The NCG Golf Podcast

We wrap up a dramatic day at Open Final Qualifying – where Justin Rose rolled back the years, Matthew Southgate qualified YET again, and Sergio Garcia found himself centre of attention at West Lancs. The Spaniard loves The Open, but was all over the headlines after his group were given a warning for slow play.  Was it more petulance from the former Masters champion? Should we give him props for ha...

James Luke, England Golf’s head of handicapping, is back to update us on how the big changes to the World Handicap System have been settling in. But he’s also got a couple of important messages to impart – around general play scores and a new policy that could open the way for more clubs to get tee sets rated. If you’ve got any interests in WHS, you have to listen to this episode…

We’ll bet this chat is going on right now somewhere in your clubhouse. How can you make golf as accessible as possible but feel confident you’re protecting the integrity of competitions? This is a question England Golf have grappled with, and we get stuck into it on this week’s episode of The NCG Podcast. Steve Carroll is joined by James Crampton, England Golf’s director of championships, and the...

What is it that sets the best club golfers apart? Why do they make fewer mistakes on the course? What are the habits that help them play consistent golf? This week’s episode of The NCG Golf Podcast reveals all. We’ve got the latest data from Shot Scope. Tom Irwin, who loves to remind us he is a scratch golfer, and Steve Carroll, who couldn’t get near scratch if he played for 100 years, are here to...

Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll are joined this week by special guest Jim Croxton, chief executive of the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association. We look at how golf has navigated an extreme winter, what the impact on our courses has been, and whether we can expect any lingering effects as the year continues. On Mental Health Awareness Week, Jim also discusses the work the association...

We’re back. After a week to recharge and put our feet up, The NCG Golf Podcast returns for its third season. And what a start we’ve got for you. The sun is finally shining, we’re thinking about getting on our summer golf trips, and we’re about to unveil our best golf courses in Wales list! To set the scene for our new Top 40, which you can find at nationalclubgolfer.com/top100, NCG Top 100s chairm...

Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll are joined by special guest Jeremy Tomlinson, England Golf's chief executive. We discuss in detail the governing body’s 'Respect in Golf' campaign – a movement which aims to promote greater understanding and embrace equality, diversity, and inclusion in the sport. Jeremy also talks about the World Handicap System, membership numbers in the country, iGolf and iPlay, as w...

Live from Augusta Steve and Tom discuss Steve’s debut at Augusta. The boys cover a lot of ground and spend far too much time talking Gnomes. Find out about what it is like to be an Augusta first time, just how long that q is for merch, and yes of course how hilly it REALLY is. They also get stuck into the Scheffler era, the value of yet another Tiger comeback, poor old Rory and Jason Day’s clothes...

A major championship needs a major guest and we’ve got one for you as Ian Woosnam joins The NCG Golf Podcast ahead of The Masters. Also previewing the Barbados Legends Championship at Apes Hill, which is kicking off the new Legends Tour season in May and is hosted by the 1991 Masters champ, podcast hosts Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll dig deep into next week's tournament with one of the game’s all-ti...

Don’t misread the date. It’s not an April Fool. The big World Handicap System changes are here and, from April 1, the way you play your club golf WILL change. If you’ve forgotten what’s coming, never fear. Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll have enlisted the help of David Kernohan, Scottish Golf’s Head of VMS and Handicapping, to go over the major headlines. He’ll help you get to grips with Course Rating...

If you could pick one person to try and explain the madness of men’s professional golf, surely Iain Carter would be top of the list. The BBC’s golf correspondent has enjoyed an unparalleled career – covering all the major tournaments for radio and online – and is the author of a series of best-selling books. His latest, Golf Wars: LIV and Golf’s Bitter Battle for Power and Identity, bids to make s...

Food and beverage (or F&B as we call it in the trade) can be a financial black hole for your golf club. But we all want good food and a well-priced pint when we turn up in the clubhouse after a round. And we want it at a discount. It’s our little perk for paying our subs each year, right? But managing a good offering is a massive challenge for clubs and, this week, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll...

We don’t know about you but, for us, The Players is where the golf season really starts. This one is special. It’s the 50th edition and Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll kick off season two of The NCG Golf Podcast by previewing the ‘fifth major’. The pair, who’ve both taken a spin around Sawgrass, break down the course and discuss their favourite moments. Did they get out of 17 alive? Rory McIlroy and S...

What is it about a bit of denim that sends so many club golfers round the twist? Author Clive Agran set our social media alight this week when he asked why such an innocuous fabric causes so much offence. Never ones to shy away from a bandwagon, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll get stuck into some of the old stereotypes. Does what we wear really say something about how we act on the course? Prepare to...

It’s membership subscriptions time again and maybe some of you are being asked to fork out a little more than last year.   Where do those fees go and what part do they play in the running of your golf club? Are joining fees really a tax on membership, an expression of loyalty, or a vital part of a golf club’s armoury?   Steve Carroll has started a series of pieces for the Golf Club Managers’ Assoc...

He had a legendary career that brought worldwide success and a Claret Jug.   But Paul Lawrie is also steeped in club and grassroots golf. The Paul Lawrie Golf Centre, in Aberdeen, has served as the perfect introduction to the game for countless new players.   His Tartan Pro Tour also provides vital playing opportunities for professionals who dream of a spot on the Challenge and DP World Tour.    H...

New drivers, irons, putters – the big equipment brands are launching their latest products and the prices may not be for the faint-hearted. It doesn’t matter how you dress it up, £500 is a chunk of change for a new driver and a through-the-bag set will run into thousands. What goes into the pricing? Is it about profit or is the technology, research, and effort that goes into making new clubs worth...

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to golf courses. One player’s links paradise is another’s heathland heaven. But even allowing for the most passionate discussion, there are plenty of layouts out there we all agree are superb. Rankings lists would be sunk without them! So what is it that makes a golf course great? In this week’s The NCG Golf Podcast, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll go...

It’s a brave new world for The NCG Golf Podcast. No more From the Clubhouse. We’ve put The Slam to bed, and we’re back with a solitary, singular, golf podcast. But Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll remain your hosts and will continue to debate the things that matter to you.  Has it finally stopped raining? The heavens may have paused, but the last three months have been unbelievable for golf courses. We...

Has Jon Rahm’s eye-watering move to LIV Golf fissured the sport? Has your love affair with the game been punctured by the bitter row enveloping the professional ranks? Or are you unmoved by the actions of those at the top end of the game? On this week’s episode of The NCG Golf Podcast, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll debate the ramifications of Rahm’s shift, ask if it makes LIV Golf’s proposition any...

Now we know. A ball roll back is coming for everyone. In this week’s podcast, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll dig deep into the R&A and USGA’s decision to reduce the distance the ball travels at every level of the game. We’re joined by performance coach and data expert Lou Stagner, and James Day, co-founder of Urban Golf and SounderGolf, to debate what the game's two big governing bodies have unve...

“There are only three options: We can bifurcate; you change the whole game; or you do nothing. And doing nothing is not an option.” R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers says a decision on what to do about hitting distances in golf is coming by the end of the year but, after admitting to Golf Digest’s John Huggan there had been lots of opposition to the R&A and USGA’s proposed Model Local Ru...

What is it about Augusta week that Billy Foster can’t wait to be over? What does he think has ruined golf? And why is comparing the camaraderie between the European and US Ryder Cup teams like ‘Halifax Town playing Manchester City?’ Europe’s best-known caddie is our guest on this week’s From the Clubhouse podcast and the proud Yorkshireman has once again delivered a masterclass in straight-talking...

Those big WHS changes have certainly got your tongues wagging. And while we’ve told you in great detail about what’s coming to Great Britain & Ireland next April, what do we really think about them? In this week’s From the Clubhouse, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll go through the big changes and speak their minds. Is Course Rating minus Par a good thing? Are the new fourball betterball rules a fud...

What a week it has been in the world of club golf! Big changes are coming to the World Handicap System and we’re going to mark your card. In a special edition of the From the Clubhouse podcast, Steve Carroll is joined by England Golf’s head of handicapping, James Luke, to go through all the new WHS stuff coming to GB&I next year. NOW READ: What changes are coming to the World Handicap System?...