PODCAST

The Yardage Book Podcast

Charlie Mercer

Having meaningful conversations in the world of golf - focused primarily on New Zealand

sports golf

All Episodes

32:47

Sam Keats and Jordan Burgess talk preparing major...

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/09/08

Hello and welcome back! It was a real privilege to be invited to the recent Wellington Turf Managers Association seminar to interview Sam Keats and Jordan Burgess on their recent experiences overseas. Sam is the Royal Wellington Superintendent and was recently on the team to prepare Royal Portrush for this year's Open Championship. Jordan is also a member of the Royal Wellington agronomy team, and was part of the crew responsible for preparing Oakmont for the latest edition of the US Open. It...

en-nz

50:34

Cam Jones Talks Career, Coaching and Content

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/08/31

Welcome Back! It was a pleasure to sit down with Cam Jones recently to chat about his fascinating career in golf. Cam is a PGA professional, having notably won the 2013 NZ Stroke-Play Championship at Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club. In more recent years Cam has transitioned his focus into coaching, and is now on the coaching staff at Muriwai GC in Auckland. Cam has also cut his teeth on some golf content creation, with awesome projects such as this year's NZ Amateur at Titirangi Golf Club and the...

en-nz

54:00

Geoff Saunders on his latest book with Ian...

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/08/10

Hello and welcome back! It was a pleasure to chat with Geoff Saunders recently to discuss Geoff's fascinating life in golf and his latest book "To Hell And Back" an authorised biography of Ian Baker-Finch. Geoff also chatted about his successful amateur career which included his winning of the Bledisloe Cup for the low amateur at the NZ Open, and also about writing his previous authorised biography of Sir Bob Charles. Enjoy!

en-nz

43:42

Mike Worsfold talks his career and position at...

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/07/27

Hello and Welcome back! It was a privilege to chat recently with Mike Worsfold. Who is a Kiwi, currently working as the Assistant Superintendent at Cypress Point. Mike talks us through his amazing career so far, including his work at The Hills, St Andrews, Pine Valley and Cypress Point. Mike gave great insight on the drive, determination and long hours required to work at some of the most revered courses in the world. Mike spoke about the upcoming Walker Cup, the first at Cypress since the 19...

en-nz

66:35

Previewing the Open Championship with Luke Toomey

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/07/13

Welcome back! It was thrill to sit down with Luke Toomey to preview the upcoming Open Championship at Royal Portrush. Tooms ran through some of the big storylines for this week, his picks to win and some dark horses that may make a run on the famed fairways in Northern Ireland. We also discussed the Kiwis in the field this week, with Ryan Fox in red-hot form and Daniel Hillier looking to get in the mix.

en-nz

57:11

Steve Williams live at Royal Wellington Golf Club

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/06/29

Hello and welcome back! It was a real pleasure to interview Steve Williams at a live event hosted by Royal Wellington Golf Club to chat mainly about his recent book - Together We Roared. Steve gave so much great insight into his 12 years caddying for Tiger Woods, some of his early memories of caddying at Royal Wellington and much more! This event was filmed in full by a Wellington media company called Create Now, and the full video is now available on The Yardage Book Youtube Chan...

en-nz

43:32

Mike O'Keeffe talks developing kiwi Green-Keepers on...

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/06/15

Welcome Back! Really excited to share this week's episode with Mike O'Keeffe. Mike runs The Ohio Programme, which is a programme that assists in the professional development of young green-keepers from all over the world, by placing them at some of the world's best courses. Mike talked at great length about many of the kiwis that he has had through the programme, and what he thinks makes New Zealanders such great recruits. I would like to thank Mike for his time and a link to the programme ca...

en-nz

84:30

Discussing NZ's courses under construction, Top100...

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/06/02

Welcome back! After a week off Mitch and I fired up the mics to discuss the major courses in New Zealand under construction at present. We gave our thoughts on the recent world rankings from Top100 Golf Courses, which saw 5 NZ courses in the Top 100 for the first time. Mitch and I talked a bit on the back end about our recent golfing trips around the country. Enjoy! Top100 Rankings: https://www.top100golfcourses.com/top-100-golf-courses-of-the-world

en-nz

73:03

Tron Carter unpacks his recent trip to Tara Iti and...

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/05/18

Welcome back! It was a real thrill to chat with Tron Carter from No Laying Up recently to discuss his recent trip to New Zealand. TC gave such amazing insight into his favourite holes, what makes those courses so special, and his plans to come back and play more courses in the future. No Laying Up continue to set the bar for golf content and podcasting in the global golfing landscape and it was a real privilege to record. Enjoy!

en-nz

46:55

Ron Chopper debriefs his recent trip to Queenstown

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/05/11

Hello and welcome back! I was fortunate to sit down recently with YouTube golf personality Ron Chopper. Ron is fresh off a trip to Queenstown where he visited some of the regions best courses including Arrowtown Golf Club, Queenstown Golf Club, Millbrook Resort and Jack's Point. Ron gave some great insight into what it was like to film content and each of these courses, and discussed some future plans to get back to NZ soon. Enjoy! Ron's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ronchop...

en-nz

71:10

Evin Priest discusses "Together We Roared" he...

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/05/04

We are back! It was a real pleasure to chat with Evin Priest recently to unpack his new book "Together We Roared." A book which he wrote alongside Steve Williams to chronicle the 12 amazing years that Steve spent on the bag of Tiger Woods. Evin gave some great insight on how the book came to be, some of the amazing stories that he uncovered along the way, and he also gave us some of his favourite memories of Tiger from his many years of working in the industry. Check out the book ...

en-nz

73:56

Ian Baker-Finch on his amazing trip to NZ + masters...

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/04/27

Hello and welcome back! It was a real privilege to chat with 1991 Open Champion, Ian Baker-Finch last week and discuss his amazing trip to New Zealand earlier this year. Ian and his wife visited many of our top courses in what can only be described as a trip of a lifetime. Ian gave great insight into the different courses they visited, some memories from his 1983 NZ Open win, and on the back-end shared his thoughts from the unforgettable final round of this year's Masters. Enjoy!

en-nz

70:19

Tim Sudmann from Cheeky Golf Club on playing golf...

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/04/15

Hello and Welcome Back! I was fortunate to chat with Tim Sudmann from Cheeky Golf Club recently about his whirlwind challenge of playing golf everyday until he made 18 pars in a row. Tim chatted about how the idea was conceived, some of the challenges he faced along the way and the thrill of starting a media business with his two brothers! Tim is half-kiwi and he spent a good chunk of the recent NZ summer here and gave this thoughts on all the courses he played while visiting. Enjoy! Check ou...

en-nz

44:47

Architect John Irving breaks down his amazing work at...

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/04/06

Hello and Welcome back We are back this week and looking to explore golf through a slightly different lens! I was fortunate to chat with John Irving earlier this week, to explore his amazing work at many of the buildings at Te Arai links. John ran through projects such as the main clubhouse, Ric's Bunker bar and many more I'd like to thank John for his time and his website can be found below https://www.studiojohnirving.com/ Enjoy!

en-nz

65:50

Discussing the best 4-round golf trips in New Zealand...

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/03/30

We are back, and very much continuing on our recent mission of unpacking the grass-roots and club aspects of New Zealand Golf. This week Mitch and I sat down to discuss the recent submission from the listeners on the best golf trips that NZ has to offer for a green fee budget of $400 and below. We had many great suggestions from the listeners, which spanned the length of the country. Mitch and I broke down the green fee prices in each region and total driving time between the courses to...

en-nz

33:11

Country Course Chronicles - Unpacking Hokitika GC...

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/03/23

Welcome Back! We promised that 2025 would see us diving into the more grass-roots elements of our golfing culture, and I am stoked to share this weekend's episode where we are diving into Hokitika GC with course conveyor, Don Hibbs. Don gave some great insight into the history of the club, how the course survives through generous volunteers like himself, and he unpacked the golfing options that the west coast has to offer. Enjoy!

en-nz

78:04

Rick Moe AKA Rick Golfs recaps his recent trip to NZ

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/03/11

Welcome Back! I was fortunate to sit down earlier in the week with Rick Moe, AKA Rick Golfs. Rick is one of the most prominent contributors to the golf travel space on X/Twitter and it was a great pleasure to get his thoughts on the courses he visited on our North Island here in NZ. Rick visited courses such as Pio Pio Aria, all the way through to our big named courses including Tara Iti. Check out Rick here https://x.com/Top100Rick

en-nz

33:38

Reece Haspell talks working with Gil Hanse, projects...

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/03/02

Hello and Welcome Back! I was thrilled to be able to chat with Reece Haspell recently to discuss his pretty remarkable career so far. Reece has been working as a shaper for Gil Hanse at many interesting places, most recently on the re-design at Royal Sydney which is just about to re-open. Reece has spent a bit of time in NZ over the last year and it was great to get his impressions on some of the courses he has visited, and he gave some great insight on the work that is just beginning at Hoga...

en-nz

55:55

Previewing the 2025 NZ Open with Mitch Powell....

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/02/26

Hello and Welcome Back! We are wading into the unchartered waters of the professional game this week as we preview this week's NZ Open. So many fascinating storylines heading in, with home heroes Daniel Hillier, Sam Jones and Michael Hendry (and many more) flying the NZ flag this week. Plus a great collection of international stars lead by Australian, Lucas Herbert. I was fortunate to be joined by amateur golfing sensation, Cooper Moore. Who is teeing it up this week at the age of 16! It was ...

en-nz

96:41

Phil Tataurangi talks everything from winning on the...

The Yardage Book Podcast ·

2025/02/23

Welcome back! After a few weeks break we have a very special guest for this weeks pod. Phil Tataurangi was very generous with his time to talk over his career in golf. Phil ran us through how he got starting in the game, winning the 92 Eisenhower trophy, and of course his victory in 2002 which gave him access into the 2003 Masters. Phil also talked his career in broadcasting and in course design with his work at Windross Farm and Tieke. Enjoy

en-nz

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