Episodes

  • EP.121 The Design Brief - Ryan Van Der Veen (Van Der Veen Designs)

    EP.121 The Design Brief - Ryan Van Der Veen (Van Der Veen Designs)
    May 8 2025
    The Design Brief is back and this time I'm chatting with another member of The Society of Australian Golf Course Architects, Ryan Van Der Veen.Ryan joins me to chat about his career, beginning with his time in golf course construction from a young age back in the USA where he was born. After getting his start using heavy machinery on weekends and school holidays, it was during his time studying at Purdue University where Ryan was given an opportunity to work with the late great Pete Dye with the reconstruction of their golf courses.From this early association with Pete Dye, Ryan was offered an opportunity to work at a golf course Pete Dye was building that in time would become the revered Whistling Straits Golf Course!Along with working with Pete Dye, Ryan spent a number years working as part of Greg Norman Golf Course Design team outside the USA including constructing the spectacular new Doonbeg in Ireland. It would soon turn that Ryan was asked to work in Australia with the Norman design team at a new golf course being constructed outside Adelaide in South Australia, when things soon changed thanks to the GFC! Ryan worked on a few other projects leading the Norman design and build team at some of our well known golf courses including Grange in Adelaide and Cathedral Lodge in Victoria, before life would soon see Ryan stay here in Australia and start his own golf course design business - Van Der Veen Designs.Join us for a great yarn hearing some wonderful stories from Ryan of building and now designing some great golf courses.You hit 'em clean and we'll keep 'em green!⁠The Golfing Greenkeeper - Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Golfing Greenkeeper - Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Golfing Greenkeeper TV - YouTube⁠⁠Send me an email to - thegolfinggreenkeeper@gmail.comPeople and places mentioned in this podcast:Ryan Van Der Veen - FacebookRyan Van Der Veen - SAGCA Profilesagca.com.auPete Dye - WikipediaPalmira Golf ClubPurdue University Golf ClubWhistling Straits Golf CourseBlackwolf RunBarefoot Golf & ResortTrump International Golf Links - Doonbeg CopperClub The Dunes - Port HughesThe Grange Golf ClubEastern Golf ClubCathedral Lodge & Golf Club - Greg Norman Golf Course DesignNew South Wales Golf ClubThe Huntley Development - Landscape ConceptGlenelg Golf ClubDye Designs GroupGreg Norman Golf Course DesignLove Golf DesignFazio Design
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    2 hrs and 6 mins
  • EP.120 Walking the Fairways - feat. Tim Warren (Glenelg Golf Club)

    EP.120 Walking the Fairways - feat. Tim Warren (Glenelg Golf Club)
    May 5 2025
    Walking the Fairways segment of The Golfing Greenkeeper Podcast is proudly brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Dint Golf Solutions⁠⁠⁠ www.dint.com.au and ⁠Colin Campbell Chemicals⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ www.campbellchemicals.com.au There's lots going on around Australia and right here is where you will get all the info you need to stay up to date.I'm joined on this podcast episode by Tim Warren, Superintendent of Glenelg Golf Club in Adelaide. Tim gives us an update of the club's enhancement plan and how the most recent works are coming along on holes 8 and 9. He also provides an insight into the final holes remaining in the project.There's also some information about in this episode of new work being completed on course at Elanora Country Club in Sydney, some architecture master planning of a couple of course in Western Australia, and the completion of the course enhancement works at Metropolitan Golf Club in Melbourne.To finish off I catch up with Josh Smith, greenkeeper at Piltdown Golf Club in the UK after returning from his recent stint at TPC Sawgrass working on course at The Players Championship, and an update of Nigel Taylor's Everesting Challenge in his quest to raise awareness for mental health during 2025!You hit 'em clean and we'll keep 'em green!⁠The Golfing Greenkeeper - Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠The Golfing Greenkeeper - Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Golfing Greenkeeper TV - YouTube⁠Send me an email to - thegolfinggreenkeeper@gmail.comPeople and places mentioned in this podcast:⁠Glenelg Golf ClubGlenelg Golf Club Course Team - InstagramDunsborough Lakes Golf ClubContour Golf Design GroupPinjarra Golf ClubGolf Course Superintendents Association Western Australia (GCSAWA)Lake Karrinyup Country ClubCottesloe Golf ClubGoldfields Golf Club - KalgoorliePalm Beach Golf ClubElanora Country Club⁠Kruse Golf - FacebookClayton DeVries & Pont (CDP)Woodend Golf ClubMedway Golf ClubBox Hill Golf ClubMetropolitan Golf ClubJosh Smith, Adventures in Greenkeeping - Instagram⁠Piltdown Golf ClubTPC Sawgrass⁠⁠The Players ChampionshipNigel Taylor, The Dirty Dozen - InstagramKeeper of the Greens - Shane Baker (Mosman Park Golf Club)Keeper of the Greens - Josh Smith (Piltdown Golf Club)Keeper of the Greens - Fraser Brown (Lake Karrinyuip Country Club)Keeper of the Greens - John Mann (Metropolitan Golf Club)
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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • EP.119 Keeper of the Greens - Shane Baker (Mosman Park Golf Club)

    EP.119 Keeper of the Greens - Shane Baker (Mosman Park Golf Club)
    Apr 27 2025
    Keeper Of The Greens segment of The Golfing Greenkeeper Podcast is brought to you by John Deere Golf. When you work where others play, you need a partner you can trust to keep your course in perfect condition. Find your nearest ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠J⁠ohn Deere dealer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠deere.com.au⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shane Baker is Superintendent of Mosman Park Golf Club in Perth, Western Australia. Born and bred in Perth Shane kind of stumbled across greenkeeping during his high school years. Taking time during school to work in sports turf, Shane was soon working on the hallowed grounds of the WACA. Preparing turf for all manner of sports saw Shane gain a wealth of experience early on, as did his time working at Mount Lawley Golf Club. He also gained more experience working at The Western Australian Golf Club and attending the Ohio program which took him to Oakmont GC in the USA.Shane's career has been anything but a straight line. Between working on numerous golf courses and the WACA ground in Perth, to working at exploring countless golf courses in the USA, Shane has gained more experience than your average greenkeeper which led him to his current long term post of 9 years as Superintendent at Mosman Park Golf Club.Granted, the 9 hole golf course of Mosman Park is probably one you're not familiar with however, that doesn't mean it's one you shouldn't know about. Perched high above a magnificent rock cutting of the Swan River, Mosman Park GC is a unique golf course for not only it's beautiful yet tranquil city location, but also its mostly Santa Ana couch green surfaces. Yes, you heard me correctly, Santa Ana greens! Shane gives us an insight into the unique site the golf course is built on and just how interesting the golf course itself is. From its natural setting, to the water challenges, to the turf surfaces, to the routing of the course, this conversation has it all.Join me for another fantastic ride to the west coast of Australia and an interesting insight into another fantastic greenkeeping career, this time with Superintendent Shane Baker.You hit 'em clean and we'll keep 'em green!⁠The Golfing Greenkeeper - Instagram⁠⁠The Golfing Greenkeeper - Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠The Golfing Greenkeeper TV - YouTubeSend me an email to - thegolfinggreenkeeper@gmail.comPeople and places mentioned in this podcast:Mosman Park Golf ClubMount Lawley Golf ClubThe Western Australian Golf ClubWACA Ground - WikiOhio International Intern ProgramOakmont Country ClubQuail Hollow ClubAraluen EstateNedlands Golf ClubPoint Walter Golf CourseSea View Golf ClubFremantle Public Golf CourseCottesloe Golf ClubGolf Course Superintendents Association of Western Australia (GCSAWA)7 Mile Beach GolfEP.118 The Design Brief: Rob Collins - King Collins Dormer - SpotifyEP.102 Keeper of the Greens - Idris Evans (The Western Australian Golf Club) - SpotifyEP.33 Keeper of the Green - Nathan Bennett (Royal Adelaide Golf Club)
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    1 hr and 36 mins
  • EP.118 - The Design Brief: Rob Collins - King Collins Dormer Golf Course Design

    EP.118 - The Design Brief: Rob Collins - King Collins Dormer Golf Course Design
    Apr 20 2025
    Rob Collins and King Collins Dormer are fast becoming well known throughout the United States of America, thanks in part to their design of cult hero golf course at Sweetens Cove Golf Club in Tennessee, and their big, bold, home run hitting design of the golf course at Landmand Golf Club in Nebraska, both under the former guise as King Collins. Apart from these special two designs, a number of other new golf course designs coming soon in the USA, and the addition of Trevor Dormer, thus becoming King Collins Dormer, they have something very new on their horizon. Their first new 18 hole course design outside the USA. And it will be at one of Australia's most talked about golf course destinations, 7 Mile Beach! Yes, with the 1st 18 hole course designed by Clayton DeVries Pont (CDP) soon to be open for play, King Collins Dormer are champing at the bit and ready to begin the design and construction of their addition, to not only this incredible golf site, but the Australian golf landscape!Recorded during US Masters week, Rob Collins and I discuss his background to give the wider Australian audience a better understanding of just who both he and King Collins Dormer are. Oh yeah, and as it turns out, there's the uncanny prophetic skills of Rob picking the Masters winner after just 1 round! Rob takes us through his career in golf course design and we ride the wave of emotions that he has experienced to get to where he is today beginning with his first golf course baby - Sweetens Cove. From Sweetens to Landmand, and the small public 9 hole golf course redesign of Overton Park in the middle, would prove significant to the public's understanding of what the formerly known King Collins design team was capable of. Their fun, engaging, interesting and considerably entertaining designs had them standing out of the crowd. Enter the not yet open, 7 Mile Beach golf complex, the vision of Australian professional golfer and now golf course developer Mat Goggin, and the world has the ingredients for something truly sensational.For all the fans out there of Australian golf courses and Rob Collins, this is one conversation you don't want to miss out on. Join me for some fun and insight with Rob as I get my fan-girling on and he butters us up to get even more excited about 7 Mile Beach in Hobart, Tasmania!You hit 'em clean and we'll keep 'em green!The Golfing Greenkeeper - InstagramThe Golfing Greenkeeper - Facebook⁠⁠The Golfing Greenkeeper TV - YouTubePeople and places mentioned in this podcast:King Collins Dormer7 Mile BeachSweetens Cove Golf ClubLandmand Golf ClubOverton Park Golf CourseBounty Club21 Golf ClubSand Hills Golf Club - WikiPinehurst No.2St Andrews Links - The Old CourseRoyal Dornoch Golf ClubThe Royal Country Down Golf ClubEP.84 - The Board Room: Mat Goggin (7 Mile Beach) - AppleEP.84 - The Board Room: Mat Goggin (7 Mile Beach) - Spotify
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    1 hr and 29 mins
  • EP.117 Walking the Fairways - Royal Sydney Golf Club with Superintendent Adam Marchant

    EP.117 Walking the Fairways - Royal Sydney Golf Club with Superintendent Adam Marchant
    Apr 14 2025

    Walking the Fairways segment of The Golfing Greenkeeper Podcast is proudly brought to you by ⁠Colin Campbell Chemicals⁠⁠⁠ www.campbellchemicals.com.au and ⁠Dint Golf Solutions⁠⁠ www.dint.com.au


    Royal Sydney Golf Club has been through a great deal of hard in the background prior to the commencement of breaking ground by Golf Course Architect Gil Hanse and his team back in 2023. Gil was selected by the club back in 2016 to reimagine the golf course, a club that is one of the oldest in Australia's.


    Soon after the project's announcement, backlash from some members of the local community would ultimately force the project to the Land & Environment Court, which after a number of years, would rule in favour of the golf club.


    Golf Course Superintendent, Adam Marchant, has an insight to the entire project that few others have. He and his team were at the centre of this entire project given that they are the ones who will care for and nurture the new golf course into the future, along with retaining the architectural and environmental integrity of what has been created.


    If you want to know more about the detail of the new course at Royal Sydney Golf Club, then this is the podcast episode for you. Join with me as Adam gives a deep and extensive insight into the entirety of this enormous project from top to bottom and everything in-between, including how greenkeeping and architecture are intertwined to deliver a specific type of golf course. You are in the box seat as Adam describes everything in great detail that not only went into creating this new golf course, but what it will take to maintain it into the future.


    Royal Sydney Golf Club could just be the new definition for golf in Sydney!


    You hit 'em clean and we'll keep 'em green!

    The Golfing Greenkeeper - Instagram⁠⁠

    ⁠⁠The Golfing Greenkeeper - Facebook⁠⁠

    The Golfing Greenkeeper TV - YouTube

    Send an email: thegolfinggreenkeeper@gmail.com

    People and places mentioned in this podcast:

    Royal Sydney Golf Club

    Gil Hanse Golf Design

    Kruse Golf - Facebook

    Eulonga Quarries

    Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub as described by Randwick Council

    Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub: Rescuing an endangered ecological community - PDF

    Ohoopee Match Club

    Victoria Golf Club
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    2 hrs and 35 mins
  • EP.116 Keeper of the Greens - Jeff Powell (Ballarat Golf Club)

    EP.116 Keeper of the Greens - Jeff Powell (Ballarat Golf Club)
    Apr 6 2025

    Keeper Of The Greens segment of The Golfing Greenkeeper Podcast is brought to you by John Deere Golf. When you work where others play, you need a partner you can trust to keep your course in perfect condition. Find your nearest ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠J⁠ohn Deere dealer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠deere.com.au⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


    Jeff Powell is Superintendent of Ballarat Golf Club in regional Victoria. Known as a fantastic regional golf course, it went through a complete redevelopment by Thomson Perrett in the early 2000's. Jeff has been employed at Ballarat for so long that he remembers quite vividly just what is was like maintaining the old golf course prior to the redevelopment.


    The redevelopment of the golf course brought with it numerous challenges that Jeff walks us through and we hear the story in a very frank, honest, and sometimes laughable way.


    Included in Jeff's long career at Ballarat GC, we hear about the climatic challenges of trying to maintain both cool and warm season turf grasses at this unique site. And sometimes that includes snow!


    Join me on yet another sensational ride, this time with Jeff, as we traverse through time at Ballarat GC learning about some long lost maintenance practices and hear about what is involved with delivering a new golf course in regional Victoria, along with a few laughs along the way.


    You hit 'em clean and we'll keep 'em green!

    ⁠The Golfing Greenkeeper - Instagram⁠

    ⁠The Golfing Greenkeeper - Facebook⁠

    Send e an email: thegolfinggreenkeeper@gmail.com


    People and places mentioned in this podcast:

    Ballarat Golf Club

    Perrett Webb Golf Course Architects

    Mount Xavier Golf and Bowls Club

    Midlands Golf Club

    RACV Goldfields Resort
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    1 hr and 47 mins
  • EP.115 Walking the Fairways - Update from Thargomindah GC and Stathallan GC

    EP.115 Walking the Fairways - Update from Thargomindah GC and Stathallan GC
    Mar 31 2025
    Walking the Fairways segment of The Golfing Greenkeeper Podcast is proudly brought to you by ⁠ ⁠Dint Golf Solutions⁠⁠ www.dint.com.au and Colin Campbell Chemicals⁠⁠⁠⁠ www.campbellchemicals.com.au There's lots going on around Australia and right here is where you will get all the info you need to stay up to date.Yowani Country Club in Canberra is growing in very well and we're starting to see just what some of the holes are looking like. Royal Canberra Golf Club have also completed the conversion of their fairways to Santa Ana couch, and Federal GC are ticking through new work on course as part of their Crafter + Mogford course enhancement plan.I'm joined on the podcast by Dave Mason who is currently reestablishing the Thargomindah 9 hole golf course in a remote part of Queensland. This is quite an incredible environment for golf and one that you just have to hear about to believe.Superintendent Brett Stuesser also joins me and we learn about some of the new works they recently completed on their public 9 hole course in Melbourne's northern suburbs.There's also the closing down of a 97 year old golf club in Sydney and my armchair take on the incredible Gil Hanse redesign and rebuild of Royal Sydney Golf Club's new course.You hit 'em clean and we'll keep 'em green!People and places mentioned in this podcast:Yowani Country ClubRoyal Canberra Golf ClubFederal Golf ClubThargomindahGen1 Sportsturf - FacebookGen1 Sportsturf - InstagramOutback Queensland Floods news article 31/3/25Oak Point Golf ClubRoyal Sydney Golf ClubHanse Golf Course DesignKruse Golf - FacebookKillara Golf ClubWagga City Golf ClubBlackheath Golf ClubRoyal Hobart Golf ClubRoyal Fremantle Golf ClubPoint Walter Golf Course
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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • EP.114 LIV Golf Adelaide - My Wrap Up

    EP.114 LIV Golf Adelaide - My Wrap Up
    Mar 26 2025

    LIV Golf Adelaide - My Wrap Up is proudly brought to you by Your Tee Box. Check out their website for incredible prints of golf course routing artwork. Check out their website at yourteebox.com.au. Your Tee Box - The perfect golfers gift.


    This episode chronicles my 24 hour adventure to LIV Golf Adelaide at The Grange Golf Club, including what I experienced, what I saw on the ground, and of course the reason for my journey, to hand deliver the #1 print of Your Tee Box's limited edition LIV Golf Adelaide - The Grange Golf Club routing artwork to Superintendent Rowan Daymond.


    Come along for a fun adventure as I recap by epic 24 hour round trip to Adelaide including getting behind the ropes with the greenkeeping team, up close and personal with the LIV trophy and winners of the event by accident, and of course, surprising Superintendent Rowan Daymond with his special gift from Your Tee Box.


    You hit 'em clean and we'll keep 'em green!

    The Golfing Greenkeeper - Instagram⁠

    ⁠The Golfing Greenkeeper - Facebook⁠

    Send me an email: thegolfinggreenkeeper@gmail.com


    People and places mentioned in this podcast:

    Your Tee Box - The perfect golfers gift

    The Grange Golf Club

    LIV Golf Adelaide

    Glenelg Golf Club

    Devonport Country Club

    Aston Hills Golf Club

    Bribie Island Golf Club

    North West Bay Golf Club

    Ryan Van Der Veen

    Greg Norman Golf Course Design

    Mike Clayton Golf Design
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    1 hr and 1 min