Australian Golf Passport

A long overdue catch-up with friend of the pod Lukas Michel, who has spent the past three years building his career in golf design while also keeping his hand in competitive amateur golf.
From helping to build 7 Mile Beach to working on a couple of course's in people's backyards, and testing his construction skills at Royal Perth, Lukas has had plenty to keep him busy.
And in between all that, he's still holding his own in Aussie amateur golf.
We put this podcast together with thanks to Matt Burns and his staff at Angus And Grace Go Golfing. Check their insta page and website for some of the best golf apparel on the planet. The latest Australian Golf Passport cap has almost sold out - grab one while you can.  And check out the latest refresh of the classic AAGGG shorts – perfect for summer golf!
Thanks to Dean and everyone at Seed Golf – they continue to provide 20% off for Australian Golf Passport listeners via the code AGP at checkout. Get your hands on some premium golf balls at a super low price. Check their website for Seed merch too – caps, gloves and other goodies available, as well as the new model of the SD-02.
Images related to this episode can be found on our Instagram page (@AustralianGolfPassport) and on Twitter / X (@AusGolfPassport). Images accompanied by attribution to their owners / creators.
Podcast intro music - Nbhd Nick / Stop Playing With Me -Instrumental / courtesy of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.epidemicsound.com

We both walked the new Royal Sydney course last year and were high on the incredible Gil Hanse renovation, but did Scott's thoughts change after two rounds there during January?
We put this podcast together with thanks to Matt Burns and his staff at Angus And Grace Go Golfing. Check their insta page and website for some of the best golf apparel on the planet. The latest Australian Golf Passport cap has almost sold out - grab one while you can.  And check out the latest refresh of the classic AAGGG shorts – perfect for summer golf!
Thanks to Dean and everyone at Seed Golf – they continue to provide 20% off for Australian Golf Passport listeners via the code AGP at checkout. Get your hands on some premium golf balls at a super low price. Check their website for Seed merch too – caps, gloves and other goodies available, as well as the new model of the SD-02.
Images related to this episode can be found on our Instagram page (@AustralianGolfPassport) and on Twitter / X (@AusGolfPassport). Images accompanied by attribution to their owners / creators.
Podcast intro music - Nbhd Nick / Stop Playing With Me -Instrumental / courtesy of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.epidemicsound.com

We are joined by stats guru Assoc Prof Dr Davis McCarthy for this episode as we do a post-mortem on the inaugural Australian Golf Passport rankings.
We debrief on the process of releasing our own rankings list and tackle almost two hours of listener questions on the rankings, the panel and the process of crunching the numbers.
Davis chats about the statistical process behind the final positions, about how fine the margins are between some courses, and what could be done for the next rankings to produce an even more robust result.
The discussion moves around a little as we get to various questions, and occasionally discuss specific courses, and golf centric topics like grass, routing, and more.  Thanks so much to Davis for all his expertise and help - we couldn;t have done it without him!

Davis’ bio is here for those interested - https://www.svi.edu.au/researchers/dr-davis-mccarthy/
The books we mentioned during the episode:
Grounds for Golf by Geoff Shackelford
Golf Architecture for Normal People by Geoff Shackelford
Spirit of St Andrews by Alister MacKenzie
Two GCA threads mentioned in the podcast:
St Andrews Beach review by Kyle Henderson
How to assess a golf course architecturally

We put this podcast together with thanks to Matt Burns and his staff at Angus And Grace Go Golfing. Check their insta page and website for some of the best golf apparel on the planet. The latest Australian Golf Passport cap has almost sold out - grab one while you can.  And check out the latest refresh of the classic AAGGG shorts – perfect for summer golf!
Thanks to Dean and everyone at Seed Golf – they continue to provide 20% off for Australian Golf Passport listeners via the code AGP at checkout. Get your hands on some premium golf balls at a super low price. Check their website for Seed merch too – caps, gloves and other goodies available, as well as the new model of the SD-02.
Images related to this episode can be found on our Instagram page (@AustralianGolfPassport) and on Twitter / X (@AusGolfPassport). Images accompanied by attribution to their owners / creators.
Podcast intro music - Nbhd Nick / Stop Playing With Me -Instrumental / courtesy of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.epidemicsound.com

We get the New Year going with a bang, reviewing the 2025 goals, handing out the now annual Australian Golf Passport awards, and setting some goals for 2026. With a nod to the guys at NoLayingUp, the annual goals episode has become a regular for us, and we hope it motivates you all to set your sights on some achievements and personal development for the coming 12 months.
 
As mentioned in this episode – recent bushfires in central Victoria put Cathedral Lodge in peril – read more about that here – https://www.astma.com.au/news-item/21868/cathedral-lodge-and-golf-club-impacted-by-victorian-bushfires
 
And Will Watt’s latest publication Contours is available –grab a copy here! https://www.booktopia.com.au/contours-william-watt/book/9781761451669.html?msockid=3e7a9e593d7b672209c68ec43c91665e
 
We put this podcast together with thanks to Matt Burns and his staff at Angus And Grace Go Golfing. Check their insta page and website for some of the best golf apparel on the planet. The latest Australian Golf Passport cap has almost sold out - grab one while you can.  And check out the latest refresh of the classic AAGGG shorts.
 
Thanks to Dean and everyone at Seed Golf – they continue to provide 20% off for Australian Golf Passport listeners via the code AGP at checkout. Get your hands on some premium golf balls at a super low price. Check their website for Seed merch too – caps, gloves and other goodies available, as well as the new model of the SD-02.
 
Images related to this episode can be found on our Instagram page (@AustralianGolfPassport) and on Twitter / X (@AusGolfPassport). Images accompanied by attribution to their owners / creators.
 
Podcast intro music - Nbhd Nick / Stop Playing With Me -Instrumental / courtesy of ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.epidemicsound.com

We finally arrive at the crescendo of our inaugural Australian Top 50 Golf Course rankings. After pulling up stumps during the late night recording of the previous episode, we resume the count at number 11 and work steadily to number 1.  Scott’s recording on the road on summer holidays, hot spotting the laptop from his phone, and the audio is somehow better than Matt’s (who hosted). The Top 10 is sure to contain a few points for spirited discussion, particularly among members of the Clubs who have a course in the upper echelon. We talk in depth about each of the top 11 courses - what we like, why it ranked so highly, and what potentially holds it back from achieving a higher ranking, with respect to peer courses.
 
Visit our website (www.australiangolfpassport.com) for more on the rankings, and a catalogue of all the courses from 1 to 25 in numerical order, followed by the 26-35 bracket, and the 36-50 bracket.
 
Thank you again to all our Top 50 Australian course ranking panellists who devoted their time, effort and expertise into making the rankings what they are. We look forward to getting listener thoughts on what they feel is right and wrong. Huge thanks again to Assoc Prof Davis McCarthy who guided us through the whole statistical process. We couldn’t have done it without him. We plan on chatting with Davis at some stage in ’26 during an episode looking at rankings and listener questions.
 
As mentioned within the episode – No Laying Up visited King Island during their second Tourist Sauce expedition to Australia – their round over Cape Wickham and more can be seen here - https://youtu.be/UDRV_LUpxRs?si=76xHUVrCqYodapKN 
We put Australian Golf Passport podcast out with supportfrom Matt Burns and his team at Angus And Grace Go Golfing. Check their insta page and website for some of the best golf apparel on the planet. You’ll love the latest summer range of AAGGG gear.
 
Thanks also to Dean and everyone at Seed Golf, who continue to provide 20% off for Australian Golf Passport listeners via the code AGP at checkout. Get your hands on some premium golf balls at a super low price. Their range features a ball for everyone! Visit www.seedgolf.com.au for more.
 
Images related to this episode can be found on our Instagrampage (@AustralianGolfPassport) and on Twitter / X (@AusGolfPassport). Images accompanied by attribution to their owners / creators.
 
Podcast intro music - Nbhd Nick / Stop Playing With Me - Instrumental is courtesy of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.epidemicsound.com