‘’I don’t like the glamour, I just like the game’’, Ben Hogan

A huge thanks to Dean Robertson for being so generous with his time for this week’s pod. We spent the day with Dean at Stirling University, where he talked us through his career before the Walker Cup, and then every detail of the team’s preparation, Project 13.5, and that incredible weekend at Lahinch. Part 1 out now 🎧 apple.co/4Bzw5oy

Still daydreaming about @Rosapenna1893 🍀

Bruce Critchley telling stories about Peter Alliss, Augusta and champagne. We could listen to Bruce talk for days. One of our favourite guests this year.

The 12th on the Old Tom Links might be the best hole at @Rosapenna1893. A dogleg right along the ocean, cambering away from you, with a cavernous fairway bunker that forces you either to take it on for a clear view of the green or to lay up short and leave a blind, long approach. Drop this hole into Royal St George’s, Portrush or County Down and it would be a standout there too.

Two things at @WokingGolf to file straight into the elite cabinet: The ginger snaps on arrival, served in honour of Bobby Jones. And the bar’s octagonal tables with their angled chairs, which tie together so perfectly.

The Old Tom Links at @Rosapenna1893. Somehow this is the more understated and subtle of the three courses 🤯

Bruce Critchley joins the pod this week for a fascinating conversation on his broadcasting career, the course changes at his home club Sunningdale, his dazzling amateur career, and the careers of his parents too. A wonderful hour of stories, and you can hear the full interview below. 🎧 apple.co/4yvnOPv

Undoubtedly one of our favourite holes from @Rosapenna1893 a fortnight ago. The 320-yard 14th on Sandy Hills, and its awkwardly slanted fairway - awkward for a right-hander, anyway.

A fun exercise would be listing the best two consecutive holes in Britain: 17 & 18 at St Andrews, 15 & 16 at Portrush, 4 & 5 at Sandwich etc. But few people would mention the 10th and 11th at @Haylinggolfclub. Two absolute belters.

Hats off to @GJRobertsTurf and his team at @Haylinggolfclub Firm fescue surrounds running down into bunkers of every imaginable shape and size. The variety and white sand gives Hayling an individual aesthetic that works brilliantly.

The 10th on the Sandy Hills course at @Rosapenna1893. Going to be hard to leave this one off the 2027 calendar.

What if we told you there’s a course on the south coast covered in pillboxes, laid out by a golden age architect, that drains impeccably and is arguably one of winter’s great destinations - and its name isn’t Rye? Never a bad day at @Haylinggolfclub

Doak was given some of the best land in GB&I to build St Patrick’s, but it isn’t the only course at @Rosapenna1893 sitting on incredible dunes. The Old Tom Links occupies great ground. But the surprise was Sandy Hills - a course we’d heard relatively little about - which runs through some of the most spectacular dunes we’ve ever seen, right next door to St Pats, and without leaving the dunes once.