Shows / Designing Golf
Designing Golf
Designing Golf is a show about golf courses: how they’re built, who builds them, and which ones are worth playing. Hosted by Fried Egg Golf’s Garrett Morrison, Designing Golf will explore all facets of golf architecture, from its basic principles to its history to its practitioners to its best examples in the United States and abroad. Each episode will investigate a different topic in a fun, concise way. Whether you’re a longtime aficionado or a beginner in the subject, Designing Golf will…
Episodes
- Designing Golf
The Story of Sand Hills
For a long time, we’ve wanted to do an in-depth exploration of the Sand Hills Golf Club, Coore & Crenshaw’s masterpiece in Mullen, Nebraska. The…
- Designing Golf
All About Short Course Architecture
Short courses are having a moment right now. They’re being built at a breakneck pace and enjoying a kind of cultural relevancy that would have been hard…
- Designing Golf
The Winter Park Renovation, 10 Years Later
Ten years ago today, Winter Park — a nine-hole municipal golf course in a suburban town outside of Orlando, Florida — underwent one of the most…
- Designing Golf
Golf Architecture 101: The Uses of Out-of-Bounds
Many golfers don’t like seeing out-of-bounds stakes anywhere near a playing corridor; they object on principle. Yet some of the most famous, revered…
- Designing Golf
The Story of East Potomac Golf Links
On September 1, East Potomac Golf Links, a popular municipal golf facility in Washington, D.C., was supposed to shut down for a massive renovation led by the…
- Designing Golf
Michael Keiser’s Second Act
When Mike Keiser opened Bandon Dunes in 1999, his son Michael was 18 years old. Michael Jr. went on to play a key role in the expansion of the Keiser…
- Designing Golf
Great Courses: Merion
Among America’s greatest golf courses, the East Course at Merion Golf Club is one of the oldest. It’s no surprise, then, that it’s relatively…
- Designing Golf
Golf Architecture 101: Greens
On any golf course, the greens are the center of gravity. Around 40% of the shots we hit in a given round on a regulation course are putts. Over half will be…
- Designing Golf
A Royal Birkdale Deep Dive
Next week, Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England, will host the Open Championship for the 11th time. The pros will probably love it (because they…
- Designing Golf
What’s New in Public Destination Golf?
One of the biggest stories in the golf course industry over the past 30 years has been the rise of the public destination golf. The 2020s in particular have…
- Designing Golf
Great Architects: William Flynn
William Flynn, the designer of Shinnecock Hills, was one of the greatest golf architects of the Golden Age. In this episode of Designing Golf, we explore his…
- Designing Golf
Great Courses: Shinnecock Hills
In two weeks, the U.S. Open returns to Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York, for the sixth time. This episode of Designing Golf dives deep into…
- Designing Golf
Golf Architecture 101: The Championship Setup Wars
After a surprisingly controversial PGA Championship at Aronimink, Garrett brings on his Fried Egg Golf colleague PJ Clark to chat about championship golf…
- Designing Golf
Great Architects: Donald Ross (feat Bradley Klein)
Donald Ross had one of the most prolific, impressive careers in the history of golf architecture. Yet his design methods and ideas are not as widely and…
- Designing Golf
The Economics of Golf Course Construction (feat. Bruce Hepner)
What do the different components of a golf course construction project cost? Or really — what should they cost? In today’s episode, we tackle the economics of…
- Designing Golf
The Original Augusta National (feat. Brian Schneider and Josh Pettit)
The golf course at Augusta National has changed a great deal over time. So what was the original version like? This episode dives into what Garrett calls one…
- Designing Golf
Golf Architecture 101: Routing
Most golf architects will tell you that the most important step in designing a golf course is routing — that is, locating greens, fairways, and tees, and…
- Designing Golf
Pete Dye’s Design Legacy (feat. Scot Sherman)
With the Players Championship approaching, we take a close look at the philosophy and influence of Pete Dye, the architect behind the Stadium Course at TPC…
- Designing Golf
Great Courses: Riviera (feat. Zac Blair)
With the Genesis Invitational returning to Riviera Country Club this week, Garrett digs into the masterful 1927 design by George Thomas and Billy Bell. First…
- Designing Golf
How to Appreciate Golf Courses (feat. Geoff Shackelford)
How can you properly appreciate a golf course while you’re playing it? In this episode, Garrett talks about a couple of techniques he uses to understand golf…
- Designing Golf
Why Aren’t There More Stadium Golf Courses? (feat. Tim Liddy)
In the 1980s, the concept of a stadium golf course seemed poised to take off. The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass and the PGA West Stadium Course, both designed…
- Designing Golf
2026 Golf Course Openings We're Excited About
It’s a new year, so we’re looking ahead. First, Garrett talks about whether modern golf architecture is running low on fresh ideas. Then he is joined by his…
- Designing Golf
The 10 Defining Golf Courses of the Past 15 Years
In the future, when we look back on the years between 2010 and 2025, what will we see as the golf courses that defined the era? Andy Johnson and Matt Rouches…
- Designing Golf
Golf Architecture 101: The Golden Age
What is the so-called “Golden Age of golf architecture”? In this installment of our Golf Architecture 101 series, Garrett introduces his Fried Egg Golf…
- Designing Golf
The Future of Golf Course Restoration
In the U.S., many of the greatest old golf courses have already undergone restoration work. So where can historically informed golf architecture go next? In…
- Designing Golf
Regions of Golf: The Melbourne Sandbelt
The Sandbelt of Melbourne, Australia, boasts one of the densest concentrations of great golf courses in the world: the West and East courses of Royal…
- Designing Golf
Jasper Park Rises from the Ashes
Last year, a devastating wildfire hit Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. Jasper Park Lodge and its beautiful Stanley Thompson-designed golf course…
- Designing Golf
The State of the Golf Course Industry (2025 Edition)
Garrett sits down with Greg Nathan, president and CEO of the National Golf Foundation, to take stock of the U.S. golf course industry. Has the post-Covid surge…
- Designing Golf
What Makes a Good Match-Play Golf Course?
With the Ryder Cup approaching, Garrett asks a question that has been on his mind for a while: what, if anything, suits a golf course to the match-play format?…
- Designing Golf
The History of the Idea of Fairness in Golf
Building off of our latest Golf Architecture 101 episode, Garrett Morrison sits down with golf historian Bob Crosby to discuss the historical roots of the…
- Designing Golf
Deep Dive: Cypress Point
On today’s episode, we dive deep into the history and architecture of Cypress Point Club, site of the upcoming 50th Walker Cup. First, Garrett speaks with…
- Designing Golf
Golf Architecture 101: Fairness
In the latest installment of our Golf Architecture 101 series, Garrett sits down with PJ to discuss the hot-button issue of fairness. What does it mean for a…
- Designing Golf
Bringing the UK Golf Club Model to the U.S.
American golfers who visit the UK often come back wondering the U.S. doesn’t have more private golf clubs that encourage outside play. There are a number of…
- Designing Golf
Why a Golf Course’s Footprint Is So Important
One of the most important discussions in golf architecture today relates to the “footprint” of a golf course—that is, how much space a course takes up, both…
- Designing Golf
Deep Dive: Royal Portrush
Today we’re diving deep into this year’s Open Championship venue, the Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Portrush, Northern Ireland. Garrett Morrison…
- Designing Golf
Trees and Golf
The best way to plunge a golf club into chaos is to suggest chopping down trees. In today’s episode, golf architecture author and consultant Bradley Klein…
- Designing Golf
Deep Dive: Oakmont
Today we’re diving deep into this year’s U.S. Open venue, Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. First, Garrett Morrison speaks with David Moore…
- Designing Golf
Golf Architecture 101: Template Holes
In this installment of our Golf Architecture 101 series, Garrett introduces his Fried Egg Golf colleague PJ Clark to C.B. Macdonald's "ideal holes." They…
- Designing Golf
Is It Time to Move Beyond Minimalism?
If you’ve listened to any amount of golf architecture discussion in the past two decades, you’ve probably heard the term “minimalism.” In a basic sense…
- Designing Golf
How to Design for Elite and Average Golfers Simultaneously
It’s not easy to design a golf course that challenges elite players without making average golfers want to quit the game. That was the task OCM Golf faced in…
- Designing Golf
Alister MacKenzie, Augusta National, and the 1930s in America
What was Alister MacKenzie up to in the 1930s? For one thing, he was building Augusta National. But more generally, MacKenzie was exploring new forms of golf…
- Designing Golf
Can Golf Courses Help Us Be More Human?
Beau Welling is the founder and CEO of Beau Welling Design, and in addition to collaborating with Tiger Woods and designing courses like Bluejack National and…
- Designing Golf
What Makes TPC Sawgrass Great (and How It Could Be Better)
Ahead of this week's Players Championship, Garrett Morrison is joined by Fried Egg Golf's Joseph LaMagna for a discussion about Pete Dye's Stadium Course at…
- Designing Golf
Golf Architecture 101: Alister MacKenzie's 13 Principles
In this second installment of our Golf Architecture 101 series, Garrett Morrison guides Fried Egg Golf producer PJ Clark through Alister MacKenzie’s famous 13…
- Designing Golf
The 10 Golf Architecture Books Everyone Should Read
If you want to learn more about golf course design, which books should you read? Garrett Morrison fields this question pretty frequently, so for today’s…
- Designing Golf
The Four Golf Courses That Shaped Geoff Ogilvy
Geoff Ogilvy is the 2006 U.S. Open champion, one of the sharpest minds in golf, and an architect whose firm, OCM, is making waves in the industry. In this…
- Designing Golf
Golf Architecture 101: The Three (or Two?) Schools of Design
For the first episode of our Golf Architecture 101 series, Garrett Morrison talks Fried Egg Golf producer PJ Clark through the so-called “schools”—that is…
- Designing Golf
What to Expect from Golf Architecture in 2025
Garrett Morrison sits down with Fried Egg Golf founder Andy Johnson to preview the year in golf architecture. Garrett and Andy discuss the projects…
- Designing Golf
Designing Golf Trailer
Introducing Designing Golf, a new podcast from Fried Egg Golf, hosted by Garrett Morrison. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.