October 2023

Five Meditations on Rome’s Ryder Cup

2023-10-05T11:35:50+00:00October 5th, 2023|Blog|

Ahead of this year’s staging of the biggest celebration in golf, I must admit to being apprehensive about the on-the-ground experience on offer at Marco Simone for The Ryder Cup. Hearing of the Herculean crowd to be expected (250,000) and with the relative lack of groups on the course, I was not optimistic about being able to witness much golf. Having experienced the crowds at last year’s Open at St Andrews and once again this year at Hoylake, the type of fan within me that just wants to watch loads of golf shots has been left underwhelmed. Et Romae, this [...]

September 2023

On-Call, on the Course.

2023-09-20T13:24:55+00:00September 20th, 2023|Blog, CJG Ramblings|

Alister MacKenzie gained the nickname ‘The Good Doctor’- he served as a field surgeon in the Boer War not long after graduating from Cambridge, then it was time to ply his trade around Leeds, his hometown.  He traded the scalpel for topography maps and golf course design after World War One. Harry Colt gave up his Law career after a couple of years to design courses, while MacKenzie saw out nearly twenty (intermittently) as a Doctor. I suspect the Good Doctor was less-than-full time at the Doctoring during these years; he [...]

Les Bordes: The New Course – Gil Hanse

2023-09-19T07:42:50+00:00September 12th, 2023|Blog, Uncategorized|

As part of the recent development work at Les Bordes under the stewardship of the Private Equity group RoundShield who acquired the estate in 2018, a second 18 has been built on the higher sandy ground nearer the entrance to the 1,400 acre estate (the second largest privately owned estate in France... the largest being Disneyland in Paris). Gil Hanse was commissioned to design and layout the course with one simple brief; ‘This is a members club, a second club for almost everyone and as such it was important to create a course which was walkable and enjoyed short transitions [...]

Les Bordes: The Old Course – Robert Von Hagge

2023-09-19T07:42:24+00:00September 12th, 2023|Blog, Uncategorized|

An honours board commemorating those that have broken 80, or kept the same ball in play all the way round. A course that is famed for its difficulty and an obscenely small membership (as low as 3 if some rumours are to be believed), Les Bordes has been the stuff of legend and mystique for many years. More recently however with events like The Bridges Cup and the addition of a second course (The New) by Gil Hanse, this club is creating a fresh history of its own.  Not surprisingly then, when an invitation came through to visit and see [...]

5 Things That Will Amaze You About Babe Zaharias

2023-09-08T08:43:52+00:00September 8th, 2023|Blog|

Babe Zaharias is a figure in the game with a career that is quite simply incredible. Her story is one of enormous achievement, not just in the game of golf but as a multi-discipline athlete. She overcame sexism and prejudice, she challenged stereotypes, she influenced the women's game in a way like no one else and set records which still stand today. We think every golfer should know her amazing story. We recorded a podcast with Susan Cayleff, a Pulitzer Prize nominee who has dedicated endless time to researching Babe’s career, back in 2021 which we strongly encourage you [...]

The 49th Walker Cup: GB&I Take 3 Point Advantage

2023-09-03T08:40:44+00:00September 3rd, 2023|Blog|

USA 4.5 – 7.5 GB&I  (Photo by Oisin Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images) Walker Cup Saturday from St Andrews will live long in the memory. Glorious September sunshine lit up the Old Course for the most historic of matchups. Play got underway at 08.30, with Dylan Menante sending one down the middle alongside Gordon Sargent and taking on Barclay Brown and Mark Power. Menante and Sargent got off to a quick start, birdieing the first and giving the American fans a huge fist pump to get them going. Not only were they off to a quick start, but they [...]

The Walker Cup: 5 Things

2023-09-02T08:07:58+00:00September 2nd, 2023|Blog|

We are very lucky here at Cookie Jar Golf to have subscribers and followers who love to share their thoughts on the game. John Haddon has written this short piece about the weekend's play ahead and what to look out for at The Walker Cup. Thanks John, it is going to be a great weekend. (Photo by Oisin Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)   1)     The Score A quick glance at the match series score paints a dark picture if you’re a Great Britain & Ireland supporter. The USA leads the series 38-9-1. A quick check of recent results does [...]

August 2023

The 49th Walker Cup: A Seminole Reflection

2023-08-29T17:26:46+00:00August 29th, 2023|Blog|

Team Great Britain and Ireland and Team USA pose for a photograph during a putting contest at the Himalayas - (Photo by Ross Parker/R&A/R&A via Getty Images) As anticipation builds and with just four days until the opening tee shot at the 49th Walker Cup, taking place 100 years since the first staging, it’s worth taking a brief moment to reflect on the last transatlantic battle that took place at Seminole in May 2021. The build-up to Seminole lingers in the memory for a rather peculiar reason; Florida played host to the Walker Cup during the remnants of [...]

The 49th Walker Cup: The Barclays

2023-08-23T07:44:49+00:00August 23rd, 2023|Blog|

Words by Darragh Garrahy. Barclay Brown will tee it up for GB&I in the Walker Cup at St. Andrews in early September, aged twenty two. In the 2021 iteration at Seminole, his trademark bucket hat had an R&A logo on it in Juno Beach – he wore a camo bucket en-route to a 68 at The Open on Thursday at St. Andrews last year). The atypical headwear is where the non-traditional motif stops for Brown – he is a classic ballstriker, good enough to qualify for this year’s US Open at George Thomas’ LACC (Thomas also designed the course at [...]

R&A Confirm Selection of 2023 GB&I Walker Cup Team

2023-08-21T11:33:02+00:00August 21st, 2023|Blog|

Following the conclusion of the U.S. Amateur Championship and the Boys’ and Girls’ Amateur Championships at Fulford and Ganton, the R&A have confirmed the eight remaining players to make up the GB&I squad for St Andrews. The R&A's announcement can be seen here. James Ashfield (22) – Wales, WAGR: 71st Wales’ highest-ranked player, winner of the 2022 Welsh Amateur Championship. 2nd place finishes in this year’s Lytham Trophy and European Amateur Championship. Strong performance in the recent Home Internationals at Machynys Peninsula. Loves matchplay. Jack Bigham (19) – England, WAGR: 88th Another player to perform well with a 4th place [...]

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