The Thing About Golf Podcast

For a generation of golf watchers, he was the voice of CBS broadcasts, breaking down swings courtesy of the Konica Minolta BizHub Swing Vision camera between bringing insightful on course analysis. 

But there is much more to the Peter Kostis story than his TV work, from his own playing background to his coaching work with Tour players, like Paul Casey. 

Find out all this and more in this engrossing chat between Kostis and long-time friend, John Huggan.

Brendan Jones is one of Australia’s most successful yet lowest profile international golfers.
15 times a winner on the Japan Tour, Jones is the very definition of laid back and in this chat with Rod Morri explains, among other things, how he could take a year off during the pandemic to be a landscaper — then almost win in his first start back. 

A career in journalism outside the game has informed and shaped Eamon Lynch’s work within it, making him one of the most important public voices of this modern tumultuous time in golf. 

In this Masters week Thing About Golf bonus episode, John Huggan sat down with the Northern Irishman at Augusta National to find out about his connections to golf, the modern media and —most importantly — The Masters and what might unfold this week.

He might be best known for a brilliant hole-in-one that ultimately embroiled him in a lengthy legal dispute with the tax man, but there is much more to Vaughan Somers than that magical 6-iron on the 17th hole at Coolangatta and Tweed Heads Golf Club in 1981.

Somers played the European Tour for 11 years in an era many believe was the circuit’s Golden Age. From 1977 to 1988 he saw and played with Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle and Bernhard Langer, and still counts Nick Price among his closest friends. 

Listen in as Vaughan, who is today a highly regarded coach in Melbourne, talks all things golf with host Rod Morri – from why modern Tour players are sooks to why you should never cut your fingernails during a tournament.

She made history by captaining back to back winning European Solheim Cup teams and finished top-10 in 18 different majors with one win, at the 2009 Women’s British Open.
Catriona Matthew is one of Scotland's most decorated players (and the 1996 Australian Women’s Open champion) but what makes her tick?
John Huggan has spent much of his career — and hers — writing about Matthew’s play and sits down for a wide ranging chat with the 52-year-old at her home in North Berwick.

In urban centres across the world there is pressure on public courses and the space they occupy. From developers looking to profit from housing, to councils keen to convert courses to parks, many believe golf is not an efficient use of public space. 

But as our guest on episode 60 will attest, that is a narrow view of the role public golf plays in communities. 

PGA professional Sandy Jamieson is a champion for public golf and in this wide-ranging chat with host Rod Morri he explains why he prefers the grassroots of the game to his days coaching stars on the PGA Tour.

It was one of the most brutal Opens in recent memory but Paul Lawrie's brilliance in winning at Carnoustie in 1999 is all too often overlooked. 

The comical scenes of Jean van de Velde wading in the burn beside the 18th green dominate most people’s memories of that event but that does Lawrie a disservice. 

To win, despite starting the final round 10 shots behind was rightfully the highlight of his career but there is much more to Paul Lawrie than his lone major triumph, as you’ll hear in this revealing interview with John Huggan.

Geraldine O’Callaghan is one of just a handful of female course superintendents in Australia. 

A one-marker, who plays pennant for Melbourne’s Southern Golf Club and holds a pilot’s licence in her spare time, Gerri was recently appointed to the top job at the recently redesigned Sandringham Golf Links.

With Sandringham being managed by neighbour Royal Melbourne Golf Club, that means Gerri is in the pecking order to perhaps one day be course super at one of the world’s most revered clubs. It’s been a remarkable journey for the Cohuna native whose other life ambition was to fly jumbo jets as a commercial pilot. Gerri chats with Rod Morri about the journey that brought her here.

He’s best known by an entire generation for his TV commentary, but Frank Nobilo was a formidable player in his day. 

Struck down by injury long before his prime, the New Zealander has built a second — and almost as impressive — career in the commentary booth. A deep thinker with a naturally analytical mind, Nobilo gives great insight into every facet of the game in this candid and detailed chat with John Huggan. 

From his early days on the European Tour to his relationship with former Golf Channel colleague Brandel Chamblee, Nobilo is equal parts forthright and reflective about the game he clearly still loves.

TV is how most of us consume the bulk of our golf and those who are the face and voice of the medium help shape how we view the game.
The BBC’s Hazel Irvine has been one of the best in the business for more than 20 years and offers some terrific insights into both the game and – the broadcasting of it – in this chat with John Huggan.