Narratives can be powerful in sports, and they can make people believe things about those sports that aren't true.  That is a problem facing golf these days, as the perception out there is that golf is suffering.  The narrative, however, is far from reality.  The National Golf Foundation tracks these things, and their research suggests that people are picking up the game of golf more than they ever have before.  The NGF explains where the game could stand to grow, where it's already growing, and the role of the oft-discussed Millennial generation in the game's future.

Ground Under Repair

Good News from the National Golf Foundation

It's a Ground Under Repair relaunch, as we join the Sports Talk Florida podcast network!  That makes it as good a time as any to explore the belief that Golf Is For Everybody.  Ground Under Repair also previews the Open Championship to be held in Carnoustie, Scotland, and a curious rumor about Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson playing for ten million dollars.  

Ground Under Repair Previews The 2018 Open Championship

It's all about golf clubs on Ground Under Repair this week as Pure Science Golf's John Reynaud joins the show to talk about his business and their approach.  There are many places to get golf clubs custom fitted, but Pure Science Golf takes an extremely personalized approach that seeks to help improve the game of any golfer, from a devoted scratch player to your average once-a-week golfer.  We talk about John's methods, the benefits of custom clubs, and a few things about golf clubs that most of us never think about.   Check out Pure Science Golf's website here. Amazon Item of the Week - Callaway Launch Zone

Golf Clubs and Club Fitting with Pure Science Golf

Henry Wallmeyer of the National Club Association joins the show to talk about a lobby for private clubs.  Henry discusses his run-ins with the decision-makers of Washington, D.C., as well as the benefits to playing golf at a private club.   For more on the NCA, visit their website here. Ground Under Repair's Amazon Item of the Week Amazon Prime Free 30 Day Trial

The National Club Association - On Golf, Business, and Lobbying

Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund Executive Director Bob Donovan joins the show to talk about the fund, the PGA's involvement with charities and organizations like his, Ouimet's legacy, and the PGA Tour Pro-Am experience.   More on the Ouimet Scholarship Fund:  ouimet.org Brush-T, the Amazon Item of the Week:  http://amzn.to/2faN7Vu Add the NFL to your Amazon Prime Video watchlist

The Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund

Ponkapoag golf course is famous largely as Rick Reilly's 1988 example of a beaten up public golf course.  "Ponky" then became the inspiration for a Reilly book, and the reputation stuck with the course.  On further examination, it's far more than the Ponky of Missing Links these days, including a brush with greatness that few golfers in the Boston area would believe. Our Amazon link of the week:  Missing Links - http://amzn.to/2woYNKO Amazon Prime Free Trial:  https://www.amazon.com/tryprimefree?ref_=assoc_tag_ph_1427739975520&_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=pf4&tag=roundnderepai-20&linkId=2f243f6c44a1236ee99430523767319f

Ponky's Story

Most golfers in 2017 do not get the experience of having a caddie.  Indeed, there are fewer clubs than ever that offer caddies.  Dennis Cone of the Professional Caddie Association wants to change that.  Citing how many young golfers have been created by summer caddie jobs (including Jack Nicklaus), Dennis believes that growing the game of golf includes making sure there are still people on the bag. Dennis and Jim Bartlett co-wrote Think Like A Caddie...Play Like A Pro, a book about how to better approach the game of golf to improve your score.  It is not an instructional book, but more of a new angle on the game.  Since 2010 when it was first published, the book has become a staple of pro bookshelves.   One of my takeaways from the interview:  Every other professional golfer was referred to just by their name ("Jack Nicklaus," "Tom Watson"), but Arnold Palmer was Mister Palmer.  

Caddie Chat with Jim Bartlett and Dennis Cone

The US Open stands out among golf tournaments.  With a low enough handicap, anyone can attempt to qualify for the US Open.  Those qualifying rounds, then, have an allure to golfers to the point that they seem like mythical grounds. Here to put reality to those myths is the USGA's Bill McCarthy.  Bill also tells us about the US Amateur Four-Ball, a somewhat new entry in the USGA's array of championships.  Bill is the Championship Director for that event, and gives us an overview of both the history and the hope for the future of the event. Of course, someone with the USGA is keen on the rules of golf, so we couldn't leave without having Bill discuss handicapping.  Many of us do not have official handicaps, but that is one of the services the USGA has always offered.  Bill makes the case for why, and how, you can get started on an official handicap. Few people walk the "golf is for everyone" walk more than the USGA, so this was a treat of an interview.

US Open Qualifying with Bill McCarthy

We're all taught at some point that golf is a game between a golfer and the course they're on.  Where does that leave the person who designed the course?  This week on Ground Under Repair, I talk to Bruce Charlton of Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course Architects about his work designing courses. Bruce discusses his life playing and working in golf, and his journey to becoming a course architect, from the first time he thought of pin location through his field of study in college.  When a designer's course hosts a major, that is as "big time" as it gets.  We discuss the 2015 US Open at the Chambers Bay course Bruce designed with his team.  We also discuss golf's status as a worldwide sport, and how people can continue to spread the word that, as we say here on Ground Under Repair, golf is for everyone.

Course Design with Bruce Charlton

When the 1990s boom golf saw dried up, a lot of new golf courses were immediately put into danger.  Many of them have gone out of business, but those who have remained have established themselves as fantastic golf experiences. Perhaps there is no better example of that than Olde Homestead.  Nestled in a corner of the Lehigh Valley, it's a bit of a drive from Allentown or Bethlehem in Pennsylvania, but it thrives because it is a destination worth driving out to.  Justin Smith of Olde Homestead joins me this week to discuss the course's history, the property's history, what makes the course unique, and the business of running a golf course after the salad days of the nineties were over. Olde Homestead is a fantastic public golf course and anyone who can get to that part of Pennsylvania owes it to themselves to set some time aside for it someday.  

Golf Course Management with Justin Smith

On the very first episode of Ground Under Repair, I sit down with South Shore Country Club's head golf professional Chris Riley of Hingham, Massachusetts.  South Shore CC is one of the nearest courses to my home, so I felt it important to have our first episode involve somebody close to home.   Chris tells us what inspired him to become a golf pro, how rewarding it can be to work with kids when teaching lessons, and some of the funnier stories to giving out lessons over the years.  Of course no names are given, but we've all been on flubbing shots off driving range mats at some point in our golfing lives.  It could have just as easily been any of us that causes the Chris Rileys of the world to laugh. Chris and I also discuss a number of figures who made golf accessible to a wider range of people, tearing down that old image of golf as the game of the social elite.  With the Arnold Palmer Invitational fresh in the rear view, it seems an appropriate discussion this week.   We then talk a little bit about winter golf.  Up here, not everybody is comfortable with the concept of a golf offseason, and some fight hard against it.  Who shows up to play in the winter, and how do they get off the course without breaking a club on the cold ground?  Someone who sees it firsthand gives us a little insight. This is a podcast for the lifelong golfer, interested in hearing others' experience with the game.  This is Ground Under Repair.  

With Chris Riley of South Shore Country Club

Sports columnist Tim Williams interviews people from the public golf community. Golf from the duffers' angle.