coles look ahead to the 2024 season in the latest episode of The Slam - in association with Callaway.
There will be eight Signature Events and an even larger prize for the FedEx Cup winner, but for how long can the PGA Tour continue to increase its purses?
The tour is supposedly nearing a deal with the Public Investment Fund, so is Jay Monahan relying on the riches of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund to secure their financial future?
The team discussed this as well as the structure of the DP World Tour schedule in 2024. How does it look? Which events will be played? And what is missing?
The schedule features five Global Swings with incentives for each winner, but are these incentives strong enough to lure the big players and entertain the fans watching at home?
Matt and Matt dissect what next year could look like for the formerly-named European Tour, and how there are still no Signature Events on the PGA Tour to be played in Europe.
Is this indicative of the strategic alliance between the two allies? Should the top American players be brought over to the continent more often?
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The Slam: Could Zach Johnson REALLY leave Brooks Koepka out of his Ryder Cup team?

A record-breaking 61 to win the BMW Championship?
On the latest episode of The Slam, in association with Callaway Golf, Matt Coles and Steve Carroll discuss Viktor Hovland’s incredible final round at Olympia Fields, as he moves up to No.2 on the FedEx Cup standings.
The team also talk about the Tour Championship and the unique format, which sees players given a head-start due to their performances over the course of the season.
But the meat of the discussion is about the Ryder Cup, including the possible omission of LIV golfers from the US team. With Brooks Koepka dropping out of the top six to automatically qualify, will captain Zach Johnson pick him? And does Team Europe actually have a chance in Rome?
Matt and Steve also talk about the women guaranteed a Solheim Cup spot. The European Qualifying Period ended this week, with the first eight players now assured of their places in Andalucia.

From the Clubhouse: You can learn the secrets of golf course architecture!

How much do you know about how your golf course was put together? Do you sail round your club course just hitting shots with abandon, or do you find yourselves wondering why each hole plays the way it does.
There has been a surge of interest in golf course architecture among average players – whether that’s poring over ranking lists or discovering the secrets of design so we can understand our own layouts just a little bit better.
We’ve got a special guest this week as Geoff Shackelford, a renowned American golf writer and commentator, joins us to talk about his new book: Golf Architecture for Normal People.
Written to help golfers are all skill levels become better observers and get more fun out of their game, Geoff demystifies as well as poking fun at the genre, and gives readers tools to help them understand what they’re seeing and playing.
We talk fun, what makes a great hole, and we also get Geoff’s thoughts on the controversial distance debate in golf.
If you’ve always wondered how to appreciate your surroundings just a little better, tune in for the next hour as Geoff unlocks the door.
You can buy Golf Architecture for Normal People here.
From the Clubhouse is produced in association with TaylorMade Golf
 

The Slam Podcast: Our predicted 2023 Ryder Cup teams are revealed!

Justin Thomas? Bryson DeChambeau? Lucas Glover?!
Every week, a new player appears in the thoughts of Zach Johnson, so Matt Chivers and Matt Coles discuss another impressive display from Lucas Glover at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and his desire to be on the US Ryder Cup team.
On the latest episode of The Slam, in association with Callaway, Matt Coles also reveals which players he would take to Marco Simone at the end of September with some surprise inclusions you mightn't have expected.
Before that though, the team talked all things AIG and Lilia Vu's stunning win at the Women's Open at Walton Heath - and a valiant effort from the home favourite Charley Hull.
The team looks to the ever-approaching Solheim Cup too and discusses who could be selected to play at Finca Cortesin next month, a week before the Ryder Cup starts!
Cameron Smith notched another win on the LIV Golf Tour at Trump Bedminster, but be prepared for a Chivers rant as the team ponders what the PGA Tour could look like with Smith still in the fray.
We review all of the weekend's action plus much more, so you know what to do!

From the Clubhouse: We need to have a talk about 18 holes

You think it's always been this way - but you've been living a lie.
On this week's From the Clubhouse podcast, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll explore the origin of 18 hole golf, why it's a completely random number, and whether we should think again as modern life - and family demands - impinge on our leisure time.
Do we need to take 9-hole golf more seriously, and should we offer a more varied competition structure at our clubs?
Elsewhere, slow play continues to rear its head as the row over Carlota Ciganda's penalty at the Evian Championship rumbles on. Do we do enough at club level to get us round the course quicker?
And Steve has been on his travels again and reckons he has played the most insane golf course he's ever seen. He gives you the lowdown on Bishop Auckland, in County Durham.
From the Clubhouse is produced in association with TaylorMade Golf

The Slam: We’d take Bryson DeChambeau to the Ryder Cup! + Our AIG Women’s Open preview

Thirteen birdies and a leap that would make Phil Mickelson proud. Bryson DeChambeau’s stunning 58 at the Greenbrier was genuinely historic – so few have managed the feat – but his maiden LIV Golf victory has got minds whirring at NCG Towers.
On this week’s The Slam podcast, Matt Coles and Steve Carroll, stepping in for Matt Chivers, look back at Bryson’s win and ask the question: Should he go to the Ryder Cup?
The answer is a definitive yes, and it won’t ease the headache for US skipper Zach Johnson. Let us explain why he has to be on the plane.
It’s also the final women’s major of the year as the AIG Women’s Open is staged at the wonderful Walton Heath. We preview the action and hand over our tips.
The Slam podcast is produced in association with Callaway.

From the Clubhouse: Is this really the future of golf? + Do we need 14 clubs?

With its pizza oven, street food, a colourful driving range, and 9-hole course, Golf It! is being described as the sport’s new approach – an accessible and inclusive way to get into golf.
The facility, which is based at the former Lethamhill Golf Course in Glasgow, boasts a range of introductory golf formats and Steve Carroll went along to see it ahead of its launch.
He takes Tom Irwin through the new centre step-by-step and the pair ask whether it will actually change the way people engage with golf.
Meanwhile, some of Tom’s new shiny new TaylorMade kit remains unwrapped and so the duo get into the origins of the 14 club rule and whether we really need to use that many. Would golf be better with less, or even more clubs?
It’s thought provoking as always so have a listen and get involved.
From the Clubhouse is produced in association with TaylorMade Golf