The digital age has wreaked havoc on print journalism turning the most established outlets upside-down shaking the most valuable assets from their trouser pockets into a discarded heap on the ground.

As a result we now have golf magazines trying to fill a hollow digital footprint without the credible writers to produce content worth reading. What you have left are internet magazine subscriptions to lists of Top 100 Golf Courses, collections of worthless golf tips, reviews of the latest “new and improved” equipment you don’t need, and infomercials for the next great destination golf resort of your dreams. If you are truly interested in creative golf content this is not going to scratch that itch.

Fortunately a couple of new print publications have risen from the ashes who have assembled the best golf writers, photographers, and illustrators to create long form articles on a wide array of subjects of golf interest. The templates are like none you have seen before-little or no advertising to distract you from the content, no grandstanding articles about the professional golf tours and their stars, and no sell-your-soul patronizing reviews of the next generation equipment that is going to shave strokes off your scores.

One of these publications is McKellar Magazine which has been publishing since 2018 under the capable direction of their founding editors Lawrence Donegan and Thomas Dunne. The list of contributing writers they have assembled is a Who’s Who of accomplished golf scribes of the last thirty years. It includes Michael Clayton, Lloyd Cole, Lorne Rubenstein, John Huggan, Mark Cannizzaro, John Strawn, Geoff Shackelford and many, many more.

In the five editions they have published so far you will find a wide array of excellent articles to tantalize your golf interests. These include glib interviews with Dottie Pepper, Chubby Chandler, and Rory McIlroy, an article about the symbiotic relationship between Sweeten’s Cove and The Waffle House, the back story of why Amana appeared on the hats of golf greats Bob Goalby, Julius Boros, and Jim Colbert, and Michael Clayton’s proverbs of the design features of venues in the Australian Sand Belt that are influencing the works of today’s most prolific course architects.

Every edition is chock full of this kind of well written, engaging stuff that will keep you glued to your favorite reading recliner. For a generation of people who grew up getting ink on their fingers from reading print publications this is manna from heaven.

You can learn more about what these guys are up to and order the magazine through the McKellar Magazine Website. At a cost of about $20 an issue delivered the price may seem steep but remember this is not your father’s golf magazine business model-there are no advertiser revenues to subsidize your reading habits.

McKellar has put out five robust issues so far. So don’t tarry, invest in the most recent issue, this is a Golf Companion you will be glad you welcomed into you personal library.

McKellar Magazine (2021)

How many times have you looked forward to playing a course of special interest, maybe on a vacation or in an event in your area, only to come away disappointed because they had the greens jacked up so fast that only gutter bumpers could save you from three-putting all day long. My guess is this is experience is all too familiar to many of you.

In the attached article by John Steinbreder in this week’s Global Golf Post a strong case is made by many of the biggest names in golf architecture that the “Arms Race” for faster and faster green speeds, at private and public courses all over the country, is totally out of control. As a result, the courses are just no fun for anyone who does not carry a handicap index in the low single figure range.

There is little question that a kabal of low-handicappers who dominate green’s committees at these places are driving the bus and, in an effort to keep the “rating” of their course” in the top quartile, have made them virtually unplayable for the bulk of their membership.

This started out isolated to “premier” show-off events like the annual Member-Guest, but now has creeped into their Club Championship, Opening Day, Calcutta Event, and even day-to-day play at their courses. Who wants to compete in these things if you have to wear protective gear just to get through the experience.

We visited this issue in our “Is Faster Really Better” posting back in 2011 that featured an article by Ian Andrews a renowned architect from north of the border. The issues have not changed in 10 years, in fact the incidence seems to have gotten worse in my humble opinion.

It is long overdue for the decision makers at golf facilities to bring a little sanity back to daily course set up and let all players smell the roses once again.

John Steinbreder

Golf Global Post (2021)

(Click to read Global Golf’s article “Slippery Slope”)

In the late 1960’s Lee Buck Trevino was a disruptive intrusion to the Big Three Plus One status quo on the PGA Tour. No one really knew what to make of this Mexican-American upstart with the flat swing, low left-to-right ball flight, non-stop wise-cracking chatter, and gunslinger’s no-fear attitude playing against Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, and Casper.

In this Shotgun Start Spotlight Podcast Brendan Porath and Andy Johnson provide an informative historical perspective of the early career of Lee Trevino. This podcast is a deep dive into the challenging path Lee took from an impoverished Texas upbringing to being the most significant foil to the dominance of Jack Nicklaus in the early 1970’s.

Lee was not a product of the country club mold that is for sure……

As Andy points out, in the 10-year period from 1968 to 1977 Lee Trevino was arguably the most dominant player other then the GOAT himself. Over his storied career Trevino won six majors-two U.S. Opens, two Open Championships, and two PGA Championships. In 1971 he was named Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsman of the Year”. Over a three-week period in June and July of that year Lee garnered three national championships, beating Jack Nicklaus in a playoff at Merion to win the U.S. Open, won his first of two Canadian Opens, and outlasted England’s Tony Jacklin and Taiwan’s Lu Liang Huan at Royal Birkdale for his first British Open Championship. No one else in the golf history has ever done that.

The podcast is rich with Lee’s legendary personal musings as well as the entertaining perspective of Dan Jenkin’s the premier golf journalist the time. There are lots of revealing quotes from his peers that leave little doubt as to the impact Trevino made on the staid order of the PGA Tour. The language was not always politically correct by today’s standards, but it was representative of the mood of the time.

Set aside the time to listen to this 90 minute podcast, you will not be disappointed. This is a nostalgic romp from those of us who grew up with Lee challenging the golf establishment. For those who only know him only as a golf myth, it is an opportunity to put his accomplishments in real perspective.

Brendan Porath and Andy Johnson

Shotgun Start (June 2021)

Augusta National is a course whose strategic approach the avid golf watcher would say he understands just based on the sheer number of times he has seen The Masters broadcasts over the years.  Yet every year there is one shot a leader or a chaser hits on Saturday or Sunday that leaves the TV patron scratching their head wondering why did they try to do that.

The answer to that question and many, many more can be found in this in depth Fried Egg Podcast interview with major champion and golf course architect Geoff Ogilvy.  Andy Johnson plies Ogilvy’s knowledge of every hole at Augusta-one to eighteen-from both a playing and competitive standpoint to give you a much richer understanding of the challenge the top professionals in the world face as they wend their way through the tournament set up at The Masters.

Because of his accomplished playing career and his subsequent devotion to golf course architecture and design, Ogilvy is uniquely qualified to provide this guided tour.  He had 16 professional wins over his career-8 on the PGA Tour that include a U.S. Open and 3 World Golf Championships.  His record in the four Majors during the height of his career speaks to his deep understanding of championship golf courses and the challenges they present in major championships.

The fact that Augusta National is an Alister MacKenzie design and Ogilvy grew up and is cutting his course architecture teeth in the Sand Belt Region of Australia where MacKenzie also plied his craft adds to the depth of understanding he has of the strategic approach of this unique venue.

Ogilvy points out that Augusta National is routed in such a way that the holes traverse the severe topography of the land which is why their is so much movement on the fairways and the greens.  This also lends itself to severe side hill stances on approach shots that often are counter to the shot shape required to get at specific pins.  A good example is the hook stance from the fairway on the Par 5 13th into a green that favors a fade to most pins to counter the risk of traversing the diagonal relation of Rae’s Creek to the putting surface.

On almost every hole there are repel pin positions and collection pin positions, so the tournament powers that be can change the difficulty factor dramatically from day-to-day simply by the location of the hole.  As Ogilvy points out this also changes the preferred driving position and angle of approach in each round. 

The wide variance of potential score on a hole in a given day based the hole positions is what makes the course endlessly interesting for the player and the viewing patron alike.  Depending on the player’s position on the scoreboard on Sunday afternoon there are holes that they must make decision after decision to either take on the challenge or protect their score. In the vernacular of risk and reward Ogilvy’s experience at Augusta is that takes a care-free aggressive approach to be successful at Augusta National.

Fair warning, this interview is almost two hours in it’s entirety but it is chock full of stuff you have not heard before so it is well worth it if you have the time.  Even if you just listen to a chunk of it, your understanding of what you see the next time you are watching The Masters will be greatly enhanced.

(Click to listen to Geoff Ogilvy’s Interview on the Fried Egg)

Geoff Ogilvy-Episode 196 (2020)

The Fried Egg Podcast

There are a handful of golfers like Tiger, Phil, Jack, Rory, or Brooks whose first names alone bring to mind their huge accomplishments in the game. Rocco Mediate is one of those guys but not because he won the big one, but because he lost it in a memorable playoff……..to Tiger Woods

No won will forget Rocco’s name or his performance in his 2008 loss of the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines to Tiger.  In some of the most riveting playoff golf we have ever witnessed, Rocco took Tiger, the #1 Player of our time, to the 19th hole of a playoff watched by a gazillion golf fans playing hookey from Monday’s work. He was not intimidated by the task of playing Tiger one-on-one in a playoff for a Major. Rocco relished the moment and would not have wanted it any other way.

Wearing his emotions on his sleeve-an air of quiet confidence always prevails

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This interview on the No Laying Up Podcast, couched in Rocco’s own devilish story telling style reveals all that has been through over a 35 year professional career-including 6 wins on the PGA Tour, years cast out to the hinterland because of chronic back issues, more then a few flirtations with winning a major, a colossal train wreck on #12 at Augusta in 2006, the aforementioned playoff in 2008 at Torrey Pines, and a second life winning 4 times on the PGA Tour Champions including a Senior PGA.

Rocco methodically won 13 times over his professional career

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Growing up a drive and a 5-iron from Latrobe, Rocco talks at length about his relationship with Arnold who served as a second father and a life coach throughout his career.  Rocco played hundreds of rounds with The King over the years, including walking with him for his final two rounds in the 1994 U.S. Open at Oakmont, a home game for both of them.

But it was his golf mentor Jim Ferree, one of the great ball strikers of all time, who taught him the fundamentals of the game that would serve him so ably for years on the Tour.   To this day he still has the same neutral grip that Jim taught him as a teenager and does not wear a golf glove just like his mentor.

As to Tiger, Rocco literally saw him coming, he was in attendance when Tiger won his first U.S. Am at Sawgrass where Rocco was living at the time. Tiger’s immediate success on the Tour was no surprise to Rocco, he knew that this kid had a set of skills the Tour had never seen before.  There were a few Tiger tales of course, the tallest of them all being that fateful week they shared in La Jolla at the 2008 U.S. Open.

Wearing red for the Monday playoff Rocco and Tiger were equals that week

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There are plenty of other nuggets in this interview, you just have to play really close attention since Rocco’s hyperactive pace of delivery can make it a real challenge to follow the details of the script.

My favorite part of the interview was Rocco’s description of his last PGA Tour win at the Frye’s in 2010.  He holed out four times over the four days, the last time on the 17th on Sunday where he asked his playing partner to mark his ball even though Rocco was 116 yards from the pin.  The rest is history.

Take a listen to this one, it is full of giggles and grins…..just like Rocco.

(Click to hear the No Laying Up Interview with Rocco Mediate)

Rocco Mediate-Episode 365 (2020)

No Laying Up Podcast

As is usually the case, in this interview on The Clubhouse With Shane Bacon we get the Phil MIckelson unvarnished authoritative views on a range of subjects from the importance of the Majors to his enterprising made-for-TV matches with Tiger.

Shane Bacon, an experienced golf broadcaster who has been an unfortunate casualty of Fox’s decision to let go of it’s hold on the USGA TV broadcasts this year, does an expert job in staging this entertaining interview with one of the most knowledgeable and opinionated stars of the modern era. 

He starts right out of the gate with the question burning in every golf fan’s mind, how did Phil feel about being chosen by Alex Trebek and crew as the Final Jeopardy answer in a recent broadcast.  Phil was honored but his ego took a little hit when no contestant got the right answer.

Shane moves on to Phil’s view of the PGA Tour Champions where he is currently undefeated in his first two events and playing to a stroke average of 65.  He throws in a few good stories about his relationships with guys on both tours and some insight into his respect for and his evolving friendship with Tiger.

The most interesting part of the interview for me was Phil explaining why he is such an insightful commentator on live golf broadcasts when he has been invited up into the booth after his day’s play.  The detail with which he looks at the consideration of each shot challenge for the players is a function of his own preparation to play each week, but it is his ability to relate this in intelligible terms an average viewer can comprehend that makes him so interesting.

There are plenty of snippets in this hour long broadcast like his recuperative preparation of his Match III partner Charles Barkley swing, the relentless pursuit of driving distance on the PGA Tour, his most memorable Phil elevator shot, and his view on personal health and fitness as it relates to him remaining relevant for such a long time on the tour.

Phil is one of the most thoughtful and engaging golf personalities of his generation and this interview does nothing but enhance that view.  It is why so many people want to hear what he has to say and why it is worthwhile for you to click the link below to listen to his interview.

(Click to hear The Clubhouse With Shane Bacon Interview Of Phil Mickelson)

Phil Mickelson-Episode 162 (2020)

The Clubhouse With Shane Bacon Podcast