The Fried Egg Golf Podcast

It’s tradition around here to release a “Five Things About...” episode on Tuesday before a major championship. Since the Players Championship, in spite of the PGA Tour’s best efforts, isn’t quite a major, we thought “Four Things” would suffice. Andy Johnson calls up Sean Martin (@PGATourSMartin), the newly anointed king of editorial at PGATour.com, to chat about the latest happenings on tour and the most interesting storylines going into the week at TPC Sawgrass.

Things have been moving quickly for Phil Mickelson. After his comments about the Saudi-backed Super Golf League made headlines, he was dropped by most of his major sponsors and pilloried by both the media and his PGA Tour colleagues. The backlash was surprisingly severe, even if much of it was well deserved. Mickelson’s knowing involvement with Saudi sportswashing was indefensible. But that doesn’t mean that everything he said about the SGL was nonsense. In fact, his basic position that the PGA Tour needs to be challenged is worth taking seriously. So in this episode, Andy Johnson and Garrett Morrison discuss how competition from rival leagues could force the Tour to improve its product.  Here is Garrett’s article “Phil Mickelson and the Uses of Leverage.”  Also, check out the Fried Egg Events page on Golf Genius.

Joshua C.F. Smith (@joshuacfsmith) has worn many hats in golf. From playing competitively in college to serving as superintendent at Orinda Country Club outside of Oakland, California, he has seen many aspects of the industry. He has also found time to become a renowned painter of golf landscapes and help found FlagBag Golf Co. (@flagbaggolf). In the latest installment of our Superintendent Series, Josh sits down with Andy Johnson to share stories about his wide-ranging career. The Superintendent Series is brought to you by the Toro Company.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is making major inroads in professional golf. It holds lucrative annual events, funds a 10-event series on the Asian Tour, and hopes to lure the world’s best male players to a proposed Super Golf League. Recently, the SGL initiative has taken a hit because of Phil Mickelson’s loose lips, but Saudi Arabia appears committed to its golf strategy, and it’s clear that the country is engaged in a practice known as “sportswashing.” As one of our guests, Dr. Helen Lenskyj, defines it, sportswashing involves “attempts on the part of authoritarian regimes to improve their tarnished global reputations through sport.” It is important for golf fans to understand this concept because the Saudis aren’t going anywhere. We have two guests today: Dr. Lenskyj, an academic researcher who focuses on the relationship between sports and global politics; and Will Bardwell, a civil rights attorney and golf writer. Time stamps: 2:49—Will Bardwell interview, part 1 13:11—Helen Lenskyj interview 30:25—Will Bardwell interview, part 2 Reading material: Will Bardwell, “Blind Men and Blood” Helen Lenskyj, The Olympic Games: A Critical Approach Check out The Fried Egg Events page on Golf Genius.

The third of our deep dives into the five 18-hole courses at Bandon Dunes focuses on Bandon Trails, built by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw in 2005. Andy Johnson and Garrett Morrison talk about how the construction of Bandon Trails fit into the resort’s history, and they play an interview clip in which Coore discusses the origins of the course’s three-part identity. Andy and Garrett then launch into a wide-ranging discussion of Bandon Trails’ (many) strengths and (few) weaknesses. They cover, among other things, their favorite green-to-tee transitions, the controversy around the 14th hole, and the course’s similarities to Saving Private Ryan, The Princess Bride, and Bruce Bowen. (All of that will make sense in context, we promise.) The Bandon Deep Dives are brought to you by Zero Restriction.

With the final tournament of the West Coast swing upon us, it's a good time to catch up with Joseph LaMagna (@JosephLaMagna), Fried Egg contributor and author of the biweekly newsletter Finding the Edge, about the early part of the 2022 PGA Tour season. Andy Johnson grills Joseph on who has impressed and disappointed thus far and what he makes of the very low scores we've seen almost weekly. They wrap up their chat with what to expect at Riviera later this week and the specific skill sets the course will test.

In the latest edition of our Superintendent Series, Andy Johnson meets up with Eric Richardson (@erichturf), Director of Grounds at Essex County Club, at the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) Conference and Trade Show in San Diego, California. Along with architect Bruce Hepner, Eric has worked to return Essex County to its Donald Ross roots. He has overseen projects such as enlarging greens, changing mowing lines, reshaping bunkers, giving the course a minimalist look and feel, and maintaining ideal playing conditions on the property's unique terrain. Andy and Eric also discover they have a similar disdain for ball washers. The Superintendent Series is brought to you by the Toro Company.

Ben Cowan-Dewar is the co-founder and CEO of Cabot, the company that developed Cabot Cape Breton and recently purchased World Woods Golf Club in Florida. Ben talks with Andy Johnson about Cabot’s first U.S.-based property, which will be rebranded as Cabot Citrus Farms. They also discuss Ben’s unconventional path to becoming a golf course developer, the early days of Cabot Links, and his experiences working with Bill Coore and other great architects.

In the latest installment of our “What to Know About…” series on golf’s greatest architects, we focus on Perry Maxwell, the designer of many courses, including Prairie Dunes, Southern Hills, and Old Town Club. Garrett Morrison and Andy Johnson kick off the episode by talking about The Fried Egg’s upcoming event at Dornick Hills Country Club, the first course Maxwell built. We then present two conversations: one between Garrett and biographer Chris Clouser on Perry Maxwell’s life and work, and another between Andy and architect Colton Craig (@craig_colton) on Colton’s quest to play every Maxwell course in existence. Toward the end of the podcast, we return to Chris for some closing reflections on Maxwell’s architectural legacy. (Time stamps below.) The Banker, our June 6 event at Dornick Hills in Ardmore, Oklahoma, opens for registration on Monday, February 7. For more information, visit our new events page on Golf Genius. Check out The Midwest Associate, Chris Clouser’s biography of Perry Maxwell. Time stamps: 0:35—Discussion of Dornick Hills and The Banker 7:04—Chris Clouser interview 36:34—Colton Craig interview 54:05—Final thoughts with Chris Clouser

Legendary golf course architect Bill Coore returns to the podcast for the first time in over two years. He and Andy Johnson have a lot to catch up on, and they cover a number of past and present Coore & Crenshaw projects, including Old Sandwich Golf Club, Bandon Trails, the Warren Golf Course at Notre Dame, and Brambles in Northern California. Bill shares his insights on the current boom in golf course construction and how it differs from the last upturn in the 90s and early 00s. He finishes with some reflections on what keeps him going and what he loves most about designing golf courses.