We're excited to announce that we're hosting an FEGC meetup with the team over at Poppy Ridge on Sunday, December 28 at 11:00 a.m. Jay Blasi, architect of the new course, is going to be on site with us to talk through the project and then we'll head out and play the new layout.
We have space for 20 people so if you'd like to attend, please reply here or shoot me an email at will@thefriedegg.com. This will be a walking only event.
We're excited to announce that we're hosting an FEGC meetup with the team over at Poppy Ridge on Sunday, December 28 at 11:00 a.m. Jay Blasi, architect of the new course, is going to be on site with us to talk through the project and then we'll head out and play the new layout.
We have space for 20 people so if you'd like to attend, please reply here or shoot me an email at will@thefriedegg.com. This will be a walking only event.
I've enjoyed listening to your reflections on your trip to Surrey/Berkshire and Kent. I was wondering if you could say a bit more about what fascinated you so much about RSG and Deal and why you had them seemingly higher than Sunningdale or St George's Hill. I play most of my golf on the west links of North Berwick, so maybe I'm spoiled by links and heathland feels like a change of pace, but I'm much more enamoured by the heathland than the links of southern England. That isn't to say that Kent courses aren't fantastic, but the routing, greens, and turf around Surrey only compete with the Sandbelt in my opinion. Is it a case of preferring links? Or is it something about the greens at RSG that put it over the top for you?
I've enjoyed listening to your reflections on your trip to Surrey/Berkshire and Kent. I was wondering if you could say a bit more about what fascinated you so much about RSG and Deal and why you had them seemingly higher than Sunningdale or St George's Hill. I play most of my golf on the west links of North Berwick, so maybe I'm spoiled by links and heathland feels like a change of pace, but I'm much more enamoured by the heathland than the links of southern England. That isn't to say that Kent courses aren't fantastic, but the routing, greens, and turf around Surrey only compete with the Sandbelt in my opinion. Is it a case of preferring links? Or is it something about the greens at RSG that put it over the top for you?
Kansas City Country Club posted some drone footage of its A.W. Tillinghast-designed course, which recently underwent a historical renovation by Andrew Green. Lots of cool-looking holes out there. I'm not a fan of the all-green-everywhere turf presentation, but just about every club does it these days, so I can't fault KCCC specifically.
Kansas City Country Club posted some drone footage of its A.W. Tillinghast-designed course, which recently underwent a historical renovation by Andrew Green. Lots of cool-looking holes out there. I'm not a fan of the all-green-everywhere turf presentation, but just about every club does it these days, so I can't fault KCCC specifically.
Seriously, what's the point of going through this exercise every two years? The list has barely changed.
Oh, right. Golf media outlets need to sell magazines and drive website traffic in November.
Also: I need something to talk about, and here I am. I'm part of the problem.
Anyway, I spent about 10 minutes comparing the 2023 and 2025 lists, and here are the main differences I spotted (I may have missed a few):
New-course debuts:
Childress Hall (Upper) at 73
CapRock Ranch at 84
Te Arai (North) at 98
Some of my colleagues have been to Tom Doak's Upper Course at Childress Hall, which opened last December, and they tell me that the hype is real. Amazing golf course. But I remain opposed to the idea of ranking a course ahead of Old Town Club and Machrihanish before it's even a year old. At least give the place time to grow in fully.
Double-digit risers:
New South Wales from 64 to 26
Royal Troon from 66 to 53
The Lido from 68 to 48
St. George's Hill from 71 to 57
Lofoten Links from 88 to 66
Bandon Trails from 90 to 76
Royal Melbourne (East) from 92 to 82
Shanqin Bay from 95 to 64
The Lido appears to be holding strong after a big debut on the 2023 list. It now out-ranks every Dream Golf course except for Pacific Dunes.
New South Wales recently underwent a renovation by Mackenzie & Ebert and seems to be reaping the benefits.
Double-digit droppers:
Ballyneal from 51 to 63
Cabot Cliffs from 52 to 78
Cape Kidnappers from 55 to 65
Woodhall Spa from 58 to 74
Rye from 72 to 90
Rock Creek Cattle Co. from 73 to 88
Cabot Links from 79 to 96
Winged Foot (East) from 80 to 91
Ohoopee Match Club from 81 to 99
Les Bordes (New) from 83 to off the list
I wouldn't read much into any of these declines (or into the rises I mentioned earlier, for that matter). A lot of the reshuffling from year to year is basically random. But I do think the new-car smell is starting to wear off of some of the modern courses listed above. The really good ones will bounce back in the panel's esteem.
Since I find this ranking somewhat boring, I'll try to spice things up: what do you think is the most overrated course on the list?
I'll stake my flag on No. 60, the East Course at Oak Hill Country Club.
Seriously, what's the point of going through this exercise every two years? The list has barely changed.
Oh, right. Golf media outlets need to sell magazines and drive website traffic in November.
Also: I need something to talk about, and here I am. I'm part of the problem.
Anyway, I spent about 10 minutes comparing the 2023 and 2025 lists, and here are the main differences I spotted (I may have missed a few):
New-course debuts:
Childress Hall (Upper) at 73
CapRock Ranch at 84
Te Arai (North) at 98
Some of my colleagues have been to Tom Doak's Upper Course at Childress Hall, which opened last December, and they tell me that the hype is real. Amazing golf course. But I remain opposed to the idea of ranking a course ahead of Old Town Club and Machrihanish before it's even a year old. At least give the place time to grow in fully.
Double-digit risers:
New South Wales from 64 to 26
Royal Troon from 66 to 53
The Lido from 68 to 48
St. George's Hill from 71 to 57
Lofoten Links from 88 to 66
Bandon Trails from 90 to 76
Royal Melbourne (East) from 92 to 82
Shanqin Bay from 95 to 64
The Lido appears to be holding strong after a big debut on the 2023 list. It now out-ranks every Dream Golf course except for Pacific Dunes.
New South Wales recently underwent a renovation by Mackenzie & Ebert and seems to be reaping the benefits.
Double-digit droppers:
Ballyneal from 51 to 63
Cabot Cliffs from 52 to 78
Cape Kidnappers from 55 to 65
Woodhall Spa from 58 to 74
Rye from 72 to 90
Rock Creek Cattle Co. from 73 to 88
Cabot Links from 79 to 96
Winged Foot (East) from 80 to 91
Ohoopee Match Club from 81 to 99
Les Bordes (New) from 83 to off the list
I wouldn't read much into any of these declines (or into the rises I mentioned earlier, for that matter). A lot of the reshuffling from year to year is basically random. But I do think the new-car smell is starting to wear off of some of the modern courses listed above. The really good ones will bounce back in the panel's esteem.
Since I find this ranking somewhat boring, I'll try to spice things up: what do you think is the most overrated course on the list?
I'll stake my flag on No. 60, the East Course at Oak Hill Country Club.
I have two tee times booked at Poppy Ridge in mid December. I got the earliest times I could get, and the Sunday time is definitely a twilight time with some finishing risk. My son will join on Sunday.
Sunday, Dec 14, 1:10pm, $100 per player (Chris Brooks, Jacob Brooks, two openings), pay at course
Monday, Dec 15, 12:20pm - pre-paid $486.00, $121.50 per player (Chris Brooks, three openings)
I will also book the 9 holer for Monday morning (lots of times available) once we have an idea of our numbers. I'm going to be staying somewhere in Livermore on Sunday night.
I have two tee times booked at Poppy Ridge in mid December. I got the earliest times I could get, and the Sunday time is definitely a twilight time with some finishing risk. My son will join on Sunday.
Sunday, Dec 14, 1:10pm, $100 per player (Chris Brooks, Jacob Brooks, two openings), pay at course
Monday, Dec 15, 12:20pm - pre-paid $486.00, $121.50 per player (Chris Brooks, three openings)
I will also book the 9 holer for Monday morning (lots of times available) once we have an idea of our numbers. I'm going to be staying somewhere in Livermore on Sunday night.
Just dropped a new blog going over a little BTS for an LPGA/Epson PT this past year! A short read for those who would be interested in hearing a little more about the physical therapists role with the players on a given week!
Can't get the link to work but if you copy and paste this URL it will take you straight there!
Just dropped a new blog going over a little BTS for an LPGA/Epson PT this past year! A short read for those who would be interested in hearing a little more about the physical therapists role with the players on a given week!
Can't get the link to work but if you copy and paste this URL it will take you straight there!
I had the great pleasure of meeting up with four FEGC members yesterday at Golden Gate Park GC. Myself along with Chris Brooks, Ray Gobberg, Brett Hochstein, and Jamie Hiteshew had a great round. We snuck out at 3:00 and played as a group of five. Rounds like this are truly what fill my tank.
There were plenty of good shots to recount, but my favorite moment of the day was when Brett, who is a wonderful guy and who also happened to do a lot of work on Golden Gate Park during the renovation, recommended we all hit low runners into the seventh green, which he shaped, to try to catch the contours in the ground and sling balls into the back right pin. For those of you who haven't played GGPGC, the seventh has an awesome green with three distinct quadrants. Each quadrant is relatively small, but there is a lot of mounding to work the ball into tight spaces. It's phenomenal work that Brett did and provides an equal amount of fun and challenge. I've added a couple of photos below.
The pin shown above is in the back left quadrant, whereas we were playing to the back right (just over the bunker in this picture).
Here's a more aerial view of the entire green. If you choose, you can run shots into the green using the ground and mounding on the left to feed balls hard to the right.
My highlight from the day, though, was when Jamie tried to snipe a 4i into the green and got a wee bit aggressive with his swing and sent the ball sailing onto the next tee box, coming to rest at the feet of the group of golfers in front of us. At that very moment, I remembered reading a lot of member intros where most identify as "not interested in fighting." Thankfully for us, Ray's immediate comment was something to the effect that there are five of us and only four of them AND they look old, so we can totally take them.
So I guess the TL;DR here is that Ray Gobberg is interested in fighting!
I had the great pleasure of meeting up with four FEGC members yesterday at Golden Gate Park GC. Myself along with Chris Brooks, Ray Gobberg, Brett Hochstein, and Jamie Hiteshew had a great round. We snuck out at 3:00 and played as a group of five. Rounds like this are truly what fill my tank.
There were plenty of good shots to recount, but my favorite moment of the day was when Brett, who is a wonderful guy and who also happened to do a lot of work on Golden Gate Park during the renovation, recommended we all hit low runners into the seventh green, which he shaped, to try to catch the contours in the ground and sling balls into the back right pin. For those of you who haven't played GGPGC, the seventh has an awesome green with three distinct quadrants. Each quadrant is relatively small, but there is a lot of mounding to work the ball into tight spaces. It's phenomenal work that Brett did and provides an equal amount of fun and challenge. I've added a couple of photos below.
The pin shown above is in the back left quadrant, whereas we were playing to the back right (just over the bunker in this picture).
Here's a more aerial view of the entire green. If you choose, you can run shots into the green using the ground and mounding on the left to feed balls hard to the right.
My highlight from the day, though, was when Jamie tried to snipe a 4i into the green and got a wee bit aggressive with his swing and sent the ball sailing onto the next tee box, coming to rest at the feet of the group of golfers in front of us. At that very moment, I remembered reading a lot of member intros where most identify as "not interested in fighting." Thankfully for us, Ray's immediate comment was something to the effect that there are five of us and only four of them AND they look old, so we can totally take them.
So I guess the TL;DR here is that Ray Gobberg is interested in fighting!
Garrett’s Bob Parsons impression on the architecture pod today was all time. Laughed so loud in my office, le wife had to come make sure I wasn’t choking on my bagel.
Also got me thinking, what are some other great impersonations we’ve heard over the years, golf-wise?…KVV’s Gary Player comes to mind immediately, as well as Porath’s ability to spit Paul McGinley bars at the drop of a hat.
Maybe PJ could put together an all-time FE impersonations power ranking…
Garrett’s Bob Parsons impression on the architecture pod today was all time. Laughed so loud in my office, le wife had to come make sure I wasn’t choking on my bagel.
Also got me thinking, what are some other great impersonations we’ve heard over the years, golf-wise?…KVV’s Gary Player comes to mind immediately, as well as Porath’s ability to spit Paul McGinley bars at the drop of a hat.
Maybe PJ could put together an all-time FE impersonations power ranking…
With the holiday next week, I will be doing a general mailbag with PJ, I will pull some questions from last week's architecture focused ones into the podcast but just wanted to put a call out for any questions. Thanks!
With the holiday next week, I will be doing a general mailbag with PJ, I will pull some questions from last week's architecture focused ones into the podcast but just wanted to put a call out for any questions. Thanks!
Today at 4:00 p.m. ET, we are going to reveal our 2026 FEGC and FE Events calendar. I'll include as much detail as possible but feel free to jump on and ask questions if you have them.
Today at 4:00 p.m. ET, we are going to reveal our 2026 FEGC and FE Events calendar. I'll include as much detail as possible but feel free to jump on and ask questions if you have them.
Sunday Night Baseball has officially moved to NBC. Why do I post that here?
With NBC now officially booked every Sunday Night of the year between NFL, NBA, and MLB, this adds a major hurdle to the myriad suggestions every year that the FedEx Cup Playoffs move to the west coast and air on primetime. I also wonder about west coast US Opens.
Sunday Night Baseball has officially moved to NBC. Why do I post that here?
With NBC now officially booked every Sunday Night of the year between NFL, NBA, and MLB, this adds a major hurdle to the myriad suggestions every year that the FedEx Cup Playoffs move to the west coast and air on primetime. I also wonder about west coast US Opens.
I've been listening to SGS from the beginning and I could probably count the number of episodes I've missed in that time on one hand. As such, I consider myself highly fluent in SGS-speak. Nevertheless, it seems like a nickname or two fell through the cracks. As a result, whenever these people are subsequently referenced in an episode, I have no idea who they are talking about.
One such player that came up for me from today's episode with "The Boys" was Freddie Ketchup. I've heard that name used numerous times and I still don't know who it is.
I'm hoping this thread can serve as a hub where people can ask for SGS nickname clarifications without fear of judgement :)
I've been listening to SGS from the beginning and I could probably count the number of episodes I've missed in that time on one hand. As such, I consider myself highly fluent in SGS-speak. Nevertheless, it seems like a nickname or two fell through the cracks. As a result, whenever these people are subsequently referenced in an episode, I have no idea who they are talking about.
One such player that came up for me from today's episode with "The Boys" was Freddie Ketchup. I've heard that name used numerous times and I still don't know who it is.
I'm hoping this thread can serve as a hub where people can ask for SGS nickname clarifications without fear of judgement :)
I was fortunate enough to win Lottery tickets for the Master's this April, Are there any additional course recommendations outside of Tree Farm and Old Barnwell. We were fortunate enough to play them last year, but the pricing this year is out of control.
I was fortunate enough to win Lottery tickets for the Master's this April, Are there any additional course recommendations outside of Tree Farm and Old Barnwell. We were fortunate enough to play them last year, but the pricing this year is out of control.
I know Fried Egg isn't equipment-centric (except when it comes to regulating it), but I thought I would start a topic near and dear to my heart - putters. I'm a Scotty Cameron loyalist, proud owner of 10 of them, and very excited to try the new OC line of low-torque putters that Scotty just released.
Putters, like golf architecture, are more of an art than a science, and different things appeal to different people. I'd love to hear from others on what they use, what they like, and what they collect.
I know Fried Egg isn't equipment-centric (except when it comes to regulating it), but I thought I would start a topic near and dear to my heart - putters. I'm a Scotty Cameron loyalist, proud owner of 10 of them, and very excited to try the new OC line of low-torque putters that Scotty just released.
Putters, like golf architecture, are more of an art than a science, and different things appeal to different people. I'd love to hear from others on what they use, what they like, and what they collect.
Thanks David. Feel like I heard about it in the fall. Followed all social accounts which announced application dates for December. Then simply submitted my 4 some (believe required so have your people on notice) during the couple day window and kept fingers crossed.
Had essentially 4 month turnaround then. Booked flights and airbnbs within 1st week of being drawn. They give you a couple weeks to get organized before paying and then provide your tee times and exact dates. After those 3 major things taken care of it was sporadic dinner reservations, wives massage bookings, etc. We also did 6 days in Edinburgh and a 1 day highlands bus to appease wives. Snuck an early round at Braid Hills which was awesome. I'm a bit of a planner and love the research and doing things ourselves.
2nd time playing TOC regular and it certainly helped. The more times around the more you "get it". 1st time I played pretty decent and had some birdies, which is why I went hickories this time. Totally different experience thinking about more of the bunkers and being forced into the ground game at times. Also the 1st tee last time I probably had a 150 heart rate. Was a lot calmer this time and enjoyed seeing my 2 buddies who hadnt played it before freaking out with nervous energy. Both shipped it into the burn 😅
Crazy Idea For Funding The Construction Of Affordable Public Golf
Apr 25
I think the major challenge is about continuing capital costs. Essentially the founders provide your starting costs and the only guaranteed money you have. From there you effectively would be using all your other daily fees to pay your expenses. Does that give you enough of a float to run things?
Guests half price cuts some of that amount a bit further, as does the 3% cap. I think it’s noble and admire the idea. But in financially tough times, I think there are a handful of boxes this framework creates that would be hard to get out of or involve some painful conversations with members that walk them back.
That’s awesome Mike! When did you hear about the lottery and how much time did you have to plan to get over there? How many times have you played the Old and do you think that amount (or any prior experience) makes a difference in your enjoyment?
Would love to hear your 10-round split among Ross courses given how diverse they are in location and character. For legacy has any architect had a bigger impact on Midwest? (Oakland Hills South, Inverness, Scioto, Interlachen, Franklin Hills, great Chicago catalog, dude was a Problem)
Branching off the Bruce Hepner discussion on economical design, does Ross' municipal work provide any architectural best practices for economic design in the muni setting? I live 5 minutes Rackham GC and am biased but would love to see a big ticket renovation of that course given the large swath of Detroit it services.
I had a couple of thoughts based on Justin's great question before me.
I think Augusta's best feature (or at least the best feature that is still with us today) is its routing. I'd like to hear thoughts specifically on how the routing may be different had Ross gotten the job at ANGC.
Mackenzie also used focal points in his routing to bunch up various features - the clubhouse hill that houses 1 and 10s tee as well as 9 and 18s green; the area with 3 and 8s tee and 7, 2, and 17s greens; and the section with 6, 15, and 16s greens just to name a few. Are there any specific land features out there you think Mackenzie passed on that Ross would have used as focal points? Any greensites that you think Ross would have gone for that Mackenzie didn't choose to build on?
I think this was a part of the Fried Egg's Cypress Point video, but someone said that the claim that Raynor did the most important work at Cypress because he is responsible for the routing isn't fair. Mackenzie would have certainly chose to build a similar routing. Is ANGC the same way? Is the land so extreme that there was only one way to really route that course, is Amen Corner too perfect of place for those holes, or do you think Ross's routing would have been different? Would love to just hear any thoughts y'all have on how Ross may have used the land at ANGC.
I had a couple of thoughts based on Justin's great question before me.
I think Augusta's best feature (or at least the best feature that is still with us today) is its routing. I'd like to hear thoughts on how the routing may be different had Ross gotten the job at ANGC.
Mackenzie also used focal points in his routing to bunch up various features - the clubhouse hill that houses 1 and 10s tee as well as 9 and 18s green; the area with 3 and 8s tee and 7, 2, and 17s greens; and the section with 6, 15, and 16s greens just to name a few. Are there any specific land features out there you think Mackenzie passed on that Ross would have used as focal points? Any greensites that you think Ross would have gone for that Mackenzie didn't choose to build on?
I think this was a part of the Fried Egg's Cypress Point video, but someone said that the claim that Raynor did the most important work at Cypress because it was routing isn't fair. Mackenzie would have certainly chose to build a similar routing. Is ANGC the same way? Is the land so extreme that there was only one way to really route that course or do you think Ross's routing would have been different? Would love to just hear any thoughts y'all have on how Ross may have used the land at ANGC.
A follow-up. We know Donny didn’t see every site he built a golf course on. Are there characteristics of the courses he visited that are not present in the sites he did not visit? In other ways, is there a way to tell if he was present during the build or not.
If you were blindfolded and led onto an anonymous golf course, what elements - routing, hazard placement, green shapes - would tell you it's a Ross design?
Does Ross have any template holes he returned to?
