The NCG Golf Podcast

50% of TaylorMade golf balls sold are no longer plain white, so is visual technology the biggest change in golf ball design in recent years? 

NCG's Hannah Holden, Tom Irwin and Jack Backhouse discuss the evolution of the golf ball and how TaylorMade are changing the game with their eye-catching golf ball designs. 

They also catch up with TaylorMade golf ball designer Mike Fox to take a deep dive into all things golf balls, including understanding compression, the role of dimples, and how golf ball alignment aids can help your putting. 

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If you blinked, you missed it, but it's one down, 14 to go as LIV Golf's season opener in Mayakoba flashed by without incident.

In this episode of The Slam, a National Club Golfer podcast in association with Callaway Golf, Alex Perry and Matt Chivers discuss the reasons why LIV Golf - whether it lasts five years or 50, will never replace what we have with the existing PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA and LET. 

Speaking of which, there were some seriously good storylines to get stuck into this week, so let's do just that.

Back to LIV - because we can't get away from it - there was an interesting development on the Ryder Cup front. So where do we stand on that?

There's so much going on, just click play already! 

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Just mentioning the words "independent golfer" is enough to send some of your clubs into a sweat. 

But England Golf's iGolf scheme now boasts some 30,000 subscribers and the initial fury that greeted the plan to give players who were not members of a golf club an official handicap has all but subsided.

Have golf clubs, though, really got to grips with nomadic players and the benefits they can bring? 

In this week's From the Clubhouse podcast, in association with TaylorMade Golf, Steve Carroll and Tom Irwin get into a wide discussion about independent golfer schemes - considering how they originated and evolved, how they work, and their potential pros and cons.

We ask whether independent golfers have had an impact on golf club membership, and whether it's time for clubs to go further as the sport negotiates a cost of living crisis.

Let's get stuck in...

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The Slam - a National Club Golfer podcast in association with Callaway Golf - is back for 2023! 

Alex Perry is joined by a brand new co-host, Matt Chivers, and the pair discuss Jon Rahm's remarkable form, Lydia Ko's return to the top, and have their say on that "prank" by Tiger Woods at the Genesis Invitational.

Elsewhere, LIV Golf is back and one of its stars is already thinking about coming back to the PGA Tour, while others are upset that their Ryder Cup dreams are being crushed.

Alex and Matt also give their thoughts on the Netflix documentary, Full Swing. 

There's a lot to get through, so let's get stuck in...

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We're obsessed with pace of play. Find a corner of the clubhouse and someone will probably be unhappy about how long today's round has taken. Yes, the time it takes to play the game is often a fractious point of debate. But what can we do about it?

In this week's From the Clubhouse podcast, in association with TaylorMade Golf, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll talk about the various issues they encounter on the course and examine the R&A's Pace of Play Manual, which offers a whole host of recommendations to keep the game flowing.

Does Ready Golf actually work, should clubs get tough on those who tee off too early (it is against the Rules of Golf), and can tweaking course set up make a difference?

The pair are frank and honest with their views once again. You'll agree. You'll disagree. But you'll have to listen.

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On this week’s All the Gear, a podcast from National Club Golfer, Tom Irwin, Jack Backhouse and Hannah Holden, delve into what it was like to visit and play TPC Sawgrass, how the course has changed and why it is such a good venue for The Players.

They also take a deep dive into their week at the PGA Show. Was demo day as good as it sounds, how did Kyle Berkshire help increase their club head speed and what was the latest and greatest new golf technology on display? 

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Did you know if your ball lies on the green, and is no more than five feet from the hole, there is a Rule of Handicapping that allows you to pick it up and add a stroke to your score?

In this week's From the Clubhouse podcast, in association with TaylorMade Golf, Steve Carroll and Tom Irwin delve deeper into the concept of 'most likely score', which can be used when a hole is started but a player does not hole out.

They consider how it's employed in match play and fourball formats, Tom talks about his experience of it dominating golf in the USA and the pair consider if we ever might see it come into force in the UK.

Elsewhere, the duo look back over events at St Andrews where a bit of paving close to the historic Swilcan Bridge sent social media into meltdown, and brought an ultra-quick about-turn, and Steve gets a dressing down from Tom for his post hole-in-one etiquette. Was he wrong to not get the drinks in when he had an ace?

It's bound to be controversial and, as always, we'd love to hear your views!

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What is it about golf rules that get us so hot under the collar? Tree-gate, as it’s now being called, divided opinion among commentators and spectators as Patrick Reed’s every movement was analysed and criticised at the Dubai Desert Classic.

Steve Carroll, who has passed the R&A’s top rules exam, is joined by Tom Irwin and the pair break down events in the palm tree during the third round of the DP World Tour event.

Steve thinks he might have found something in how a ball is identified that can offer some further insight into how the decision was reached.

We chat generally about golf’s moral code and why we get so wound up when rulings come under the microscope, both in the pro game and at our own clubs.

After Steve set tongues wagging with his ‘solution’ to some of the World Handicap System’s perceived ills, he doubles down on his reasoning for making every score count, while Tom thinks some our WHS complaints are not going to be settled in the short term.

Tom describes it as an “insightful discussion”. But we’ll let you be the judge! Happy listening…

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Don't we all love a good rankings list? Whether it's ticking off where we've been, where we want to go to, or just getting flustered about where our favourite course might be placed, course rankings start discussion.

NCG Top 100s considers itself the home of golf course rankings and the knowledgeable team of panellists have just completed their work on Scotland's Top 100.

In a special episode of the NCG Top 100s podcast, Steve Carroll is joined by panel chairman Dan Murphy to chat about the ins and outs of the list, how it was put together, and explain some of the risers and fallers in a ranking that has been five years in the making.

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England Golf's new pilot Championship Entry policy, which could potentially deny access into some competitions for players with too many general play scores in their handicap records, has catapulted the controversial World Handicap System back into the headlines.

But has the governing body's actions, which are designed to ensure integrity and a high standard of entrants, exposed a deeper issue within WHS?

On this week's From the Clubhouse, a podcast from National Club Golfer, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll look in detail at the new policy, discuss what it will mean for those golfers who could be affected, and whether it shows that WHS is flawed.

The duo look back at the old CONGU handicap ways - refusing to don the "rose-tinted spectacles" worn by some when reflecting - and consider the impact England Golf's pilot could have on our own competitions as clubs wage war in the fight against handicap manipulation.

Do club committees need to do more, or are they hiding behind a shield of the perceived ills of WHS?

WHS has been an emotive topic ever since its introduction in late 2020, and Steve and Tom don't hold back expressing some strident views. Where do you stand? It's certainly an interesting listen...

RELATED NOTE: You can download England Golf's Winter Checklist, which is discussed in the podcast, here.

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