Wednesday Mornings in St Andrews take on a new meaning for the Ladies of St. Rule Club
Most golfers plan one trip to St Andrews. Fiona Steel plays there every Tuesday, but her Wednesday mornings have taken on a deeper, more meaningful purpose for her and some of the other Ladies of St. Rule Club: helping those living with dementia get back on the course.
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 Fiona Steel (Captain of The St Rule Club), the St Andrews ladies' club in its 130th year, whose side beat the Professor's in a recent inter-club match on the Eden.
Fiona walks us through club life in the home of golf, where no club owns a course, the Links Trust plans the tee sheet years ahead, and a captaincy runs on volunteers. Then she tells the story she most wanted to share: the Wednesday sessions she and past captain Marion Todd built with Tony Pennock of "Fore" Get Me Not Golf, now thirty weeks in.
The conversation dives into:
- 47 mph winds, a canceled medal, and why the Eden hands the advantage to the higher handicapper
- How St Andrews works: clubs without courses, a tee sheet already being planned for 2028, and a Links Ticket wait list closed for two more years
- What captaining properly takes, from catering meetings to the inter-club liaison committee, and why a ladies' club still matters
- Wednesday mornings: one volunteer per player, tea and a tray bake, golfers who hadn't swung a club in five years, and why Fiona thinks every club in the world should do it
- Pace of play the Scottish way: push trolleys, no caddies, ready golf and a four-hour four-ball
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Chapters
00:00 Cold open: Fiona Steel on the Wednesdays every club should copy
00:50 Welcome: Johnny Blue Skies and a Brewers hat
04:01 Introducing Captain Fiona Steel, and the Professor's Eden scar tissue
06:23 The Professor's teaching: why ideas arrive mid-run
09:55 Holderness & Bourne: the Cunningham quarter-zip
11:31 Fiona joins: a medal blown out by 47 mph winds
13:36 Why the Eden favours the higher handicapper
14:53 Net eagle, net par, net birdie: the Professor's last three holes
15:45 Inter-club matches, long lunches and serious scratch matches
19:10 The Herkless Trophy with Marion Todd
21:19 Run, hit, run: learning golf in welly boots among the sheep
22:52 Joining St Rule, and why locals belong to several clubs
25:28 Clubs without courses: how the Links Trust runs the tee sheet
27:33 The golden ticket: the Links Ticket wait list
29:06 The phone call: becoming Captain
30:46 What captaining properly takes
33:38 Why a ladies' club still matters
35:04 Angela Bonallack and the over-90s who still play
38:10 Bridge, mahjong and a ladies' club with a golf section
39:44 One decision: golf for people living with dementia
41:12 A golf club in his hands: Tony Pennock's father, and week 30
45:14 How to start it at your own club
47:25 Selfish at its worst, selfless at its best
49:28 Filling the space: golf, mobility and the research
51:28 Pace of play: push trolleys, no caddies, four hours
55:24 The St Rule Trophy and the pink jumpers
57:39 What visitors to St Andrews should understand
1:00:19 Thanks to Fiona, and Holderness & Bourne's Buckley sweater
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.