by This is March. The Fried Egg Golf team hits the ground running at the start of this month, with some new team members and plans to get out on the road to shoot some new courses and attend The Players Championship. It will be hard to top the quality and output from the month of February, but that is always the plan.
We’ve been so busy it’s been hard to keep up on Cracking Eggs, but this is an effort to spotlight the work we did over the last couple weeks closing out February. Much of it is evergreen and worth diving into at your leisure, whether you are a total golf geek, interested in just pro golf, or only want design content.
We, myself included, hate talking about ourselves, but it is worth outlining some of our recent work that might have been missed on the many platforms where we’re operating. This team has a lot in the hopper for March so it will only continue, but I am already incredibly proud of what’s been done in the first two months of the year before the “real” golf season begins. Thanks for your support of that work.
Here’s a roundup of from recent weeks on the various platforms in the FE universe.
Video
Garrett Morrison traveled to Australia at the end of 2024, and you will see content from that trip throughout this year. This month, he wrote a course profile for Victoria Golf Club, and worked with Cameron Hurdus to produce this video on one of the great holes out there. It is approachable for those who may not have much background in architecture while also getting into the nuance that makes this hole so brilliant. Oh, and it also features a major champion and expert local talking us through it all. A great five-minute watch to inform and entertain.
Social
First off, this week we welcomed two new staffers that will be helping around the social scene quite a bit this year in Austin Sapin and Will Graves. They jumped in already in their first week and we are pumped about how much better they will make our team both on the content front and on the various platforms where you might find us.
I am not going to rehash all the great work that’s been posted to our social feeds to close out February, but it has been a fantastic mix of golf course footage and pro golf wit. I enjoyed this clip of Bill Coore narrating how he and Ben Crenshaw came to a compromise on building a green.
Cameron Hurdus and Matt Rouches also dropped in on a public South Florida course getting a full-on makeover, sharing this snippet on the work being done with more to come.
The new kid Graves also jumped in the lab quickly this week to create this graphic on the boom of sub-60 rounds following Jake Knapp’s number at PGA National.
I also loved Matt’s reel showing off some of the templates of Southampton that he featured in his Club TFE course profile this week.
Some stunner photos from both the South Course and the West Course at Apogee, where we visited at the end of last month.
An all-time shank from Chuck Hoffman at the Bear Trap.
Design Disasters is a rocketship with a different kind of audience. Joseph LaMagna does the heavy lifting there to keep the feed on a regular schedule. Check it out, with highlights from the second half of February being the “Homer Simpson” course in Germany or maybe the South Dakota charmer that has a football field goal post as an out-of-bounds marker. Truly, they’re all fun watches and a feed you could get lost in for an hour or two.
Club TFE
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The 14th green and back nine at Southampton Golf Club. (Photo: Fried Egg Golf)
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The 12th hole at Southampton Golf Club. (Photo: Fried Egg Golf)
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Approach to the 13th green at Essex County Country Club. (Photo: Fried Egg Golf)
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The ninth green at Essex County Country Club. (Photo: Fried Egg Golf)
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View from the eighth tee at Victoria Golf Club.
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High above the 16th at Victoria Golf Club.
The cooking at the Club has been exceptional since our last check-in a few weeks ago. Chefs Garrett and Matt have delivered meaty course profiles on a New Jersey gem that we will also visit this year for an FE event, an Australian Sandbelt superstar from Garrett’s visit, and a Raynor template special out on Long Island.
- Course Profile: Southampton Golf Club
- Course Profile: Essex County Country Club
- Course Profile: Victoria Golf Club (Australia)
Speaking of profiles, the rating of and discussion around Mammoth Dunes early in February became maybe the hottest subject in the Club. Garrett’s comprehensive Design Notebook began with that subject, before whipping around to various other design matters from this past month both in DN and in his weekly Chocolate Drops updates, which you can find below. Andy Johnson also blogged about the newest course coming to Sand Valley.
- Design Notebook: Defending Mammoth Dunes
- Club TFE Extra: Stephen Proctor Q&A
- Chocolate Drops: Hillcrest Country Club Goes Web3
- Chocolate Drops: Steve Smyers Joins Forces with Colton Craig and Tom Coyne
- Thoughts on The Commons, the Sixth Course at Sand Valley
Website
Joseph’s Wednesday pro golf check-in may not be essential, as that word is tired to almost meaningless at this point. But it should be a must-read if you care about being smart, informed, and entertained. He’s been on a run lately of tiering various gaggles of players, from the two Ryder Cup sides to the LIV outcasts.
Tier of LIV Golf players and their predicted impact if they returned to the PGA Tour.
He also answers a reader’s question each week that often gets in the weeds on some of his data analysis. Add it to your Wednesday or Thursday reading routine.
- Tiering the Renegades, Strait Vibin’, and Hammers – Who in LIV actually matters in pro golf, and who is just an extra?
- A Ryder Cup Check-in, the Anti-Spieth, and the Real Jordan Spieth – The Euro Ryder Cup squad is looking stacked, even crowded, so let’s sort it as Bethpage looms.
- Tiering U.S. Ryder Cup Team, a Spotlight on Joaquin Niemann, and Course History – Joseph sorts the American side of the Ryder Cup and writes about how his own position has evolved on course history and the analysis he makes on a player.
Meg Adkins is covering the LPGA more in-depth this year and ramping up for the tour’s return from the Asia swing with some new projects and ideas as the majors season approaches. This month, she catches us up on the pace of play improvements coming from the top down and spotlights some primo qualifying spots for this year’s Women’s Open at Erin Hills.
The website, especially as we hit high times for golf season and the majors on the pro circuits, will continue to be an active blog writing zone. Recently, a few items have included Andy spotlighting some great venues for U.S. Open dreamers to try qualifying at this spring. The team also indulged in an unexpected P-Day Live Blog of the TGL marathon with plenty of whimsy and absurdity in what turned out to be a legit good day of screen golf competition – catch up on the highlights and screenshots there. Will also has a really fun Q&A with the historian at Mid Ocean Club, where FE events will visit this summer.
- Andy’s Picks: 2025 U.S. Open Qualifying Sites Worth Visiting
- TGL Live Blog: Highlights from the Marathon of Matches on Presidents Day
- Mid Ocean Club and Golf in Bermuda Q&A with David Woodcock
Newsletter
The newsletter was on fire in February under the stewardship of Adam Woodard with a mix of golf course architecture musings, screen golf coverage, and pro golf reviews as the PGA Tour swings back east. Some highlights:
- What Does “Restoring” a Golf Course Mean These Days? – Garrett gets deep on the term “restoration” in golf course architecture, what it means, and its overuse. A wonderful, evergreen read for the curious, casual, and in-the-weeds golf nerd.
- Alternate Shot: Do Great Pin Positions Make Great Golf Holes? – Joseph and Garrett jam on the subject of pin positions and how they impact (if at all) the building of a golf course from the outset as greens are designed.
- An Honest Assessment of TGL and the State of Professional Golf – Brendan delivers a review of the much-hyped screen golf league after another visit to Palm Beach, and its relationship to an unproductive White House meeting between the Saudis, Donald Trump, and PGA Tour reps.
- The VidantaWorld Experience – Joseph with precisely the kind of sharply critical writing you want from this newsletter, getting into the paint with some pointy elbows on the “test” of VidantaWorld with some help from AI Jay Monahan.
- Roundtable: What Would Men’s Professional Golf Reunification Look Like? – Should golf have a one-week reunification carnival party if and when LIV and the PGA Tour come back together, as we’re told is happening … soon??
- We Have Initiated a Discussion – Adam covers what turned out to be a meaningless, if not disastrous, White House meeting between some of pro golf’s power players.
- There’s a New Sheriff in Town – Joseph on Ludvig cracking the code in a year when he could challenge as the best in the world.
- Missing the AimPoint – Brendan reviews a war (?) of words between some pros on the subject of AimPoint, its rudeness, and the time it takes.
Podcasts
Andy’s weekly Fried Egg Golf Podcast episodes were varied, great, and rounded out February, with some powerhouse guests from both the pro golf and design world. He checked in with Trevor Immelman of CBS on the west coast swing, chatted with Zac Blair on courses that continue to impact him and make him think, and caught up with Michael Keiser Jr. on the movements of Dream Golf as it continues to build and expand.
Dream Golf Happenings with Michael Keiser Jr.
Apple / Spotify / YouTube
TGL’s Start & Three Golf Courses Zac Blair Thinks About
Apple / Spotify / YouTube
Trevor Immelman on the West Coast Swing, Slow Play, and Equipment
Apple / Spotify / YouTube
Garrett’s new 2025 podcast project delivered two thought-provoking and educational episodes in February. We get a lot of requests on what books to read if you want to get into learning about golf course architecture, either as a beginner or an advanced student. He brought Stephen Proctor on to discuss some of the great books on this subject. His most recent episode is another class-in-session with PJ on some design principles from one of the Golden Age godfathers.
The 10 Golf Architecture Books Everyone Should Read
Apple / Spotify / YouTube
Golf Architecture 101: Alister MacKenzie’s 13 Principles
Apple / Spotify / YouTube
The Shotgun Start, as is often the case, bounced all over the place to close out February. Andy, Brendan, and PJ have been on a run of great Flashback Friday episodes featuring the likes of neon golf ball using Wayne Levi, the Mexican legend Esteban Toledo, and a PGA Championship at Ballen Isles in South Florida. They also have covered a number of evergreen topics in the continued negotiations between the Saudis, PGA Tour, and now Donald Trump as well, and the attempts of the TGL to really take hold in its second month of existence.
Flashback Reheat: Lumpy wins the Honda, “Spider-Man’s” journey, and a sweaty 1987 PGA Championship
Apple / Spotify
PGA Tour turns bear trap into mouse trap, Knapp time for Andy, and Larry Scott for LPGA Commish?!
Apple / Spotify / YouTube
Spieth’s Fit for the Swamp, TGL dysfunctional franchises, and Coetzee Zone moment
Apple / Spotify / YouTube
So bad it’s good at VidantaWorld, White House meeting hiccups, and Potgieter Electric Factory
Apple / Spotify / YouTube
Tiger, Jay, and Saudi PIF go to White House, A practice proposal, and a Mexican legend FBF
Apple / Spotify / YouTube
TGL Miracles and Jup Disasters, Golf Reunification Theory, and a Slovak emerges
Apple / Spotify / YouTube
The Signature Event model, Ludvig’s arrival, and LIV’s balance sheet
Apple / Spotify / YouTube
Rory and Jay speak on “reunification,” Ryder Cup temp taking, and LIV CEO rambling
Apple / Spotify / YouTube
Is PGA Tour-PIF deal almost done, Tiger WDs, and TaylorMade breaks up with DJ
Apple / Spotify / YouTube
Victory Monday and Spieth flashes in Phoenix, LIV’s opener ratings
Apple / Spotify / YouTube
Events
Fried Egg Golf events are having a monster year already for gatherings both large and small, Club and public. This week we launched registration for our event at Colorado Golf Club, a Coore & Crenshaw design in the Denver area. We also still have openings for our trip to Bermuda to play a C.B. Macdonald original, and room at a New Jersey event in August.
Check out the full events schedule and registration information here.
Merch
We partnered up with Swag Golf to create some new Raynorman merchandise that has been a hit on both shirts and headcovers for various bats.
We are also filling the prints shop with some new photos from our early travels this year. Sand Valley was our Course of the Month featured in the shop.
Golf polo season approaches, and we have a handful of crispy Draddy offerings in multiple fabrics.
Thank you all for your continued support. Here’s to a big and busy March.
