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The Yardage Book Podcast
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The Yardage Book Podcast

Author: Charlie Mercer

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Having meaningful conversations in the world of golf - focused primarily on New Zealand 

95 Episodes
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Hello and Welcome Back! We are excited to announce we are working in association with Golf NZ to preview the 2026/27 Summerset Charles Tour season. The first event up is the Brian Green Property Group Super 6s at historic Manawatu GC. To preview the event we were joined by Dave Mangan from Golf NZ who is the GM of Championships and Golf Operations. Dave gave some great insight into unique Super 6s format, his thoughts on Manawatu GC as a tournament test, and we discussed the notable players i...
Hello and Welcome Back! It was a pleasure to chat with Mike Cocking recently, who is a Director of golf architecture firm - OCM. OCM are behind the redevelopment of The Hills Golf Club near Arrowtown, which promises to be an amazing transformation of the existing layout. Mike spoke in depth on his thoughts of the existing layout, and some of the changes that they will look to make as work gets underway. On the back-end of the pod Mike gave his thoughts on many of his other projects with...
Welcome back! It was a pleasure to chat with Mark Hooker recently, who is the Director of Agronomy at Royal Auckland and The Grange GC. Mark gave some fantastic insight into his career, which includes positions all over the globe and how he ended up in his current position at RAGGC. Mark detailed the preparation for this weeks' ISPS Handa Japan Australasian Championship and listed some of his favourite holes across the 27 hole property.
Welcome Back! It was a pleasure to sit down with Dylan Higgins recently to preview this week's NZPGA Championship at Paraparaumu Beach GC. Dylan is 16 months into the GM role and gave plenty of great insight about how PBGC has come to host the event, and how he believes one of the great courses of New Zealand will provide a championship test to the players this week. I'd encourage anyone in the area to get there this week, and look forward to continuing the strong tournament run of golf aroun...
Welcome Back! It was awesome to sit down and chat with Dylan Lindstrom recently, who is the GM of Royal Wellington Golf Club. Royal Wellington is the host of this weeks' Asia Pacific Women's Amateur Championship alongside the R&A. The event promises to be a fantastic spectacle and a big boost for golf in the Wellington Region. Dylan chatted about all that goes on behind the scenes to host an event of this stature, the amazing support of the members and volunteers and some score prediction...
Welcome Back! It was a pleasure to have Matt Wallbank back on the pod this week to debrief the top100golfcourses.com New Zealand top 50 ranking. Matt and I were both on the panel for this list, so were able to share our thoughts on the final rankings, and how the criteria for this list differs from others. Most importantly I feel it highlights the increasing depth and variety on offer for those playing golf in NZ. Check out Matt's website as the Kiwi Caddy here: https://www.thekiwicaddy...
Hello and welcome back! It was a pleasure to sit down in person with Brendan Allen who is currently Head of Construction at Douglas Links, which is a new golf course being built about 15 minutes north Otaki on the Kapiti Coast. Douglas Links has had several road blocks but is now fully into the construction phase and sits on a sensational site. It is the brainchild of XERO co-founder Hamish Edwards and has been routed by course architect Darius Oliver. Brendan talks about the origins of the p...
Welcome back! Really excited to share our first episode of 2026 with New Zealand's top male golfer Ryan Fox. Ryan is fresh off a career season on the PGA Tour, with 2 fantastic playoff wins. We chatted about his early memories of the Auckland golf-course scene, his home base at Royal Auckland and the Grange GC, and his ambassador role with Te Arai Links. We covered Ryan's many course records around NZ, recent events at home and his 3 dream memberships. This episode will be available in ...
Welcome Back! It was awesome to chat with Sean Towndrow, who is a professional golfer and the driving force behind Yes Life Golf. Sean is on the mission of playing every golf course in NZ, and has already ticked off 57! Sean had a stellar amateur career in the north of England, having made the semi-final of the British Amateur in 2014 including a victory over Jon Rahm on the way. Enjoy Check out Yes Life Golf below: https://www.yeslifegolf.com/ https://youtube.com/@yeslifegolf?si=lSag1z...
Welcome back! It was a privilege to chat to Bryce Casey last week to discuss his upcoming participation in Chasing The Fox as part of Team Media. Which is being held later this week at Royal Auckland and The Grange GC. Bryce gave some awesome insight into how he got into golf, life as a member of Titirangi GC and what it was like to play along Ryan Fox recently on the famed Alister MacKenzie layout. Enjoy
Welcome Back! It was great to catch up with Mitch Powell earlier in the week to react to the latest Golf.com top 100 list and on the back end we talked through my recent visits to Otago GC, Chilsholm Links, Roxburgh GC, Jack's Point and The Hills. Enjoy
Hello and welcome back! It was fantastic to chat recently with Billy Burnley who is currently an Assistant Superintendent at famed Pasatiempo Golf Club in California. With stints at Manawatu GC, Northland GC, Cypress Point, Lake Nona and Te Arai Links. It was great learn about Billy's progression in the turf industry and many of the learnings he has taken along the way. Enjoy
Welcome Back! It was a privilege to sit down with Jim Rohrstaff to discuss the amazing announcement that the South Course at Te Arai Links will be hosting the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship next year. Jim talked us through the background behind the announcement, tournament logistics and course set-up. Jim also gave us an update on The Hills redevelopment, Rory McIlroy's visit to NZ last year, and one of the most remarkable hole in one story's ever told. Enjoy
Hello and Welcome Back. Really excited to share a new series we have been brainstorming over recent weeks. Architecture Spotlight. Which will be an exploration of the architectural history and principles of our most prominent New Zealand courses. Joining me throughout the whole series will be Michael Goldstein. Michael is a previous pod guest, Tournament Director of the NZ Open, and is extremely well travelled. Having previously played 365 different courses in a year. This episode focuses on ...
We are back! Mitch and I are back to review a pretty amazing trip away to Te Arai Links where we were fortunate to cover the Ceta Homes Invitational. Josh Geary clinched the title with rounds of 61 and 70 to edge out Nick Coxon by a single shot. It was great to chat with tournament founder Mark Jurgeleit on the back end to get his thoughts on a pretty amazing week. Enjoy
Welcome back! It was awesome to chat recently with the founders of Big Scope Events; Mark Jurgeleit and Josh Longney. It was great to preview the Ceta Homes Invitational at Te Arai Links which takes place next week on the 13th and 14th of October. This will be the first of a series of Pro-Ams across NZ under the Big Scope umbrella. We are also thrilled to announce that The Yardage Book will be onsite to cover the event next week and we are excited to share some awesome content at 2 of the bes...
Welcome Back! It was a real pleasure to chat with Taco Golf (Tae Koh) this weekend and chat all things YouTube golf, his early amateur days, favourite courses, the yips, and much more! Check out Taco's channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@tacogolf
Welcome back! A few weeks between pods, but we are back in action! It was great to chat with Mitch recently to unpack my recent golf-trip to the Nelson region, and to discuss Mitch's recent trip overseas where he played courses such as Ballyliffin, Doonbeg, Ganton and more! We also touched on the historic Ryder Cup that concluded earlier this week. Enjoy!
Hello and welcome back! It was a real privilege to be invited to the recent Wellington Turf Managers Association seminar to interview Sam Keats and Jordan Burgess on their recent experiences overseas. Sam is the Royal Wellington Superintendent and was recently on the team to prepare Royal Portrush for this year's Open Championship. Jordan is also a member of the Royal Wellington agronomy team, and was part of the crew responsible for preparing Oakmont for the latest edition of the US Open. It...
Welcome Back! It was a pleasure to sit down with Cam Jones recently to chat about his fascinating career in golf. Cam is a PGA professional, having notably won the 2013 NZ Stroke-Play Championship at Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club. In more recent years Cam has transitioned his focus into coaching, and is now on the coaching staff at Muriwai GC in Auckland. Cam has also cut his teeth on some golf content creation, with awesome projects such as this year's NZ Amateur at Titirangi Golf Club and the...
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