The NCG Golf Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

We’ve got a special guest this week as Matt Chivers sits down with new PGA Tour sensation Harry Hall.

Harry won the ISCO Championship in July – just a few days before he became a dad – capping an incredible rise that now sees him ranked around the top 100 in the world.

It’s a remarkable story, from his home club West Cornwall changing their membership rules so he could join at just 6 (he was already that good!) to getting coaching from Butch Harmon and living in the bright lights of Las Vegas.

You’ll learn:

• Why he’d rather win the Masters than the Open
• How Harmon is taking him to the next level
• And you’ll hear some controversial views on the golf ball roll back

So sit back over the next half hour and check out what one of the game’s emerging stars has to say...

We asked and you delivered. In a departure from the usual podcast theme this week, Steve Carroll answers your Rules of Golf and World Handicap System queries.

• Does the clock stop if you have to halt a ball search to let a group through?
• Can you manufacture a drop so you’re able to place the ball?
• Will the course and playing handicaps ever be combined?

Steve will endeavour to tell you the answers, and a bit more!

We’re back. After a week to recharge and put our feet up, The NCG Golf Podcast returns for its third season. And what a start we’ve got for you.

The sun is finally shining, we’re thinking about getting on our summer golf trips, and we’re about to unveil our best golf courses in Wales list!

To set the scene for our new Top 40, which you can find at nationalclubgolfer.com/top100, NCG Top 100s chairman Dan Murphy joins Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll to talk about all things Welsh golf.

What is our best course? Which are must play? And where can you find the best value? We’ll reveal all.

Elsewhere, as we start our new series:

• How has the season started for our dynamic duo?
• Can we imagine a Tiger-less PGA Tour?
• Rules Corner: Can you be disqualified if you don’t enter your score on the club computer?

The Slam - a National Club Golfer podcast in association with Callaway Golf - is back for 2023! 

Alex Perry is joined by a brand new co-host, Matt Chivers, and the pair discuss Jon Rahm's remarkable form, Lydia Ko's return to the top, and have their say on that "prank" by Tiger Woods at the Genesis Invitational.

Elsewhere, LIV Golf is back and one of its stars is already thinking about coming back to the PGA Tour, while others are upset that their Ryder Cup dreams are being crushed.

Alex and Matt also give their thoughts on the Netflix documentary, Full Swing. 

There's a lot to get through, so let's get stuck in...

We're obsessed with pace of play. Find a corner of the clubhouse and someone will probably be unhappy about how long today's round has taken. Yes, the time it takes to play the game is often a fractious point of debate. But what can we do about it?

In this week's From the Clubhouse podcast, in association with TaylorMade Golf, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll talk about the various issues they encounter on the course and examine the R&A's Pace of Play Manual, which offers a whole host of recommendations to keep the game flowing.

Does Ready Golf actually work, should clubs get tough on those who tee off too early (it is against the Rules of Golf), and can tweaking course set up make a difference?

The pair are frank and honest with their views once again. You'll agree. You'll disagree. But you'll have to listen.

On this week’s All the Gear, a podcast from National Club Golfer, Tom Irwin, Jack Backhouse and Hannah Holden, delve into what it was like to visit and play TPC Sawgrass, how the course has changed and why it is such a good venue for The Players.

They also take a deep dive into their week at the PGA Show. Was demo day as good as it sounds, how did Kyle Berkshire help increase their club head speed and what was the latest and greatest new golf technology on display? 

Did you know if your ball lies on the green, and is no more than five feet from the hole, there is a Rule of Handicapping that allows you to pick it up and add a stroke to your score?

In this week's From the Clubhouse podcast, in association with TaylorMade Golf, Steve Carroll and Tom Irwin delve deeper into the concept of 'most likely score', which can be used when a hole is started but a player does not hole out.

They consider how it's employed in match play and fourball formats, Tom talks about his experience of it dominating golf in the USA and the pair consider if we ever might see it come into force in the UK.

Elsewhere, the duo look back over events at St Andrews where a bit of paving close to the historic Swilcan Bridge sent social media into meltdown, and brought an ultra-quick about-turn, and Steve gets a dressing down from Tom for his post hole-in-one etiquette. Was he wrong to not get the drinks in when he had an ace?

It's bound to be controversial and, as always, we'd love to hear your views!

What is it about golf rules that get us so hot under the collar? Tree-gate, as it’s now being called, divided opinion among commentators and spectators as Patrick Reed’s every movement was analysed and criticised at the Dubai Desert Classic.

Steve Carroll, who has passed the R&A’s top rules exam, is joined by Tom Irwin and the pair break down events in the palm tree during the third round of the DP World Tour event.

Steve thinks he might have found something in how a ball is identified that can offer some further insight into how the decision was reached.

We chat generally about golf’s moral code and why we get so wound up when rulings come under the microscope, both in the pro game and at our own clubs.

After Steve set tongues wagging with his ‘solution’ to some of the World Handicap System’s perceived ills, he doubles down on his reasoning for making every score count, while Tom thinks some our WHS complaints are not going to be settled in the short term.

Tom describes it as an “insightful discussion”. But we’ll let you be the judge! Happy listening…

Don't we all love a good rankings list? Whether it's ticking off where we've been, where we want to go to, or just getting flustered about where our favourite course might be placed, course rankings start discussion.

NCG Top 100s considers itself the home of golf course rankings and the knowledgeable team of panellists have just completed their work on Scotland's Top 100.

In a special episode of the NCG Top 100s podcast, Steve Carroll is joined by panel chairman Dan Murphy to chat about the ins and outs of the list, how it was put together, and explain some of the risers and fallers in a ranking that has been five years in the making.

England Golf's new pilot Championship Entry policy, which could potentially deny access into some competitions for players with too many general play scores in their handicap records, has catapulted the controversial World Handicap System back into the headlines.

But has the governing body's actions, which are designed to ensure integrity and a high standard of entrants, exposed a deeper issue within WHS?

On this week's From the Clubhouse, a podcast from National Club Golfer, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll look in detail at the new policy, discuss what it will mean for those golfers who could be affected, and whether it shows that WHS is flawed.

The duo look back at the old CONGU handicap ways - refusing to don the "rose-tinted spectacles" worn by some when reflecting - and consider the impact England Golf's pilot could have on our own competitions as clubs wage war in the fight against handicap manipulation.

Do club committees need to do more, or are they hiding behind a shield of the perceived ills of WHS?

WHS has been an emotive topic ever since its introduction in late 2020, and Steve and Tom don't hold back expressing some strident views. Where do you stand? It's certainly an interesting listen...

RELATED NOTE: You can download England Golf's Winter Checklist, which is discussed in the podcast, here.