Spencer Wideman

@LinksGems Here’s a helicopter view of it from over TRC. HCEG owns the land with no plans to develop. They did a land swap with TRC years ago which gave TRC their holes along the coast. Can also confirm it’s a great place for a dip in the North Sea.

The Scottish Open has me hoping someone can tell me about this incredible linksland - between Muirfield and Renaissance Club to its south and the Firth of Forth to the North. What is it? Why doesn’t it have an incredible golf course on it? Is it for sale?

@LinksGems Awesome, bud. Heading over there next month for a tour . Hitting Cabot Highlands (Castle Stuart and Old Petty), Nairn, Royal Aberdeen, Trump International, Turnberry and Renaissance. Then Sunningdale before flying home. Look forward to diving into the details of your trip!

Our trip to Scotland has sadly come to an end, but what a trip it was - Golf Days: 8 Courses: 10 Rounds: 11.5 Holes Played: 207 Miles Driven: 657 Photos Taken: 8,744 New Friends: Dozens Memories: Countless And for all but 3 of those 207 holes, we had beautiful weather for golf and gorgeous light for photos. The 10 courses played: Prestwick (photo 3) Turnberry (photo 1) Machrihanish Dunaverty Tarbert The Old Course Reversed The Old Course Elie North Berwick (photo 2) Muirfield (photo 4) I’ll be posting photos and write-ups of these courses this week as I go through the batch, but safe to say that among them are some of my very best. And of course, I’ll provide details of our round on the Old Course Reversed, which truly was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Stay tuned! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

@ChrisVernonShow Was a great game before hand too. My Pistons are gonna be without our bigs for a bit. Dang.

Full on fighting in Pistons/ Hornets game. WOAH. gonna be real suspensions. That was not “hold me back” style. They were swingin.

@LinksGems The Cape 5th at Mid Ocean will soon be restored to the original “naked” shoreline with green side beach bunker. Might move back to the top spot in your rankings at that point. Gotta get you back to the island to get some new photos after the restoration. Will keep you posted.

Best Cape hole in the world? Standard answer: the 5th at Mid Ocean Club. And with good reason - it’s an incredible hole. My opinion: the 14th at National Golf Links. Lots to love here, including the tidal bunker fronting the green and the amazing fairway contours. C.B. Macdonald originally built this green just about where the right-side fairway bunkers are now, but when Sebonac Inlet Road was built, the green was moved to its present location. You can still see the general area of the original green in the overhead photo here.

@jamierkennedy ❤️

@fried_egg_golf Soury

Adam Hadwin's rage turned on the sprinklers

@LinksGems @JonathanTurf Played it Thursday. Greens were ⚡️. Very hard. Very fun.

Today, like Sharon Stone in Total Recall, a killer was lurking underneath Sleepy Hollow’s beautiful surface. I’ve never seen the greens play so firm and fast. @JonathanTurf has had the course dialed in all year, but he definitely took it up a notch today. One of the best things about Sleepy (and many Macdonald/Raynor courses): even if you get humbled, you’re still going to have a lot of fun.

@bryantabarr World’s Greatest Showman. ❤️

@LinksGems @SandValleyGC @Sand_Valley Visiting there for the 1st time next month.

So great to be back in Wisconsin and to see the new Tom Doak additions at Sand Valley - the Lido and Sedge Valley - coming in so well. Where else can you play a golden age C.B. Macdonald design and an excellent tribute to a London heathland layout (not to mention sandy gems by Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw and by David McLay-Kidd) without ever leaving the property? More to come this week from several of Wisconsin’s best public designs (and perhaps a few privates too).

@NoLayingUp Does Renaissance put a Bobby Mac plaque on the sprinkler head?

Golf gods owed Bob one after last year. Questions for the pod?

@NoLayingUp Does Bryson give us the Payne Stewart fist pump when he makes this?!

Bryson: "I'm not comfortable with this." YEAH DUDE NONE OF US ARE COMFORTABLE WITH THIS

@LinksGems @NorthBerwick_GC Had a highlight round of 69 here Monday. Same pin positions as this drone shot. Birdied the Pit, bogeyed the Redan, fair trade. Might be my favorite course in the world.

The granddaddy of them all - the original Redan. I’ve wanted to see the 15th at North Berwick for at least a decade, since I played my first C.B. Macdonald course. And man, it does not disappoint. Bonus cameo from the Biarritz-like 16th in the background. More to come from this iconic links.

@ukgolfguy Happy 50th! Good company there @MattMollica

I find it hard to believe but it’s my 50th birthday today. It’s tough being the other side of the world from Clare, Sam and Rachel (they are my wife and children for the avoidance of doubt!) but wonderful to have an evening with Melbourne friends. Here’s to the next 50!

@NoLayingUp Why have I not run into @TronCarterNLU or @NoLayingUp since checking into the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club this afternoon? C-Suite is vibing here.

Final questions for the pod?

@putt4dough24 Bringing a crew of 8 from Bermuda to WI this Aug. Members at Mid Ocean (CBM). Any advice finalizing lineup? Day 1 - Blue Mound or Lac La Belle (neither booked yet) Day 2 - Erin Hills Day 3 - Sand Valley + Mammoth Day 4 - Mammoth + Sedge Day 5 - Lido Day 6 - Lawsonia

I’ve was thinking about this (for like 7 mins) and decided to update my top 10 favorite courses in WI. (Based solely on the course) 1. Lido 2. Blue Mound 3. Pine Hills CC 4. Lawsonia 5. Milwaukee CC 6. Sand Valley 7. Erin Hills 8. Whistling Straits 9. West Bend CC 10. Kenosha CC

Here’s an excellent Warriors feature from @loganmmurdock — theringer.com/nba/2024/2/12/…

@ukgolfguy Haven’t played those others yet. I’ve just been sprinkling in a few rounds on a family trip. Such a beautiful country, I’m sure I’d love them all, each in a different way.

@spencer_wideman Indeed, the one thing I can be sure of is that no-one will agree with the final order! Enjoy Te Arai, the debate between the North and the South there will go on forever!! Have you played Tara Iti and Paraparaumu Beach?

As well as enjoying plenty of mulled wine and mince pies, I’ve spent the festive period writing up courses reviews from my New Zealand trip. Almost done now with over 30,000 words written. These four come out very highly and I think I’ve just about finalised my order…

This is so much better after playing here yesterday. 👏

@ukgolfguy Beautiful. Will be checking this place out in a few weeks! Thanks for posting your journey, and adding to my NZ anticipation. I’m also playing @jackspointqt and Royal Melbourne as I tour down under with the fam.

Round 13 - Te Arai North Doak’s North Course only opened a couple of months ago and it’s playing so well already. It’s routed over some wonderful sandy tree-lined land. The greens are extraordinary in places and you’ll need an excellent short game and imagination to score well.