In this week’s mini-episode, I explore the utter joy of walking a golf course for the sake of a good walk. I’ve been out to Kearney Hill Golf Links in Lexington taking very amateur pictures of the course for a blog project. What I’ve found while out there on the course, either alone or with…

In this week’s mini-episode, I explore the utter joy of walking a golf course for the sake of a good walk. I’ve been out to Kearney Hill Golf Links in Lexington taking very amateur pictures of the course for a blog project.

What I’ve found while out there on the course, either alone or with my family, has been sublime. While I always nominally understood the concept of the The Old Course at St. Andrews being closed on Sunday and available as a public park space, I didn’t fully appreciate the notion until this weekend

The golf course, a Pete and P.B. Dye design, provided a much needed outlet to enjoy a break from the isolation of staying home recently. It became the nature walk and the playground that my children desperately needed. It became the place to think and escape and enjoy some exercise for me. It became to run with her tongue out, chasing the smells of rabbit trails and groundhog paths, for the dog.

I get it now.

I also understand how infeasible it is under the current business model to make a public golf course in the U.S. available to the community for a picnic every sunny Sunday afternoon. But I’m thinking now, thinking about how that magic could happen on a larger scale.

Welcome to Episode 5 of the Blind Shots Podcast! In this episode I interview my friend Peter Schmitt of the Eternal Summer Golf Society. Peter and I discuss how he found his love for the game after taking some time away from it, and how that turned into a passion for classic golf equipment, items…

Welcome to Episode 5 of the Blind Shots Podcast! In this episode I interview my friend Peter Schmitt of the Eternal Summer Golf Society. Peter and I discuss how he found his love for the game after taking some time away from it, and how that turned into a passion for classic golf equipment, items from the era between hickory shafted equipment and modern titanium and graphite clubs.

We talk about being a golf writer, hosting his Oil Hardened Classic Golf Outing, how to play vintage equipment, and much, much more. It was a fun discussion in which his passion clearly comes through. It’s a fun discussion that I think you will enjoy hearing.

Here are the links to the various things we talked about during the interview:

Eternal Summer Golf Society

* Oil Hardened Classic golf outing

* Louisville Golf Company

* National Custom Works

* Donald Ross Course at French Lick

* Valley View Golf Club

I hope you’re all staying safe and staying sane. As always, choose to Go For It! And remember to Take Dead Aim.

We are all dealing with the isolation and social distancing in our own ways. Some of us are still playing golf under strict guidelines, while others sit idly by while their golf courses are shut down. Neither situation is ideal. For me, golf has become an interwoven set of memories and day dreams, plans being…

We are all dealing with the isolation and social distancing in our own ways. Some of us are still playing golf under strict guidelines, while others sit idly by while their golf courses are shut down. Neither situation is ideal.

For me, golf has become an interwoven set of memories and day dreams, plans being made for a grand reintroduction to the game the moment our collective circumstances return to whatever the new normal will be. This is a brief episode about what golf has become for me during the pandemic and where my imagination leads me.

I hope you’re coping well, staying safe and healthy and sane. Until we can all get back out on the course together, if you have golf in your day dreams, do decide to go for it, and take dead aim.

Welcome to another episode in our Scottish Golf Experiences series! This episode is a companion piece to my essay Afternoons were for Match Play, which you can find over on the blog at OneBeardedGolfer.com.  This interview with my friend and competitor, Matt Chaney, delves further in depth into what made our random afternoon matches at…

Welcome to another episode in our Scottish Golf Experiences series! This episode is a companion piece to my essay Afternoons were for Match Play, which you can find over on the blog at OneBeardedGolfer.com.  This interview with my friend and competitor, Matt Chaney, delves further in depth into what made our random afternoon matches at golf courses half way around the world so special.

It's not a shot-by-shot recounting of our shots. It's both of us grasping for an explanation for why those few hours continue to have such importance to us half a year later. It's a discussion about the spirit of the game of golf, something more spiritual than just a game wherein the lowest score wins.

Among other things that we discuss are the feeling of being some place truly special, making our own golf course on our walk around the property, playing a new course for the first time with no guide, and the spirit of fierce but fun and respectful competition.

I hope you're all staying safe and staying sane. As always, choose to Go For It! And remember to Take Dead Aim.

Another episode in our Scotland series, this episode contains the second half of my interview with author and Scottish golf travel expert, Graylyn Loomis, discussing his eBook, How to Plan a Scottish Golf Trip, which is available on his website, graylynloomis.com or on Amazon, and his experiences as a golf trip consultant. Our discussion touches…

Another episode in our Scotland series, this episode contains the second half of my interview with author and Scottish golf travel expert, Graylyn Loomis, discussing his eBook, How to Plan a Scottish Golf Trip, which is available on his website, graylynloomis.com or on Amazon, and his experiences as a golf trip consultant.

Our discussion touches on topics including which courses to play, his relationship with golf tour operators and the Buyer Beware nature of dealing with a tour company, the concept of an overseas membership to a Scottish Golf Course, playing the Old Course forward and backwards, literally, and much more.

After the interview, I spend a little time recounting some of the advice from Graylyn’s book about logistics, that I wish I’d paid a little more attention to before departing for the Old Country.

Free Plugs:

* Graylyn mentioned that he is currently affiliated with Far and Sure Golf Tours.

* I mentioned that if you need golf taxis (or regular taxis) around St. Andrews, contact Tim at Star-Fish Taxis, their are first class.

* A reminder that the Blind Shots Podcast is a proud member of the TalkinGolf family of podcasts, so be sure to check out some of the other shows on the network.

* If you need some pretty good food and delicious drinks in North Berwick, pop into The Ship Inn.

A reminder that if it is your quest to one day peg it up at The Home of Golf, start at the St. Andrews Links Trust website, where you will find details on how to go about booking on all of their courses. And set a reminder on your calendar for August of each year to visit that website to find out when the ballot for Private Advance Tee Times will open for applications for the following year. Then purchase Graylyn’s book and get to work planning your dream trip.

I hope you’re all staying safe and staying sane. As always, choose to Go For It! And remember to Take Dead Aim.