The NCG Golf Podcast

We preview The Players!

We don’t know about you but, for us, The Players is where the golf season really starts. This one is special.

It’s the 50th edition and Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll kick off season two of The NCG Golf Podcast by previewing the ‘fifth major’.

The pair, who’ve both taken a spin around Sawgrass, break down the course and discuss their favourite moments. Did they get out of 17 alive?

Rory McIlroy and Sepp Straka tell us what the championship means to them and Tom has set Steve a fiendish quiz testing his knowledge of the PGA Tour’s flagship event.

But that’s not all. Far from it…

• What did we make of Anthony Kim’s LIV debut – and are the courses letting the breakaway tour down?
• Tom gets stuck into Rory’s detractors in Readers' Whines
• Is The Belfry all that?
• And which sporting celebrity is Steve up against in a winter foursomes last four clash?

The NCG Golf Podcast is produced in association with the TaylorMade TP5 golf ball

Are jeans really club golf’s biggest enemy?

What is it about a bit of denim that sends so many club golfers round the twist? Author Clive Agran set our social media alight this week when he asked why such an innocuous fabric causes so much offence.

Never ones to shy away from a bandwagon, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll get stuck into some of the old stereotypes. Does what we wear really say something about how we act on the course? Prepare to hear Steve lose his rag.

We’ve also got a packed show for you as Season 1 of the podcast reaches its climax. Here’s what you don’t want to miss…

• Has bad behaviour gone too far at the Phoenix Open? And can they rein it back in?
• What do we make of Tiger’s new threads – and are we going to splash the cash?
• Can Tom land another blow on Steve in Rules Corner?

The NCG Golf Podcast is produced in association with the TaylorMade TP5 golf ball

Delving into the price of club golf

It’s membership subscriptions time again and maybe some of you are being asked to fork out a little more than last year.

 

Where do those fees go and what part do they play in the running of your golf club? Are joining fees really a tax on membership, an expression of loyalty, or a vital part of a golf club’s armoury?

 

Steve Carroll has started a series of pieces for the Golf Club Managers’ Association, and NCG, and he discusses these two key themes on this week’s podcast with Tom Irwin.

 

Elsewhere Steve has a particular issue with people who moan about the rules, and can he stop Tom from taking series 1 honours by blinding him with this week’s Rules Corner question?

 

BTW, apologies for the minor mic issues in the first part of the pod. Hopefully they won't ruin Tom's dulcet tones for you too much!

 

The NCG Golf Podcast is produced in association with the TaylorMade TP5 golf ball.

 

We chat with Open champion Paul Lawrie!

He had a legendary career that brought worldwide success and a Claret Jug.

 

But Paul Lawrie is also steeped in club and grassroots golf. The Paul Lawrie Golf Centre, in Aberdeen, has served as the perfect introduction to the game for countless new players.

 

His Tartan Pro Tour also provides vital playing opportunities for professionals who dream of a spot on the Challenge and DP World Tour. 

 

He joins us on The NCG Golf Podcast to talk about juniors, dress codes, accessibility to membership, the cost of golf, and, of course, we ask him to take a trip down memory lane and look back at his Ryder Cup and Open triumphs.

 

Hosts Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll also discuss changes to fourball and foursomes match play calculations that are coming to the World Handicap System in April and get into another interesting debate on golf's future - as Tyrrell Hatton joins Jon Rahm at LIV.

 

The NCG Golf Podcast is produced in association with the TaylorMade TP5 golf ball

Why is golf equipment so expensive?

New drivers, irons, putters – the big equipment brands are launching their latest products and the prices may not be for the faint-hearted.

It doesn’t matter how you dress it up, £500 is a chunk of change for a new driver and a through-the-bag set will run into thousands.

What goes into the pricing? Is it about profit or is the technology, research, and effort that goes into making new clubs worthy of our investment?

Tom Irwin and NCG equipment editor Hannah Holden have been at The PGA Show, in Orlando, scouting out the newest releases. They discuss what’s been going on in Florida and answer the $64,000 question all club golfers have about new gear.

Hannah’s also got some great tips on whether it’s worth buying new equipment every year and reveals some budget options for those who don’t have lots of money to spend.

Tom and Steve also talk about Nick Dunlap’s incredible victory as an amateur on the PGA Tour and we discuss Hailey Davidson becoming the first transgender golfer to win a professional tournament.

From The Clubhouse is produced in association with the TaylorMade TP5 golf ball

What makes a great golf course?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to golf courses. One player’s links paradise is another’s heathland heaven.

But even allowing for the most passionate discussion, there are plenty of layouts out there we all agree are superb. Rankings lists would be sunk without them!

So what is it that makes a golf course great? In this week’s The NCG Golf Podcast, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll go on a deep dive.

What courses speak to us? Where are we desperate to go this year, and where are we keen to return? To help us in that quest, we’ve enlisted two special guests.

Dan Murphy is a veteran of nearly 700 golf courses and has been the chairman of NCG’s Top 100s panel for nearly a decade. He is responsible for all our rankings lists.

And you may know David Jones better as UK Golf Guy – a phenomenally successful blogger whose insight on rankings lists and the price of playing the best golf courses in GB&I is required reading.

The NCG Golf Podcast is produced in association with the TaylorMade TP5 golf ball

Bubba Watson drops some LIV Golf truth bombs!

It’s a brave new world for The NCG Golf Podcast. No more From the Clubhouse. We’ve put The Slam to bed, and we’re back with a solitary, singular, golf podcast.

But Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll remain your hosts and will continue to debate the things that matter to you. 

Has it finally stopped raining? The heavens may have paused, but the last three months have been unbelievable for golf courses. We’ve got the numbers.

We’re going to serve up a host of special guests and we couldn’t start with a bigger character. Two-time major champion Bubba Watson joins us and he’s got plenty to say about LIV Golf, the PGA Tour, and the way forward.

What a start! So get the car volume up, put your headphones on, and give it a listen!

The NCG Golf Podcast is produced in association with the TaylorMade TP5 golf ball

Is golf really broken?

Has Jon Rahm’s eye-watering move to LIV Golf fissured the sport? Has your love affair with the game been punctured by the bitter row enveloping the professional ranks?

Or are you unmoved by the actions of those at the top end of the game?

On this week’s episode of The NCG Golf Podcast, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll debate the ramifications of Rahm’s shift, ask if it makes LIV Golf’s proposition any stronger, and look at whether hi-jinks at the high end has any impact on how we approach golf at our own clubs.

Is saying the sport is in crisis borne out by reality?

The NCG Golf Podcast is produced in association with TaylorMade Golf

From the Clubhouse: A deep dive into the golf ball roll back plans

Now we know. A ball roll back is coming for everyone.

In this week’s podcast, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll dig deep into the R&A and USGA’s decision to reduce the distance the ball travels at every level of the game.

We’re joined by performance coach and data expert Lou Stagner, and James Day, co-founder of Urban Golf and SounderGolf, to debate what the game's two big governing bodies have unveiled. 

We wanted to bring you an in-depth discussion and analysis of both sides of the argument. Lou and James passionately defend their different views on the roll back, and the future of the game in both the professional and amateur spheres.

We consider why the governing bodies came to this decision, whether distance really matters at club level, what it means for our classic courses, and much more.

You might agree or disagree, depending where on the fence you sit, but we hope you find the chat absorbing and informative.

The From the Clubhouse podcast is produced in association with TaylorMade Golf.

From the Clubhouse: Is the golf ball about to be rolled back for everyone?

“There are only three options: We can bifurcate; you change the whole game; or you do nothing. And doing nothing is not an option.”

R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers says a decision on what to do about hitting distances in golf is coming by the end of the year but, after admitting to Golf Digest’s John Huggan there had been lots of opposition to the R&A and USGA’s proposed Model Local Rule, what's going to happen now?

If you change the whole game, could that mean a shorter ball for everyone? In this episode of the From the Clubhouse podcast, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll speculate about the distance debate and how it will affect us at our clubs?

Would we be willing to play a shortened ball? Would it make any difference to our games? And what could it mean to the way our clubs maintain their courses?

You’ll not be surprised to learn Steve and Tom have rather different views!

The duo also consider the latest reincarnation of Tiger Woods and look at the new manoeuvres in the LIV Golf-PGA Tour standoff. Will a deal be done?

The From the Clubhouse podcast is produced in association with TaylorMade Golf.