The Firm & Fast Golf Podcast

Episode 40: An Afternoon with Pat Ruddy - Part 2 of 3 - The European Club

March 6th, 2024  |  47 mins 55 secs

Part 2 of 3 of our fireside chat with Pat Ruddy the owner and designer of The European Club located in Brittas Bay, Co. Wicklow.

Episode 39: An Afternoon with Pat Ruddy - Part 1 of 3 - Ballymote to The Point and Beyond

February 21st, 2024  |  1 hr 3 mins

Part 1 of 3 exploring the life and times of Pat Ruddy - golf course architect, golf journalist, author, bibliophile, historian and publisher. Pat has designed or revised 50 golf courses in Ireland including The European Club, Druids Glen, The Glashedy at Ballyliffin, Sandy Hills at Rosapenna, Donegal Golf Club, Portsalon Golf Club,

Episode 38: Mike DeVries of CDP Golf & DeVries Design

February 13th, 2024  |  1 hr 53 mins

Mike DeVries of CDP Golf and DeVries Designs joins us today for a long overdue chat. Mike updates us on some of CDP's ongoing projects including 7 Mile Beach on Hobart as well as The Addington in London. We also explore some of his early influences at Crystal Downs in Michigan.

Episode 37: ODG Series #5 - Calvin Peete - Golf's Forgotten Star

January 24th, 2024  |  1 hr 1 min

We return to our ODG series in this episode to focus on Calvin Peete - a forgotten star of 1980's golf. Calvin would overcome significant obstacles to become a winner on the PGA Tour on 12 occasions. He truly was one of the best golfers in the world during from 1982 - 86. The story of how he qualified for the 1983 Ryder Cup is worth a listen by itself.

Episode 36: 2023 Firm & Fast Year in Review with Ally McIntosh

January 3rd, 2024  |  1 hr 9 mins

2023 Year in Review

Episode 35: Dutch Golf Series #6 - Rockets Over Wild Farm & The Atlantic Wall

December 23rd, 2023  |  52 mins 27 secs

charles hugh alison, daniel wolf, de haagsche golf club, domburgsche golf club, koninklijke haagsche golf & country club, noordwijk golf club, robin bargmann, royal hague golf club, steve zivin, the atlantic wall, the first v2 rocket, the kennemer golf club, world war 2

This episode explores the story of Daniel Wolf as he hurriedly rushed to get a new golf course constructed upon his personal estate in The Hague. We also look at how construction of the Atlantic Wall effected golf properties along the coast of the Netherlands during and after WW2.

Episode 34: Dutch Golf Series #5 - Robin Bargmann #3 - Nascent Modern Dutch Golf

December 9th, 2023  |  1 hr 6 mins

Our final episode with Robin Bargmann focuses on foundation of the first Dutch golf clubs. Many of these courses no longer exist in their original locations, now being located on comparatively better grounds for golf. The early course development pioneers also had the fortune and foresight to engage the services of both master designers in Colt & Company and the local course building contractor H. Copijn & zoon.

Episode 33: Dutch Golf Series #4 - Robin Bargmann #2

November 17th, 2023  |  57 mins 35 secs

batavia, colf, dutch east india company, dutch golf, robin bargmann, the burghers, the dutch masters

Robin Bargmann joins us again for part 2 of our 3 part chat about his research into the dutch influence on the early days of golf in Scotland and early golf in the Netherlands.

Episode 32: Dutch Golf Series #3 - Robin Bargmann #1

October 29th, 2023  |  1 hr 12 mins

Robin Bargmann joins us for the first instalment of an exploration of early golf. The historical influences that have been forgotten through time and the pollination across borders of people, language, games and culture that influenced the modern game of golf.

Episode 31: Dutch Golf Series #2 - Grounds for Golf in The Netherlands

October 22nd, 2023  |  46 mins 7 secs

dutch golf, dutch grounds for golf, geography, geology, history, sociology

Exploring the geology, geography, history and sociology underpinning the creation of the grounds for golf in The Netherlands.

Episode 30: Dutch Golf Series #1 - An Introduction

September 18th, 2023  |  44 mins 12 secs

frank pont, george waters, golf in the netherlands, jasper miners, mike clayton

And now for something completely different! A podcast series inspired by a golf trip to the Netherlands in June 2023.

Episode 29: New Series on Dutch Golf... Releases tomorrow... Advance Bonus Content

September 17th, 2023  |  3 mins 52 secs

And now for something completely different.... new docupod series releases tomorrow

Episode 28: ODG Series #4 - A.V. Macan with Jeff Mingay

August 3rd, 2023  |  1 hr 48 mins

arthur vernon macan, jeff mingay

Arthur Vernon (A.V.) Macan was an accomplished amateur golfer who emigrated from Ireland to British Columbia, Canada in 1912. Macan is best known for his original designs at Royal Colwood, Inglewood, The California Club, Overlake and Shaughnessy. Jeff Mingay joins us to shed light on a pioneer of golf course design in the Pacific Northwest of Canada and the USA.

Episode 27: The Evolution of Golf at Hoylake host of the 151st Open Championship

July 8th, 2023  |  1 hr 31 mins

151st open championship, bobby jones, fred daly, george morris, harold hilton, harry shapland colt, john ball, open championship, peter thomson, roberto di vincenzo, royal liverpool golf club

Royal Liverpool Golf Club hosts the 151st iteration of the Open Championship in July 2023 - we take a look at the evolution of the golf course since the clubs foundation in 1869, with long time member Joe McDonnell

Episode 26: Grass Routes with Richard Pennell

June 29th, 2023  |  1 hr 58 mins

firm & fast, grass routes, richard pennell, stymied blog

Friend of the pod Richard Pennell is also known by the @pitchmarks moniker on the socials. A life long procrastinator, Richard finally grasped the writing nettle during lockdown to assist members of Woking GC to deal with covid induced isolation, he would go on to write an as yet unpublished book (it's a masterpiece) and subsequently launch his stymied substack bog in November 2021. 90 plus missives have been published so far - he has some news, which he wants to share with us... it's great to have him back!

Episode 25: The Return of Evalu18’s Jasper Miners

June 10th, 2023  |  2 hrs 4 mins

golden age, golf architecture, golf history

Jasper Miners of Evalu18 makes a return visit to discuss exciting news on a master planning project for one of Harry S Colt's very best courses, St Georges Hill. We also touch on Jaspers' trips to Ireland, the USA, Australia and New Zealand . It was great to have him back!