Bag Rats

Mark Hess is the GM at Edgartown Golf Club in Edgartown, MA. Mark has spent decades with the Club and has made the island home for him and his family. Without spoiling too much, Mark and I talked about the interesting dynamic of living on an island in New England year round, and what the 9-hole track he runs means to the local community and the summer crowd. Check out the Club's website for aerial shots of the course and a writeup of its history.

Tom Coyne is an award winning author. Tom got his first big career break at the ripe age of 24, whereby his novel A Gentleman's Game was picked up and produced into a motion picture. Tom has written several other books since including Paper Tiger, A Course Called Ireland, A Course Called Scotland, and most recently A Course Called America. Tom and I spoke about his introduction to the game of golf, blazing his own trail as a writer, the genesis of his "A Course Called..." selection of books, his recent tour of some of New Jersey's hardest hitting tracks, and his relationship with the guys at No Laying Up. Check Tom out on Instagram, or at his website.

Alex Myers is a senior write at Golf Digest. Alex writes a column called the Grind and hosts a podcast called Local Knowledge with Daniel Rapaport and Keely Levins. Alex and I chatted about his introduction to the game of golf and how it inspired his career as a sports writer. Alex also told me about some of his coolest experiences through his career including run ins with Jim Nantz, Lee Trevino, Danielle Kang, and others. One time he even saw Gary Player eat a cookie. Check Local Knowledge out wherever you get your podcasts.

Quogue Field Club is a 9-hole track located on Long Island. It’s a beautiful course that renowned golf course architect Ian Andrew has done restoration work for in recent years. Ian and I chatted about what went into the process of modifying and restoring certain parts of this Bendelow classic. Ian also shared some interesting insight regarding how the course compares to some of the heavy hitters in the area including Shinnecock and National. Spoiler Alert: It’s a completely different golf experience. This comes as a relief to locals looking to tee it up and avoid the summer crowds that plague the nearby Hamptons. After speaking with Corey Harris about the Washington Club a few episodes back, I became infatuated with the concept of 9-hole courses. Their simplicity, and the particular type of laid-back experience that they provide is endlessly endearing. Check out Ian’s Website to see some of the marvelous work he’s done.

Bob “Shoe” Gaspar is the director of Outside Happiness at Bandon Dunes. Shoe grew up in southern California, where he was introduced to the game of golf. He later moved north to Bandon and worked several different jobs before retiring. After retiring, Shoe became restless. At the time, Mike Keiser was in town with ambitions to build a world class links course in Bandon. Shoe became involved in developing the caddy program at Bandon Dunes in the course’s formative years. Shoe later transitioned into his current role as the mayor of Bandon Dunes. He is the first friendly face that welcomes guests to the grounds when they arrive from all over the world. He could teach a masterclass in customer service, as he wakes up at the crack of dawn to familiarize himself with details about guests before they arrive. He’s one of the few people I’ve met who truly loves his job.

Ken Duke is a professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. Ken’s story is one of tremendous resilience. In the 7th grade, Ken was diagnosed with scoliosis. He had surgery to correct the dramatic curvature of his spine and was able to resume playing the game he loved, although not without modifying his swing first. After a strong high school career in Arkansas, Ken played division 2 golf at Henderson State University. Ken spent the next 20 years floating between several mini tours (including the Nationwide Tour), and the PGA tour. In his 187th start, after nearly 20 years of playing golf professionally, at the age of 44, Ken got his first PGA Tour win. Ken and I spoke about his childhood, playing golf at a world class level, and the dynamic on and off the course on the PGA Tour Champions. Ken is the ultimate competitor, and I found it interesting to talk through what it takes to make it at the highest level of golf in the world. I also thought Ken’s story reminded me of the old golf adage “Swing your swing.” Ken talked about how you don’t need to have Tiger’s swing to be a damn good player.

Adam Schriber is a world class swing coach. He has coached several successful professional golfers including Sam Ryder and David Lipsky. Most notably, Adam coached Anthony Kim from his days as a teenager growing up in Los Angeles to his attainment of legendary status on the PGA Tour.  Adam and I chatted about his humble beginnings in golf and how his single mother sacrificed endlessly to help him achieve his dream of playing  professionally. After a stint on the Web.com Tour, among other mini tours, Adam focused his time and energy on becoming a world class swing instructor. Adam was among the first coaches to integrate fitness training into his players' regimens. He also shared a some insight into the Anthony Kim that he knows: the incredibly generous, strong-willed young man that the mainstream media never showed us. Adam shared advice for recreational golfers who are looking to shave a few strokes off of their scores. His experience playing golf as a teenager of modest means has inspired him to break down financial barriers to sports for kids across the U.S.  My conversation with Adam was among the most enjoyable conversations I've ever had. Adam is endlessly generous, and his passion for golf and helping others is infectious. 

Hey Guys! I’ve got a bit of a unique episode this week. I sat down with my buddy Pat McCann to chat about the Masters and to review the upcoming RBC Heritage this weekend. Pat shares my love of golf and is an avid sports gambler. I had a short lived sports betting career after going down big in my first week a few years back. So I thought it would be nice to get some commentary from him on the unfolding of the Masters and the upcoming tournament this weekend. I’m going to do Major tournament previews moving forward.

Hello Friends (*Jim Nantz Voice*) It's Masters Week! In honor of this week at Augusta, I thought we'd profile another world class golf course: the 'lost' Lido Golf Club. I spoke with Pete Flory, an amateur golf historian who, through his love of golf, began digitally rendering famous golf courses a few years ago. As Pete spent more and more time on his hobby, he decided to take on a major challenge. He was going to render the world famous Lido. For those who aren't familiar, the Lido is regarded by countless golf historians to be the greatest golf course of all time. The Course, located on Long Island, was designed by the legendary architect C.B. McDonald. Unfortunately for the Lido, as the World War II war effort became a priority in America, the Navy needed to use the land as a base, and the course was destroyed. Through conversations with other golf architecture lovers on golf architecture message board Golf Club Atlas, Pete was able to piece together an accurate rendering of the original club. And after countless hours of detective work, Pete finished the design. It was through his postings on the message board that Pete came into contact with Tom Doak. Doak asked Pete if he could assist in Tom's latest project: reviving the Lido with the Keiser Brothers at a site in Sand Valley, WI. The Course is set to open in 2023, and Pete has been instrumental in Doak's visualization of the course. Pete's interest in the history of golf and course architecture piqued his interest in how the game was played many decades ago, which led Pete to  his other hobby, hickory golf. Pete told me about what makes hickory golf so difficult. Through our conversation, I gained an appreciation for modern golf equipment. Pete is going to play the Lido when it opens in 2023 with hickory clubs from the original Lido Club that he tracked down. The audio on this episode got a bit spotty in patches, but bear with it. The episode is a great listen!

Corey Harris is the head golf professional at the Washington Club in Connecticut. No restaurant? Good, no annual operating losses or monthly restaurant minimums to worry about. No tee times? Even better, you can slip out for a quick nine whenever you please.  The Washington Club is well over 100 years old, and is rooted in idiosyncratic tradition. I first came upon the Club upon reading about it in David Owen's article in The Golfer's Journal Issue #4. I was immediately struck by the Headline: 'Your Club's Restaurant is Terrible.' It got me thinking, why must a golf club have a restaurant to be considered complete? Corey and I chatted about the extremely collegial atmosphere created by this dynamic. The Club attracts a wide array of folks ranging from billionaires to Average Joes. They all have one thing in common: a desire to escape the frills and exclusivity of a traditional country club. We also chatted about his career spent playing internationally on several professional tours. Corey offers a sense of how hard it is to make a living playing golf professionally, while sharing tidbits about why it's the most exciting job in the world.  P.S. he held his own in a pairing with Retief Goosen and Colin Motgomerie.