Many private club models seem to rely on keeping somebody out. Jeff Warne would rather keep out those who want just that.
In this episode of The Bag Drop: Untold Stories in Golf, host Matt Considine and co‑host Dr. Kevin Moore (a.k.a. “The Professor”) sit down with Jeff Warne (longtime Director of Golf at The Bridge and founder of New Holland Golf Club in Aiken, South Carolina). Jeff has been sketching his ideal club since 2001; now he's building it as a members' club with UK-style visitor access, in a market where most new builds lock the gate. He makes the case that good golf should be shared, explains the one-page doctrine that filters his membership better than any pitch deck, and gets into firm-but-slow greens, golf's distance problem, and 60 trips' worth of Scotland.
The conversation dives into:
- Why good golf should be shared, not gatekept, and how visitor tee times in the gaps are meant to keep members' dues down
- The one-page doctrine that doubles as a filter: hand it to a consultant or an AI and it comes back exclusive, luxury, manicured — the words that undo the whole idea
- Firm but slow: why Brian Schneider's greens carry more slope, and why "we need more pin placements" usually means "slow the greens down"
- Sixty trips to Scotland, an unplanned run through Arran and Kintyre, and why to skip the famous-eight van tour
- The distance debate, bifurcation, and why Al Geiberger's 59 still towers over today's 59 watch
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Interested in New Holland? Jeff asks for an email, not a text, and he'd like you to read
the doctrine first.
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Chapters
00:00 Cold open: modern golf is being run backwards
00:31 Welcome, and the Professor's two-week research retreat in Scotland
01:43 When to play links golf: September, or the late-April sweet spot
02:54 Today's guest, and why New Holland stands out in Aiken's private boom
05:40 The Professor's teaching: Brad's Drink, BackRub and other names that didn't stick
09:13 Titleist: SM11 wedges, and getting fit before the clubs go away
10:35 Jeff Warne joins (with notes on everything we just said)
12:03 Sixty trips in: stop playing the famous eight
14:27 A missed qualifier, the Arran ferry, and Shiskine and Corrie to themselves
17:51 Walk-up tee times at Machrihanish and a lunch standoff at Dunaverty
20:58 The first trip: book a few big guns, then play Prestwick St Nicholas
22:44 The scale problem: courses built for Watson and Nicklaus
24:32 Bifurcation was the answer, and Geiberger's 59 still stands alone
27:41 Accessible golf at home: Myrtle Beach (really) and Maine nine-holers
30:24 New Holland's access model: members first, visitors in the gaps
33:19 Shared, not gatekept: members and visitors, not public and private
35:03 The doctrine: 25 years of notes, typed in 40 minutes
36:37 Exclusive, luxury, manicured: when the polished rewrite becomes the filter
44:05 Native vegetation, construction traffic and the jungle coming back
46:51 100% invested in less, and moving a third of the dirt
50:40 Any pressure to bend the UK model?
53:50 Want exclusive? Join somewhere else
54:49 Why established clubs can't open up: the bag room doubled
57:01 The hundredth property, and the Tree Farm that got away
1:01:50 Firm but slow, at 102 degrees and three-quarters of an inch
1:04:23 "We need more pin placements" means slow the greens down
1:06:46 Long Cove, grainy Bermuda and why fast greens are easy
1:10:38 The scene in 20 years, and why culture is the hard part
1:14:02 Handing The Bridge to Mike Sweeney
1:16:43 Public golf, Gold Hill and making the group big
1:18:31 Thanks and sign-off
What is NewClub? A golf club without the real estate. One membership, a rotation of great courses, tee times, competitions, trips already on the calendar, and people who love the game the way you do. We play as visitors of the clubs and courses that host us, and those relationships are the heart of what we do.
What is The Bag Drop?
Deeply researched audio documentaries telling the stories behind golf's greatest clubs, plus weekly conversations with the characters and communities shaping golf today. Hosted by NewClub founder Matt Considine and The Professor, Dr. Kevin Moore.
