It’s the event that stirs the soul of golf fans like no other and after a two year wait the European Ryder Cup team get their chance this week to erase memories of a thrashing at Whistling Straits in 2021.Golf Plus Media’s Paul Prendergast was at last year’s Italian Open at the host course for the matches, Marco Simone, and joins the pod to give some insight Into what holes might play a pivotal role in the outcome.

There are few better spectator sports than waiting for an international team golf competition to get underway. With the Solheim Cup now just days away we catch up with John Huggan from on site at Finca Cortesin in Spain for all the latest non stories.

Revered course architect Alastair Mackenzie was a GP in another life and wrote in his book Spirit of St Andrews about the health benefits of prescribing golf to his patients. Almost 100 years after those words were penned a study in Scotland shows they are likely true. Dr Frank Sullivan of the University of St Andrews joins episode 158 to discuss the trial which saw more than 50% of those ‘prescribed’ golf as treatment returning positive reviews.

When we spoke to Richard Pennell in February last year his Stymied blog was starting to gain traction. 18 months later he is now a published author his book, Grass Routes, a collection of essays taken from the blog combined with some new material. Pennell’s writing focuses not on birdies and bogeys but on golf’s more cerebral and emotional joys, the way the game touches people beyond being just a recreation.