In this week’s NCAA Men’s National Golf Championships the use of push carts at the hands of members of the nationally ranked Stanford Cardinal Golf Team seems to have turned a few heads.

As you can read in this article “A Pushback Against Push Carts” by John Paul Newport of the Wall Street Journal, some talking heads felt that use of push carts by young golfers represents unmanly behavior. These are obviously the same people who think that dropping cigar ash on a putting green is no big deal.

A Good Walk Enhanced…….

Trent Dilfer, former NFL quarterback who obviously took a few too many head hits from charging lineman said “push carts are a BAD look for these kids”. PGA pro Bo Van Pelt agreed. Ex-PGA pro Steve Flesch said that using them in tournaments doesn’t look right.

As Newport says, these are prejudiced expressions of thoughtless macho men who continue to perpetuate the ludicrous notion that hand carts somehow represent a more lowly form of muni-golf. They are oblivious to the concerns of golfers of all wage categories who want to get a good walk on the golf course without the stress of lugging 20 lbs of equipment on their back.

Hand carts have been the mode of transportation for golf clubs everywhere but the United States forever. The snobbishness Americans cling to against their use is just senseless.

I dare say that Dilfer probably does not carry his bag from his trunk to the bag drop at the celebrity events he plays in and Van Pelt and Flesch pay others to carry around their coffin sized bag of golf goodies when they play in a tournament.

At our place we fought for almost 20 years for the right to stay out of motorized carts if we choose and walk the course for our physical well being. We finally prevailed and hand carts have become a seamless part of the fabric of our country club every day of the week. Many of those who fought it vociferously are now adopters.

At least guys with a college education are starting to get it. Stand up and assert your right to push anywhere you play.

(Click to read John Paul Newport’s article “A Pushback Against Push Carts”)

May, 2014

We know that golf has become a global game and so has the dissemination of information about it. For the last few years the folks at TalkinGolf Radio in Australia have built a library of podcasts, for your listening and learning enjoyment, from interviews with a variety of notables in the game of golf.

Australian Rod Morri moderates these heady conversations along with the help of Geoff Shackelford of Golf Digest/Golf Channel/Geoff Shackelford.com, Mike Clayton a former Aussie touring professional now turned golf course designer, and Scottish columnist John Huggan. They cover an array of golf stuff that matters in unvarnished conversations without editorial constraints-this means no holds barred-they tell it like it is.

These world wide conversations come out about every fortnight with distinguished guests including authors, course architects, and dignitaries of the game. Their 39 episodes, each about an hour in length, have covered slow play, how money is ruining the game, marketing and the business of golf, bifurcation of the rules, Golden Age course architecture, and lots more. Guests have included golf analyst Judy Rankin, architect Gil Hanse, authors Mark Broadie and Curt Sampson, PGA of America President Ted Bishop, and Ran Morrissett one of the protagonists of GolfClubAtlas, the premier course architecture website.

I particularly enjoyed the conversation with Gil Hanse (episode 6) from 2012 right after he was awarded the task of designing the Olympic Course in Rio.  It gives your a real sense of the design/build approach his firm employs in all their design projects.  There is a wonderful rambling conversation between Morri, Clayton, and Shackelford (episode 32) about the charm and intrigue of Royal Melbourne.  The conversation (episode 39) with Ran Morrissett, the editor of GolfClubAtlas, is a treasure trove of content.  It covers everything from sand based course architecture with the restoration of Pinehurst #2  to the solace of playing with hickory clubs.  This man knows what is good golf and is not afraid to share his opinion.

You can subscribe to these podcasts for free through Apple iTunes/State of the Game or by downloading the free Apple Podcast app.

This is heady stuff that will fascinate the golf devoted. Perfect companion for a long ride to beach or a quite hour of golf meditation in your favorite easy chair.

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State of the Game

Talkin Golf Radio
May, 2014