The Fried Egg Golf Podcast

For the first interview in this episode, Andy is joined by Shaun Smith (@GorseNod), superintendent at Sullivan County Golf Club, a public nine-holer in upstate New York now operated by author Tom Coyne. Shaun discusses the ups and downs of his life and career, what he's done so far at Sullivan County, and what his hopes are for the future. In the second half of the episode, Andy brings on golf architect Tyler Rae (@TylerRaeDesign). Andy and Tyler talk about what has changed in Tyler's career since he was last on the pod five years ago and the differences he has noticed between restoration and new-build projects. They wrap up by discussing the top three courses they saw in the past year.

The idea of par dominates our thinking about golf. It's how we judge a player's performance. It's how we assess the difficulty of a golf course. It's how we categorize holes and courses. It shapes our perception of the game in way's that we don't even notice; it's the water we swim in. And yet for most of golf history, the idea of par did not exist.Today's guest is Stephen Proctor (@SProctorGolf), a golf historian and the author of Monarch of the Green and The Long Golden Afternoon, as well as a co-host of the podcast The Duffer's Literary Companion. Stephen joins Garrett to discuss why par wasn't a necessary concept in the game's early centuries, how the desire for something like par emerged during Young Tom Morris's time, and how the idea began to gain momentum as golf spread to the United States in the early 1900s. They also talk about the effect that par has had on the game—an effect that neither Stephen nor Garrett sees as particularly positive.

Andy Johnson and Joseph LaMagna discuss who their top 10 players in golf are now that the major championships are over. The two chat about players such as Cameron Young and Xander Schauffele rank as well as the breakout campaign of Viktor Hovland. They also talk about the recent NBA announcement of the NBA Cup, an in-season tournament that adds significance to regular season games and the parallels to the problems golf faces. Each has a unique way that the PGA Tour could look at the NBA Cup and create more interest in its own schedule.

The final men's major of the year just wrapped up at Royal Liverpool, and we're back to dig into the most important stories from the 2023 Open Championship. First, Garrett speaks with Sean Martin (@PGATOURSmartin) of PGA Tour dot com about the skill set, personality, and career arc of the new Champion Golfer of the Year, Brian Harman. Then Garrett brings on Joseph LaMagna (@JosephLaMagna) to share three takeaways about Hoylake, this past week's excellent venue.

With the 2023 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool fast approaching, Garrett is joined by Joe McDonnell (@joemmcdonne11), the Head of Imagery at the golf architecture firm Clayton, DeVries & Pont as well as a longtime Hoylake member. After a quick intro from Garrett addressing the controversy over the "internal" out-of-bounds lines on the championship third and 18th holes, Joe gives a guided tour of the design and history of four holes on Royal Liverpool's back nine: Nos. 12, 13, 14, and 17. Joe and Garrett wrap up with a discussion of the sadistic third (the members' opener). Enjoy the Open!

Kyle Porter of CBS Sports (@KylePorterCBS) joins Andy Johnson to preview the 2023 Open Championship. The two discuss Rory, Scottie Scheffler, and Rickie Fowler, among other favorites, and they break down they're looking for from the course and the tournament. Also, Kyle is really excited about the prospects of Padraig Harrington on the Ryder Cup team.

With the Open at Royal Liverpool approaching, Andy brings on Jasper Miners of Evalu18 (7:24) to ring in this year's brief links season. First they chat about some non-links hidden gems around London, then Jasper breaks down the history of Royal Liverpool and describes the differences between the original course and today's version. Andy and Jasper also discuss the new 17th hole and how the course stacks up against other Open rota venues. For the back half of the episode, Micah Pueschel (@Pooshdaddy) of the band Iration joins (58:28) to talk about his life in golf, how he manages to play while on tour, and how he has recruited other members of Iration into his obsession.

After a week on site at Pebble Beach for the U.S. Women's Open, Andy joins Garrett to talk about how the course challenged the players, where the setup fell short, and what, more generally, championship golf venues should strive to accomplish in the 21st century.

Andy is joined by Fried Egg contributor Joseph LaMagna (@JosephLaMagna) for a chat about happenings in professional golf. First, they give some thoughts on the U.S. Women's Open at Pebble Beach: how the course should play for the women's field compared to the usual Pro-Am and U.S. Open fields; how courses could and should be set up to challenge and identify the best women golfers; to what extent they're in on the Rose Zhang hype; and whether Nelly Korda is on the comeback trail. Then Andy and Joseph dig into some PGA Tour topics. They talk about which players have done well and flown under the radar, how the Ryder Cup is shaping up, who could be in line for Player of the Year, and what might happen with the future PGA Tour schedule.

Garrett and fellow Fried Egg team member Brendan Porath devote this episode to golf in the Monterey, California, area. First, they discuss some storylines they're tracking going into this week's U.S. Women's Open, held for the first time in the tournament's history at Pebble Beach Golf Links. They touch on some aspects of Pebble Beach that they're looking forward to seeing the women's field tackle. In the back half of the episode (22:56), they offer a guide to golf in and around Monterey. Garrett lived in Pebble Beach for five years, so he provides a local perspective on the various public golf options, from premium to affordable.