389 - The Golfing Year of 1926 w/ Richard Fisher

In this episode we are joined by Richard Fisher (3-peat on the pod) looking back at 1926 as a pivotal year in golf, tracing the season from winter through autumn. We focus on the amateur game, the professional events, and the way golf fit into the wider sporting and political landscape of the year.

We begin with the early amateur season, including the shared President’s Putter at Rye and the Varsity match at Burnham & Berrow, where Cambridge win. We also discuss how much golf's leading amateurs play, the importance of caddies, and the many club and society matches that shape the year.

We then move to the spring championships, including the arrival of Glenna Collett and other American women ahead of the Ladies’ Championship, which is delayed by the General Strike.

The episode also covers the amateur and professional championships in detail. We discuss Bobby Jones’s remarkable Open qualifying round at Sunningdale, his victory at Royal Lytham & St Anne's, the Amateur Championship at Muirfield, George Von Elm’s win in the US Amateur, and major professional events involving Walter Hagen, Abe Mitchell, and Sandy Herd... and of course the proto-Ryder Cup. 

We finish with the late-season fixtures, including the English Amateur, the US PGA and US Ladies’ Championship, and the mixed foursomes at Worplesdon. We also reflect on the broader context of 1926: the rise of international golf, the role of the media, and how different the sport’s structure and calendar were from today.

Send us a message if you liked the show

If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

You can follow us along below @cookiejargolf
Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / YouTube / Website