The Golfer's Journal Podcast

On the heels of The Open at Carnoustie, we put together an episode celebrating the things that make links golf special. We start with a reading of D.J. Piehowski’s piece, “Beneath the Machair” from TGJ No. 1 (1:35 mark), which details the history of the once-lost Askernish golf course. Up next is a conversation with contributor Tom Coyne (17:37 mark), who has played (nearly) every links course in Ireland and Scotland. The episode concludes with a reading of his essay, “Sacred Sands” from TGJ No. 2 (44:10 mark).

In our TGJ No. 4 Q&A, we discussed a number of things with young Australian standout Curtis Luck – where he grew up, winning the U.S. Amateur, playing the Masters and more. In this episode of the podcast, we had Curtis break down his five favorite Australian golf courses and why they each make the list.

This week marks the Bandon Solstice event, where a group of people get together to try to play all four courses at Bandon Dunes on the longest day of the year. As impressive as that is, Jamie Kennedy laughs at the feat. To raise money for a Scotland charity back in 2012, Jamie walked 10 rounds in one day – a total of nearly 60 miles – and he shares the story in this episode of the TGJ Podcast.

Managing editor Travis Hill takes you step-by-step through the latest issue of The Golfer's Journal with stories and context on how each feature came together and why it was chosen. TGJ No. 4 marks one full year in the life of our magazine and we couldn't be more thankful to have all of the readers (and listeners) that have helped support it.

People like Len Mattiace often turn into footnotes of history as the guys who almost got it done. But his story is more complicated than near-misses on big stages. In a special Golfer’s Journal podcast, Mattiace shares the story of his career – from watching a major slip away to gaining perspective from injuries.

Andy Johnson is a TGJ contributor who first started writing about golf course architecture for his website and newsletter, The Fried Egg. In this episode of the podcast, Andy reflects on the five golf courses that had the biggest impact on shaping his views on the game.

Our guests today are Riley Johns and Keith Rhebb, two golf course architects who recently completed work on their first solo design at the Winter Park 9. Johns was featured in TGJ No. 3 while guiding us on a tour of his home course, the Stanley Thompson-designed Banff Springs.

TGJ contributors Shane Bacon (Fox Sports) and Chris Solomon (No Laying Up) join the podcast to discuss the unbelievable hospitality details that come with playing one of South Korea's most private golf courses. Shane also recounted his experience in TGJ No. 3, a piece brought to life in part by Chris’ dramatic aerial photos of Whistling Rock Country Club.

Will Leitch is not a golfer, which, in a strange way, is a major reason we wanted him to write for The Golfer's Journal. As a sportswriter who has appeared in every outlet from the New York Times to Deadspin (which he helped found), Will has a unique perspective from outside the world of golf. He discussed his complicated relationship with the game in an essay in TGJ No. 3 and elaborated on what's kept him away from golf in this episode of the podcast.

With TGJ No. 3 about to ship to subscribers, we wanted to look back at how and why The Golfer's Journal got started. Publisher Brendon Thomas and Managing Editor Travis Hill discussed where the idea came from, the 2-year struggle to put TGJ No. 1 together and much more.