TalkinGolf

Serious talk for serious golfers

About the show

The podcast network for serious golfers. TalkinGolf launched as an online audio show way back before podcasts (or even the iPhone) were a thing. We've been on an extended break since 2012 but now we're back and creating new and interesting content each week as well as a sprinkling of some of the best stuff from the archives.

TalkinGolf on social media

Episodes

  • Episode 107: TGH 107: VaughnCon Rambling On Golf Course Architecture

    August 13th, 2023  |  Season 5  |  1 hr 1 min
    golf, golf course architecture, golf design, golf history, golf restoration, landmand

    I have no idea how to describe this episode other than to say that Vaughn Halyard and I started this podcast after playing Landmand for the third time and we had no agenda or a script.

    This is a bit different from our past podcasts, so if you are listening for the first time its not quite what we normally deliver, but I felt it was still worth publishing especially in its raw form. Just two friends who love golf history and golf design.

  • Episode 106: TGH 106: The Evolution of Royal Liverpool

    July 9th, 2023  |  Season 5  |  1 hr 23 mins
    golf, golf history, hoylake, major championships, royal liverpool, the open

    In this episode we celebrate the 2023 Open Championship and its host club, Royal Liverpool. We are joined by a familiar voice, Joe McDonnell who rejoins us on the podcast to talk about his home club.

    We tend to think of links golf as something eternal - something that is unchanged - or perhaps created by Mother Nature. Today we dive into all of the changes that have occurred at Hoylake and how the course has evolved to the course that will host this year's Open.

  • Episode 105: TGH 105: The Underrated John Ball, Jr.

    June 23rd, 2023  |  Season 5  |  1 hr 26 mins
    golf, golf history, hoylake, john ball, r&a, royal liverpool. golf history, the open

    With the Open Championship returning to Royal Liverpool, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to reshare the amazing history of John Ball, Junior. Ball was the first amateur in history to win a professional major and he was the most prolific winner of the Amateur Majors in golf history.

    This is the story of Hoylake's original hero - the man that helped bring the Open to Royal Liverpool - the golfer who became the first Englishman to win the Open.

    The underrated, John Ball, Junior.

  • Episode 104: TGH 104: The History of LACC

    June 4th, 2023  |  Season 5  |  49 mins 23 secs
    beverly hills golf, golf, golf history, lacc, los angeles country club, us open, usga

    Episode #104 welcomes back the USGA, with USGA Golf Historian, Katie Boyce who joins the show to discuss the History of LACC, the history of golf in Los Angeles and the USGA in California.

    We hope you enjoy this wonderful pre-US Open podcast!

  • Episode 103: TGH 103: The Restoration of Oak Hill: The Back 9

    May 7th, 2023  |  Season 5  |  54 mins 41 secs
    donald ross, golf, golf history, oak hill, pga championship

    In episode #103 we kickoff where we left off in episode #102 - we make the turn to discuss Andrew Green's transformational restoration of Oak Hill's back nine and mix in some history you might not get anywhere else.

  • Episode 102: TGH 102: The Restoration of Oak Hill: The Front 9

    April 24th, 2023  |  Season 5  |  1 hr 48 secs
    donald ross, golf, golf design, golf history, oak hill, pga championship

    We are joined by renowned golf course architect, Andrew Green to discuss the history and restoration of the Donald Ross classic, Oak Hill's East Course which will be the host of the 2023 PGA Championship.

    On this podcast we dive into the front nine - how they changed over the years, how Andrew and his team restored them and then we sprinkle in a little bit of history behind each golf hole for measure.

  • Episode 101: TGH 101: Before Augusta National

    April 1st, 2023  |  Season 5  |  1 hr 13 mins
    augusta national, berkmans, bobby jones, golf, golf history, the masters

    TalkinGolf History Episode 101 dives into the rich history of the events that transpired before Bobby Jones purchased the land that Augusta National sits on today. We are joined by golf historian, Greg Lamb who shares the property's unique history - from the Native Americans who lived on the land, to the land owners who tried to make a business out of it, to the public golf resort that nealry happened here, to a retired golfer looking to design his first golf course.

  • Episode 100: TGH 100: The History & Restoration of Belleair CC

    February 26th, 2023  |  Season 5  |  1 hr 8 mins
    belleair, donald ross, florida golf, golf, golf history, restoration

    Its been 5 years in the making...our 100th Episode!

    Today we dive into the History and Restoration of Belleair CC, which happens to be my home club. Belleair has not only a fascinating golf history, but has just been restored to one of the best Donald Ross' courses in the United States.

    Our panel for this show includes:
    Myself, Connor T. Lewis, the Founder of the Society of Golf Historians

    Vaughn Halyard, the MC for this show, my producer and Board Member of the Society of Golf Historians

    Hal Bodley, former President of Belleair CC, Chairman of the Restoration Committee and the author of Belleair's 125th Anniversary Book

    Jason Straka of Fry-Straka Design, who was the masterful architect who helped reno-restore Belleair's West Course in 2022.

  • Episode 99: TGH 99: The Golf Course Architecture of Donald Ross

    February 5th, 2023  |  Season 5  |  58 mins 23 secs
    belleair, donald ross, golf, golf course architecture, golf design, seminole

    Only one episode from our 100th show! And #99 is a doozy! Vaughn Halyard and I welcome the President of the Donald Ross Society, Brad Becken to talk about his new book, "The Golf Course Architecture of Donald Ross" which is now available for purchase at www.ClassicsofGolf.com. I promise there is something for everyone on this show- I learned a lot and I hope you do too!

    We filmed and recorded this show on location at Belleair Country Club.

  • Episode 98: TGH 98: The Radioactive Golfer

    January 17th, 2023  |  Season 5  |  1 hr 8 mins
    eben byers, golf, golf history, oakmont, us amateur, usga

    In Episode 98, golf historian Dave Moore joins the show to share the tragic story of US Amateur Champion, Eben Beyer who conquered the game of golf but was struck down in his youth by radium poisoning. It goes down in golf history as one of golf's saddest stories.

  • Episode 97: TGH 97: Unfiltered History with VaughnCon

    January 5th, 2023  |  Season 5  |  1 hr 15 mins
    belleair, donald ross, golf, golf course architecture, golf design, golf history

    What better way to kick off season 5 of the TalkinGolf History Podcast than with an unplanned podcast with my dear friend Vaughn Halyard. We had just concluded our round on the newly restored Belleair CC and Vaughn wanted to to go public with his thoughts.

    What follows is a funny podcast where Vaughn and I talk about Donald Ross' Belleair CC, our travels across the country sharing golf history through storytelling and where this podcast should go in 2023.

  • Episode 96: TGH 96: The History of AW Tillinghast Part 3

    December 21st, 2022  |  Season 4  |  48 mins 45 secs
    aw tillinghast, golf, golf course architecture, golf design, golf history, tillinghast

    This episode concludes our three part series on the History of AW Tillinghast. We kick off Part 3 with golf historian, author and Tillinghast expert, Phil Young as we enter into the Great Depression, Tillinghast's bankruptcy and his much maligned work with the PGA of America.

    We end with a high note as I ask Phil: "What three courses would one have to play to best understand the genius of AW Tillinghast?" His answer may surprise you.

    This is the last episode of Season 4 - thank you for listening!

  • Episode 95: TGH 95: The History of AW Tillinghast, Part 2

    December 7th, 2022  |  Season 4  |  1 hr 1 min
    baltusrol, bethpage, golf, golf history, tillinghast, us open, winged foot

    Golf Historian, author and AW Tillinghast expert, Phil Young joins us on the show for Part 2 of the History of AW Tillinghast. In this episode we dive into some of Tilly's most famous designs, as we ponder the question of Tilly's genius and whether it was divine genius - ie... did he just inherently understand strategic golf design or did his architecture evolve?

    Stick around for the end of the show where Phil riffs on 6 of Tilly's great designs.

  • Episode 94: TGH 94: The History of AW Tillinghast Part 1

    November 20th, 2022  |  Season 4  |  54 mins 7 secs
    aw tillinghast, bethpage, golf, golf history, tillinghast, winged foot

    This is Part 1 of a series of podcasts dedicated to the History of AW Tillinghast. In our first installment we dive into Tilly's early years, his golf career, we explore a theory that he might have been bi-polar and end this first show his break out golf design that helped catapult his career.

    We are joined by Tillinghast historian and author, Phil Young.

  • Episode 93: TGH 93: A Golf Historian's Scavenger Hunt Part 2

    October 30th, 2022  |  Season 4  |  13 mins 42 secs
    caddy shack, golf history, ngla, oldest golf, scavenger hunt

    In our second episode of "A Golf Historian's Scavenger Hunt we explore the course that changed golf in America and the ruins of America's Home of Golf, then we dive into the most famous golf match perhaps in golf history and then end with the location of a match that may have determined where golf was born!

    A great show made even better by the music that matches the eras:
    Story #1: Scott Joplin playing Pineapple Rag in 1908
    Story #2: Theme song to the movie, Caddyshack, "I'm Alright" by Kenny Loggins
    Story #3: John Helmich Roman's, "Drottingholmsmusiken" written in 1744

  • Episode 92: TGH 92: The History of Ralph Guldahl

    October 16th, 2022  |  Season 4  |  56 mins 50 secs
    golf history, masters, ralph guldahl, the masters, us open

    Ralph Guldahl for a period of 4 to 5 years was the greatest golfer on the planet - even outshining his more famous peers Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson. Today on the podcast, with an assist from Warren Rogan, host of Sports Forgotten Heroes and his guest, Dr Tony Parker we share the story of the forgotten great...Ralph Guldahl.

    If you like this story and just love sports, Warren Rogan's show, Sports Forgotten Heroes may be the show for you. Check it out and thank me later.