The Yardage Book Podcast

Hello and welcome back! It was a pleasure to chat with Corey Finn recently, who is the Director of Agronomy of Yas Links, Yas Acres and Saadiyat Beach Golf Club in Abu Dhahbi. Originally from Southland, Corey has had a fascinating career at courses such as The Hills and Doha Golf Club before his time in Abu Dhabi.  Corey gave great insight into prepping Yas Links each year for the Abu Dhabi Champi...

Welcome Back! It was great to discuss the latest NZ Golf Course Rankings that have recently been released with Ranking Co-ordinator Andrew Whiley. Andrew last joined us back in 2024 for the previous edition.  Andrew gave some insight into how this list was formulated, the main differences between last edition's ranking, and some on the notable panellists.  Please see the full list and Andrew&...

Hello and welcome back! It was a thrill to be joined by Michael Goldstein and Leo Barber as we discussed the best Par 3s in New Zealand. This is my no means an exhaustive list, but we explored the great one-shotters that NZ has to offer from the deep south to far north.  The Youtube Podcast with accompanying photos can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz5hDU-bwbk We are proud to be p...

Hello and Welcome Back It was great to catch up with Sean and Stephen from Yes Life Golf, who have recently released their new app 'Golfed' which allows golfers from all over NZ to track which courses they have played, leave reviews, add friends and much more. Stephen and Sean gave great insight into the backstory behind the app and future plans.  Download the app here: https://apps.appl...

Hello and welcome back! It was a pleasure to chat with Black Cap Mitchell Santner recently on his passion for golf which he manages to squeeze in around his cricketing career. Mitch currently plays off a +2.7 handicap, and has played many amazing courses on his travels around the world. It was great to hear Mitch's thoughts on why cricketers are gravitating towards golf, some of his early gol...

Hello and Welcome Back! It was great to chat with Sam Jones recently to debrief his win in the latest Cisco Series event up in Taupo at the Entelar Group Invitational. Sam gave great insight into life playing on the Hotel Planner Tour over in Europe, and talked about some of the great golf in his home Province in Taranaki.  We are proud to be presented by Power Turf NZ. Who are New Zealand's...

Hello and welcome back! It was a pleasure to chat with both Kerry Mountcastle and Josh Geary this week to preview the Summerset Charles Tour's UNLIMIT Taranaki Open at New Plymouth Golf Club which kicks off this week! Kerry is the inform man this season with a win at The Brian Green Property Group Super 6s in Manawatu and a Runner-up at last week's Autex Muriwai Open. Josh Geary is the d...

Welcome Back! We are really excited to preview the next event on the Summerset Charles Tour schedule with The Autex Muriwai Open taking place next week at Muriwai links. It was great to preview the event with Harry Middleton who is the Superintendent at Muriwai Links and Phil Tataurangi, the Consulting Architect. We chatted to both Harry and Phil about the ongoing changes at the site, the test it...

Welcome back! It was a pleasure to visit 7 mile Beach recently and play the heavily anticipated South Course which opened for 18 hole play in December 2025. To start the episode Mitch and I give our thoughts on this phenomenal course and how it stacked up against our lofty expectations. For the bulk of the episode we talk to Will Kay who is the General Manager at 7 mile and he gave some awesome in...

Hello and welcome back! It was a pleasure to sit down with Luke Toomey recently to discuss his return to professional golf at the Entelar Group Invitational in Taupo as part of the Cisco Series. Tooms will be joining the likes of of Josh Geary, Sam Jones and Kerry Mountcastle in the pro-am event across 2 days at Wairakei International and The Kinloch Club. It was great to hear Tooms' expectat...

Welcome Back! It was a pleasure to chat with Kazuma Kobori recently to chat about his career so far, including his NZPGA Championship win in 2019 and his 2023 Australian Amateur Victory.  Kazuma gave great details on his early golfing life in North Canterbury and talked about life on the DP World Tour. Note that this interview was recorded a few weeks ago - just Prior to the ISPS Handa event at RA...

Hello and Welcome Back! We are excited to announce we are working in association with Golf NZ to preview the 2026/27 Summerset Charles Tour season. The first event up is the Brian Green Property Group Super 6s at historic Manawatu GC. To preview the event we were joined by Dave Mangan from Golf NZ who is the GM of Championships and Golf Operations. Dave gave some great insight into unique Super 6s...

Hello and Welcome Back!  It was a pleasure to chat with Mike Cocking recently, who is a Director of golf architecture firm - OCM. OCM are behind the redevelopment of The Hills Golf Club near Arrowtown, which promises to be an amazing transformation of the existing layout. Mike spoke in depth on his thoughts of the existing layout, and some of the changes that they will look to make as work gets un...

Welcome back! It was a pleasure to chat with Mark Hooker recently, who is the Director of Agronomy at Royal Auckland and The Grange GC. Mark gave some fantastic insight into his career, which includes positions all over the globe and how he ended up in his current position at RAGGC. Mark detailed the preparation for this weeks' ISPS Handa Japan Australasian Championship and listed some of his...

Welcome Back! It was a pleasure to sit down with Dylan Higgins recently to preview this week's NZPGA Championship at Paraparaumu Beach GC. Dylan is 16 months into the GM role and gave plenty of great insight about how PBGC has come to host the event, and how he believes one of the great courses of New Zealand will provide a championship test to the players this week. I'd encourage anyone...

Welcome Back! It was awesome to sit down and chat with Dylan Lindstrom recently, who is the GM of Royal Wellington Golf Club. Royal Wellington is the host of this weeks' Asia Pacific Women's Amateur Championship alongside the R&A. The event promises to be a fantastic spectacle and a big boost for golf in the Wellington Region. Dylan chatted about all that goes on behind the scenes to...

Welcome Back! It was a pleasure to have Matt Wallbank back on the pod this week to debrief the top100golfcourses.com New Zealand top 50 ranking. Matt and I were both on the panel for this list, so were able to share our thoughts on the final rankings, and how the criteria for this list differs from others. Most importantly I feel it highlights the increasing depth and variety on offer for those pl...

Hello and welcome back! It was a pleasure to sit down in person with Brendan Allen who is currently Head of Construction at Douglas Links, which is a new golf course being built about 15 minutes north Otaki on the Kapiti Coast. Douglas Links has had several road blocks but is now fully into the construction phase and sits on a sensational site. It is the brainchild of XERO co-founder Hamish Edward...

Welcome back! Really excited to share our first episode of 2026 with New Zealand's top male golfer Ryan Fox. Ryan is fresh off a career season on the PGA Tour, with 2 fantastic playoff wins. We chatted about his early memories of the Auckland golf-course scene, his home base at Royal Auckland and the Grange GC, and his ambassador role with Te Arai Links. We covered Ryan's many course rec...

Welcome Back! It was awesome to chat with Sean Towndrow, who is a professional golfer and the driving force behind Yes Life Golf. Sean is on the mission of playing every golf course in NZ, and has already ticked off 57! Sean had a stellar amateur career in the north of England, having made the semi-final of the British Amateur in 2014 including a victory over Jon Rahm on the way. Enjoy  Check out...

Welcome back! It was a privilege to chat to Bryce Casey last week to discuss his upcoming participation in Chasing The Fox as part of Team Media. Which is being held later this week at Royal Auckland and The Grange GC. Bryce gave some awesome insight into how he got into golf, life as a member of Titirangi GC and what it was like to play along Ryan Fox recently on the famed Alister MacKenzie layou...

Welcome Back! It was great to catch up with Mitch Powell earlier in the week to react to the latest Golf.com top 100 list and on the back end we talked through my recent visits to Otago GC, Chilsholm Links, Roxburgh GC, Jack's Point and The Hills. Enjoy 

Hello and welcome back! It was fantastic to chat recently with Billy Burnley who is currently an Assistant Superintendent at famed Pasatiempo Golf Club in California.  With stints at Manawatu GC, Northland GC, Cypress Point, Lake Nona and Te Arai Links. It was great learn about Billy's progression in the turf industry and many of the learnings he has taken along the way.  Enjoy 

Welcome Back! It was a privilege to sit down with Jim Rohrstaff to discuss the amazing announcement that the South Course at Te Arai Links will be hosting the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship next year. Jim talked us through the background behind the announcement, tournament logistics and course set-up. Jim also gave us an update on The Hills redevelopment, Rory McIlroy's visit to NZ last ye...

Hello and Welcome Back. Really excited to share a new series we have been brainstorming over recent weeks. Architecture Spotlight. Which will be an exploration of the architectural history and principles of our most prominent New Zealand courses. Joining me throughout the whole series will be Michael Goldstein. Michael is a previous pod guest, Tournament Director of the NZ Open, and is extremely w...