With public golf and its continued existence at the forefront of recent conversations, now seemed like a good time to meet Golf Australia’s Government Relations Manager Fiona Telford. Fiona discusses the strategic aims of the organisation and its dealings with governments at Federal, State and – perhaps most importantly – local level.

We first met Sandy Jamieson back in January when he launched 1Club golf, a concept he designed himself to attract more people to the game. Six months on and despite a worldwide pandemic, 1Club has proved a major success. Sandy joins us on Episode 34 to talk about that plus the state of golf more broadly.

Respected golf writer John Huggan joins Episode 33 to talk all things golf including: his recent podcast interview with Rory McIlroy that went viral; the ‘Hitler’ v ‘Stalin’ choice potentially facing the European Tour; the future of the Australian Open; gender politics in golf and so much more.

Episode 32…the one that got away. We recorded a fabulous chat with former Touring Professional Ewan Porter this week and covered everything from the demons within that drive golfers to distraction to innovative formats and the future of the professional game in Australia. Sadly, nobody will get to hear that because of what we are referring to as a technical glitch (also known as oops….lost the recording!) We will have Ewan back in the next week or two but in the meantime we’ve delved into the archives to re-post one of our most popular episodes ever, The Book Club breakdown of Spirit of St Andrews with Mike Clayton. If you’ve never heard it you must and if you have you must again. Enjoy.

Many outside the game see golf as – at best – a negative for the environment and there is no doubt the game has some significant questions to answer about issues such as water and chemical use. But there is another – mostly hidden – way that golf is less than environmentally friendly and it comes in the form of the humble golf tee. The predominantly plastic or hardwood device millions of golfers use to begin almost every hole they play is actually a needlessly damaging piece of equipment and this week’s Good Good guest is doing something about it. Ed Sandison formed his company Ocean Tee Golf in 2018 with the aim of reducing the use of plastic tees and instead replacing them with a bamboo version. Having had some success, the company has now begun manufacturing apparel with plans to expand even further.

Adam Drummond was once an aspiring professional but drifted into caddying just before the new millennium. 21 years later he’s still at it having collected a host of great stories – not to mention a bunch of golf wisdom – along the way. Adam joins us for Episode 30 of Good Good to chew the fat about all things golf.

Ian Andrew is a gentler version of our own Mike Clayton, a passionate course architect whose perspective and interest in the game is infinitely broader than his own place in it. Andrew joined Episode 29 to talk about his new book on famed Canadian architect Stanley Thompson plus a myriad of other topics including, but not limited to, the purpose of bunkers, the emerging moral issue of water and golf and why the future might be better for those who think width and angle are the keys to more interesting golf.

Sick of Covid 19? Us too. So we’re not mentioning it this week. Instead, we’re delving into the world of golf and art when we catch up with renowned golf artist Lee Wybranski. Lee has produced the posters for every US Open since 2008 and has painted as well as work for The Open Championship, PGA and Ryder Cup. He has also been commissioned to paint just about every significant club and course in North East America as well as many Scotland, too. Lee’s passion for course architecture shines through in this engaging discussion on the world where golf and art meet.

For more than a decade Scott Micheaux had one of the best jobs in golf. As one of the lead golf writers for the Augusta Chronicle Michaux was tasked each year with producing a major profile of the defending champion in readiness as part of the paper’s preview for each years event. From Angel Cabrera to Adam Scott and a surprise encounter with Tiger Woods, Michaux has some fabulous memories and stories from one of the most revered tournaments – and clubs – in the game.

We’d all love to talk about something else but the realities of the ongoing Corona Virus Pandemic are making it hard. This week Matt Day, GM at Perth’s 27-hole Collier Park facility, joins the pod to talk about the day to day realities of life in charge of two golf courses and some major projects which have been thrown into uncertainty. Matt is a thoughtful analyst of the golf business – and public golf in particular – and his insights are always worth listening to.