The Low Point: A Golf Podcast

The Low Point
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Two men. One a 15 handicap, one a 5. One in California, one in North Carolina.  We are not pros. We steal hours for the game.  We want to get better - and we've unlocked a framework for how to get better. One that works with the constraints of a normal, busy life.  Each week we talk about the challenge. We talk about mind, body, strategy, practice, tools - the Five Pillars of Golf Improvement.  We talk about what works, what fails, what keeps us coming back.  So, what is The Low Point? It's going low, it's the bottom of your swing, it's rock bottom when you just can't find your game. The Low Point can be where you ride high or it could be where you quit the game (until tomorrow).  If you play golf, if you grind for your pride, if you chase and care about your score, then The Low Point is for you. Give us a listen.

  1. 1d ago

    The Continental 2026 (Feat. Pinehurst and Tobacco Road)

    # The Continental 2026 (Feat. Pinehurst and Tobacco Road) Ryan and Nik are back from The Continental at Pinehurst and go course by course: Tobacco Road's rock-and-roll quirk, No. 8's tree-lined test, No. 10's big-ballpark gauntlet, The Cradle, No. 2's first-tee nerves and waste-area punishment, and No. 4's visual tricks. Then the highlights — favorite courses and shots, where to eat, the games that kept a six-man group competitive, and Nik's controversial rankings of the public U.S. Open courses. ## Chapters 00:00 Cold open: "Is this all you can conjure?" 00:35 Welcome and the trip rundown 02:08 The itinerary, and why you ride at Tobacco Road 04:33 Tobacco Road: polarizing or rock and roll? 14:24 Pinehurst No. 8: a parkland test in the trees 18:28 Falling for No. 10 23:51 The hardest tee time at Pinehurst 26:10 The Cradle 28:30 No. 2: dodging storms and first-tee nerves 32:00 The true cost of a missed fairway at No. 2 38:28 No. 4: body holds up, swing doesn't 42:28 Favorite courses 45:29 Nik's top three shots 49:09 Ryan's top three shots 53:54 Where to eat and drink 56:32 What we'd change about the itinerary 59:00 The games: Wolf, Stableford, best ball, Vegas 1:01:39 A live band on the back nine of No. 2 1:03:57 Lessons learned and next year's Continental 1:06:10 Nik's U.S. Open course rankings 1:13:57 Next list: public PGA Championship courses ## Key Takeaways - Take a cart on day one at Tobacco Road. Between blind shots and elevation changes, the GPS screen and fresh legs are worth more than the walk. - At No. 2, the penalty for missing a fairway outweighs the distance. If you'll miss half the fairways anyway, hit driver and take the shorter recovery from the waste areas. - If you can, book No. 2 and No. 10 as morning rounds, and skip 36 holes the day before No. 2. - Playing 36 in the heat? Pack a change of clothes for between rounds. - Let one round's results set the teams for the next, and consider Stableford as the overall format so blowup holes don't decide the trip. - Once your group gets past four players, set up a live scoring app so nobody is tallying cards over dinner. ## Mentioned Courses: Tobacco Road | Pinehurst No. 2, No. 4, No. 8, No. 10 | No. 11 (Sand Mines, opening 2027) | The Cradle | Pine Needles | Mid Pines | Southern Pines | Pebble Beach | Erin Hills | Bethpage Black | Chambers Bay | Torrey Pines South | TPC Harding Park | Whistling Straits | Kiawah Island Ocean Course | PGA National | Glen Abbey | TPC Toronto North | Sand Valley | Blackwolf Run | Rustic -- People: Mike Strantz | Tom Fazio | Coore & Crenshaw | Gil Hanse | Bryson DeChambeau -- Food & drink: Wiregrass | Villaggio | Elliotts on Linden | Drum & Quill | Tobacco Road's pimento cheese hot dog -- Formats: Wolf | net Stableford | best ball | Vegas -- Apps: Arccos -- Also: Pearl Jam's Vitalogy | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | Creed, Foo Fighters, Blink-182 -- Events: The Continental 2026 | St. George / Las Vegas 2027

  2. Aug 31

    Chambers Bay, Pinehurst Prep, and Golf Shoes as Equipment...or Just Apparel?

    # Never Out of the Round Nik opens with a 52 (!) on the front nine at Chambers Bay but decides to swing free on the back nine. Ryan returns to Duke after three months away and shoots the highest score he possible could have, while simultaneously making the case that his game is improving while his scores stand still. Plus a golf shoe deep dive, a rules argument over tree roots, and the first Pinehurst prep of the season. ## Chapters 00:00 Cold open: swing free 00:30 Welcome and rundown 01:32 Equipment pillar: golf shoes 05:31 Ryan's shoe size revelation 08:24 Back at Duke after three months 11:15 Lost ball and the two-stroke debate 13:43 A front-nine 40 from the blues 16:37 Tree root trouble on 18 19:03 Handicap dropping on eight rounds 20:38 How to unlock a bogey hole 28:49 Chambers Bay and the RGC Classic 33:30 The two-hour warmup mistake 35:11 Struggling to a 52 on the front 39:02 The reset and a back-nine 42 50:14 You're never out of the round 57:49 Pinehurst prep and The Cradle ## Key Takeaways - Get fitted for golf shoe size the way you would for athletic shoes — your feet swell over a walking round, and a half size too small costs you all day. - On a hole that keeps beating you, stop optimizing for the shortest approach and optimize for the safest route to the green: less club off the tee, bogey-or-better every time. - Don't burn your warmup two hours before the tee time. Peaking on the practice green and then eating lunch is how you lose the feel entirely. - Treat the first tee shot as one of the 90-odd swings you'll make that day — you have far more margin there than on an approach into 18 with a number on the line. - A swing change that holds up on the range isn't ready for the course; under pressure it's the free, full motion that survives, not the controlled one. - Keep a worn-out glove in the bag for range sessions so your fresh gloves stay reserved for rounds. ## Mentioned Courses: Chambers Bay | Duke University Golf Club | Pinehurst No. 2 | The Cradle | Tobacco Road | The Home Course | Torrey Pines | Bethpage Black | Erin Hills | Bandon Dunes -- Equipment: G/FORE | Jordan golf shoes | Paynter | TravisMathew | adidas | Ping driver | spikeless vs. replaceable spikes -- People: Jason Day | Robert Trent Jones Jr. (Chambers Bay) | Robert Trent Jones Sr. (Duke) | No Laying Up -- Practice: Texas wedge and bump-and-run as a lay-up play | The Cradle as a short-game session | big-bucket swing endurance | pre-round course video study -- Apps: WGT | RGC live scoring -- Events: RGC Classic at Chambers Bay (best ball, net) | Pinehurst trip

  3. Aug 15

    Chambers Bay Prep, Staying Locked In and Shaking Off the Rust

    # Closing Time: Staying Locked In for All 18 A chance run-in with Drive, Chip & Putt qualifiers at Duke kicks off a conversation about what separates a good round from a great one: the ability to stay mentally locked in from the first tee to the last putt. Ryan returns from a two-month layoff to find his body and swing out of sync, and Nik breaks down three rounds where strong starts unraveled on the closing holes — plus his unconventional prep for the RGC Classic at Chambers Bay. ## Chapters 00:00 Drive, Chip & Putt kids at Duke 11:33 Ryan's reemergence: fascia like slow-peeling Velcro 17:25 Limited time: range session or nine holes? 23:40 Nik's rounds: the Rustic collapse on 16-17-18 27:04 Work golf at Half Moon Bay and the Presidio 33:09 Pinehurst stamina planning 34:49 Staying locked in for a full round 41:16 Chambers Bay prep and video-game scouting 54:09 The future U.S. Open rota 58:30 The municipal golf soapbox ## Key Takeaways - If you're strength training but not swinging, take practice swings anyway — keep your body and your swing developing in sync so your brain and muscles don't drift apart. - Pre-round warmups are for correcting known tendencies, never for grooving new moves — new mechanics without a baseline will wreck your timing. - You can't keep your mental foot on the gas for four-plus hours. Lock in fully over the ball, then deliberately release between shots. - Label your "bogey holes" before the round — accepting bogey on the hardest holes frees up your swing and kills the doubles that wreck a card. - When fatigue sets in late, simplify: see ball, hit ball, make an athletic move. Your best closing holes come from less thinking, not more. - Course prep for a bucket-list round: play it virtually (WGT Golf), watch course vlogs, study satellite views — but stay fluid, because wind and misses will rewrite your plan. ## Mentioned Courses: Duke Golf Club, Pinehurst No. 2, The Cradle, Rustic Canyon, Half Moon Bay (Ocean Course), The Presidio, Chambers Bay, Erin Hills, Bandon Dunes, Riviera, Griffith Park (Wilson & Harding) | People: Jackson Koivun, Scottie Scheffler, Ted Scott, Wyndham Clark, Eric Anders Lang, Grant Horvat, the Bryan Brothers | Apps: WGT Golf | Events: Drive, Chip & Putt, RGC Classic at Chambers Bay, 2028 LA Olympics (golf at Riviera) | Videos: "Los Unos" (Random Golf Club)

  4. Jul 26

    Pinehurst Prep, Goals Check-In, and Post-Major Reactions

    Back after a long gap — Ryan's second child arrived — the guys do a quick loopback at their favorite 2026 major champions, look at what ramping up for Pinehurst in 6 weeks looks like\, an honest mid-season check-in on the goals they set in the season opener, a full recap of the 2026 majors. Ryan also starts plotting a competitive, international 2027. ## Chapters 00:00 A new baby and a long gap 04:00 World Cup detour 10:00 The Open: Bryson's rules controversy 21:00 Ryan Fox's flow-state Sunday 25:00 Ranking the majors & the best winner 33:00 Rooting against a winner 36:00 Back in the swing: Ryan's comeback 37:00 Looking ahead — Scotland & 2027 39:00 Check-in: Ryan's body, white tees & wedges 47:00 Nik's 100-workout reality check 48:00 Nik's swing, putter & chipping yips 52:00 Chambers Bay & the US Open collection 55:00 Pinehurst prep: the turtleback test 1:03:00 The Last Stand of Payne Stewart 1:04:00 Sign-off ## Key Takeaways - Play by the rules that fit the stakes: full integrity when it's for money or a title, a little grace to yourself in a solo practice round — but be honest about what your handicap really is. - When life pulls you off the course, protect the body work. Rehab and gym time keep you ready and give you something to build anticipation around for when you do get back out. - Take the conservative option on the 50/50 calls. Ryan's pattern: push too hard, get two good workouts, then a setback that costs weeks — patience is the faster path back. - Progress beats perfection on a stat goal. Ryan's two-wedge holes are trending down even without dedicated practice; Nik's at 45 workouts (short of a 100 pace) but more than double last year. - Prep for Pinehurst is really prep for its turtleback greens: expect to miss greens, practice chipping from tight lies, and consider the hybrid-chip as a secret weapon. - Nik is playing Chambers Bay a month before Pinehurst, doubling as prep; knowing a hard course's misses matters more than your good shots. ## Mentioned Courses: Pinehurst No. 2, Chambers Bay, Tobacco Road, Shinnecock Hills, Augusta National, Aronimink, Royal Birkdale, Bethpage Black | People: Bryson DeChambeau, Ryan Fox, Rory McIlroy, Aaron Rai, Wyndham Clark, Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Sam Burns, Sahith Theegala, Akshay Bhatia, Vijay Singh, Michael Campbell, Martin Kaymer, Payne Stewart | Events: The Open Championship, Masters, PGA Championship, US Open | Books: The Last Stand of Payne Stewart (Kevin Robbins), Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir) | Practice: Hybrid chipping, punch shots, lag putting, chipping from tight lies, putting mat

  5. Jun 19

    New Dad Golf, Ben Hogan's Secrets, and The Unhappy Valley

    # Staying in the Game With Ryan about to become a father for the second time, this one is all about how to stay connected to golf when life pulls you off the course. Nik works through his own "unhappy valley" rut, the guys debate what actually makes an amateur "good," and the High-Minded Reads segment breaks down Ben Hogan's Five Lessons before a look ahead at the US Open at Shinnecock Hills. ## Chapters 00:00 Welcome — Father's Day and a baby on the way 01:55 What makes an amateur "good"? 03:35 Playing the right tees and golf vanity 08:31 Playing by the rules honestly 11:22 Ryan's look backFirst gross tournament and Chambers Bay ahead 13:46 The "Unhappy Valley" and how to get through it 20:58 Showing up when motivation dips 23:25 Staying in the game with a newborn 29:13 The Five Pillars when you can't play 34:17 High-Minded Reads: Hogan's Five Lessons 38:34 Why the grip is everything 43:21 Stance, knees, and killing the sway 50:40 US Open at Shinnecock 57:35 Owning your mistakes 1:02:09 Grand Slam storylines ## Key Takeaways - Morikawa's test for a "good" golfer: putt everything out and never make a double — finishing honestly matters more than the number. - Play the tees that fit your game; chasing distance and ego (the macho par-3 club flex) just inflates your score. - Once every several rounds, play it fully by the book — no gimmes, no mulligans — to learn where your game actually is. - When motivation dips, show up anyway. You can't manufacture the spark from the couch. - You can keep all Five Pillars alive off the course — putting mat, hip work, reading, mental reset — just leave the equipment pillar alone (new clothes excepted). - Hogan's Five Lessons: good golf starts with the grip, and a stable lower body (knees in, no sway) kills fat shots. ## Mentioned Courses: Shinnecock Hills, Chambers Bay, Steele Canyon, Oakmont, Pinehurst No. 2 | People: Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, Wyndham Clark, Matt Fitzpatrick, Sam Stevens, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Åberg, Keegan Bradley, Ben Hogan, Tim Ferriss | Books: Ben Hogan's Five Lessons, The Greatest Game Ever Played, The 4-Hour Chef | Events: US Open, RGC Classic | Drills: Grip practice (5–10 min/day), putting mat work

  6. Jun 7

    Why Rolex Owns Golf, Shooting 59, and Nik's New Putter

    No rounds to recap this week, so Ryan and Nik go wide: what it actually takes to shoot 59 on tour, and why a career-low round is almost always followed by a reversion to the mean. Nik delivers a deep dive on how Rolex — a brand whose core function has nothing to do with golf — became the sport's defining sponsor, and the guys finally tackle a long-requested equipment segment on Nik's switch to a mallet putter and how to approach a putter fitting. Chapters 00:00 Cold Open: The Great Hat Debate 06:45 What It Takes to Shoot 59 15:35 Reversion to the Mean & Expectations 21:13 Why Rolex Owns Golf 29:09 Tiger, Tag Heuer & the Identity Game 31:42 Watches, Function & Motorsport 36:44 The Rolex Clock Tower Mystery 39:15 The Equipment Segment: Nik's New Putter 48:56 How to Buy a Putter the Right Way 57:29 Lessons vs. Equipment 59:28 Listener Feedback & Sign-Off Key Takeaways - After a career-low round, expect a reversion to the mean — treat the next round as a blank 18 and care even less than usual about the score. - There is no "hot hand" in golf; reset mentally hole-to-hole and round-to-round instead of chasing the last great result. - When buying a putter, get a real fitting — ideally outdoors on real grass — because it tells you whether your problem is the equipment or your form. - Never trade in your old putter; keep it as a fallback for when a new one stops working. - For single-digit players chasing small strokes-gained gains, equipment can be the lever; for higher handicaps, a lesson usually does more. - In putting, speed matters more than line — good pace rescues a two-putt, but a good line with bad pace still three-putts. Mentioned Courses: Riviera Country Club, Duke University Golf Club | Equipment: TaylorMade Spider Tour X (L-neck), Titleist DCI 990 irons, Titleist T100 irons, New Era 59Fifty cap Watches: Rolex, Omega Speedmaster Professional, Tag Heuer Monaco, Tag Heuer Carrera, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin People: Si Woo Kim, Brooks Koepka, Scottie Scheffler, Sungjae Im, Justin Thomas, Cam Young, Rory McIlroy, Aaron Rai, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Steve McQueen, Mark Broadie Events: CJ Cup Byron Nelson, 2017 Sony Open, Northern Trust, Travelers Championship Fitters & Retail: Club Champion, PGA Superstore Concepts: Strokes Gained, the anti-handicap

  7. May 22

    The Home Course Advantage + High Minded Reads

    The High-Minded Read (feat. Duke + Falls Village) Ryan plays at Duke, and compares his game to Brooks Koepka's. Nik posts back-to-back 88s at Rustic Canyon by trusting his putter. and we launches a new segment: The Low Point's High-Minded Reads, with Mark Frost's The Greatest Game Ever Played as the first subject. ## Chapters 00:00 Cam Young Appreciation Time 05:44 PGA Championship Sunday and Jordan Spieth's Misses 07:46 Brooks Koepka's Major-Week Putter Swap 09:56 Falls Village: Dry Course, Bad Decisions 16:37 Bogey Is Par: Adjusting Expectations Mid-Round 21:49 Duke from the Blues — Eight Greens, Five Three-Putts 29:41 Wedge vs. Putter, Tiger's Strategic Misses 33:46 Hip PT Pays Off: The Physical Pillar Working 36:19 Nik's Two 88s at Rustic, Driving Up, Triples Down 49:12 Handicap Math and Taking the Pressure Off 53:49 High-Minded Reads: The Greatest Game Ever Played 01:02:48 Niblicks, Mud Balls, and Modernizing Golf's Rules Key Takeaways - Body components don't improve on the same timeline. Ryan's hip mobility from PT is up, his lag putting is down from no practice, and both are showing up in the same scorecard. The Five Pillars don't move in lockstep. - Eliminating triples is the cheapest stroke-saver for a mid-handicap. Two of Nik's three triples at Rustic could have been doubles — convert those and the 88s become 85s. - Knowing where to miss is harder than knowing where to aim. The Tiger / Sean Foley story: pick the rough that gives you the easiest up-and-down, not a sucker pin on a green you can't hold. - Handicap math creates breathing room. When your incoming rounds are higher than your outgoing rounds, you get a stretch where the worst your handicap can be is locked in. Use that stretch to play without scoring pressure — it's free practice for high-stakes rounds. - 1913 golf had no embedded-ball relief, no pitch-mark repair, and Ted Ray won majors carrying 7 clubs. Half the modern rulebook is common sense we eventually figured out. Mentioned Courses: Falls Village, Duke University Golf Club, Rustic Canyon, The Country Club (Brookline), Sleepy Hollow | People: Cam Young, Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Tiger Woods, Sean Foley, Sahith Theegala, Manny Diaz, Francis Ouimet, Harry Vardon, Ted Ray, Tom McNamara, Eddie Lowery, Mark Frost, Bernard Darwin | Tournaments: PGA Championship, 1913 US Open, Ryder Cup, Masters | Books: The Greatest Game Ever Played, The Match, The Grand Slam (all Mark Frost) | Tech: Arccos | Concepts: lift-clean-and-place, embedded ball rule, ABS (baseball comparison), niblick

    The Home Course Advantage + High Minded Reads

  8. May 16

    The White Tees (Feat. Albany Golf Club)

    Nik's off-season ball-striking work has him driving it farther but still chasing a score — including a round at Hero World Challenge home Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas that felt better than the 93 suggests. Ryan drops to the white tees at Duke and manifests a 79 with a birdie on 18. The episode lands on a single discipline: cap your blowups, commit to the game you've built, and let the score come to you. Chapters00:00 Year of Alchemy Check-In 04:28 Ball Striking and Distance Gains 10:58 Tiger's Albany: A 93 That Felt Better 16:58 Resort Realities and Ernie Els 22:28 Survival Golf at the Ocean Course 30:28 The Quest for Augusta Begins 36:28 Duke Round, Friday Afternoon Crew 40:58 Manifesting the 70s from the Whites 50:28 No Doubles, No Triples 01:00:58 Birdie on 18 for a 79 01:06:28 Commit to Your Game, Stop Tinkering 01:11:28 Masters Picks We'd Like to Forget Key TakeawaysMove down a tee box to ingrain the identity of your next scoring level — your brain doesn't know which tees you played from, only what you shot.Cap the blowups before anything else: if you're a 5, no doubles; if you're a 15, no triples. The math of breaking 80 means a single double per round is the ceiling.Knowing your miss is its own course-management skill. With cleaner contact, Nik's misses shifted by club — leftward on the short irons, rightward on the long ones — and that only became fixable once he stopped trying to fix it.Commit to one swing change or one strategy for months before tinkering. Competing fixes never compound.Stop diagnosing every bad shot. The faster path is to accept the miss, manage your dispersion, and play the shot you actually have.MentionedCourses: Albany (Bahamas), Ocean Course at Four Seasons Exumas, Augusta National, Duke University Golf Club, Whistling Straits, PGA National, TPC Harding Park, Bethpage Black, Kiawah Ocean Course, Pinehurst No. 2, Rustic Canyon, Torrey Pines, Grandview (Sun City West) | Designers: Ernie Els | People: Tiger Woods, Jim Carrey | Tournaments: Hero World Challenge, Masters, PGA Championship, Sentry Tournament of Champions | Tech: Arccos

    The White Tees (Feat. Albany Golf Club)
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About

Two men. One a 15 handicap, one a 5. One in California, one in North Carolina.  We are not pros. We steal hours for the game.  We want to get better - and we've unlocked a framework for how to get better. One that works with the constraints of a normal, busy life.  Each week we talk about the challenge. We talk about mind, body, strategy, practice, tools - the Five Pillars of Golf Improvement.  We talk about what works, what fails, what keeps us coming back.  So, what is The Low Point? It's going low, it's the bottom of your swing, it's rock bottom when you just can't find your game. The Low Point can be where you ride high or it could be where you quit the game (until tomorrow).  If you play golf, if you grind for your pride, if you chase and care about your score, then The Low Point is for you. Give us a listen.

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