The Firm & Fast Golf Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

We are releasing a new format docupod series tomorrow which will take a deep dive into golf in the Netherlands. This snippet was too good to leave out so I have included here as sneak peak of my recent chat with Mike Clayton...sage advice as to why you should consider a golf trip to the Netherlands, Belgium & France.

I hope you enjoy tomorrows release.

Special Guest: Mike Clayton.

A recent trip to Walton Heath afforded me an opportunity to meet with Philip Truett at his home at Walton on the Hill. Philip recently co-authored a biography on William Herbert Fowler, entitled 'A Matter of Course'. The book paints a brilliant picture of a life well lived, not without a modicum of drama. Fowler by all accounts was a by-product of his time and social standing, who undoubteldy left an indelible mark on golf both in the UK and the USA.

We mainly stay on topic or at the very least always return to the vicinity of where we meandered away from it.... please enjoy the chat, it was great fun to put it together for our collective enjoyment, engaging with someone as knowledgable as Philip has been a real treat.

Episode music used under license from Epidemic Sound

Special Guest: Philip Truett.

Leo Barber the GM and Course Manager at Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club on the Kapiti Coast of the North Island of New Zealand joins us for this episode.

I have had the great pleasure of playing the links at Paraparaumu Beach on a number of occasions, over the course of 4 rounds there, thus far, the washboard fairways and associated dunescapes really resonated with this self confessed links junkie.

Leo recently marked the 75th anniversary of Alex Russell's arrival at Paraparaumu with a presentation to the members of the club and joins us today to recount both the story of the links and his own journey which began a mere 15 minutes down the road from the club in Pukerua Bay.

We hope you enjoy our chat!

Please check out the following links for some additional supporting content

Leo Barber's pictorial history of PBGC

Ran Morisset's course tour of PBGC on Golf Club Atlas

Christian Cullen best try's link

Clyde Johnson website - Book on North Island Country Golf in NZ

Intro and outro music - _Shoreline Serenade by Dye O _- under license from Epidemic Sound

Special Guest: Leo Barber.

In this final instalment of my chat with Pat Ruddy we take a look at his work in County Donegal - revising Eddie Hackett's work at both Murvagh and Ballyliffin, revising Morris, Vardon and Colt at Rosapenna, creating muscular modern links courses at Ballyliifin (Glashedy) and Rosapenna (Sandy Hills) and a revitalisation project at the Colt and Alison designed County Sligo Golf Club.

Apologies for the, at times, slightly stratchy audio, we hope it doesn't detract too much from the conversation.

We hope you enjoyed this series, many thanks to Pat for his time and to you for listening.

Intro and outro music - _Shoreline Serenade by Dye O _- under license from Epidemic Sound

Special Guest: Pat Ruddy.

This is part two of my chat with Pat Ruddy (final part due in a few weeks), we hope you enjoy our conversation!

In this episode we focus on the origin story of The European Club which is located in Brittas Bay in County Wicklow - how the site was eventually found, the opening day, a course of 20 holes, sleeper shod bunkers and a 127 yard green..... it's a cracking story.... well told!

Apologies for some scratchy audio throughout, we hope it doesn't detract too much from the content.

Intro and outro music - _Shoreline Serenade by Dye O _- under license from Epidemic Sound

Special Guest: Pat Ruddy.

Pat Ruddy may be known to many of you as the owner and course designer of The European Club located at Brittas Bay, Co. Wicklow.

That association is central to his story, however, it does not tell the full tale. In addition to course design Mr Ruddy is a Golf Journalist, Author, Bibliophile, Historian and Magazine publisher.

A native of Ballymote, Co. Mayo, Ruddy would often cycle 20 miles from his home in Ballymote to play the great coastal links of County Sligo Golf Club at Rosses Point, where he was a member.

His early days in Ballymote fueled his love of the game of golf and those that wrote about it like Longhurst, Warren-Wind and Darwin.

He completed his first design for Castlecomer GC in 1969 and would go on to make revisions at Ballyliffin (Old), Rosapenna (OTM), County Sligo (Championship) and Donegal (Murvagh) in addition to new courses at Rosapenna (Sandy Hills), Ballyliffin (Glashedy), Druids Glen, Druids Heath, St Margarets and 36 at Club de Golf de l'Île de Montréal in Canada.

This is part one of the Pat Ruddy story, we hope you enjoy our chat!

Intro and outro music - _Shoreline Serenade by Dye O _- under license from Epidemic Sound

Special Guest: Pat Ruddy.

Mike DeVries joins us from a wintery Michigan in advance of what may be his final construction visit to the 7 Mile Beach Golf Development that he is currently building for Mat Goggin in Hobart, Tasmania.

We discuss his early influences at Crystal Downs in Michigan, restoration work at the Meadow Club, The Addington & Royal Dublin. We take a quick look at both the Addington in London and the 7MB project, get an elevator pitch for golf in Michigan and finally Mike shares some of his bucket list golf courses and golf book recommendations.

We hope you enjoy our chat.

Please find a few links below relating to some of the book recommendations mentioned towards the end of the episode:

The MacKenzie Reader - edited by Joshua Pettit

Paul Daley's series, entitled Golf Architecture : A Worldwide Perspective , now extends to 7 Volumes, some of which are available through Fine Golf Books. Volume 7 can also be purchased directly form Paul Daley (email him at : fswing@bigpond.net.au).

Earlier editions can also often be found through pre-owned book resellers such as Abebooks, World of Books or Thrift Books.

Intro and outro music - _Shoreline Serenade by Dye O _- under license from Epidemic Sound

Special Guest: Mike DeVries.

Gordon Hobson joins us in this episode to focus upon a story, arguably unprecedented in the world of golf.

Calvin Peete was born into to a family of migrant laborers in 1943, dropping out of school in the eighth grade he went to work picking crops....not a familiar springboard for PGA Tour success, particularly when you realise that he played his first game of golf at the age of 23!

Dedication and hard work contributed to Peete's rise to the top of worldwide golf throughout the 1980's. His success was very much an extension of the golfing legacies of men such as boxing champion Joe Louis and forebears such as Spiller, Rhodes, Sifford and Elder the real pioneers of the UGA and the struggle aginst the PGA Tour's caucasian only policy.

Gordon's biography of Calvin Peete, entitled - Golf's Forgotten Star - will be published by Rowman & Littlefield on the 6th of February 2024. Please click on the link below should you wish to place an order

Amazon Order Link

Links to some additional background reading and information on Peete and his can be found by following the links below:

Joe Louis - from World Heavyweight Boxing Champion to socking it to the PGA Tour

Laz Versailles' Fire Pit Collective Article on Spiller & Rhodes Case v PGA Tour

Luke Kerr-Dineen's Golf Digest Article on Calvin Peete

Intro and outro music - _Shoreline Serenade by Dye O _- under license from Epidemic Sound

Special Guest: Gordon Hobson.

Ally McIntosh joins us for a slightly delayed review of our respective 2023 golfing years.

We catch up on renovations at Strandhill and Ally's plans at Carne Golf Links in 2024. Take a look at some of the Irish golfing highlights to come over the year to come and compare notes on various courses that we have visited over the course of the past year and locations we are eyeing up for the year to come.

Many thanks to you, for returning to the show throughout 2023. Here's to great golf in 2024.

Intro music - Wait Up Sundown by Arch Tremors (Instrumental) - published under license from Epidemic Sound.

Special Guest: Ally McIntosh.

Over the course of researching the history of golf in the Netherlands two golf related stories have really resonated with me.

In this episode we are joined by Stephen Zivin and to investigate the initial history of a Charles Hugh Alison design at De Wildhoeve in The Hague, now the home of the Royal Hague Golf Club. The story is intertwined by its' original owner, a gentleman by the name of Daniel Wolf

Robin Bargmann makes one final cameo to tell us the story of Kennemer Golf & Country Club during and after WW2.

We also take a quick look at the effects of WW2 on Domburgsche and Noordwijkse.

Stephen has written a great article on this subject matter for McKellar Magazine #7.

Featured music by Victor Lundberg, under license from Epidemic Sound

Special Guests: Robin Bargmann and Steve Zivin.