Both Sides of Par is a golf podcast for the millions of us battling through the middle. Colin is a high handicapper rediscovering the game after 20 years away. Ross plays off a low handicap and knows the industry inside out. Together they have honest, funny chats about what it actually takes to get better, from both ends of the handicap spectrum.
If you play off anything from 10 to 25 and you're tired of tips aimed only at scratch players, this is your show. Every week covers practice that genuinely moves the needle, gear and golf tech worth your money, courses and golf trips (with a soft spot for Scotland, the home of golf and our home too!), and the amateur questions nobody else bothers to answer.
Two golfers, two handicaps, one obsession. Follow along and play with us.
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He Fitted His Own Driver Shaft With ChatGPT. It Took Two Shots Off His Handicap.
Season 1 · Episode 38
Monday, October 26, 2026 • Duration 52:27
In the Pines, Colin's Tuesday newsletter, lands with more from the episode, the drill of the week, rules Q&As and the bits that didn't fit here: colingray.link/nl-sub-pod
Ross has the week off, so Colin's joined by Mark Asquith, co-founder of the North of Par podcast network (https://northofpar.co.uk) and a mate from the podcasting world. Mark opens with the most painful handicap story you'll hear this year: a back-nine card he never meant to take seriously, a 52 degree wedge that suddenly flies 15 yards further than it should, and a three foot lip-out on the last that left him at exactly 10.0 instead of the single figures he'd set as his goal. He then broke a finger, so that's the season done. Lovely.
The two of them run their own companies, so the bulk of the episode is golf's business problem, from the inside. Mark built a piece of club management software, prototyped it, and killed it, and he explains why selling to volunteer committees is a business nobody should want. From there it's the stuff that software can't fix: why a free coffee machine is a marketing strategy, how a sold-out winter scramble and a 15 player sim league happened while the club was cancelling its own events, and what Mark learned as vice captain of the Rabbits when he started putting brand new members into the friendlies ahead of the lads who'd played them for 20 years. There's the clubhouse question too: dress codes, a drinking culture that under-35s don't share, and why Mark can eat dinner in a baseball cap with the biggest brands in golf but not at his £1,500 a year club.
Colin brings up the wave of companies taking over Scottish clubs, Scotscraig and Forfar among them, and Mark's view is that it's the mid-tier clubs that are in real trouble and investment has to come from somewhere. They close with gear (Mark used ChatGPT to fit himself into a new driver shaft, and it took him from 12 to 10) and Mark's list of the courses worth playing within an hour of Huddersfield, which Colin's going to cash in next summer.
Episode Highlights
🟢 The lip-out at 03:58 that cost Mark a 9.9 handicap, followed by the broken finger that means he might not get another card in before the temp greens go in.
🟢 Why Mark built club management software and then killed it: four pitches to every single club, volunteer committees, and a three year contract cycle.
🟢 "Make the coffee machine free." Mark's case that experience design, not software, is where clubs are losing members.
🟢 The Rabbits friendlies story: new members put in the team, the community grew fast, and the committee reverted the whole lot the next year.
🟢 Mark fed his shot data, his miss and his swing speed into ChatGPT, bought the shaft it picked, and dropped two shots off his handicap without changing anything else.
Gear & Resources Mentioned
🟢 North of Par, Mark's golf podcast network (Colin was a guest in September): northofpar.co.uk. Daily content on Instagram, search North of Par.
🟢 Evolving Golf, North of Par's show for golf club managers and pro shop staff.
🟢 Castlefields Golf Club near Brighouse, the six hole par 3 course Mark takes his kids to.
🟢 BRS Golf and ClubV1, the club systems Colin and Mark can't stand, and Golf Genius, the one Mark rates: golfgenius.com
🟢 18Birdies and Hole19, the GPS and round tracking apps Colin mentions.
🟢 Putt & Strut, the Sarah Stirk and Anton Du Beke podcast Mark put a live show on with at the BMW PGA Championship.
🟢 Mark's new driver shaft: a 65 gram extra stiff, cut to 44 inches, chosen by ChatGPT from his shot data and swing speed.
🟢 Garmin R10, the launch monitor Colin feeds his own numbers from.
🟢 The Ancient Links Golf Company, which now runs Scotscraig and Forfar and is in talks over Montrose and The Glen at North Berwick.
🟢 Mark's courses within an hour of Huddersfield: Meltham, Crosland Heath (Alister MacKenzie, 1914), Halifax Golf Club at Ogden, Manchester Golf Club, Willow Valley, and the Leeds MacKenzie pair Alwoodley and Moortown (the 1929 Ryder Cup, the first held in Britain). Lindrick hosted the 1957 Ryder Cup.
🟢 Fox Hills, The Grove and Royal Dornoch, Mark's examples of top tier clubs that don't bother their members with daft rules.
Chapter List
00:00 Welcome and Mark Asquith, playing off 10.0
00:31 The lip-out that kept Mark out of single figures
04:17 A broken finger and the temp green problem
06:08 How Colin knows Mark, and North of Par
08:10 The club software Mark built and killed
14:22 Practice and tracking apps: a crowded market
15:39 A solution looking for a problem
17:09 What golfers actually want: an hour and a few holes
19:11 Experience design and the free coffee machine
21:05 Events that sell out while clubs cancel theirs
22:19 Group practice sessions and winter leagues
24:22 Vice captain of the Rabbits
28:06 Why the new members' friendlies got reverted
30:48 Drinking culture, dress codes and the clubhouse
35:13 The volunteer skills gap
36:55 Companies buying up Scottish clubs
38:10 Why mid-tier clubs are the ones in trouble
43:54 What Colin's dad makes of golf now
45:32 Colin's Yorkshire trip next summer
46:16 Gear: fitting a driver shaft with ChatGPT
50:00 Where to play within an hour of Huddersfield
Are Premium Golf Balls Worth It? Plus Ireland's Hidden Links Gem
Season 1 · Episode 37
Monday, October 19, 2026 • Duration 50:42
⛳ Follow us on Instagram: @bothsidesofpar for golf tips, course reviews, practice drills and behind-the-scenes clips from Ross and Colin.
Are expensive golf balls really worth the money? This week on Both Sides of Par, Ross and Colin dig into the differences between premium golf balls and cheaper alternatives, including Titleist Pro V1, Pro V1x, Seed, Vice and Kirkland. With robot testing data suggesting some surprisingly small performance gaps, could golfers be spending far more than they need to?
Colin's also back from an Irish golf trip, having played the spectacular The Island Golf Club near Dublin, with its towering dunes, blind shots and unforgettable links layout. He shares why it might be one of the best courses he's ever played, alongside a visit to Roganstown.
Meanwhile, Ross is putting in some serious winter short-game practice, hitting 200–300 chips per session as he works to rebuild confidence and consistency. There's also a new Odyssey Ai-One putter in the bag, a discussion about SuperStroke grips and some practical advice on improving your putting without spending a fortune.
In this episode:
Premium vs budget golf balls – Pro V1x, Seed, Vice and Kirkland compared
Golf ball robot testing – does spending more actually deliver better performance?
The Island Golf Club, Ireland – Colin's experience of a spectacular links course near Dublin
Roganstown Golf Club – affordable golf and challenging greens
Winter golf practice – Ross's 200–300 shot chipping sessions and landing-spot drills
Odyssey Ai-One vs Scotty Cameron – Ross's new putter and improved short-putt confidence
SuperStroke putter grips – choosing the right thickness and changing grips yourself
Custom Fitting Myths Busted: Why Every Golfer Can Benefit | SGGT
Season 1 · Episode 36
Monday, October 12, 2026 • Duration 46:19
Think custom club fitting is only for good golfers? Think again. This week Ross is joined by Aaron Ellis (@golf_specs) from SGGT (@sggt_uk) to bust some of golf's biggest equipment myths and explain why the right clubs can make a difference whether you're playing off scratch or 25.
With Colin representing the higher handicappers and Ross at the other end of the spectrum, Aaron explains why the fitting process should be just as valuable for both. And it turns out there's a lot more to it than hitting a few seven irons and being handed an expensive new set of clubs.
We get into the fascinating details of SGGT's fitting approach, including testing different irons throughout the bag, using real golf balls outdoors and understanding why strike and consistency matter more than chasing extra yards.
Along the way, we discover:
Why higher handicappers can potentially benefit most from custom fitting.
Why your height doesn't necessarily determine your club length or lie angle.
How graphite shafts have evolved and why they aren't just for older or slower golfers.
Why shaft flex labels don't tell the whole story.
Why low-spin drivers and forgiving irons aren't always what you need.
How small adjustments to loft, lie and shaft weight can transform ball striking.
Why wedge fitting might be the most overlooked opportunity in your bag.
Why the latest driver isn't necessarily better than the one you already own.
What to expect from your first fitting and why there's absolutely nothing to be nervous about.
Aaron also explains why a good fitter might actually recommend keeping your existing clubs rather than selling you something new.
It's a fascinating conversation packed with practical advice, a few surprises and plenty of myth-busting for golfers of every ability.
Follow our guest:
Aaron: @golf_specs
SGGT: @sggt_uk
@bothsidesofpar
Best Irons: Blades, Cavity Backs, Players Distance, Game Improvement... We Go Golf Club Shopping
Season 1 · Episode 35
Monday, October 5, 2026 • Duration 50:39
Colin and Ross are back together after a wee break, and the handicaps are behaving for once. Colin is down another stroke to 22 after a cracking front nine on the Jubilee Course at St Andrews, where he found two thirds of the fairways, outdrove a single figure golfer by 20 yards and holed more 15 footers than he has any right to. (A windless day, a borrowed spanner on the second tee and some Scott Fawcett lag putting thinking all played their part.) Ross, meanwhile, endured a traumatic fortnight playing off one, resisted the urge to throw everything in the bin, and is back to scratch. His chipping is still the problem child since moving to the tight heathland lies at Farnham, so he's out on the practice ground with a heavy training wedge and a kilo strapped to his wrist. Colin, like any good friend, asks whether that's helping or whether Ross has just become one of those Instagram spoof videos.
The middle of the show is a proper iron shopping session. Colin's second hand TaylorMade Stealths have shed their ferrules, which is all the excuse he needs. The lads tour the categories from blades to game improvement, cover why cavity backs forgive your worst swings, why a modern 7 iron is basically a 5 iron from 30 years ago, and why Ross can't stop buying Srixons. Colin's shortlist runs from the Srixon ZXi5+ to the Mizuno Pro S-4 (which he suspects are too good for him) to Takomo's direct to consumer irons at around half the price. Since you can't hit those before buying, Ross shares a marker pen test for checking your lie angle and makes the case for paying an independent fitter for your specs first.
Ross then confesses to yet another purchase: a mint, left handed Odyssey two ball putter from eBay, which has sent the Scotty Cameron to the naughty corner. There's lead tape and glued in metal pellets too, because of course there is. The show wraps with a reminder of why open competitions are the cheapest way onto great courses (Royal Dornoch for £60 instead of £360), and a look back at last week's chat with Colin's dad, a former head greenkeeper at Lahinch. The lads are still kicking themselves for not getting him on before the Walker Cup.
Episode Highlights
🟢 What changed for Colin on the Jubilee Course: one driver weight adjustment on the second tee, two thirds of fairways hit, and a lag putting mindset that had the 15 footers dropping
Gear & Resources MentionedWeekly Competitions
How Links Golf Courses Are Designed: Bunkers, Greens and Strategy Explained
Season 1 · Episode 34
Monday, September 28, 2026 • Duration 57:52
This week Colin swaps Ross for a guest he's known his entire life: his dad. Duncan Gray started out as a greenkeeper at Gatehouse of Fleet, spent years at Lahinch, ran the Ayrshire municipal courses, then moved into designing and consulting on courses before building his own, the Pines Golf Centre in Dumfries. He's also been playing for 65 years, which is roughly 60 more than Colin has been any use at it. The pair landed a round on the Jubilee Course at St Andrews through The Drive ballot. It turned out to be the one course on the Old Course site Duncan had never played, so they sat down afterwards with a recorder.
What follows is a 23 handicapper asking a course designer all the questions he's been storing up. Why do some greens feel brilliant before you've even hit the shot? How does an architect walk a bit of dune land and find the holes already hiding in it? Why does Royal Dornoch have upside-down pudding bowls for greens, what did Prestwick look like with 12 holes, and what did the Turnberry redesign get right? Duncan has opinions on all of it, including a lively one about bulldozers, fertiliser and a certain school of golf course construction. There's also the small matter of playing Turnberry once a month in the 80s for nothing.
Then it's on to ranking the St Andrews courses for fun, difficulty, looks and architecture, with a verdict on whether the Old Course is actually any good or just old. Along the way there's a bunker that turns out to be three times bigger than it looks, a pod of 50 dolphins off the point at Turnberry, and 65 years of playing partners summed up in one sentence. There are no competitions this week and no Ross, who will be back next time to restore order.
Episode Highlights
🟢 The funnel bunker: Colin thinks he's hit a perfect 280 yard drive and only escapes the sand by about a foot. Duncan explains why links designers shape the ground so a 20 foot bunker plays like a 50 foot one, and why the fix was the club in Colin's hand.
🟢 How a designer reads a site: Duncan walks the land first and notes the natural green sites before drawing anything. He uses the Jubilee's drivable par four, with its green cut into the side of a dune, to show what that looks like when it works.
🟢 Turnberry for free: monthly rounds in the 80s with course manager George Brown, a course so quiet they had it to themselves at five in the afternoon, and the changes the group agreed it needed decades before anyone made them.
Gear & Resources MentionedChapter List
What Happens When McLaren Engineers Design Golf Clubs? McLaren Golf, CEO Neil Howie
Season 1 · Episode 33
Monday, September 21, 2026 • Duration 28:14
Instagram - @bothsidesofpar
What happens when one of the world's most recognisable names in Formula One and automotive engineering decides to enter the golf industry?
In this special episode of Both Sides of Par, Ross sits down with Neil Howie, CEO of McLaren Golf, to discover the story behind the brand's arrival in golf and its ambitions to challenge conventional thinking in golf club design.
After 27 years at Callaway, including more than two decades leading its international business, Neil thought retirement was calling. Then McLaren came knocking, offering an opportunity too interesting to turn down.
From the involvement of Justin Rose and Ian Poulter to the engineering expertise of McLaren's Formula One operation, Neil takes us behind the scenes of a fascinating new chapter in golf equipment.
We explore:
Neil's journey from aspiring amateur golfer to senior leadership roles at some of golf's biggest equipment brands.
Why McLaren decided to enter golf and what convinced Neil to come out of retirement.
How McLaren's Formula One engineers are challenging traditional golf club design, including the question: does a golf shaft actually need to be round?
The technology behind McLaren's new irons and the role Justin Rose has played in their development.
McLaren's ambition to build a complete 14-club offering, including wedges and metalwoods.
Why premium custom fitting and a concierge-style experience are central to the brand's strategy.
The challenges of launching a new golf equipment company in a market dominated by established manufacturers.
What's next for McLaren Golf as the brand expands its product range and international presence.
Neil also shares some fascinating insights from his years in the golf industry, including why a famous brand name alone isn't enough to succeed and why McLaren is prepared to take its time getting things right.
A fascinating conversation for anyone interested in golf equipment, technology, business or the people shaping the future of the game.
Can a £1 Vokey Wedge From a Charity Shop Transform Colin’s Short Game?
Season 1 · Episode 32
Tuesday, September 15, 2026 • Duration 57:32
Follow the podcast: @bothsidesofpar
Can you really find a Vokey wedge for £1? Apparently you can. Colin walks into a charity shop, digs through a bucket of mostly forgettable golf clubs and somehow comes out with a Titleist Vokey SM6 52° wedge for the price of a chocolate bar. Ross explains bounce, grind and why Colin might have landed on an almost perfect setup completely by accident.
There’s more gear chat as Ross discovers the hard way that his Ping Hoofer Lite is definitely light on waterproofing, before revealing just how much people are prepared to pay for collectible Scotty Cameron headcovers.
On the course, Ross reports back from Oxford Golf Club, a historic layout with James Braid and Harry Colt influence, while Colin has a big trip coming up after landing a round on the Jubilee Course at St Andrews through Drive from St Andrews. He and his dad are turning it into a golf break, with another Open at Drumoig the following day.
Practice is producing very different problems for the two hosts. Colin’s driver is finally becoming more predictable after working on completing his turn and committing to the finish. Ross, meanwhile, is still battling his short game from 30–60 yards. He can hit the shot cack-handed, with his eyes closed or after pausing for ten seconds at the top — but ask him to hit it normally and things get interesting. Naturally, the solution involves yet another training aid.
The lads also dig into the PGA Tour’s proposed new Tour Championship format, including a season-long champion and a 32-player, two-week match-play finale. Could bringing proper head-to-head match play back to the top level actually make the end of the PGA Tour season worth watching again?
And Ross finishes with another Open bargain: Banchory Golf Club for £30, one of the later chances in the Scottish season to get some competitive golf in.
🎙️ Ross: @theshedisback
🎙️ Colin: @mcgraygolf
⛳ @bothsidesofpar
Best Golf Bags 2026, a Scratch Golfer's 84, and a Top Trip Guide in South West Scotland
Season 1 · Episode 31
Monday, September 7, 2026 • Duration 33:17
Ross opens Episode 30 by trying very hard not to talk about the 84 he shot at the weekend, his worst round in three years, before Colin gives him sixty seconds to explain himself. The consolation, as Colin points out, is that it's reassuring to know scratch golfers have those days too. From there it's straight into the gear, and this week that means golf bags. Ross has just picked up a Ping Hoofer Lite to sit alongside the £50 eBay tour bag he bought for Senior Open qualifying, while Colin has been down a research rabbit hole after spotting a Callaway Chev Dry 14 at £100 off in the Nairn pro shop. The pair weigh up carry bags against cart bags, whether it's a faux pas to carry a club logo from a course you've never played, and why Ross spent his first round with a £180 bag holding the stand legs together with a golf glove. There's a brief detour into the £400 G/FORE and £1,200 Scotty Cameron bags neither of them will be buying, and Colin discovers the Motocaddy Protekta he'd been eyeing up deliberately won't fit his Motocaddy Cube trolley.
Ross then flags a bargain open at Nairn Dunbar, Colin's new home course, and gives an update on his chipping practice, where he's still building confidence with a left-below-right grip. He's mid-sentence explaining why chipping yips are even harder to shake than putting ones when his laptop dies, leaving Colin to finish the show solo.
Which turns out to be fine, because Colin finally gets to the South West Scotland trip report he's been promising for a fortnight. Having grown up in Dumfriesshire, he admits to an unfair snobbery about the place, and this trip put him right. He covers the Cally Palace Hotel near Gatehouse (putting green next to the bar patio, pitch and putt for the afternoon, a proper course attached), a cabin at Kippford with a nine-hole course his dad designed a walk away, and Gatehouse of Fleet itself, a hilly, blind-shot, honesty-box nine-holer where Colin's wife, who is just learning the game, hit the green on the notorious drop-shot ninth. He rounds off with pointers to Kirkcudbright, Newton Stewart, the two Dumfries courses and Southerness for anyone planning a trip.
Episode Highlights
🟢 Ross's 84 and why it's oddly reassuring: a scratch golfer's worst round in three years, and the story of the 95 followed by a 71 the next day
🟢 The golf glove solution: Ross discovers his new Ping Hoofer Lite has no Velcro to hold the stand legs together on a trolley, and improvises
Gear & Resources MentionedWeekly CompetitionsChapter List
Why Tour Pros Battle the Same Demons as You – Peter Whiteford
Season 1 · Episode 30
Monday, August 31, 2026 • Duration 41:07
Follow us on Instagram - @bothsidesofpar
Former DP World Tour player Peter Whiteford joins Ross this week to talk about a very different way of getting better at golf: stop assuming you know what's costing you shots and actually go out on the course and find out. After nearly 20 years travelling and playing professionally, Peter's career was cut short by hip problems, eventually leading to a replacement hip and, somewhat unexpectedly, a second career in coaching. Now he's launched The Scoring Coach, an approach built around watching golfers where their scores actually happen rather than relying entirely on what they think is going wrong on the range.
Peter explains why his starting point is a nine-hole scoring assessment, where he watches a player without interfering before identifying their biggest "scoring leaks". And those leaks aren't always where golfers expect. The player asking for a long-iron lesson might actually be losing shots with a wedge; the golfer convinced they're a brilliant driver might be making terrible strategic decisions from the tee; and the player blaming their chipping technique might simply be choosing completely the wrong shot for the lie. Whether you're playing off scratch or 28, Peter's argument is the same: find the lowest-hanging fruit and work on what will actually move your score.
That takes Ross and Peter into course management, driving strategy and the very human side of golf. Peter explains why some golfers are "Ferrari drivers kicking about in a Fiat Punto", playing far too conservatively for their ability, while others are Fiat Punto drivers trying to handle a Ferrari and repeatedly taking on shots they simply don't have. He talks about having an A-game and B-game driver swing, knowing when to take your medicine from trouble and why strategy can't be completely separated from how you're feeling over the ball that day.
There's plenty here for golfers at both ends of the handicap spectrum. Peter explains why even Tour professionals have the same demons standing over shots as the rest of us, but have developed more tools for dealing with them. He shares the simple "hold your finish" thought he uses when driving feels uncomfortable, why focusing on avoiding a bad shot can be so destructive, and why golfers often score better in match play because they're thinking about winning the hole rather than diagnosing every mistake they've just made.
Episode HighlightsPeter Whiteford & The Scoring CoachChapter List
Practise Your Golf or Practise the Course? A Scratch Golfer and a High Handicapper Disagree
Season 1 · Episode 29
Tuesday, August 25, 2026 • Duration 41:39
The nights are drawing in and Colin is feeling a bit wistful about the end of the golf season, while Ross, basking in 21 degrees down south, cheerfully reminds him that medal comps run all winter at Farnham. Consolation duly not provided, the lads get into gear, and this week it's Ross with a new toy: the Strike Wedge. Colin assumed it was an actual wedge (Ross did just buy three, after all), but it turns out to be a wedge-shaped bit of plastic you put beside or behind the ball and try not to hit. Ross is using it to cure a case of the toe strikes rather than for its intended purpose, because his chipping confidence is still a work in progress. He can strike it beautifully with his eyes closed or with a left-below-right grip, but with a normal grip and eyes open, something upstairs gets in the way. A demo video is promised for Instagram.
Colin, meanwhile, has news on the driver front: the slice that's haunted him since he came back to golf is finally, mostly, gone. The turnaround came from two things. First, his little brother (a former teaching pro, so not to be asked for help unless absolutely desperate) diagnosed "lazy legs, lazy hips" after three consecutive lost balls, and a proper hip turn and full finish did the trick. Second, Colin stopped hiding on the mat and started hitting driver on the actual course during quiet solo rounds, which fixed the fear as much as the swing. That leads into a proper conversation about the difference between practising your golf and practising the course, how Ross uses the range for technique, routine and speed work, why the pros don't rip up their swing after one bad shot, and Colin's plan to go and hit twenty balls out of the heather to finally learn what it does to a clubface.
Ross then reports back from his first ever senior amateur open at Dalmahoy, his old stomping ground, where a level-par front nine and some of the best tee shots he's ever hit there carried him to second in the scratch, despite a couple of dodgy club choices and a near-shank with a four iron on the widest fairway on the course. A lesson from Peter Whiteford (a future guest on the show) about actually walking up to your ball to read the lie makes an appearance. Colin's South West Scotland trip report gets bumped to next week thanks to the school run, and Ross wraps up with a cracking £35 open at Fortrose & Rosemarkie, one of the most scenic links in the Highlands.
Episode HighlightsGear & Resources MentionedWeekly CompetitionsChapter List
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Two golfers, two handicaps, one obsession. From scratch golf to the challenges of a higher handicap, Ross and Colin share their experiences, discoveries and plenty of laughs along the way.
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Colin: @mcgraygolf
🎧 Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
2 golfers, 2 handicaps, 1 obsession.
🟢 The nine ball up and down game Ross learned from Dalmahoy pro Scott Dixon: three easy lies, three medium, three hard, with a target score of 18
🟢 Colin's frank question to Ross: do wrist weights and heavy wedges improve your chipping, or just give you more to think about?
🟢 Iron categories decoded, from blades to players distance to game improvement, plus the physics of why a cavity back gives you a bigger sweet spot
🟢 How to buy irons online without a fitting: Takomo's fitting quiz, Ross's marker pen lie angle test, and why £75 with an independent fitter could be money well spent
No new opens this week as the season winds down, but Ross gives a reminder for the Banchory open flagged a few episodes back, and a nudge to keep using opens to play top courses for a fraction of the green fee.
🟢 Banchory Golf Club Open (as mentioned on the show)
Location: Banchory, Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire
Date: Ross believes Saturday 10 October 2026 (check with the club before travelling)
🟢 Banchory Golf Club Texas Scramble Open (the next open currently listed)
Location: Banchory, Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire
Date: Saturday 24 October 2026
🟢 "The most boring two holes in world golf": Colin on the 1st and 18th of the Old Course, why Duncan would still pick it for fun over any of the others, and which part of that famous finish he reckons was dug out by hand.
🟢 The dolphins: a flat calm evening at Turnberry with the sun going down over Arran, and four greenkeepers standing still for ten minutes. It's Duncan's case for why golf is about more than the score.
🟢 The Drive, the St Andrews Links Trust ballot offering heavily discounted tee times to golfers living in Scotland. Details are announced through St Andrews Links: https://standrews.com
🟢 The other St Andrews Links courses discussed: the Old, New, Eden, Strathtyrum and Castle, plus the former Duke's, which the Links Trust took over in January 2026 and is renaming the Craigtoun Course.
🟢 Trump Turnberry, Ailsa Course. It's Duncan's favourite course, and was redesigned in 2016 by Martin Ebert of Mackenzie and Ebert, with a new par three 9th by the lighthouse, a par five 10th and an 11th across the bay: https://www.turnberry.co.uk
🟢 Lahinch Golf Club in County Clare, where Duncan worked for several years: https://lahinchgolf.com
🟢 Carnoustie Golf Links, scene of Jean van de Velde's 1999 collapse, in the Open Paul Lawrie went on to win: https://www.carnoustiegolflinks.com
🟢 Open history mentioned: the 1977 Duel in the Sun between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus at Turnberry, and Costantino Rocca holing out of the Valley of Sin at St Andrews in 1995 to force a playoff with John Daly.
🟢 Coastal links name-checked for proper sea views: Golspie, Brora, Nairn, Moray Golf Club at Lossiemouth, Prestwick St Nicholas and Royal Troon.
🟢 Walter Hagen, the actual source of the "smell the flowers along the way" line.
00:00 Intro: meet Duncan Gray
03:08 First time on the Jubilee Course
05:06 Framed greens and the par four you shouldn't hit driver on
07:57 How a course designer walks a site
13:11 Royal Dornoch's upside-down pudding bowls
15:28 Prestwick's original 12 holes
17:28 Turnberry: Duncan's favourite, and what the redesign fixed
20:53 Free golf at Turnberry and the Duel in the Sun
24:15 Is the Old Course actually any good?
25:48 Bulldozers, fertiliser and sustainable greenkeeping
32:15 Ranking the St Andrews courses for fun
37:42 The hardest course and the funnel bunker
43:11 Do looks matter? Smelling the roses
45:21 65 years of playing partners
47:46 Links courses that never see the sea
51:45 Fifty dolphins at Turnberry
52:35 Best architecture, the Castle Course and the one he'd play every day
Two golfers. Two handicaps. One obsession.
Follow the hosts:
Ross – @theshedisback
Colin – @mcgraygolf
Follow the podcast: @bothsidesofpar
Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, or visit bothpar.com.
Show:
Follow Both Sides of Par on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and check out the show on YouTube for clips, shorts and more from the episodes.
🟢 Is it a faux pas to carry a bag with the logo of a course you've never played? The hosts settle it
🟢 The Motocaddy trap: why the Protekta cart bag won't work with Colin's Motocaddy Cube, straps or no straps
🟢 Colin's hometown reckoning: how a week in Dumfries and Galloway turned around his unfair opinion of the courses he grew up on
🟢 The ninth at Gatehouse of Fleet: a 50 to 100 foot drop, a pitching wedge for 150 yards, and a beginner who found the green
🟢 Other South West Scotland courses mentioned: Kirkcudbright, Newton Stewart, Dumfries and County, Dumfries and Galloway, Southerness
🟢 Ross's chipping aid (referred to as a "strike wedge"): product not confirmed, please check before adding a link
🟢 Both Sides of Par on Instagram: @bothsidesofpar
🟢 Colin on Instagram: @mcgraygolf (spelling to be confirmed)
🟢 Nairn Dunbar Golf Club, Nairn, Highlands. Sunday 11 October 2026. Gents open, 21 handicap limit, £30 entry. Ross notes there's plenty of room on the tee sheet and calls it an absolute bargain for a course with a green fee around the £100 mark. The club website lists this as the Springfield Autumn Classic Open with booking via BRS, but the date, price and handicap limit above come from the episode and should be confirmed: https://nairndunbar.com/visitors-open-competitions/
00:00 Welcome and Ross's worst round in three years
02:10 Ross's new Ping Hoofer Lite and Colin's bag research
09:42 The stand bag on a trolley problem
12:37 Dream bags: G/FORE and Scotty Cameron
15:51 Cart bag roundup: Titleist, Motocaddy and PowaKaddy
19:58 Weekly open: Nairn Dunbar
21:00 Ross's chipping practice update
24:03 South West Scotland trip: Cally Palace
26:35 Kippford and the course Colin's dad built
28:19 Gatehouse of Fleet and the drop-shot ninth
30:57 More courses to play in Dumfries and Galloway
32:16 Wrap up and where to follow the show
And then there's perhaps the biggest lesson of the episode: read the situation before blaming your swing. Peter explains why golfers should assess the lie before choosing the shot or club, why he likes players to actually stand over the ball and feel the shot before committing to it, and how something as simple as the amount of sand beneath your feet can completely change the bunker technique required. Ross provides a timely example from Dalmahoy, where failing to notice there was barely any sand underneath his ball turned a straightforward bunker shot into an entirely avoidable mistake.
🟢 Why Peter Whiteford believes watching golfers on the course reveals far more about their scoring problems than simply asking them what they need to work on
🟢 "Ferrari drivers in a Fiat Punto": why good golfers can be far too conservative from the tee while other players repeatedly take on shots their game can't support
🟢 The A-game and B-game driver swings Peter believes better players should develop, and why taking less club isn't always the safest strategy
🟢 Why Tour professionals have the same demons standing over golf shots as a 28-handicapper — and the extra tools better players develop to keep those thoughts quiet
🟢 Read the lie before blaming your technique: how golfers misdiagnose bad chips, bunker shots and recovery shots and then practise the wrong thing
🟢 Why Peter wants golfers to stand over the ball and feel the shot first, rather than deciding on the perfect trajectory from behind the ball and trying to manufacture it
🟢 The simple "hold your finish" trigger Peter uses when his driving feels uncomfortable and why focusing on something you can actually control can free up your swing
🟢 Why golfers often perform better in match play than stroke play — and what that tells us about acceptance, commitment and the way we react to bad shots
🟢 Peter Whiteford on Instagram: @peterwhitefordgolf
Peter's coaching starts with a nine-hole scoring assessment designed to identify where a golfer is genuinely losing shots. From there, he can prescribe the technical, strategic, short-game, practice or performance work that offers the quickest route towards better scoring.
00:00 Peter Whiteford's journey from Tour player to golf coach
02:02 Introducing The Scoring Coach and why Peter wants to watch golfers play
04:43 Are golfers asking coaches to fix the wrong things?
07:31 Scratch to high handicap: finding the biggest scoring leaks
09:00 Why golfers misdiagnose their own weaknesses
10:25 How Peter assesses an entire golf game
12:05 Driver strategy and the "Ferrari versus Fiat Punto" problem
14:58 When driver actually makes a hole safer
16:23 The simplest short-game gains for higher handicappers
19:24 The human element that golf strategy can't account for
21:15 Ross and Peter's Castle Stuart first-tee disasters
23:14 Peter's tools for dealing with driving anxiety
24:41 Tour professionals have the same demons as everyone else
26:15 Why we can score better in match play than stroke play
28:18 Trouble shots: when should you simply take your medicine?
30:36 Read the lie before you choose the club
31:06 Feel the shot first: Peter's approach to shot selection
34:22 What better players do before they hit the shot
35:00 Reading bunker lies and choosing the right technique
38:18 Technique or decision-making: identifying the real problem
39:34 How to work with Peter and The Scoring Coach
🟢 Ross explains the Strike Wedge, a plastic training aid that gives you both a visual and a physical reason to find the middle of the clubface, and why he's using it for long irons rather than actual wedges
🟢 The two-part fix for Colin's driver slice: a "lazy hips" diagnosis from his brother, and the psychological shift of hitting driver on the course instead of hiding on the mat
🟢 Practising your golf versus practising the course. Ross on how a scratch golfer uses the range, why the pros don't chuck their technique after one bad shot, and Colin's plan to learn how heather closes the clubface
🟢 Ross's round at the Dalmahoy Senior Open: birdies on both front-nine par fives, smashing driver down the tight 13th, and then nearly shanking a four iron on a 60-yard-wide fairway at the last
🟢 Peter Whiteford's tip on reading the lie before you even reach for your glove, and how ignoring it cost Ross a bogey on 15
🟢 Both Sides of Par on YouTube: search "Both Sides of Par"
🟢 Fortrose & Rosemarkie Golf Club, Fortrose, Black Isle (around 20 minutes from Inverness). Gents 18-Hole Stroke Play Open, Saturday 3rd October 2026. Singles stroke play. £35 for visitors, 24 handicap limit. A James Braid links on the tip of the Chanonry peninsula with sea on both sides and Fort George across the water. Entry via the club website: https://fortrosegolfclub.co.uk/competitions/open-competitions/
🟢 Ross mentioned a second open later in October, held over for a future episode
00:00 Welcome and the end of summer
03:40 The Strike Wedge training aid
10:16 Colin's driver update: fixing the slice
18:12 Course practice vs range practice
25:03 Practising trouble shots and the heather problem
