The NCG Golf Podcast

We’re back. After a week to recharge and put our feet up, The NCG Golf Podcast returns for its third season. And what a start we’ve got for you. The sun is finally shining, we’re thinking about getting on our summer golf trips, and we’re about to unveil our best golf courses in Wales list! To set the scene for our new Top 40, which you can find at nationalclubgolfer.com/top100, NCG Top 100s chairman Dan Murphy joins Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll to talk about all things Welsh golf. What is our best course? Which are must play? And where can you find the best value? We’ll reveal all. Elsewhere, as we start our new series:

Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll are joined by special guest Jeremy Tomlinson, England Golf's chief executive. We discuss in detail the governing body’s 'Respect in Golf' campaign – a movement which aims to promote greater understanding and embrace equality, diversity, and inclusion in the sport. Jeremy also talks about the World Handicap System, membership numbers in the country, iGolf and iPlay, as well as what England Golf have got in store as their Centenary year really gets into gear. We hope you enjoy the chat. Elsewhere as we bring season 2 to a close:

Live from Augusta Steve and Tom discuss Steve’s debut at Augusta. The boys cover a lot of ground and spend far too much time talking Gnomes. Find out about what it is like to be an Augusta first time, just how long that q is for merch, and yes of course how hilly it REALLY is. They also get stuck into the Scheffler era, the value of yet another Tiger comeback, poor old Rory and Jason Day’s clothes. They end by musing on what is next for the endless innovative Masters. It is a great listen from the heart of a fantastic tournament, if you are looking for Masters closure you have come to the right place.

A major championship needs a major guest and we’ve got one for you as Ian Woosnam joins The NCG Golf Podcast ahead of The Masters. Also previewing the Barbados Legends Championship at Apes Hill, which is kicking off the new Legends Tour season in May and is hosted by the 1991 Masters champ, podcast hosts Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll dig deep into next week's tournament with one of the game’s all-time greats. We relive his green jacket victory, get some advice for those of you travelling to the tournament for the first time and, of course, ask him who’s going to win! Elsewhere this week: The NCG Golf Podcast is produced in association with the TaylorMade TP5 golf ball

Don’t misread the date. It’s not an April Fool. The big World Handicap System changes are here and, from April 1, the way you play your club golf WILL change. If you’ve forgotten what’s coming, never fear. Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll have enlisted the help of David Kernohan, Scottish Golf’s Head of VMS and Handicapping, to go over the major headlines. He’ll help you get to grips with Course Rating minus Par, fourball betterball scores, and all the big alterations. We also discuss where the WHS successes have been and where the system could still be improved. Elsewhere this week: The NCG Golf Podcast is produced in association with the TaylorMade TP5 golf ball

If you could pick one person to try and explain the madness of men’s professional golf, surely Iain Carter would be top of the list. The BBC’s golf correspondent has enjoyed an unparalleled career – covering all the major tournaments for radio and online – and is the author of a series of best-selling books. His latest, Golf Wars: LIV and Golf’s Bitter Battle for Power and Identity, bids to make sense of the conflict between the rival tours that has threatened to tear the sport apart. Iain joins Steve and Tom to discuss his new tome, the internal warfare that is still splitting the game, and we ask where and how it is all going to end. Iain also talks about The Big Golf Race – Prostate Cancer UK’s drive to raise money for men affected by the disease. Elsewhere in this episode… The NCG Golf Podcast is produced in association with the TaylorMade TP5 golf ball.

Food and beverage (or F&B as we call it in the trade) can be a financial black hole for your golf club. But we all want good food and a well-priced pint when we turn up in the clubhouse after a round. And we want it at a discount. It’s our little perk for paying our subs each year, right? But managing a good offering is a massive challenge for clubs and, this week, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll focus in on the issue as part of our The Price of Club Golf series with GCMA Insights. What are the numbers like, how have costs increased, and should we temper our expectations? Elsewhere in this episode… The NCG Golf Podcast is produced in association with the TaylorMade TP5 golf ball

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

“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.

What is it about Augusta week that Billy Foster can’t wait to be over? What does he think has ruined golf? And why is comparing the camaraderie between the European and US Ryder Cup teams like ‘Halifax Town playing Manchester City?’ Europe’s best-known caddie is our guest on this week’s From the Clubhouse podcast and the proud Yorkshireman has once again delivered a masterclass in straight-talking. We’ll hear stories of Seve and Tiger and he'll put you right into the team room at some of his 15 Ryder Cups. It’s an interview with NCG’s Matt Chivers you can’t afford to miss. Podcast hosts Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll give their verdict on his views, while also getting stuck into the PIP and asking whether Jon Rahm really might defect to LIV Golf. Get clicking. Get listening. From the Clubhouse is produced in association with TaylorMade Golf.

Those big WHS changes have certainly got your tongues wagging. And while we’ve told you in great detail about what’s coming to Great Britain & Ireland next April, what do we really think about them? In this week’s From the Clubhouse, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll go through the big changes and speak their minds. Is Course Rating minus Par a good thing? Are the new fourball betterball rules a fudge? What’s Tom’s issue with Par 3 courses being eligible for Course Ratings? The duo also get stuck into Rory McIlroy’s Race to Dubai victory. Should he have played more in Europe? They also discuss whether the peek at the Northern Irishman’s new driver has proved a PR masterstroke. Beware. Strong opinions are about to be expressed. So put your headphones on and get listening! From the Clubhouse is produced in association with TaylorMade Golf.

What a week it has been in the world of club golf! Big changes are coming to the World Handicap System and we’re going to mark your card. In a special edition of the From the Clubhouse podcast, Steve Carroll is joined by England Golf’s head of handicapping, James Luke, to go through all the new WHS stuff coming to GB&I next year. NOW READ: What changes are coming to the World Handicap System? We’ll try to explain Course Rating minus Par and how it will affect your handicaps, we’ll delve into the merits of the new rules around fourball betterball, and we’ll drill down into the detail of Course Handicaps and Expected Score. If you’re still a little confused about what’s coming in April, this will hopefully start to put your minds at ease…