The Cookie Jar Golf Podcast

Sam, Tom & Peter sit down at the Open to preview the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush. After spending two days on site we chat through the journey, the course, the players, and of course - THE WEATHER. 

Exciting times ahead, and we can't wait to see Padraig stripe one down the first.

If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

You can follow us along below @cookiejargolf
Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / YouTube /

Sam & Tom sit down with Gary McNeill, Head Professional at Royal Portrush, to talk about the club, the course, and his life in golf.

Gary enjoyed a distinguished amateur career, winning several provincial and national events — including the Irish Boys Championship in 1987 and the Irish Amateur Championship at Ballybunion in 1991. He represented Ulster and Ireland at every level, as well as Great Britain & Ireland at both Boys and Youths level.

Turning professional in 1993, Gary went on to lead the MacGregor Academy and serve as Head Coach to the Ulster teams before taking up his role at...

In part two of this cracking podcast, we talk to Colin Montgomerie about his exceptional Ryder Cup record and some of the iconic events he’s played in — from the War on the Shore in ’91, to Valderrama in ’97, the 'incident' at Brookline with Olazábal and Leonard, and much more.

Huge thanks to Loch Lomond Whiskies for their help in arranging this wonderful two-parter. A link to their website can be found here.

If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

You can follo...

Sam & Tom are joined this week by Colin Montgomerie at the wonderful Woking Golf Club. Podcasting under the watchful gaze of John Low, whose portrait hangs proudly in the clubhouse, we chat to Monty about his career in the game.

In part one, we talk about his earliest experiences with the game, his amateur career, and his quest to work in sports management at IMG — before unfortunately shooting 29 on the back nine at Turnberry during a job interview, which sent his career in an altogether different direction.

We also touch on the emergence of Woods in...

Sam & Tom relive the ordeal that was 99 holes at Durness. Durness is one of the most northerly courses on the British mainland, and offers breathtaking views across the shimmering blue waters. 

Why 99 holes? It had a ring to it. Why Durness? It promised lots of good sunlight, the prospect of playing golf at midnight, and we thought it would be a great avdenture. 

While the weather and light was far from what had envisioned, the course was exceptional and the adventure was plentiful! 

For more on Durness, check out the latest GolfBadgers podcast wit...

The whole crew get together to recap the action from Open Final Qualifying. Sam, Tom, Luke & Peter relive a wild day across final qualifying venues, sharing everything from Richard Teder’s epic walk-off eagle to the heartbreak of near misses, and the unforgettable scenes of amateurs and pros fighting for a spot at Royal Portrush. They unpack moments that matter, the raw emotion on the 18th green, and why final qualifying is golf’s best-kept secret.

Summary of who was where:

Sam: Dundonald Links

Tom: West Lancashire

Luke: Burnham & Berr...

Sam drives down to meet a fatigued Peter Handcock (aka @half_par_kid) at the renown Beaconsfield Services to talk about his first foray back into top-level amateur golf since before Covid and his run at Open Qualifying.

First up is The Tennant Cup — golf’s oldest open amateur stroke play event — followed by a bid at Open Qualifying at Kilmarnock Barassie, where he sadly came up just two shots short of securing a spot at Deal for Finals.

We’ll continue the story next week on the road to The Open Championship, as our podcast...

Sam and Tom sit down with Nigel Notley (archivist) & Michael Morrison (club historian) from Royal Worlington & Newmarket Golf Club - affectionately refered to as 'the sacred nine' or simply 'Mildenhall' to discuss the history of one of the most unique clubs in the British Isles. 

As a course, it's simple, elegant and a monument to penal design at the hands of Tom Hood and Tom Dunn. As a club, it's synonymous with The Pink Jug, a concoction of just about everything in the spirit cabinet which comes together in a potent cocktail and now serves as the c...

Sam sits down with Iain Forrester to talk about his lifelong fascination with the history of the game, and in particular hickory golf. Iain is the 5th generation of a golfing family, who having learnt the game and becoming a professional in the UK, moved to The Netherlands at Hoenshuis Golf & Country Club where he is the resident professional. 

Iain has a staggering collection of golf books and hickory clubs, a frequent contributor to British golf collectors society journal 'Through The Green', and the official archivist the PGA of Holland. He is also a masterful hickory player, a...

Sam speaks to Iain Forrester about his lifelong passion for the history of the game, specifically the equipment. Born and bred in Scotland, Iain is the 5th generation of a golfing family. 

In 1983 he turned professional, and along with his normal work as head professional at Hoenshuis Golf & Country Club in The Netherlabnds, he spends his spare time researching and studying the history of the game. 

Iain has one of the largest collections of golf books and hickory golf clubs in Europe, and a unique collection of antique woods and irons that came from the ol...

With the US Open returning to Oakmont this week, only the players with the strongest mindset will have a chance come Sunday afternoon.

This excerpt from episode 291 gives an insight into why he became one of the hottest players in Major golf post 2006.

If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

You can follow us along below @cookiejargolf
Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / YouTube / Website

Sam and Tom sit down to discuss the upcoming venue of the US Open. Oakmont has a fascinating history that is intertwined with the history of American golf. From Fownes to Hanse, the course has changed dramatically over storied history. 

If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

You can follow us along below @cookiejargolf
Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / YouTube / Website

A new short series of podcasts we'll be running to commemorate the 2000/01 Tiger Slam where Tiger Woods claimed all four major trophies in a 12 month stretch. In part one we kick off with Pebble Beach. 

Starting the year off as the defending US PGA Champion, Vijay Singh would clinch the first major of the year, but Tiger was playing by far and away the best golf on tour. As such, it's no surprise he teed off at pebble on the Thursday as the bookies 3-1 favourite. 

In what would become dubbed 'Perfect at Pebble', Woods' wi...

Some exciting news from us this week as we extend our ‘stable’ of podcast from 1 to 2! We’re thrilled to be bringing the Golf Badgers podcast into Cookie Jar!

For those that don’t know, Golf Badgers is a popular industry and greenkeeping podcast which has been going for over a year now. The show is hosted by James Bledge (Links Manager at Royal Liverpool) and Sam Cooper (Course Architect at McDonnell & Cooper) who bring an unrivalled passion for their industries on all matters around turf health, agronomy and how it allows the golf course architecture to really s...

Sam & Tom sit down with Anthony Wolfe, the club archivist of Royal Wimbledon Golf Club, to talk about its history in the game which dates back to 1865. It has had three separate golf courses and its now full time home on the other side of camp cottage from Wimbledon Common, is the product of Harry Colt which has recently undergone huge work by Mackenzie & Ebert in recent years.  

Some of the game's greatest names have travelled through Royal Wimbledon, and we sit down with Anthony to talk about it all. 

If you've enjoyed this episode, pl...

Sam & Tom sit down with Anthony Wolfe, the club archivist of Royal Wimbledon Golf Club, to talk about its history in the game which dates back to 1865. It has had three separate golf courses and its now full time home on the other side of camp cottage from Wimbledon Common, is the product of Harry Colt which has recently undergone huge work by Mackenzie & Ebert in recent years.  

Some of the game's greatest names have travelled through Royal Wimbledon, and we sit down with Anthony to talk about it all. 

If you've enjoyed this episode, pl...

Sam sits down with Scott Redman and John Morgan at The Bristol Golf Club who have in recent years acquired the Joe Powell Persimmon company. 

Scott is an equipment nerd and creative wizz who has spent decades around the game and John Morgan is a broadcaster for SkySports and played professionally on The PGA Tour. When the opportunity came up to acquire Joe Powell, they just couldn't say no, and their story, much like the company itself is a fascinating one. 

Huge thanks to The Bristol for having us last week, and looking after us so...

Sam and Tom are joined by Half Par to dive into the newly released GB&I Top 100 from Top100GolfCourses.com — plus the other big three UK rankings from Golf World, Golf Monthly, and National Club Golfer.

We get into the work that goes into these lists, what makes each one unique, the biggest movers (both deserved and controversial), the new entries, and whether rankings really matter at all.

We also chat about our updated Rank of Ranks, where we’ve combined all four lists to create the ultimate guide — fully filterable, so you can slice...

In part two of this podcast with Gary Wolstenholme, we talk about his amateur success since winning The 1991 Amateur, his Walker Cup stories, life on the road and more...

Once again a huge thank you for allowing us to do this at Ganton, a place of huge significance in Gary's career and the perfect setting for our chat. 

If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

You can follow us along below @cookiejargolf
Instagram / Facebook / Twitter