Shane Derby
Host of The Firm & Fast Golf Podcast
A native of Dublin, Ireland, Shane has been playing golf on and off since his grandfather first gave him some John Letters cut down clubs at the age of 7.
Over the past 14 years he has worked in and out of the golf space in roles focussed on Golf Club Marketing and Demand Management, Managed Services/Consultancy and Golf Club Hire.
He has travelled extensively for golf throughout Ireland, UK, Europe and Australia.
During a round at Kingston Heath in Melbourne, Australia in January 2020 he had a out of body experience (think lack of sleep due to jet lag and a lightbulb moment associated with strategic golf design) which led him peering into the golf course architecture rabbit hole.
Since these tentative steps into 'the dark' he has come to the conclusion that there are many unknown unknowns within the golf space, the phrase 'growing the game' generally equates to 'lining my pockets' and that the interplay between history, the evolution of the game and an increased golfing IQ of the general golfing populace needs to be understood in an effort to ensure that we can sustain the great game that we all love.
Shane hopes to introduce you to the road less travelled in golfing terms. This road will introduce you to important voices within the golf space in an effort to bring you on a journey of exploration that should prove interesting, informative and entertaining .
Tune in and enjoy!
Shane Derby has hosted 53 Episodes.
-
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!
-
Episode 24: ODG Series #3 - Eddie Hackett with Ally McIntosh
May 5th, 2023 | 1 hr 37 mins
carne golf links, donegal, enniscrone, murvagh, rosapenna, strandhill, wild atlantic way
The ODG Series returns with an episode focussed on the Irish golf course architect Eddie Hackett. Hackett was involved in creating or revising over 100 Irish golf courses for 30 years from the mid 1960's until his death in 1995. Hackett is best known for his designs of links courses such as Waterville, Carne Golf Links, Donegal, Ballyliffin Old, Enniscrone and Connemara. Our regular architecture contributor Ally McIntosh joins us to explore Hackett's legacy.
-
Episode 23: Frank Pont - CDP's Bunker Renovation at The Royal Dublin Golf Club
April 6th, 2023 | 1 hr 58 mins
bunker renovation, bunker restoration, cdp, clayton de vries & pont, the royal dublin golf club
The Royal Dublin Golf Club is the second oldest course on the island of Ireland. In this episode we take explore the bunker renovation project that Clayton, De Vries & Pont have been implementing at Dollymount with the help of DAR Golf Construction, Whitemoss Eco and the in-house links team led by Course Manager Alan Hammond. Frank Pont from CDP joins us in this episode to take a look at the now completed project.
-
Episode 22: Rod Morri - The Godfather of Golf Podcasting
March 17th, 2023 | 2 hrs 4 mins
adrian logue, geoff shackleford, good good golf, i seek golf, john huggan, mike clayton, rod morri, the state of the game
Was Rod Morri born with a microphone in his hand and a pen in his pocket? He's generally the man asking the questions and opining on golf in his weekly column in the Australian Golf Magazine. We are very pleased to welcome Rod to the Firm and Fast Golf Podcast for a chat.