James McDonald 
Nobody wakes up one day and decides to become a golf addict. It sneaks up on you. One round turns into a membership at the driving range, the driving range turns into a weekly standing tee time, and one day you’re standing in the garage at 11 p.m. holding a wedge and explaining to your … Read more
Every golfer knows what a mulligan is. Take a crap shot, pretend it didn’t happen, tee up another, and that first yank into the lagoon is ancient history. It’s not in the rulebook. It’s not legal in any tournament that matters. Yet it’s one of the most universally practiced traditions in the entire sport. What … Read more
The rough doesn’t care about your ego, and neither does this tip. Most hackers make the same mistake in the tall grass. They grab whatever club they’d normally hit from that distance and swing exactly the same way, then wonder why the ball either goes nowhere or comes out like a knuckleball in a whirlwind. … Read more
Every golf group has a group text, and every golf group text has the same five people in it, regardless of what city you live in or what course you play. Here they are, in all their infamy. 1. The Ghost This guy is in the chat. We think. He’s seen every message. He has … Read more
How many times have you stood over a shot, squinted at a yardage marker that may or may not be accurate, made your best guess, pulled the wrong club, and watched your ball sail into a hazard that you definitely should have laid up in front of? Every time. The answer is every time. A … Read more
With the Ryder Cup approaching, and this week’s newsletter dipping into its history, it feels like a good time for a quick primer for anyone who’s never quite understood why grown men cry over a golf tournament nobody gets paid for. It started with a seed merchant and a casual remark. In 1926, a British … Read more
There’s a special kind of dread that sets in around mid-October, and it has nothing to do with your swing. It’s the moment you watch a perfectly good tee shot land in the rough, take one hop, and vanish into a sea of red and gold leaves like it opened a portal to another dimension. … Read more
There are collapses in sports. There are meltdowns. There are moments where the universe seems to reach down and personally intervene in someone’s life in the most cinematically cruel way possible. And then there is Jean Van de Velde on the 18th hole at Carnoustie in 1999. If you haven’t seen it look it up … Read more
Either you’ve done it or know someone who has. The golf cart wipeout. Whether its running over your childhood pal, flipping it on the 7th fairway, running it into a pond, or flying over a hill and burying it in a fairway bunker; the golf cart wipeout is a hilarious story to tell. Until it … Read more
Let’s talk about the most mentally exhausting three feet in golf. I’m referencing the three between “This is basically a gimme” and “What the F#%k?! Did a chipmunk deuce in front of that cup? That should have been in. My ball hit something…” We all been there. Most people new to golf putt with their … Read more