Merry Christmas, Badgers!

We hope everyone's had a great Christmas. Between the snow storms in the UK, some technical issues and a big dose of man flu for Bledge, we've been a little quiet recently.

Well we're back with a bang for our Christmas special, and were delighted that Zac Blair and Kye Goalby joined the pod to discuss (amongst other things) The Tree Farm.

Enjoy the rest of this weird spell between Christmas and New Years where every day feels like a Sunday, and we'll be back in the New Year!

Best wishes,

Sam

Send us a message if you would like anything discussed on the podcast.

Welcome back Badgers.

This week we're joined by a few special guests. First, Sean McClean the 'new' Course Manager at Royal Birkdale Golf Club.

Birkdale is one of the most famous links courses in the world, and both Bledge and I were looking forward to speaking to Sean and asking his opinions, ideas and plans for this great Open venue.

We also talk about his career to date, including 13 years at Princes with guest of episode 2, Rob McGuirk.

Sean was also asked a couple of questions by Fletcher and Jesse, Bledge's next generation of course managers. Undoubtedly the hardest hitting questions of the episode.

We are so grateful to everyone who listens. We hope you enjoy this week's episode and please do keep sharing the podcast with other golf badgers out there who enjoy our nerdy niche.

Thanks,
Sam

Send us a message if you would like anything discussed on the podcast.

Send us a message if you would like anything discussed on the podcast.

Welcome back Badgers.

For a change of pace, Mr Bledge is interviewing me (Sam Cooper) on my transition into the golfing industry, thoughts on architecture and the culmination of my 2 year road trip around the coastline of Great Britain.

We hope you enjoy and, as ever, please feel free to tell us how we're doing on our respective social media accounts.

Thanks for listening!

Sam

Send us a message if you would like anything discussed on the podcast.

Welcome back to the Podcast, Badgers.

I'm on the road this week, and I've left Bledge back in Hoylake. I popped into Ganton Golf Club to play their esteemed 'inland links' (more on that later) and meet Course Manager, Simon Olver.

As you'll hear, Simon is another intelligent, passionate and ambitious course manager. I asked him about his career to date and plans for the historic course at Ganton.

I hope you enjoy the conversation and as ever, don't forget to get in touch with me on Instagram or Twitter (@links_from_the_road and @sd_cooper respectively).

Thanks for listening!

Sam

Send us a message if you would like anything discussed on the podcast.

Badgers, welcome back to the podcast.

This week, we're in conversation with our great friend Rob McGuirk.

Rob's family have owned the famed links of Princes for a good while now, and recently acquired Chart Hills Golf Club.

We have a wide ranging chat about his career, particular interests within the game, the evolution of Princes and their work at Chart Hills. We wanted to provide a slightly different perspective on the industry, so were delighted Rob was able to provide the owner and GM's angle.

Please let us know what you think! We're both on Twitter (@sd_cooper & @jamesbledge) and Instagram (@links_from_the_road & @jamesbledge).

Send us a message if you would like anything discussed on the podcast.

Golf Badgers (ɡɒlf bæʤə) - noun: A group of golfers obsessed with the game.

Episode 1 is a chat between the hosts. Sam Cooper is a golf architect with Clayton, DeVries & Pont whilst James Bledge is Links Manager at Royal Liverpool Golf Club (Hoylake).

With 9 months to go until the 151st Open Championship returns to Hoylake, Bledge tells us about his career to date and gives his feelings on how preparations are going.

We hope you enjoy our ramblings!

Send us a message if you would like anything discussed on the podcast.