This is the final Americans in Pinehurst Roundtable, this time with friend of the podcast John Mark Kennedy, wherein we delve into that most special of Sandhills’ courses, Tobacco Road. I’m often asked by folks that haven’t made the pilgrimage to Sanford, North Carolina, what makes the course so special, and I invariable struggle to…

Blind Shots Podcast

Blind Shots Podcast Episode 30 – Americans in Pinehurst Roundtable – Tobacco Road

Welcome to another episode in my series of discussions about Public Golf in America, this time through our local scene here in Central Kentucky, Justin Mullannix, PGA. After serving as the head golf professional at Kearney Hill Golf Course and Gay Brewer Jr. Course at Picadome, Justin is now charged with overseeing Lexington’s golf leagues,…

Blind Shots Podcast – Public Golf Talks with Justin Mullannix, PGA

Today, Fred and I recap what made our recent Winter Golf Getaway to Chattanooga, Tennessee so special and fun. We lament a canceled event at Sweetens Cove, the mother of all Plan B’s, and also do a brief deep dive on what makes Black Creek Club a very special place. Black Creek Club is the…

Blind Shots Podcast Episode 28 – The Kindness of Strangers and Black Creek

A front nine of thoughts to close out the winter off-season and move towards the active spring golf window, a monologue riff on what we’ve been up to at the Blind Shots Podcast and what we’re looking forward to. Topics include a recent golf trip that was ruined, then miraculously salvaged, all within a half…

Blind Shots Podcast Short Game Session 12 – Happy Sandbagger Vanity Handicap Day!

It’s Round Four of The Americans in Pinehurst Roundtable, with erstwhile friends, Matt and Fred. In this episode we discuss a bit of a Sandhills Unicorn: a relatively new golf course, by Pinehurst area standards. I mean, of course, the Dormie Club, the 2010 Coore + Crenshaw masterwork located just 10 minutes from the heart…

Blind Shots Podcast Episode 27 – Americans in Pinehurst Roundtable – Dormie Club and flavors of Pinehurst Village

In Episode 26, Scott Laffin and I bounce around ideas golf and golf course businesses.He has carved out a non-traditional role for himself in golf course design and construction through is firm, Feature Golf Consulting, as the guy behind the guy. A professional landscape architect by training, he’s enjoyed backdoor access and hands-on experience to…

Blind Shots Podcast Episode 26 – Scott Laffin of Feature Golf Consulting

Today’s episode is another in my series of discussions about Public Golf in America. This version is a special treat, as I have a wide-ranging discussion with one of the smartest, most intriguingly credentialed people working in golf, Mike McCartin, co-founder of the National Links Trust. With a bachelor’s degree in economics from that esteemed…

Blind Shots Podcast Episode 25 – Public Golf Talks with Mike McCartin of National Links Trust

It’s Round Three of The Americans in Pinehurst Roundtable, with our friends, Matt and Fred. In this episode we contrast two courses that I strain to find nominal similarities, but in reality, couldn’t be much more different. I’m talking about Donald Ross’s Southern Pines Golf Club, and Rees’ Jones New Course at Talamore, both in…

Blind Shots Podcast Episode 24 – Americans in Pinehurst Roundtable – Southern Pines and Talamore New

Welcome to the second episode of The StoneCrest Series, an in-depth look a very special golf course in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. Brad Reynolds is the course’s superintendent and general manager, so there’s few people who could know StoneCrest better. We talk everything from collapsing greens to amazing scenery to community assets and municipal…

Blind Shots Podcast Episode 23 – The StoneCrest Series, Part 2, with Brad Reynolds

Welcome to Episode 22! To start the new year, I bring you the voice of someone new to the game. Many of you are lifers or golf tragics, like me. I find chatting or playing a round of golf with someone that has just been newly bitten by the golf bug to be a wonderfully…

Blind Shots Podcast Episode 22 – A Beginner with the Golf Bug with Kara Hildebrandt

The COVID-19 induced golf boom of 2020 was one of the weird silver linings in a year unlike any other. Participation rates, numbers of rounds, and memberships sold were up across the board in places where golf was deemed a relatively safe form of recreation. For the purposes of this discussion, it paused many municipalities’…

Blind Shots Podcast Episode 21 – Public Golf Talks with Rod Morri

We welcome golf course architect Brian Ross in Episode 20, the first of a small series of episodes focused on one of my favorite and most special places in golf, StoneCrest Golf Course in Floyd County, Kentucky. A couple of hours southeast of Lexington, high on the mountain ridge above the city of Prestonsburg lay…

Blind Shots Podcast Episode 20 – The StoneCrest Series, Part 1, with architect Brian Ross

Welcome to Episode 19, an audio essay about golf friends and The Brotherhood of the Bogey. Thoughts on a page that I spoke into the microphone, essentially. A private message from a listener regarding an Americans in Scotland episode sends me down a path of introspection of who I play golf with, why, and what…

Blind Shots Podcast Episode 19 – Golf Friends and the Brotherhood of the Bogey

It’s Round Two of The Americans in Pinehurst Roundtable, and in this episode we visit one of my very favorite golf courses in the world, Mid Pines Golf Club, and it’s worthy brother across the street, the Pine Needles Golf Course. I’m a sucker for a period piece, and Mid Pines has the vibe of…

Blind Shots Podcast Episode 18 – Americans in Pinehurst Roundtable – Mid Pines and Pine Needles

What starts as a grill room debate with one of my best friends about Tobacco Road Golf Club evolved into a deep dive into blind shots on the golf course. At issue are the merits and differences between blind tee shots versus blind approach shots. To help settle the point, I tap friends and experts…

Blind Shots Podcast Episode 17 – The Blind Shots Episode featuring an All Star Cast

From OneBeardedGolfer.com, a podcast that discusses what we love and hate about the game, sport, and business of golf. Frequent topics include golf travel, amateur, competitive, and public golf experiences, golf architecture, and the spirit of the game.

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Blind Shots Podcast

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