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Karen Peek's first golf memory isn't a great shot. It's her mom and aunt on the lesson tee at Rackham, laughing to tears and hitting it terribly.
In this episode of The Bag Drop: Untold Stories in Golf, host Matt Considine and co-host Dr. Kevin Moore (a.k.a. "The Professor") sit down with
Karen Peek (Director of Golf Operations for Golf Detroit and an LPGA teaching professional) to talk about growing up on Detroit's municipal courses, chasing the LPGA Tour through four Q-Schools, and why being genuinely glad to see people is the best business decision a golf course can make.
The conversation dives into:
Connect with our guest
๐๏ธโโ๏ธ Karen Peek โ Golf Detroit: https://golfdetroit.org โ ๐ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GolfDetroit/ โ ๐ผ https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-peek-6a649712/
Join the NewClub community
๐ Website: https://www.newclub.golf
๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/
๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf
๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub
Links & Partners
โณ Erin Hills: https://www.erinhills.com
๐๏ธ Titleist: https://www.titleist.com
The Bag Drop
๐บ Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006
๐บ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebagdrop
๐ง Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH
๐ง Website: https://thebagdrop.fm/
Connect with Matt & The Professor
๐๏ธ Matt Considine โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/
๐ Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/
๐ฃ๏ธContribute to the show! โ ๐ง email: [email protected]
Chapters
00:00 Cold open: when your boyfriend is your golf teacher
00:45 Welcome, and a bruised fall for Guardians and Bulldogs fans
03:12 Best fall format: East Lothian rules vs. Steel vs. Rubber
05:05 The team-event climax, plus First Tee Cleveland and Akron
06:20 Meet Karen Peek of Golf Detroit
07:56 The Professor's teaching: 20 minutes outside, less cortisol
09:58 Erin Hills: the glaciers did the heavy lifting
12:10 Karen joins: baseball first, and nothing for State
15:18 A Cleveland-fan dad and a Tigers-fan daughter
19:35 Mom's lessons with Ben Davis: so happy, so awful
22:12 Free Press summer golf school: 400 kids, no golf balls
23:39 Biking to Palmer Park and learning from Chris Williams
25:07 Losing her dad at 14, and the comfort of the individual game
27:51 Par was the standard, practice was the answer
31:37 Four tries at the LPGA Tour, and advice from people who haven't been there
36:43 Q-School: prepared until she got there
38:45 Hypnosis, acupuncture, and a putter over the knee
42:53 Lemons into lemonade: joining the LPGA to teach
44:50 Teaching is a skill, not telling people how you do it
48:16 Six-foot-four students and "please don't apologize"
52:41 What Carol Mann taught her: people need to know you care
56:28 Horrific lessons and the boyfriend at the range
59:35 Delivery over knowledge: listen first
1:03:13 Get them on the course, the sooner the better
1:04:14 Nobody knows what 300 yards looks like (hit one more club)
1:08:49 The 150-yard markers at Chandler Park
1:11:23 Don't get drunk on the boom
1:13:19 Building comfort: staff who look like your golfers
1:15:26 "Hey dude, what's up?"
1:17:36 The private-club pro shop that said nothing
1:19:23 "I can charge more because I'm nicer"
1:22:55 Ben Davis: humble, fierce, always smiling
1:26:26 Thanks, and the outro with Erin Hills
What is NewClub?
A golf club without the real estate. One membership, a rotation of great courses, tee times, competitions, trips already on the calendar, and people who love the game the way you do. We play as visitors of the clubs and courses that host us, and those relationships are the heart of what we do.
What is The Bag Drop?
Deeply researched audio documentaries telling the stories behind golf's greatest clubs, plus weekly conversations with the characters and communities shaping golf today. Hosted by NewClub founder Matt Considine and The Professor, Dr. Kevin Moore.
Many private club models seem to rely on keeping somebody out. Jeff Warne would rather keep out those who want just that.
In this episode of The Bag Drop: Untold Stories in Golf, host Matt Considine and coโhost Dr. Kevin Moore (a.k.a. โThe Professorโ) sit down with Jeff Warne (longtime Director of Golf at The Bridge and founder of New Holland Golf Club in Aiken, South Carolina). Jeff has been sketching his ideal club since 2001; now he's building it as a members' club with UK-style visitor access, in a market where most new builds lock the gate. He makes the case that good golf should be shared, explains the one-page doctrine that filters his membership better than any pitch deck, and gets into firm-but-slow greens, golf's distance problem, and 60 trips' worth of Scotland.
The conversation dives into:
Connect with our guests
โณ Jeff Warne โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/jeffwarnegolf | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-warne-37335811/ | ๐ง Email: [email protected]
๐ฒ New Holland Golf Club โ ๐ https://www.newhollandgolfclub.com/ | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newhollandgolfclub
Interested in New Holland? Jeff asks for an email, not a text, and he'd like you to read the doctrine first.
Join the NewClub community
๐ Website: https://www.newclub.golf
๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/
๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf
๐บ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf
๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub
Links & Partners
๐๏ธ Titleist: https://www.titleist.com
Listen to The Bag Drop
๐ง Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006
๐ง Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH
๐ง Website: https://thebagdrop.fm/
Connect with Matt & The Professor
๐๏ธ Matt Considine โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/
๐ Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/
๐ฃ๏ธContribute to the show! โ ๐ง email: [email protected]
Chapters
00:00 Cold open: modern golf is being run backwards
00:31 Welcome, and the Professor's two-week research retreat in Scotland
01:43 When to play links golf: September, or the late-April sweet spot
02:54 Today's guest, and why New Holland stands out in Aiken's private boom
05:40 The Professor's teaching: Brad's Drink, BackRub and other names that didn't stick
09:13 Titleist: SM11 wedges, and getting fit before the clubs go away
10:35 Jeff Warne joins (with notes on everything we just said)
12:03 Sixty trips in: stop playing the famous eight
14:27 A missed qualifier, the Arran ferry, and Shiskine and Corrie to themselves
17:51 Walk-up tee times at Machrihanish and a lunch standoff at Dunaverty
20:58 The first trip: book a few big guns, then play Prestwick St Nicholas
22:44 The scale problem: courses built for Watson and Nicklaus
24:32 Bifurcation was the answer, and Geiberger's 59 still stands alone
27:41 Accessible golf at home: Myrtle Beach (really) and Maine nine-holers
30:24 New Holland's access model: members first, visitors in the gaps
33:19 Shared, not gatekept: members and visitors, not public and private
35:03 The doctrine: 25 years of notes, typed in 40 minutes
36:37 Exclusive, luxury, manicured: when the polished rewrite becomes the filter
44:05 Native vegetation, construction traffic and the jungle coming back
46:51 100% invested in less, and moving a third of the dirt
50:40 Any pressure to bend the UK model?
53:50 Want exclusive? Join somewhere else
54:49 Why established clubs can't open up: the bag room doubled
57:01 The hundredth property, and the Tree Farm that got away
1:01:50 Firm but slow, at 102 degrees and three-quarters of an inch
1:04:23 "We need more pin placements" means slow the greens down
1:06:46 Long Cove, grainy Bermuda and why fast greens are easy
1:10:38 The scene in 20 years, and why culture is the hard part
1:14:02 Handing The Bridge to Mike Sweeney
1:16:43 Public golf, Gold Hill and making the group big
1:18:31 Thanks and sign-off
What is NewClub?
A golf club without the real estate. One membership, a rotation of great courses, tee times, competitions, trips already on the calendar, and people who love the game the way you do. We play as visitors of the clubs and courses that host us, and those relationships are the heart of what we do.
What is The Bag Drop?
Deeply researched audio documentaries telling the stories behind golf's greatest clubs, plus weekly conversations with the characters and communities shaping golf today. Hosted by NewClub founder Matt Considine and The Professor, Dr. Kevin Moore.
A tragic argument in golf right now is whether the game needs to get smaller. Designer Sam Beckman has a different answer: educate.ย
In this episode of The Bag Drop: Untold Stories in Golf, host Matt Considine and co-host Dr. Kevin Moore (a.k.a. "The Professor") sit down with Samuel Beckman (owner and designer behind Emergency 9 Golf) to talk about building golf courses that clubs can actually afford to keep โ and about the high school coaching job that turned out to fill the void he missed from leading large teams in corporate America.
The conversation dives into:
Connect with our guests
โณ Samuel Beckman โ https://www.emergency9golf.com โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/emergency9golf | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emergency9golf/ | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-beckman-emergency9golf/
Links & Partners
๐ผ Inglewood: https://www.ingw.com/
Join the NewClub community
๐ Website: https://www.newclub.golf
๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/
๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf
๐บ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf
๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub
Listen to The Bag Drop
๐ง Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006
๐ง Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH
๐ง Online: https://thebagdrop.transistor.fm/
Connect with Matt & The Professor
๐๏ธ Matt Considine โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/
๐ Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/
๐ฃ๏ธContribute to the show! โ ๐ง email: [email protected]
Chapters
00:00 Educate the game, don't shrink it
00:20 Welcome to The Bag Drop
00:32 Post-trip depression and the two Kevins
02:23 Today's guest: Sam Beckman, a.k.a. The Mule
04:39 The Port Huron tee boxes Matt couldn't stop noticing
05:37 A shout-out to Andrew Bailey's Mid-Am win
06:33 The Professor's teaching: who actually makes America's beef
08:37 Ad read: Inglewood Associates
10:29 Twenty-nine girls, and a 59 at sectionals
14:43 How an architect ended up coaching high school golf
16:16 Coaching like a caddie, not an architect
18:17 "I hate your bunkers": hosting conference at Glen Flora
19:36 Ireland and Scotland, with Dad along for the ride
22:31 Lahinch in the snow, and going back anyway
25:57 Carnoustie isn't pretty, and that's the point
28:23 You don't play over a golf course, you play through it
30:41 Twenty feet up to every tee, and what it costs your legs
32:35 Port Huron's master plan is written into the bylaws
35:16 North Hills: the greens that lost half their size
38:27 From one pin position to sixteen
40:39 The superintendent is a co-author
44:18 No offense, Bob, but you're a dentist
45:58 Stress-testing "any budget"
47:27 Glen Flora: a Kubota, a pandemic, and two bunkers a year
51:05 Ridgeway: half the fee, and crews brought in as needed
53:20 Golf needs to be affordable โ pick the model that fits
55:02 Waste not, want not: what David Savic taught him
56:46 Nationwide wasn't a bad fit
59:54 What he actually missed: building people
1:02:48 The pub outside London that restarted everything
1:05:04 Why Surrey should be your first trip, not your third
1:07:11 Huntercombe and Ridgeway: weird in the coolest way
1:09:44 Does Wisconsin need to chill out? "Double down."
1:12:39 The Coaches Cup and a brass flower vase
1:16:46 Nineteen seniors at a school of twelve hundred
1:19:32 Golf's quiet shortage: coaches
1:20:52 Smile when they walk in the door
1:22:36 Thanks, Sam โ and Inglewood
Ryan Gerard hates losing more than he likes winning โ and he'll tell you that's a feature, not a bug. Or, as he said to his caddy, JP, recently:ย โJust, Let Me Be Mad.โ
In this episode of The Bag Drop: Untold Stories in Golf, host Matt Considine and coโhost Dr. Kevin Moore (a.k.a. โThe Professorโ) sit down with Ryan Gerard (PGA Tour professional) to trace how a public course in Raleigh with no standing tee times built one of the tour's most interesting, unfiltered, and fierce competitors. Off a PGA Tour season with back-to-back runner-up finishes and a third at East Lake, Gerard is candid about what actually drives him, what he'd change about American golf, and how he keeps his head on straight when it isn't going his way.
The conversation dives into:
Connect with our guest
โณ Ryan Gerard โ https://www.pgatour.com/player/59018/ryan-gerard โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: [https://x.com/golfgerard | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/golfgerard/
Community & Partners
๐ NewClub: https://www.newclub.golf
๐๏ธ Titleist: https://www.titleist.com
๐ Golf Blueprint: https://www.golfblueprint.com
Listen to The Bag Drop
๐ง Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006
๐ง Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH
๐ง Web: https://thebagdrop.fm/
Connect with Matt & The Professor
๐๏ธ Matt Considine โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/
๐ Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/
๐ฃ๏ธContribute to the show! โ ๐ง email: [email protected]
Chapters
0:00:00 The cold open: hating losing more than loving winning
0:00:55 Welcome to the Bag Drop
0:01:10 Did the Professor win his match at St. Andrews?
0:02:26 How St. Andrews club hosting actually works
0:07:40 Matt's marathon relay confession (and getting kicked off a muni)
0:11:03 Booking Ryan Gerard: the anti-homogenized golfer
0:11:47 Professor's Teaching: North Berwick, the oldest surviving course
0:13:46 Ad Read: Titleist Vokey SM11 wedges
0:15:30 Ryan Gerard joins the show
0:15:52 The Atlanta airport run-in with the Professor
0:17:42 The Scottish Open walk-and-talk that started it all
0:18:58 The Gullane kids course and golf's barrier to entry
0:22:23 Bringing Park Grind's lighted par-3 model stateside
0:23:21 Growing up at Wildwood: free reign of a public course
0:28:35 No standing tee times, unlimited junior golf
0:32:00 The pitch: a lighted par-3 course in every metro city
0:34:43 Violin, chess, and badminton club president
0:39:30 Where the competitive gene actually comes from
0:40:27 "I hate losing more than I like winning"
0:44:23 Ted Scott's rule: expectations meeting reality
0:48:15 Small gains, not a swing overhaul
0:54:05 The Mona Lisa and the graffiti on a rail car
0:55:31 Stealing Matt Wolff's bunker shot
1:08:19 "Let me be mad": the mental reset from Chasing Sunday
1:14:22 The Presidents Cup snub and process vs. outcome goals
1:20:34 Is competitive golf actually fun?
1:24:28 Takeaways and the upcoming deep dive series
What is NewClub?
The premier private golf society in the United States. NewClub blends the community and access of a private club with the variety and affordability of public golf. Members enjoy thousands of reserved tee times, competitions, and events at exceptional partner courses across our local chapters, plus signature trips and exclusive perks.
What is The Bag Drop?
Deeply researched audio documentaries that tell the definitive stories behind golf's greatest clubs + weekly conversations with the characters and communities shaping golf today.
Fittingly, we recorded our shortest episode ever to explain why the next ones will be much longer!
Eight years in, The Bag Drop is biting off something new: fewer releases, deeper research, and three- to five-hour episodes on a single golf clubโs history, strategy, and story. Matt and the Professor explain why the most fascinating untold stories in golf live at the club level, the question they brought home from Northern Ireland together at twenty and haven't shaken since, and the five rules they have set to do it faithfully. (PS. The weekly interviews and conversations are not going anywhere!)
The conversation dives into:
Join the NewClub community
๐ Website: https://www.newclub.golf
๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/
๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf
๐บ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf
๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub
Links & Partners
๐ NewClub: https://www.newclub.golf
๐๏ธ Titleist: https://www.titleist.com
๐ Golf Blueprint: https://www.golfblueprint.com
Listen to The Bag Drop
๐ง Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006
๐ง Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH
๐ง Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/633c8703-5880-4522-bd6d-5967b45fc777/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf
๐ง Transistor: https://thebagdrop.transistor.fm/
Connect with Matt & The Professor
๐๏ธ Matt Considine โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/
๐ Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/
๐ฃ๏ธContribute to the show! โ ๐ง email: [email protected]
Chapters
00:00 Welcome: one of us is practicing, one of us refuses
01:29 Beating balls, and taking the doubt out with Golf Blueprint
02:45 The four-ball partnership is off
03:41 Matt's real golf strength: recruiting
05:00 Professor's facts: long form is quietly coming back
08:01 A return to conversation after a decade of the algorithm
09:05 Ad read: Titleist GTS, unboxed at night and gamed by morning
10:40 The Professor is a seven-wood guy now
11:21 Fixing the top of the bag with a four wood and seven wood combo
12:41 A short episode about going long
14:07 Eight years of The Bag Drop, starting at the Merit Club
16:33 Three years of the Professor, and curiosity on steroids
18:32 The decision: fewer shows, deeper research, three to five hours
20:23 Why clubs: study a club, study the history of people
22:56 Northern Ireland, and why one round as a guest explains nothing
25:01 Not the historians, and why that is the advantage
27:26 Acquired, Costco, and learning through a narrative
28:18 Smart Brevity, and what short form can't do
30:16 A decade of hearing "there's a past here you don't know"
32:40 The rules: no AI list of facts, no embellishment, the pursuit of truth
34:24 Time to get to work
What is NewClub?
Founded in 2017, NewClub is the premier private golf society in the United States. It blends the community and access of a private club with the variety and affordability of public golf. Members enjoy thousands of reserved tee times, competitions and events at exceptional partner courses across our local chapters, as well as signature trips and exclusive perks. NewClub is making the game more meaningful for those who love it.
What is The Bag Drop?
The Bag Drop features weekly stories from the culture, community, and characters shaping golf today. Produced by NewClub Golf Society, each episode blends authenticity and expert insights for passionate golfers at all levels. Special guests from clubs, courses and every corner of the changing landscape join us for thoughtful, inโdepth discussions on all things golf.
Nineteen million Americans have tried golf since 2020. About one in four of them stayed.
In this episode of The Bag Drop: Untold Stories in Golf, host Matt Considine and coโhost Dr. Kevin Moore (a.k.a. โThe Professorโ) sit down with Matthew Reagan, PGA (co-founder and general manager of Operation 36) to talk about why golf keeps losing the beginners it works so hard to attract โ and what changed the day he stopped teaching the swing first and started people 25 yards from the hole.
The conversation dives into:
Connect with our guests
โณ Matthew Reagan, PGA โ co-founder and general manager, Operation 36 โ ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-reagan-op36/
๐ฑ Operation 36 โ https://operation36.golf โ how it works: https://operation36.golf/how-it-works/
๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/op36golf โ ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/operation_36/ โ ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/operation-36-golf โ ๐ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/op36golf/
Join the NewClub community
๐ Website: https://www.newclub.golf
๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/
๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf
๐บ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf
๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub
Links & Partners
๐ NewClub: https://www.newclub.golf
๐๏ธ Titleist: https://www.titleist.com
๐ Golf Blueprint: https://www.golfblueprint.com
Listen to The Bag Drop
๐ง Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006
๐ง Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH
๐ง Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/633c8703-5880-4522-bd6d-5967b45fc777/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf
๐ง Web: https://thebagdrop.fm/
Connect with Matt & The Professor
๐๏ธ Matt Considine โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/
๐ Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/
๐ฃ๏ธContribute to the show! โ ๐ง email: [email protected]
Chapters
00:00 Cold open: the moment Operation 36 got its name
00:52 Welcome, and a fall morning in Athens
01:20 Ten kids under eight: not rested, but refreshed
03:35 Unplugging, the Slack away message, and the phone-off experiment
06:45 New York, Mumford and Sons, and whether you could live there
08:37 Today's guest: Matthew Reagan and Operation 36
10:10 What Op36 did to Athens Country Club
11:19 Scotland as the barometer: beginners go straight to the course
12:00 Professor's teaching: sampling versus early specialization
15:13 Ad read: Titleist AIM Enhanced and seeing the ball go in
17:18 Matthew joins The Bag Drop
18:16 Sixteen, upstate New York, and a course you could play for free
20:25 Campbell, Ryan Dailey, and deciding to coach
21:46 What actually turned him into a golfer, and it was not technique
25:28 Gamification, variability, and why golf hooks you
28:58 Three juniors at Keith Hills, and a program that grew to eighty
30:01 Ten levels, bag tags, and making a three-footer fun for an hour
32:19 Year four: forty golfers do not come back
33:59 North Carolina Long Term Athlete Development LLC
34:43 The one thing the kids who stayed had in common
36:09 A year of three-hour nine-hole rounds
38:08 The drive to Pinehurst, and the flip that became Operation 36
40:08 Teaching calculus to a seventh grader
42:01 Narrative, and the data nobody else in golf has
44:16 One in four: this is not a junior golf story anymore
45:42 Bootstrapping, licensing, and taking the junior out of the brand
49:15 Shrinking the variables until clarity becomes motivation
51:06 Competence, relatedness, autonomy
52:40 The women who never had permission to start close
55:33 The cultural headwind: America starts on the range
57:05 Aligning a club top to bottom, and Op36 at St Andrews
1:02:41 The ego of the young coach, and a $400-a-month membership
1:05:25 A gymnastics gym on every corner, and not a golf program
1:08:55 What a club needs before this works
1:12:23 If a recession comes, which programs survive
1:15:46 Opening the app in 2027: couch to course, course to coach
1:18:22 Golf Genius, and learning to run an engineering team
1:24:56 One thing you can do to make somebody's first nine better
1:31:07 Close: reviews, Titleist AIM Enhanced, and thanks
What is NewClub?
Founded in 2017, NewClub is the premier private golf society in the United States. It blends the community and access of a private club with the variety and affordability of public golf. Members enjoy thousands of reserved tee times, competitions and events at exceptional partner courses across our local chapters, as well as signature trips and exclusive perks. NewClub is revolutionizing golf membership, making the game more meaningful for those who love it.
What is The Bag Drop?
The Bag Drop<...
Jim Hartsell will tell you the best golf course in the world is 4,800 yards and a par 66. He is not being cute about it. He would like you to come after him.
In this episode of The Bag Drop: Untold Stories in Golf, host Matt Considine and coโhost Dr. Kevin Moore (a.k.a. โThe Professorโ) sit down with Jim Hartsell โ architect, three-time Bag Drop guest, and author of A Round of Scottish Courses โ for a conversation about what thirty years of returning to the same small Scottish clubs teaches you about why golf places matter, and what a golfer owes a place once he starts telling everyone about it.
The conversation dives into:
Connect with our guests
๐ Jim Hartsell โ https://jhartsellgolf.com โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/JimHHartsell](https://x.com/JimHHartsell) | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimhartsell/
๐ A Round of Scottish Courses (Back Nine Press) โ https://back9press.com/products/a-round-of-scottish-courses
๐ง The Duffer's Literary Companion (Jim & Stephen Proctor) โ https://tdlcpodcast.podbean.com
Join the NewClub community
๐ Website: https://www.newclub.golf
๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/
๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf
๐บ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf
๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub
Links & Partners
๐ NewClub: https://www.newclub.golf
๐๏ธ Titleist: https://www.titleist.com
๐ Golf Blueprint: https://www.golfblueprint.com
Listen to The Bag Drop
๐ง Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006
๐ง Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH
๐ง Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/633c8703-5880-4522-bd6d-5967b45fc777/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf
Connect with Matt & The Professor
๐๏ธ Matt Considine โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/
๐ Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/
๐ฃ๏ธContribute to the show! โ ๐ง email: [email protected]
Chapters
00:00 Cold open: the anticipation is half the fun
00:41 Welcome, and the Professor's new office
02:16 A love letter to the game: who your club introduces you to
03:01 Caddie School for Soldiers and thirty days at the Home of Golf
04:31 Jim Hartsell, third appearance, third book
06:34 Professor's teaching: quiet eye and gaze duration
11:29 Ad read: Titleist T-Series and the three Ds
13:52 Three books, one thread
15:09 The course gets you in the room; a person carries the story
16:32 The high school English teacher who started all this
19:31 Calling Rob Collins with a crazy idea
23:29 Fifty interviews, an outline, and meeting Jim Sitar
26:40 The books that made him: Wind, Bamberger, Morton, MacVicar
31:18 When Revelation Comes, and the notebook that read like a book
35:25 Patric Dickinson's eighteen best, and Jim's eighteen favorite
38:53 Dunaverty is the best course in the world: 4,800 yards, par 66
42:07 Soup, clubhouses, and the whole lived experience
45:40 Sheepdog trials, and when history earns its place in a chapter
49:56 What do you have against the Scottish east coast?
51:44 Frankfurt, a lost day, and a morning inside the R&A
54:33 Dark hours on the Old with a persimmon driver
56:52 The flag on the eighteenth green
1:00:35 Why the most famous place in golf did not have to do that
1:02:21 Does writing about these places change them?
1:06:40 North Berwick, Brora, and being too cheap to be taken seriously
1:07:46 Would the veneer wear off if you moved there?
1:12:14 Three rules for being a good guest (and don't over-tip)
1:14:41 Calendars, course guides, and Jordan's junior program
1:19:27 Close: subscribe, review, and the Titleist T-Series
What happens when a guy with a Wall Street background decides heโd rather make putters than climb the corporate ladder? For Al Vikmanis, the answer has been a winding path through Arccos, data analytics, custom putter design, metal 3D printing, ferrules, and whatever comes next. The common thread is a willingness to follow the rabbit hole wherever it leads, and a belief that the journey itself is the point.
In this episode of The Bag Drop: Untold Stories in Golf, host Matt Considine and coโhost Dr. Kevin Moore (a.k.a. โThe Professorโ) sit down with Al Vikmanis, Founder of 3DP Design to talk about the science and craft behind modern golf equipment, from why MOI matters in a putter to how sound actually becomes feel, why 3D printing opens up design possibilities traditional manufacturing can't, and why a ferrule can become a surprisingly personal piece of golf gear. Along the way, he gets candid about leaving Wall Street, embracing work that feels meaningful, learning from spectacular failures, and building a career around curiosity rather than a five-year plan.
The conversation dives into:
Connect with our guests
Al Vikmanis โย ๐ผ https://www.linkedin.com/in/al-vikmanis-3755671/
๐ Website: https://3dp-design.com/
๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/3dp_design/
๐ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083121141361#
Follow The Bag Drop
๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebagdrop
ย ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/thebagdropgolf
ย ๐บ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBagDropGolf
Listen to The Bag Drop
๐ง Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006
๐ง Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH
๐ง Transistor: https://thebagdrop.transistor.fm/
Join the NewClub community
๐ Website: https://www.newclub.golf
๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/
๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf
๐บ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf
๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub
Support our Partners
๐ NewClub: https://www.newclub.golf
๐๏ธ Titleist: https://www.titleist.com
๐ Golf Blueprint: https://www.golfblueprint.com
Connect with Matt & The Professor
๐๏ธ Matt Considine โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/
๐ Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/
Chapters
00:40 - Welcome to The Bag Drop
11:08 - Al Vikmanis joins the show
12:12 - From Arccos data to custom putter design
18:51 - What Al learned from working at an early-stage startup
21:03 - Leaving Wall Street and finding meaningful work
24:21 - MOI explained
30:33 - Why sound is feel
34:11 - How Al got into making putters
37:44 - Why custom 3D-printed equipment doesn't scale
41:20 - How metal 3D printing actually works
43:32 - Where 3D printing fits into the future of golf equipment
47:20 - The early failures of 3D-printed putters
51:08 - Learning from bad ideas
54:09 - How Al and Patrick Boyd started working together
56:52 - Why golfers love custom ferrules
59:24 - Ball markers, divot tools, and personal expression
1:02:21 - The creative side of Al Vikmanis
1:10:53 - What's in Al's golf bag
1:18:12 - What comes next for golf equipment
1:20:12 - โThe journey is the pointโ
What is The Bag Drop?
The Bag Drop features weekly stories from the culture, community and characters shaping golf today. Produced by NewClub Golf Society, each episode blends authenticity and expert insights for passionate golfers at all levels. Special guests from clubs, courses and every corner of the changing landscape join us for thoughtful, inโdepth discussions on all things golf.
What is NewClub?
Founded in 2017, NewClub is the premier private golf society in the United States. It blends the community and access of a private club with the variety and affordability of public golf. Members enjoy thousands of reserved tee times, competitions and events at exceptional partner courses across our local chapters, as well as signature trips and exclusive perks. NewClub is revolutionizing golf membership, making the game more meaningful for those who love it.
What does a piece of land owe the people around it once the golf stops paying for itself?
In this episode of The Bag Drop: Untold Stories in Golf, host Matt Considine and coโhost Dr. Kevin Moore (a.k.a. โThe Professorโ) sit down with Blake Conant (golf course architect; co-designer of Old Barnwell and the Gilroy) to talk about the second course he is building in the dirt right now โ and the master's thesis he wrote a decade earlier arguing that some golf courses should stop being golf courses.
The conversation dives into:
Connect with our guest
๐จ Blake Conant โ https://www.dundeegolf.com/ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/Dundee_Golf โ | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dundeegolf/ | ๐ผ https://www.linkedin.com/in/blake-conant-90566a37/
โณ๏ธ Old Barnwell โ https://oldbarnwell.com
Join the NewClub community
๐ Website: https://www.newclub.golf
๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/
๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf
๐บ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf
๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub
Links & Partners
๐ NewClub: https://www.newclub.golf
๐๏ธ Titleist: https://www.titleist.com
๐ Golf Blueprint: https://www.golfblueprint.com
Listen to The Bag Drop
๐ง Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006
๐ง Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH
๐ง Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/633c8703-5880-4522-bd6d-5967b45fc777/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf
๐ง Transistor: https://thebagdrop.transistor.fm/
Connect with Matt & The Professor
๐๏ธ Matt Considine โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/
๐ Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/
๐ฃ๏ธContribute to the show! โ ๐ง email: [email protected]
Chapters
00:00 "Make sure your first one is your worst one"
00:49 Welcome, and kudos to the R&A for actually enforcing the rules
04:19 Who Blake Conant is, and how the Professor found him
07:45 Teaching of the week: "Build a Course Today" and the overbuild
09:30 Titleist Vokey SM11
11:11 Conant, Conant, or Conan the Barbarian
12:18 House paint, big canvases, and actually selling art
14:44 Art school to landscape architecture to Dismal River
17:42 The doubts he probably should have had
19:20 Following Old Barnwell: the Snoop Dogg rule
20:53 Was a second course always the plan?
23:12 Nick Schreiber, and hiring people you then leave alone
27:19 The kids course: they don't actually want to putt
29:56 Tunnels, ramps, and a train that isn't there yet
30:37 Who the Gilroy is for, and greens that sit on the ground
33:11 Still testing the good player, just differently
34:41 Buying the purple parcel
37:09 Buy the land before anybody knows you're building
38:59 The 2013 thesis on bankrupt golf courses
41:58 What are we measuring: social, environmental, economic
47:39 The wrong courses closed
48:58 Repurposing, HOAs, and grand ideas that don't pencil
51:05 Should a new project pass the test before opening day?
52:49 Golf as a Trojan horse: programming, foundation, community
55:45 Aiken's building boom and a healthy kind of competition
59:38 The public course he'd like to build without donors
1:03:49 Wrap and thanks
What is NewClub?
Founded in 2017, NewClub is the premier private golf society in the United States. It blends the community and access of a private club with the variety and affordability of public golf. Members enjoy thousands of reserved tee times, competitions and events at exceptional partner courses across our local chapters, as well as signature trips and exclusive perks. NewClub is revolutionizing golf membership, making the game more meaningful for those who love it.
What is The Bag Drop?
The Bag Drop features weekly stories from the culture, community and characters shaping golf today. Produced by NewClub Golf Society, each episode blends authenticity and expert insights for passionate golfers at all levels. Special guests from clubs, courses and every corner of the changing landscape join us for thoughtful, inโdepth discussions on all things golf.
Can a golf facility be fun, affordable, and welcoming for the local community while maintaining an elite course and golf experience that attracts committed golfers from around the globe?ย
Brian Conley knows it can; he sees it every day, and he believes it starts long before any of them hit their first tee shot.
As the General Manager of The Park in West Palm Beach, Brian has helped build one of the most celebrated public golf experiences in the country. But this conversation goes well beyond architecture or rankings. It's about creating a place where people feel welcome, where every decision serves a mission, and where golf becomes a vehicle for community rather than exclusivity.
In this episode of The Bag Drop: Untold Stories in Golf, host Matt Considine and coโhost Dr. Kevin Moore (a.k.a. โThe Professorโ) sit down with Brian Conley (GM at The Park) to discuss why "fun" became the north star for The Park, what public golf can learn from private clubs (and vice versa), how to think about pricing without compromising accessibility, why walking matters, and whether this model can realistically spread to more cities.
If you've ever wondered why certain golf courses become gathering places while others remain just another tee sheet, this one's for you.
The conversation dives into:
โข Why every successful golf project needs a clear "why"
โข The philosophy behind The Park's "Open Golf" approach
โข Stripping away unnecessary traditions without losing what makes golf special
โข The balance between accessibility, sustainability, and premium public golf
โข Building community through programming, leagues, events, and local ownership
โข Why walking-first golf creates a better experience for players and operators
โข Lessons learned from Bobby Jones Golf Course and bringing those ideas to West Palm Beach
โข Whether The Park is a one-of-one or a blueprint for the future of public golf
The Park
https://theparkwestpalm.com
Follow The Bag Drop
๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebagdrop
ย ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/thebagdropgolf
ย ๐บ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBagDropGolf
Listen to The Bag Drop
๐ง Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006
๐ง Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH
๐ง Transistor: https://thebagdrop.transistor.fm/
Join the NewClub community
๐ Website: https://www.newclub.golf
๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/
๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf
๐บ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf
๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub
Support our Partners
๐ NewClub: https://www.newclub.golf
๐๏ธ Titleist: https://www.titleist.com
๐ Golf Blueprint: https://www.golfblueprint.com
Connect with Matt & The Professor
๐๏ธ Matt Considine โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/
๐ Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") โ ๐ฆ X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | ๐ธ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | ๐ผ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/
Chapters
00:00 The why comes first
01:07 Back in love with golf: swing video, flow state
09:00 Professor's time fact: plants can tell time
11:25 Partner break โ Titleist AIM golf balls
13:13 Brian Conley joins the show
15:11 The only non-negotiable: fun
16:31 Stripping out the norms โ what "open golf" actually means
19:19 Coming up in golf, and learning to be different
22:42 Why golf is so afraid to test and fail
24:26 Pricing without apology: the Mercedes problem
27:50 Protecting the locals in a transient, premium market
34:42 The recruitment: a 20-minute tour, a January phone call
39:20 Does the model travel? Scale vs. replicability
46:16 Sustainability, philanthropy, and funding The Path
50:41 A 50-year city lease โ and a new event teaser
52:17 Mission over profit, and living outside the box
56:20 Walking-first in the heat: caddies, loops, and the data
1:03:35 The Professor's cart confession
1:06:16 Serving every kind of golfer at once: culture and people
1:07:03 The kid in the tank top and the Augusta member
1:13:16 The fake version: how to spot an imposter
1:17:59 What keeps him up: culture and getting the word out on The Path
1:20:49 The parrot: the story behind the logo
What is The Bag Drop?
The Bag Drop features weekly stories from the culture, community and characters shaping golf today. Produced by NewClub Golf Society, each episode blends authenticity and expert insights for passionate golfers at all levels. Special guests from clubs, courses and every corner of the changing landscape join us for thoughtful, inโdepth discussions on all things golf.
What is NewClub?
Founded in 2017, NewClub is the premier private golf society in the United States. It blends the community and access of a private club with the variety and affordability of public golf. Members enjoy thousands of reserved tee times, competitions, and events at exceptional partner courses across our local chapters, as well as signature trips and exclusive perks. NewClub is in the business of belonging, making the game more meaningful for those who love it.
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