Ethan Fisher, PGA, returns to the podcast to discuss his article over on OneBeardedGolfer.com revisiting the life and demise of the shooting star of Kentucky golf at the start of the 21st century, Old Silo Golf Course in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. It’s a fascinating, cautionary tale from the collapse of the most recent golf boom…

Our 2nd installment of the Americans in Oregon, discussing our experience on the Old MacDonald course, and the awe and wonderment of realizing the scale of the Bandon Dunes operation. Plus, a heretical idea so crazy I’d could only get away with it because it’s on the Internet.

In this first installment of the “Americans in Oregon” series, we set the scene at Bandon Dunes through our impressions of the Punch Bowl putting course, the 13-hole Bandon Preserve short course, and an examination of the resort’s vibe through our lodging and accommodations experiences.

Matt, Fred, and I reconvene at the Americans in Scotland round table to discuss whether golf trips truly need a “trophy course” to anchor a buddies golf trip. It’s big-picture discussion based on the small details we’ve accumulated in a decade or so of golf trip experience.

We happen to be living through a tumultuous time in men's professional golf, and I wondered if Hal might recognize any familiar story lines from his lived experience and research for the book. He did, and there are all worth ruminating upon further.

I’m honored to welcome Nathan Crace, ASGCA to the podcast to talk through and help me understand the much ballyhooed USGA decision to “roll back the golf ball.” Watermark Golf – http://watermarkgolf.com/nathan/ Moonbay Media – http://www.moonbaymedia.com/ Nathan Crace, ASGCA – https://asgca.org/architect/ncrace/

I speak with Lie + Loft founder Luke Davis about his journey to and within golf. Golf art and golf imagery has come a long way in the past decade or two. Once the exclusive province of the coffee table books, luxury travel publications, and the architecture issues of the mainstream golf publications, artistic depictions of golf’s playing fields have been devolved to the people in the digital age.

On the ninth night of Christmas, I struggle with the fact that I am what is holding back my putting.

I contemplate how my local golf club professionals fulfill a role that I formerly found in my barber, my bartender, or my colleagues. Talker. Friend. Listener. Confidant. Fellow traveler. They are the fabric that binds me to my golf community, and the tie that binds that larger community together. And I'm better for knowing them.

Thoughts on the social and social media silo that I've landed in focused on golf swing speed and hitting the ball farther.