Plus Four Podcast

Gillian Kirkwood possesses a wealth of golf knowledge and business experience and is a past Ladies Golf Union (LGU) Councilor and past Chairman of the Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association. She is also a highly experienced rules official and, reflecting her keen interest in the history of ladies’ golf, chaired the Board of Trustees of the Women Golfers’ Museum.

She had the distinction of serving as President of the LGU during the time of its merger with the R&A in 2017. Together with her husband, David, she owns and operates the Heritage of Golf Museum in the pro shop of Gullane Golf Club in East Lothian.

I invited Gillian to reminisce about the early era of women's golf in Scotland and the British Isles, and to touch on the myriad projects she has had under her guidance seemingly every day since she was a lass. Her legacy in support of women's golf may be unparalleled in the modern era, and I was grateful for the opportunity to speak with her.

Gillian was also Captain of Midlothian County Ladies Golf Association from 1991-1993 and was the Ladies Captain of Broomieknowe Golf Club from 1982-84 and from 2004-2006, and was most recently Vice-Captain of Gullane Ladies' Golf Club.

Researcher, author, and historian, Michael B. Morrison, published an exhaustive account in 2022 of the rise of golf in England which is a must-read for those who wish to better understand the origins of the modern game. In this episode, we speak about the process Morrison subjected himself to— over many years— in order to assemble the most complete record of the growth of the game in England, ever.

During the course of his work, Michael became able to draw conclusions about the advancement of the game that differs from conventional wisdom, and is based on empirical data that, while perhaps painstaking to amass, provides the foundation for the evolution of the sport within the changing social demographics, geographies, and economic circumstances between the years 1864 and 1914.

I feel confident that golfers everywhere will want to stop what they are doing, read-up on the fascinating and, in some ways, parallel development of the game to that in Scotland, and get to England as soon as possible to embrace the wealth of styles and historic golf courses that are today the envy of nations the world over.

To order his book (which is self-published), you may contact Michael directly, details for which occur at the 1-hour-6-minute mark in our episode. I hope you enjoy this insight into the Great English Golf Boom!

To see the BBC News interview with Michael on the course at Cambridge University, click here.

Since 2013, the Happy Hickory Golfers in Japan have been a force in hickory golf. We've seen them represented with great joy at the World Hickory Open, for instance, and marvel at their event photos from countless outings in their home country. Alex Bruce— a native Scotsman— is one of the founders of the group, and a deeply dedicated advocate for hickory golf, worldwide. "How dedicated?" one might ask. So dedicated that he has one of the world's only hickory golf retail stores and he has been a guiding hand in supporting the World Hickory Open and St. Andrews Golf Company, organizations with long associations to his home turf in Scotland.

In this episode, I speak with Alex about his upbringing, his second life in Japan (where he has lived and worked and grown his family for decades now), and the challenges of growing a national hickory organization to scale over nine regions, 47 prefectures, and in a country of more than 2,300 golf courses, the oldest of which (Kobe Golf Course) dates to 1903. We speak about the first-ever AsiaPAC Open, as well, which debuts September 3-5, 2023, in Australia.

One of the great things about national and international hickory golf events, is that one never knows whom one might meet along the way. In 2021, I flew out to Wisconsin to play in the Wisconsin Hickory Golfers Whistling Straights Hickory Challenge, as I had always wanted to see the course. Well, one of the nights, I ended up sitting at dinner with a table full of new friends I had never met before, one of whom—I came to learn—was Bert Coghill.

“Coghill? Did you say?” Yes…that Coghill. 

You see, Bert’s Great grandfather and his two brothers started Cog Hill Golf & Country Club outside of Chicago a few years before the Great Depression, and because of their keen abilities, they managed to keep the course open and thriving throughout the worst economic climate of the past 100 years. I learned that the hickory scene in Chicago is still fledgling, but with players like Bert, Peter Flory, and others sitting at the table, I knew I was in the presence of some serious talent.

On a trip to Chicago in the spring of 2023, I decided to call Bert to see if I could learn more about his life in golf in the Chicago region.

As a side note, this podcast is being released in June 2023. And as it happens, there is a completely engrossing and fascinating series out right now through The Fire Pit Collective, with Matt Ginella, detailing the so-called “Club Pro Crisis” which I highly recommend listening to, if you are not yet familiar with it. It is worth your time, and it is both comprehensive and extensive. Go to firepitcollective.com to find the full series which details the modern challenges with recruiting and retaining club professionals in today’s times.

As I edited my discussion with Bert, I could not help but to draw parallels and connections to that series. You see, Bert grew up in golf, and spent his entire career in one region… 7 days a week, tending to his customers, the family’s course, Silver Lake Country Club, in Orland Park, Illinois, and immersed in the day-to-day events that have undoubtedly brought so much joy to his members and their guests.  Before arriving at his home, I drove up to the clubhouse and took in the scene. Silver Lake boasts 45 holes over three courses that the public can play, with a robust set of leagues, youth programs, and professional instruction. If you’re a hickory player, and will be in the Chicago area, I suggest you book a time and see this fantastic Club.

When I contacted Jim McCormick to see if he would allow me to view his heralded private collection in Chicago, he was explicit. "Budget three hours for the tour," he warned, "four to five, tops." I'm embarrassed to say that I stayed seven-and-one-half hours— taking him away from his charming wife, Laura, for far too much time—yet, we probably only explored less than half of his priceless items. If that weren’t enough, I sheepishly asked if I could come back before I flew home to the West Coast two days later, and he granted me an additional 2.5 hours in order to share his extensive documents collection, the majority of which is too extensive (and rare) to display.

His isn't simply an impressive collection in golf, every item has a specific importance to the legacy of the game tied a definable event, a notable victory, the definitive origins of Scottish and English golfing societies, an exacting connection to a place, person, or a pivotal moment in time. Jim cares about history and the lives of those we can only now read about such as Vardon, Robertson, Park, Morris, Evans, Jones, Hogan, Barnes, Stranahan, and Locke, among scores of others. He cares for original works by Hodge, Rodger, Shortspoon, and Lees, among many others too…if you have to ask, you don’t know.

The Ladies' Golf Union (LGU) was the original governing body for women's and girls' amateur golf in Great Britain and Ireland. It was founded in 1893 and was based in St. Andrews, Scotland until merging with The R&A in 2017.

In this episode, Lauren Beatty, a Collaborative Doctorate Partnership student enrolled at Glasgow Caledonian University and working with the R&A World Golf Museum in St Andrews, discusses her oral history PhD project exploring women’s participation in club golf during the period 1945-1995. Beatty's research intends to explore women’s personal experiences of playing golf post Second World War in Scotland and aims to make these stories available to the public through the collections of the R&A World Golf Museum.

Lauren's research blog can be found here.

Finally, you can read about the R&A's Women in Golf Charter here.

Images property of R&A World Golf Museum

Kevin McGimpsey is the British Golf Collectors Society’s Murdock Medal winner of 2004 for his seminal book, The Story of the Golf Ball. A former Captain in the Parachute Regiment, Kevin traded his red beret for a career in antique and collectible golfing memorabilia.

Collecting golf balls is a robust pursuit in the sport. In this podcast, we discuss why this area of collecting inspires so many people, why they seem willing to part with so much money to compile their collections, and how the evolution of the golf ball revolutionized the game of golf, and still does so today.

Click here for a link to my article (with photos) on the private collection of Mr. Dick Estey.

Alastair J. Johnston has traveled a long way from Glasgow since his days as a lad. One might say that he has had a knack of being in the right place and the right time, but he might caution—to some degree—that one makes his own luck. In this episode, we learn about Johnston's magnanimous and unprecedented recent donation to the R&A of the entire contents of his 34,000-volume golf book collection; of his unrivaled relationship with Mr. Arnold Palmer, to whom he served as representative at IMG, the global agency in entertainment, sports and fashion; and of the origins of the PNC Championship, held annually in December in Florida—Johnston's brainchild honoring the unique connection the game of golf provides to generations of families, and the bond it nourishes between parent and child.

Of the donation, Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “We are very grateful to Alastair for this generous gift. We are excited to continue his vision and support his desire to display this collection in its entirety in Scotland. I can think of no more appropriate place than St Andrews to create the world’s most comprehensive library of golf books."

Your host wishes to thank Michael Morrison (author and historian), first, for tweeting an image of The Chronicles of Golf: 1457 to 1857, Johnston's 700-page chronology of the earliest legacies of the game. That tweet led me to discover Mr. Johnston's published works, including The Clapcott Papers, which is discussed in the episode; and Seattle-based golf book dealer, Peter Yagi, for making the connection for me to contact Alastair for the podcast.

As is mentioned in the pod, the Johnston library collection—I submit—represents a true legacy gift to golfers forevermore. 100 years from now, serious students of the game will wish, as many of us do today, that they could thank those (like Alastair) who so thoughtfully and carefully stewarded the tradition and history of the game in their time, for we are all better for it. Well played, Mr. Johnston.

Sometimes in life, you meet a kindred spirit. Peter Grunwell, co-owner of Fine Golf Books of St. Andrews, is just this person. He, along with his wife, Anke Bruxmeier, have been in the golf world for more than 55 years, combined. Peter was a British PGA professional and a member of the United States Golf Collector's Society. Anke, a native of Germany, was a PGA professional as well for over 25 years.

Together, they are living the modern-day dream. They live in St. Andrews, collect antique, rare, and new golf books as well as memorabilia, play golf in the epicenter of the royal and ancient game, and have unending opportunities to meet golfers and golf collectors nearly every day of their lives.

Fine Golf Books does more than just sell books—they also deal in authenticated autographs, support the independent publishing of important titles, sell varying valuable works on paper, and the occasional golf-related collectible. In this episode, host Robert Birman speaks with Peter about his journey to building one of the leading sites for antiquarian and rare golf book buyers, and his observations about the field, its avid collectors, and the variables that face book lovers, dealers, and publishers today.

The R&A World Golf Museum is a 'must-see' destination for every first-time visitor to St. Andrews. The modern-day successor of the former British Golf Museum, it raises its ambition to play a pivotal role in delivering on one of the R&A of St. Andrews' core objectives—to be a leading body within the world of golf that engages and supports activities to ensure golf is a thriving sport for all on a global scale.

Following three weeks of hickory golf throughout Scotland, podcast host Robert Birman had an opportunity to tour the Museum's newly-reimagined exhibitions, which were extremely impressive, and to speak with the longstanding and visionary director of the R&A World Golf Museum, Angela Howe.

This episode recaps the final week of our 21-day visit to the Glasgow are, Ayrshire, the Mull of Kintyre, the Highlands, Moray, Aberdeen, and St. Andrews, and highlights Ms. Howe's creative work leading the Museum and overseeing the collections of the R&A since 2009.

images used with permission courtesy of the R&A World Golf Museum