Every golfer has stood over a putt and guessed. Erik Belgum learned to ask one question instead: where does the water go?

In this episode of The Bag Drop: Untold Stories in Golf, host Matt Considine and co‑host Dr. Kevin Moore (a.k.a. “The Professor”) sit down with Erik Belgum —  a design associate with Billy Fuller and Tom Kite, and right now he's elbow-deep in the dirt at Otter Creek in Columbus, Indiana — a Robert Trent Jones original being reimagined into cradle-to-grave golf. He walks Matt and the Professor through the parts of course design nobody romanticizes: the AutoCAD, the budgets, the order of operations, and the moment a green gets approved before it's actually ready.

The conversation dives into:

• How a kid pulling a cobwebbed pull cart in Iowa City ended up self-taught at Atlanta's Bobby Jones muni — on a $300 junior pass, with a five-questions-a-day limit from the pro shop
• The church pew that changed his life: ending up in a congregation with two working golf architects, Bob Cupp and Billy Fuller
• The real story of the Billy Bunker — how a highway shoulder, a McDonald's playground, and Dow Chemical turned into the industry standard
• The Cayman ball: the McGregor experiment Jack Nicklaus commissioned to make 5,000 yards play like 7,000, and the 13 dozen Erik inherited from his mentor
• Why constraint breeds creativity — bunkerless greens at Setting Down Creek, and slope as strategy at Otter Creek

Connect with our guest

💼 Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-belgum-2a587874/

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billyfullergolfdesign/

Follow The Bag Drop

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebagdrop
 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/thebagdropgolf
 📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBagDropGolf

Listen to The Bag Drop

🎧 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH

🎧 Transistor: https://thebagdrop.transistor.fm/

Join the NewClub community

🌍 Website: https://www.newclub.golf

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/

🐦 X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub

Support our Partners

🐝 NewClub: https://www.newclub.golf

🏌️ Titleist: https://www.titleist.com

🌐 Golf Blueprint: https://www.golfblueprint.com

Connect with Matt & The Professor

🎙️ Matt Considine — 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/

📚 Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") — 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/

Chapters

00:00  Cold open: back to loving chipping

00:35  Bermuda vs. bent — reading lies and no margin for error

05:48  Setting up the episode: who Erik is and why now

06:14  Fact of the week: reading before bed and the science of winding down

11:05  Partner: Titleist GTS — what the Professor got fit into

12:24  Erik joins; Otter Creek, Columbus, and the J. Irwin Miller / Cummins story

16:08  Cradle-to-grave golf: the Romp, the Pup, and the championship Otter

19:26  The unromantic side of design: AutoCAD, budgets, order of operations

21:37  Origin story: his dad, Iowa City, and a cobwebbed pull cart

24:24  A $300 junior pass and learning the game at Bobby Jones

25:50  Cart kid, the starter's nightmare tee, and "five questions a day"

26:50  The church mentors: Bob Cupp and Billy Fuller

30:34  Choosing landscape architecture; UGA, fall of 2007

33:00  His own game today: letting go of score, old equipment

35:14  What is a Cayman ball?

43:00  Inheriting 13 dozen Cayman balls from Bob Cupp

40:30  Billy Fuller's agronomy pedigree and his years at Augusta National

46:45  How the Billy Bunker was actually invented

51:38  Lessons learned: the green he approved too soon

56:42  Where does the water go — infrastructure as strategy

59:31  Setting Down Creek and how constraint breeds creativity

01:02:24  Favorite courses: Cuscawilla, Old Barnwell, North Berwick, Sunningdale

01:07:57  What success at Otter Creek looks like in a year

What is The Bag Drop?

The Bag Drop features weekly stories from the culture, community and characters shaping golf today. Produced by NewClub Golf Society, each episode blends authenticity and expert insights for passionate golfers at all levels. Special guests from clubs, courses and every corner of the changing landscape join us for thoughtful, in‑depth discussions on all things golf.

What is NewClub?

Founded in 2017, NewClub is the premier private golf society in the United States. It blends the community and access of a private club with the variety and affordability of public golf. Members enjoy thousands of reserved tee times, competitions and events at exceptional partner courses across our local chapters, as well as signature trips and exclusive perks. NewClub is revolutionizing golf membership, making the game more meaningful for those who love it.

What should never change about golf? And what should have been changed years ago?

With the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills around the corner, Matt and the Professor crack open the Rules of Golf and start drafting their own version of the game. From lost-ball penalties and green-reading books to arm-lock putters, divots, and pace of play, they each pick the rule changes they love, the ones they question, the ones they'd like to see, and the ones they hope survive forever.

What starts as a conversation about golf's rulebook quickly becomes something bigger: a debate about fairness, skill, technology, tradition, and what the game is actually trying to reward.

What the conversation dives into:

• Why the 2019 Rules modernization may have been one of the most important pace-of-play initiatives in modern golf
• The forgotten experiments with out-of-bounds penalties, including eras when stroke-and-distance didn't exist
• Whether arm-lock putters, oversized grips, and modern equipment have drifted too far from the spirit of the game
• The case for enforcing pace of play as a competitive skill, not just a courtesy
• Why "play it as it lies" remains one of golf's most important ideas, even when your ball is sitting in a divot
• The original 1744 Rules of Golf, "watery filth," and the strange rulebook debates that shaped the game we play today

Follow The Bag Drop

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebagdrop
 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/thebagdropgolf
 📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBagDropGolf

Listen to The Bag Drop

🎧 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH

🎧 Transistor: https://thebagdrop.transistor.fm/

Join the NewClub community

🌍 Website: https://www.newclub.golf

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/

🐦 X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub

Support our Partners

🐝 NewClub: https://www.newclub.golf

🏌️ Titleist: https://www.titleist.com

🌐 Golf Blueprint: https://www.golfblueprint.com

Connect with Matt & The Professor

🎙️ Matt Considine — 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/

📚 Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") — 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/

Chapters

0:00 - Intro
 09:54 - Rule Changes We Love
 12:34 - The 14-club limit and respecting the caddie
 14:34 - Pace of play, red penalty areas, and 2019's biggest wins
 17:21 - Flagsticks, green-reading books, and modern putting
 20:28 - Rule Changes We Hate
 21:32 - Touching the line of play on the green
 22:48 - The case against stroke-and-distance penalties
 27:59 - Would "distance only" make golf more fun?
 28:20 - Rule Changes We'd Like to See
 29:24 - Arm-lock putters, equipment limits, and putting skill
 33:29 - Driver heads, shaft length, and equipment regulation
 34:33 - Bringing back old rules and enforcing pace of play
 40:33 - Rules We'd Never Change
 41:15 - Why players should keep each other's score
 42:08 - Play it as it lies and the divot debate
 45:34 - The original Rules of Golf and playing your own ball
 49:08 - Double hits, dropping from the knee, and modern quirks

What is The Bag Drop?

The Bag Drop features weekly stories from the culture, community and characters shaping golf today. Produced by NewClub Golf Society, each episode blends authenticity and expert insights for passionate golfers at all levels. Special guests from clubs, courses and every corner of the changing landscape join us for thoughtful, in‑depth discussions on all things golf.

What is NewClub?

Founded in 2017, NewClub is the premier private golf society in the United States. It blends the community and access of a private club with the variety and affordability of public golf. Members enjoy thousands of reserved tee times, competitions and events at exceptional partner courses across our local chapters, as well as signature trips and exclusive perks. NewClub is revolutionizing golf membership, making the game more meaningful for those who love it.

What happens when the thing you’ve built your entire identity around suddenly stops being your job?

This week, Matt and The Professor sit down with a friend and former PGA Tour player and Korn Ferry Tour winner, Chris Wilson, for one of the most honest conversations we’ve had about professional golf, pressure, performance, and life after competition. What starts as a conversation about Q-School, Northwestern, and surviving on Tour slowly becomes something much deeper: how the elite performers learn to let go, reinvent themselves, and figure out who they are when the score no longer defines them.

Along the way, Chris explains why bad weather can free your golf swing, why “be aggressive” is terrible putting advice, how Tour players spiral after missed cuts, and why the best skill he carried from golf into finance had nothing to do with golf at all.

What the conversation dives into:

•  Why miserable weather sometimes produces the best golf 
•  The hidden psychological pressure of Tour reshuffles and missed cuts 
•  What winning on the Korn Ferry Tour actually changes - and what it doesn’t 
•  The difference between linear and nonlinear putters 
•  Why Chris says he “never thought about pace” while putting 
•  The challenge of separating your identity from your golf game 
•  What elite golf teaches you about business, communication, and relationships 
•  How learning to “care less” can actually improve performance 

Connect with our guest

💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-wilson-98b112127/

Follow The Bag Drop

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebagdrop
 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/thebagdropgolf
 📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBagDropGolf

Listen to The Bag Drop

🎧 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH

🎧 Transistor: https://thebagdrop.transistor.fm/

Join the NewClub community

🌍 Website: https://www.newclub.golf

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/

🐦 X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub

Support our Partners

🐝 NewClub: https://www.newclub.golf

🏌️ Titleist: https://www.titleist.com

🌐 Golf Blueprint: https://www.golfblueprint.com
 

Connect with Matt & The Professor

🎙️ Matt Considine — 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/

📚 Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") — 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/

Chapters

00:00 - Intro
07:57 - Chris Wilson joins the show
13:08 - Northwestern vs Ohio State
17:06 - The jump from college golf to professional golf
21:51 - PGA Tour reshuffles and surviving missed cuts
31:21 - Winning on the Korn Ferry Tour
35:29 - Leaving professional golf behind
42:53 - The philosophy of putting
49:18 - Why Chris “never thought about pace”

What is The Bag Drop?

The Bag Drop features weekly stories from the culture, community, and characters shaping golf today. Produced by NewClub Golf Society, each episode blends authenticity and expert insights for passionate golfers at all levels. Special guests from clubs, courses and every corner of the changing landscape join us for thoughtful, in-depth discussions on all things golf.

What is NewClub?

Founded in 2017, NewClub is the premier private golf society in the United States. It blends the community and access of a private club with the variety and affordability of public golf. Members enjoy thousands of reserved tee times, competitions and events at exceptional partner courses across our local chapters, as well as signature trips and exclusive perks. NewClub is revolutionizing golf membership, making the game more meaningful for those who love it.

How do you become one of the oldest and now largest predominantly black golf clubs in the world without owning a golf course? By building around people and purpose. 

In this episode of The Bag Drop: Untold Stories in Golf, host Matt Considine and cohost Dr. Kevin Moore sit down with Ralph N. Paulk, president of Tire Town Golf Club in Akron, Ohio, to talk about one of the most meaningful golf stories hiding in plain sight.

Founded in 1950, Tire Town began at a time when few local clubs allowed Black golfers to play. Today, it is known as the largest predominantly Black golf club in America — but Ralph is quick to make clear that size is not the point. The real story is what the club has become: a community built through golf, service, youth development, scholarships, volunteerism, and a stubborn belief that the game can open doors when people are willing to do the work.

The conversation dives into:

• Tire Town’s origins at Good Park and Ridge Top, and why those courses matter in Akron golf history
• What it means to be a club without a course — and why that idea resonates so deeply with NewClub
• Ralph’s life in the Marine Corps, sports journalism, boxing, and covering legends like Arnold Palmer
• How Tire Town grew from a golf group into a broader civic force with junior programs, scholarships, and community partnerships
• Why representation at places like Firestone Country Club matters, and how Tire Town members are changing who feels present in golf
• The intentional growth of women’s leadership, junior involvement, volunteerism, and racial diversity inside the club
• Golf as a foundation — not the whole house — for helping young people build confidence, discipline, opportunity, and a larger sense of what is possible

Connect with our guest

🏌️ Ralph N. Paulk — Tire Town Golf Club: https://tiretowngolfclub.net/ — 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/ralphpaulk_trib | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralph-n-paulk-0834817/

Follow The Bag Drop

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebagdrop
🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/thebagdropgolf
📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBagDropGolf

Listen to The Bag Drop

🎧 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH

🎧 Transistor: https://thebagdrop.transistor.fm/

Join the NewClub community

🌍 Website: https://www.newclub.golf

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/

🐦 X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub

Support our Partners

🐝 NewClub: https://www.newclub.golf

🏌️ Titleist: https://www.titleist.com

🌐 Golf Blueprint: https://www.golfblueprint.com

Chapters

00:00 Introduction, spring golf energy, and Sweetens Cove

03:11 Introducing Ralph N. Paulk and Tire Town Golf Club

10:41 Ralph joins the show

12:12 Ralph’s first introduction to Tire Town

14:40 Growing Tire Town beyond golf

17:31 Women’s leadership, diversity, and intentional growth

20:23 Ralph’s path from the Marine Corps to sports journalism

24:54 Arnold Palmer, Akron golf, and stories beyond the scoreboard

29:23 Tire Town’s 1950 origins and golf access in Akron

36:58 Tire Town colors, Goodyear roots, and the Akron identity

40:20 From golf club to community service engine

42:19 Firestone, volunteering, and changing who feels present

46:14 Why golf works as a foundation for young people

50:06 Opening the doors without losing the legacy

57:19 Service, family, and the Marine Corps

01:00:04 Ralph’s writing, Charles Follis, and untold sports history

01:03:31 What Tire Town hopes to be in 2036

01:09:01 Closing thoughts

What is The Bag Drop?

The Bag Drop features weekly stories from the culture, community, and characters shaping golf today. Produced by NewClub Golf Society, each episode blends authenticity and expert insights for passionate golfers at all levels. Special guests from clubs, courses and every corner of the changing landscape join us for thoughtful, in-depth discussions on all things golf.

What is NewClub?

Founded in 2017, NewClub is the premier private golf society in the United States. It blends the community and access of a private club with the variety and affordability of public golf. Members enjoy thousands of reserved tee times, competitions and events at exceptional partner courses across our local chapters, as well as signature trips and exclusive perks. NewClub is revolutionizing golf membership, making the game more meaningful for those who love it.

Joe Hancock may be the most-mentioned, least-seen name in modern golf course architecture.

In this episode of The Bag Drop: Untold Stories in Golf, host Matt Considine and cohost Dr. Kevin Moore sit down with Joe (@joeytheknows on Twitter), golf course shaper, designer, superintendent, operator, and longtime DeVries Design collaborator.

Joe has one of those golf lives that seem to run beneath the surface of the game and the grounds we play on. He grew up around golf in Michigan, worked as a superintendent, owned and operated a family golf course, helped build The Mines with Mike DeVries, and has since shaped and collaborated on projects with some of the most respected architects in the modern game.

The conversation dives into:

• Joe’s friendship and working relationship with Mike DeVries, from childhood summers on Crystal Lake to shaping The Mines in Grand Rapids
• Why being a former superintendent and golf course operator changed the way Joe thinks about clients, budgets, maintenance, and the people who actually play the course
• The quiet art of shaping, including how a shaper learns when to execute, when to suggest, and when to let the land do most of the work
• Broomsedge, Candy Root, and the design decisions that create charm, confusion, restraint, half-par holes, and shots that stay with you after the round
• The case for more accessible, affordable, interesting public golf — and why the future of the game needs more than expensive destination architecture

Connect with our guest

🚜 Joe Hancock — https://devriesdesigns.com/joe-hancock — 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/JoeytheKnows

Follow The Bag Drop

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebagdrop
🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/thebagdropgolf
📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBagDropGolf

Listen to The Bag Drop

🎧 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH

🎧 Transistor: https://thebagdrop.transistor.fm/

Join the NewClub community

🌍 Website: https://www.newclub.golf

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/

🐦 X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub

Support our Partners

🐝 NewClub: https://www.newclub.golf

🏌️ Titleist: https://www.titleist.com

🌐 Golf Blueprint: https://www.golfblueprint.com

Connect with Matt & The Professor

🎙️ Matt Considine — 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/

📚 Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") — 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/

Chapters

00:00 Allergies, handkerchiefs, putting woes, and intentional practice

10:02 Titleist fitting, descent angle, and getting on to the show

12:08 Joe Hancock joins The Bag Drop

14:16 Growing up with Mike DeVries and finding golf course work

22:17 Building The Mines and discovering a life in shaping

26:45 What owning and operating a golf course taught Joe about service

32:13 Collaboration, humility, and getting inside an architect’s head

42:15 What the best architects have in common

44:25 Broom Sedge, challenge, charm, and half-par golf

47:39 How Joe ended up at Broom Sedge

56:04 The mystery and strategy of Broom Sedge’s 18th hole

01:06:38 Firm golf, color, turf, restraint, and maintenance expectations

01:13:06 Candy Root and doing less to the land

01:20:29 Public versus private golf and the future of access

01:31:26 What’s next for Joe Hancock

What is The Bag Drop?

The Bag Drop features weekly stories from the culture, community, and characters shaping golf today. Produced by NewClub Golf Society, each episode blends authenticity and expert insights for passionate golfers at all levels. Special guests from clubs, courses and every corner of the changing landscape join us for thoughtful, in-depth discussions on all things golf.

What is NewClub?

Founded in 2017, NewClub is the premier private golf society in the United States. It blends the community and access of a private club with the variety and affordability of public golf. Members enjoy thousands of reserved tee times, competitions and events at exceptional partner courses across our local chapters, as well as signature trips and exclusive perks. NewClub is revolutionizing golf membership, making the game more meaningful for those who love it.

What if the places we romanticize most in golf aren’t perfect at all, just alive in a way we rarely get at home?

In this episode of The Bag Drop, host Matt Considine and cohost Dr. Kevin Moore (a.k.a. “The Professor”) sit down with Joshua Ralston, professor at the University of Edinburgh, North Berwick member, and the voice behind Golfing Scotland on Instagram, to explore what makes a place feel real even when the postcard version wears off.

From East Lothian to Melbourne’s sandbelt, this is a conversation about club culture, architecture, competition, travel, and the difference between famous golf and golf that still feels lived in. If you’ve ever wondered why some places stay in your head long after the trip is over, this one gets at the answer.

The conversation dives into:

• How Josh fell in love with North Berwick, and why Scottish golf changed the way he thinks about score, competition, and what a round is supposed to feel like
• Why Melbourne sandbelt golf hit him so hard, from Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath to the broader feeling of finding “his Scotland” somewhere new
• What actually separates Scottish links from Australian sandbelt golf: firmer greens, strategic bunkering, subtler landforms, and approach shots that matter after the ball lands
• Why club culture feels different in Scotland and Australia than it often does in the U.S., from bounce games and Stableford to honour boards and rounds that actually mean something
• The hidden-gem conversation every golf obsessive eventually has: Dunbar, Panmure, Woodlands, Barwon Heads, St Andrews Beach, and where the magic still lives once the famous names get crowded

Support our Partners

🏌️ Titleist: https://www.titleist.com

🌐 Golf Blueprint: https://www.golfblueprint.com
🐝 NewClub: https://www.newclub.golf

Connect with our guests

⛳ Joshua Ralston —  📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/golfing_scotland/ | https://edwebprofiles.ed.ac.uk/profile/dr-joshua-ralston

Subscribe to the show:

🎧 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH

🎧 Transistor: https://thebagdrop.transistor.fm/

Follow The Bag Drop

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebagdrop
🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/thebagdropgolf
📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBagDropGolf

Join the NewClub community

🌍 Website: https://www.newclub.golf

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/

🐦 X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub

Connect with Matt & The Professor

🎙️ Matt Considine — 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/

📚 Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") — 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/

Chapters

00:00 Introduction
 06:59 Joshua Ralston returns
 11:25 The Profontication on ego, comparison, and what actually gives golf meaning
 17:16 How Josh ended up at North Berwick
 27:53 How Melbourne happened
 32:50 Why Melbourne felt different
 36:01 Competition culture, Stableford, and rounds that count
 43:00 Sandbelt golf vs. Scottish links
 58:56 St Andrews Beach and Australia’s next tier
 01:08:51 What Melbourne costs and where the value is
 01:14:43 Five courses in Scotland
 01:19:07 Five courses in Melbourne
 01:24:08 Can American golf recreate real club culture?

What is The Bag Drop?

The Bag Drop features weekly stories from the culture, community, and characters shaping golf today. Produced by NewClub Golf Society, each episode blends authenticity and expert insights for passionate golfers at all levels. Special guests from clubs, courses, and every corner of the changing landscape join us for thoughtful, in-depth discussions on all things golf.

What is NewClub?

Founded in 2017, NewClub is the premier private golf society in the United States. It blends the community and access of a private club with the variety and affordability of public golf. Members enjoy thousands of reserved tee times, competitions and events at exceptional partner courses across our local chapters, as well as signature trips and exclusive perks. NewClub is revolutionizing golf membership, making the game more meaningful for those who love it.

What has The Masters mastered—what might it be losing along the way?

In this episode of The Bag Drop: Untold Stories in Golf, host Matt Considine and cohost Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") take a loving but honest look at Augusta National. No guest this week—just Matt and Kevin in full golf-sicko form, unpacking why The Masters still feels like the best executed tournament in golf: the beauty, intimacy, reverence, memorable recovery shots, and the no-phone policy that makes the patron experience feel almost sacred in a distracted world.

But they also ask the harder question most golf coverage avoids. As merch culture grows, premium access expands, and the tournament’s narrative becomes more curated, is some of Augusta’s old magic being chipped away? From Magnolia Lane and Rory’s recovery shots to pimento cheese, boredom, agronomy, and a sneaky Athens, Georgia lodging tip, this is a soulful, sharp, and affectionate conversation about spectacle, stewardship, and what makes Masters week unforgettable.

The conversation dives into:

🌺 Why Augusta still feels beautiful, intimate, and deeply reverent

⛳ Why recovery, contour, trees, and strategy create golf’s most memorable shots

📵 How the no-phone policy changes attention, memory, and the patron experience

🧠 Why Augusta gets inside players’ heads and produces a different kind of pressure

🛍️ Whether merch culture and consumerism are starting to crowd out the old magic

🎟️ How hospitality tiers, access, and control may be changing Masters week

🌱 Why Augusta sets a seductive but unrealistic agronomy standard for everyday golf

🏡 A sneaky Masters-week lodging idea for golfers: Athens, Georgia

🏌️ A quick detour on Titleist SM11 wedges, fittings, and why turf interaction matters

Follow The Bag Drop

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X/Twitter: https://x.com/thebagdropgolf
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBagDropGolf

Listen to The Bag Drop

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH
Transistor: https://thebagdrop.transistor.fm/

Join the NewClub community

Website: https://www.newclub.golf
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/
X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub

Support our Partners

NewClub: https://www.newclub.golf
Titleist: https://www.titleist.com
Golf Blueprint: https://www.golfblueprint.com

Connect with Matt & The Professor

Matt Considine - X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/

Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") - X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/

Chapters

00:00 Jim Nantz, Augusta trips, and Masters week logistics
07:56 What has The Masters really mastered?
08:19 Titleist wedge fitting and why turf interaction matters
11:36 Beauty, class, intimacy, and reverence at Augusta
17:41 Why Augusta produces unforgettable golf shots
24:12 The course as the crown jewel
28:40 No phones and the patron experience
32:56 Boredom, presence, and conversation on the grounds
35:15 What Augusta may no longer master
39:31 Merch lines, consumerism, and the changing crowd
45:56 "Skip it," contrivance, and the loss of spontaneity
51:47 Magnolia Lane, hospitality tiers, and access
57:26 Power brokers, secrecy, and corporate influence
62:56 The agronomy standard Augusta sets for the rest of golf
65:06 Augusta's impact on the local economy
66:21 Rahm vs. Xander

What is The Bag Drop?
The Bag Drop features weekly stories from the culture, community, and characters shaping golf today. Produced by NewClub Golf Society, each episode blends authenticity and expert insight for passionate golfers at every level.

What is NewClub?
Founded in 2017, NewClub blends the community and access of a private club with the variety and affordability of public golf, bringing to life the first premier golf society in the U.S. with local chapters in Chicago, Atlanta, and Northeast Ohio and others coming soon.

What does it take to save a golf course and keep it true to itself?

In this episode of The Bag Drop: Untold Stories in Golf, host Matt Considine and cohost Dr. Kevin Moore (a.k.a. “The Professor”) sit down with Josh Beer, president and chairman of Hooper Golf Course, to explore how one beloved nine-hole course in Walpole, New Hampshire was nearly lost, then preserved through community passion, stewardship, and a clear sense of purpose.

Josh shares Hooper’s remarkable story, from its roots as a town course on donated land to the years of uncertainty that nearly saw it disappear. The conversation moves through the role of volunteers, conservation easements, thoughtful restoration, and why the best courses know exactly what they are and who they serve.

The conversation dives into:

⛳ How Hooper was saved after years of financial pressure, uncertainty, and a grassroots “Save Hooper” movement

🌲 Why stewardship, conservation, and restraint have shaped Hooper’s future both on and off the course

🏌️ What makes nine-hole golf so soulful, memorable, and perfectly suited to community

🏡 How Hooper balances public access, local identity, history, and hospitality in a modern golf world

🍻 Why a trip to Hooper is about more than nine holes, from the Watkins Inn & Tavern to the broader golf around Walpole, Vermont, and western New England

Connect with our guests

⛳ Hooper Golf Course — https://www.hoopergolfcourse.com/ — 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hoopergolfcourse/ | 👍 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HooperGolfCourse

📚 Josh Beer — 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jlbeer8/ | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-beer-618b8779/

Follow The Bag Drop

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🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/thebagdropgolf
📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBagDropGolf

Listen and Subscribe: 

🎧 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH

🎧 Transistor: https://thebagdrop.transistor.fm/

Join the NewClub community

🌍 Website: https://www.newclub.golf

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/

🐦 X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub

Support our Partners

🏌️ Titleist: https://www.titleist.com

🌐 Golf Blueprint: https://www.golfblueprint.com

Connect with Matt & The Professor

🎙️ Matt Considine — 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/

📚 Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") — 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/

What is The Bag Drop?

The Bag Drop features weekly stories from the culture, community, and characters shaping golf today. Produced by NewClub Golf Society, each episode blends authenticity and expert insights for passionate golfers at all levels. Special guests from clubs, courses, and every corner of the changing landscape join us for thoughtful, in-depth discussions on all things golf.

What is NewClub?

Founded in 2017, NewClub is the premier private golf society in the United States. It blends the community and access of a private club with the variety and affordability of public golf. Members enjoy thousands of reserved tee times, competitions and events at exceptional partner courses across our local chapters, as well as signature trips and exclusive perks. NewClub is revolutionizing golf membership, making the game more meaningful for those who love it.

What keeps us coming back to golf—and when does obsession cross into addiction?

In this episode of The Bag Drop: Untold Stories in Golf, host Matt Considine and cohost Dr. Kevin Moore (a.k.a. “The Professor”) unpack the powerful connection between golf, dopamine, and the human brain. From obsession to balance, they explore why the game can feel so all-consuming—and how to build a healthier, more sustainable relationship with it.

The conversation dives into:

• How golf delivers both quick dopamine hits and deeper, more sustainable satisfaction
 • The phases of falling in and out of love with the game—and why they matter
 • How phones, social media, and constant stimulation impact focus and performance
 • Practical ways to shift from addictive patterns to a more intentional golf experience
 • The parallels between addiction, performance anxiety, and long-term enjoyment
 • The role of golf course architecture in shaping emotional highs and lasting memories
 • How to prioritize golf within a full life—without letting it take over

Follow The Bag Drop

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebagdrop
🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/thebagdropgolf
📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBagDropGolf

Listen to The Bag Drop

🎧 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH

🎧 Transistor: https://thebagdrop.transistor.fm/

Join the NewClub community

🌍 Website: https://www.newclub.golf

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/

🐦 X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub

Support our Partners

Titleist: https://www.titleist.com

Golf Blueprint: https://www.golfblueprint.com

Connect with Matt & The Professor

🎙️ Matt Considine — 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/

📚 Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") — 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/

Chapters

00:00 Introduction
 04:15 Phases of falling in and out of love with the game
 10:05 Technology, distraction, and presence on the course
 16:00 Building sustainable joy and balance
 27:43 Brain science: exertion, reward, and dopamine
 36:14 Breaking the quick-hit dopamine cycle
 42:50 Architecture and designing meaningful golf experiences
 55:45 Prioritizing what matters in your golf life
 66:20 Final thoughts: finding balance in the game

What is NewClub?

Founded in 2017, NewClub is the premier private golf society in the United States. It blends the community and access of a private club with the variety and affordability of public golf. Members enjoy thousands of reserved tee times, competitions and events at exceptional partner courses across our local chapters, as well as signature trips and exclusive perks. NewClub is revolutionizing golf membership, making the game more meaningful for those who love it.

What is The Bag Drop?

The Bag Drop features weekly stories from the culture, community, and characters shaping golf today. Produced by NewClub Golf Society, each episode blends authenticity and expert insights for passionate golfers at all levels. Special guests from clubs, courses, and every corner of the changing landscape join us for thoughtful, in‑depth discussions on all things golf.

What happens when you chase the Old Course, and Scotland gives you something even better?

In this episode of The Bag Drop: Untold Stories in Golf, host Matt Considine and cohost Dr. Kevin Moore (a.k.a. “The Professor”) reunite NewClub’s Pilgrimage Three to relive a week in St. Andrews shaped by ballot drama, links golf, hickory clubs, family memories, and the deeper meaning of why golfers return to Scotland in the first place.

The conversation explores the thrill and heartbreak of balloting for the Old Course, Steve Pease’s storybook late tee time and birdies on 1 and 18, Hilary’s first true links golf experience, and why Kingarrock Hickories may have stolen the show. Along the way, the group reflects on golf’s civility, creativity, fellowship, and the feeling that even when you do not get exactly what you wanted, golf somehow gives you what you needed.

The conversation dives into:

• Why St. Andrews feels more like a pilgrimage than a trip
• The emotion of missing the Old Course ballot and leaving fulfilled
• Steve Pease’s unforgettable Old Course finish
• Why Hickory Golf became a surprise highlight
• The creativity, simplicity, and soul of links golf
• What American golf can still learn from Scottish golf culture

Thanks to our Pilgrimage Three crew and esteemed NewClub Members for joining us and sharing their stories: Hilary, Jimmy, Steve, Tyler, Ananth, Michael, Dean, and Bill. Your chapter is now part of The Pilgrimage Tradition, and we're all richer because of it. 

Follow The Bag Drop

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebagdrop
🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/thebagdropgolf
📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBagDropGolf

Listen to The Bag Drop

🎧 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH

🎧 Transistor: https://thebagdrop.transistor.fm/

Join the NewClub community

🌍 Website: https://www.newclub.golf

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/

🐦 X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub

Support our Partners

🐝 NewClub: https://www.newclub.golf

🏌️ Titleist: https://www.titleist.com

🌐 Golf Blueprint: https://www.golfblueprint.com

Connect with Matt & The Professor

🎙️ Matt Considine — 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/

📚 Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") — 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/

Chapters

00:00 Introduction
 03:33 Professor’s Fact
 05:48 Why Scotland feels like a pilgrimage
 10:11 Pilgrimage Three reunion begins
 11:08 Steve’s storybook Old Course round
 20:10 Hilary on first-time links golf and the Old Course
 22:44 Missing the ballot and wanting another crack at it
 31:45 House of Gods, surprise guests, and Adamson Links
 39:30 Why hickories at Kingarrock stole the show
 51:02 What Scotland gives back to golfers
 57:25 Lightning round for the 2026 pilgrims
 01:00:20 Leave with a full heart

What is The Bag Drop?

The Bag Drop features weekly stories from the culture, community, and characters shaping golf today. Produced by NewClub Golf Society, each episode blends authenticity and expert insights for passionate golfers at all levels. Special guests from clubs, courses, and across the changing landscape join us for thoughtful, in-depth discussions on all things golf.

What is NewClub?

Founded in 2017, NewClub is the premier private golf society in the United States. It blends the community and access of a private club with the variety and affordability of public golf. Members enjoy thousands of reserved tee times, competitions, and events at exceptional partner courses across our local chapters, along with signature trips and exclusive perks. NewClub is revolutionizing golf membership, making the game more meaningful for those who love it.

What if golf stopped calling it a rollback and started calling it what it really is: normal regulation of the 

In this episode of The Bag Drop: Untold Stories in Golf, our host duo of Matt and Dr. Kevin("The Professor") uses Formula 1 as a revealing mirror for golf. Starting with F1’s sweeping 2026 changes, they ask a bigger question: why is one sport willing to consistently regulate boldly for the product it wants, while golf so often hesitates?

From overtaking, driver agency, and protecting Monaco, to new changes in St Andrews, Pebble, and the distance debate in pro golf, this is a conversation about stewardship, skill differentiation, and what the powers that be want their sport to look like at its highest level. Down the closing stretch, Matt and Kevin dream up some fun golf comps - including smaller club heads, a smaller ball, reduced grooves, team caps, and a deployable "bazooka" driver.

The conversation dives into:

🏎️ What F1’s 2026 regulations are really trying to do - create a better racing product with more strategy, more overtakes, and more driver input

⛳ Why "rollback" may be the wrong word - and why regulation should start with the question of what kind of golf we actually want to watch

🏛️ What Monaco can teach golf about St Andrews, Pebble, and protecting the timeless grounds of the game

🛠️ Creative golf thought experiments inspired by our friends and motor-heads 

🌱 Why non-regulation is still regulation - and what stewardship looks like when the future of the sport is on the line

Follow The Bag Drop

📸 Instagram/Facebook/Threads: https://www.instagram.com/thebagdrop
🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/thebagdropgolf
📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBagDropGolf

Listen to The Bag Drop

🎧 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bag-drop-untold-stories-in-golf/id1430328006

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2xRWtUBJH8RazdLw14oaGH

🎧 Transistor: https://thebagdrop.transistor.fm/

Join the NewClub community

🌍 Website: https://www.newclub.golf
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newclubgolf/
🐦 X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/newclubgolf
📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newclubgolf
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newclub

Support our Partners

🐝 NewClub: https://www.newclub.golf
🏌️ Titleist: https://www.titleist.com
🌐 Golf Blueprint: https://www.golfblueprint.com

Connect with Matt & The Professor

🎙️ Matt Considine - 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/consequential85 | 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consequence18/ | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-considine-103bb21/

📚 Dr. Kevin Moore ("The Professor") - 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/kevcmoore | 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevcmoore | 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-moore-177b30b3/

Chapters

00:00 Rollback vs. regulation
01:07 What F1 is changing for 2026
05:37 Why F1 keeps regulating
11:19 Regulation, parity, and unintended consequences
16:08 What golf can learn from F1
19:01 Why "rollback" is the wrong word
23:47 Monaco, St Andrews, and iconic venues
30:53 Golf comps for F1 rule changes
34:05 The "bazooka" driver thought experiment
41:02 Non-regulation is still regulation
44:31 Variance, leaderboards, and the product

What is The Bag Drop?

The Bag Drop features weekly stories from the culture, community, and characters shaping golf today. Produced by NewClub Golf Society, each episode blends authenticity and expert insight for passionate golfers at every level.

What is NewClub?

Founded in 2017, NewClub blends the community and access of a private club with the variety and affordability of public golf, bringing to life the first premier golf society in the U.S. with local chapters in Chicago, Atlanta, and Northeast Ohio and others coming soon.