Long before there was Tiger Woods there was Young Tom Morris. Four times a winner of The Open and the first golfer who could truly be referred to as a touring professional, his fascinating but tragic life story is far from well known enough among golfers worldwide. But that is set to change with the release of a remarkable book – Monarch Of The Green – by former newspaper journalist and editor Stephen Proctor. Proctor joins the TG History podcast to talk about his inspiration for writing the book and the process of putting it together.

We take the majors for granted in the modern era but things could have been much different after one of the most controversial incidents in the history of the game in 1871. This is the story of ‘The Stolen Major’.

With the 148th Open just around the corner who better to talk history than the man who was the first Curator of Golf Collections in the Special Collections Division of the University of St Andrews? Dr Tony Parker is regarded by his peers as one of the game’s foremost historians and joins the podcast to talk all things Open (with a few rabbit holes along the way).

According to Tiger Woods only two players in history have ‘owned’ their golf swings: the great Ben Hogan and Canada’s Moe Norman. Hogan is revered internationally as one of the game’s greatest ever exponents and while Norman enjoys less celebrity, his feats of extraordinary hitting are equally legendary among golf aficionados. Moe Norman might be the most remarkable golfer that ever lived and his story is as fascinating as any of the game’s celebrated legends. On episode 13 we meet Tim O’Connor, the man who wrote the first book about Moe in 1995 and remains committed to telling Moe’s story to this day.

As the 119th US Open bears down on us TalkinGolf HIstory’s Connor Lewis has the fascinating tale of the first US Open – and first TWO US Amateurs – that were erased from the history books. There is also a quick recap of last week’s essay style narrative on Johnny McDermott plus listener questions about America’s national championship.

In the first of a regular series from The Society Of Golf Historians founder Connor Lewis comes the story of two time US Open winner Johnny McDermott. McDermott is the subject of our first ‘From The Fringe’ segment where Connor will delve into some of the most interesting and important stories from the game’s past. McDermott is and was one of American golf’s most important figures and in this debut episode Connor dispels some myths – and gives listeners some insights into – a genuine American hero.

TalkinGolf History co-host Connor Lewis moved up a media grade recently when he appeared on Golf Channel alongside respected architect Jim Urbina in a short feature about the lost great club of the 20th century, The Lido. Built by the legendary C.B Macdonald and Seth Raynor why input from Tom Simpson and Alister Mackenzie, The Lido was widely regarded the equal of Pine Valley when it opened in 1914 but by 1942 it was gone. The course and its amazing has intrigued golfers for decades and with interest reignited by the Golf Channel piece last week now seemed a good time to flesh the story out further.

Most of the time we get to talk about the things we want on the TalkinGolf History Podcast but every few weeks we turn things over to the listeners to find what you want to know about. On Episode 9 we answer questions about golfing Presidents, comparing players from different eras, our favourite periods of golf history and more.

Canadian golf course architect Keith Cutten originally started out to write a thesis for his University course but that project ultimately morphed into The Evolution Of Golf Course Design. Keith joins Episode 8 of the podcast to talk about the role of golf courses – and their architects – through time.

One of the more fascinating corners of golf history is collecting, a multi million dollar business which spans the globe. The biggest and most influential auction house in golf is Green Jacket Auctions, started by Bob Zafian and Ryan Carey in 2006. Bob joins Epic 7 of the podcast to talk about how he got started in collecting, some of the best – and weirdest – items he’s been offered for sale and some advice on how a beginner should approach getting started in the trade.