Ross opens Episode 30 by trying very hard not to talk about the 84 he shot at the weekend, his worst round in three years, before Colin gives him sixty seconds to explain himself. The consolation, as Colin points out, is that it's reassuring to know scratch golfers have those days too. From there it's straight into the gear, and this week that means golf bags. Ross has just picked up a Ping Hoofer Lite to sit alongside the £50 eBay tour bag he bought for Senior Open qualifying, while Colin has been down a research rabbit hole after spotting a Callaway Chev Dry 14 at £100 off in the Nairn pro shop. The pair weigh up carry bags against cart bags, whether it's a faux pas to carry a club logo from a course you've never played, and why Ross spent his first round with a £180 bag holding the stand legs together with a golf glove. There's a brief detour into the £400 G/FORE and £1,200 Scotty Cameron bags neither of them will be buying, and Colin discovers the Motocaddy Protekta he'd been eyeing up deliberately won't fit his Motocaddy Cube trolley.
Ross then flags a bargain open at Nairn Dunbar, Colin's new home course, and gives an update on his chipping practice, where he's still building confidence with a left-below-right grip. He's mid-sentence explaining why chipping yips are even harder to shake than putting ones when his laptop dies, leaving Colin to finish the show solo.
Which turns out to be fine, because Colin finally gets to the South West Scotland trip report he's been promising for a fortnight. Having grown up in Dumfriesshire, he admits to an unfair snobbery about the place, and this trip put him right. He covers the Cally Palace Hotel near Gatehouse (putting green next to the bar patio, pitch and putt for the afternoon, a proper course attached), a cabin at Kippford with a nine-hole course his dad designed a walk away, and Gatehouse of Fleet itself, a hilly, blind-shot, honesty-box nine-holer where Colin's wife, who is just learning the game, hit the green on the notorious drop-shot ninth. He rounds off with pointers to Kirkcudbright, Newton Stewart, the two Dumfries courses and Southerness for anyone planning a trip.
Episode Highlights
🟢 Ross's 84 and why it's oddly reassuring: a scratch golfer's worst round in three years, and the story of the 95 followed by a 71 the next day
🟢 The golf glove solution: Ross discovers his new Ping Hoofer Lite has no Velcro to hold the stand legs together on a trolley, and improvises
🟢 Is it a faux pas to carry a bag with the logo of a course you've never played? The hosts settle it
🟢 The Motocaddy trap: why the Protekta cart bag won't work with Colin's Motocaddy Cube, straps or no straps
🟢 Colin's hometown reckoning: how a week in Dumfries and Galloway turned around his unfair opinion of the courses he grew up on
🟢 The ninth at Gatehouse of Fleet: a 50 to 100 foot drop, a pitching wedge for 150 yards, and a beginner who found the green
Gear & Resources Mentioned
🟢 Ping Hoofer Lite stand bag (Ross's new purchase, bought from American Golf): https://ping.com/en-us/shop/bags/carry-bags/hoofer-lite
🟢 Ping Hoofer Monsoon (the waterproof version Colin mentions)
🟢 Callaway Chev Dry 14 waterproof cart bag (spotted at £150 in the Nairn pro shop): https://eu.callawaygolf.com/en/gb/callaway-golf/gear/golf-bags/cart-bags/
🟢 Titleist Players S4 StaDry stand bag: https://www.titleist.com/product/players-s4-stadry/26TGBP4S.html
🟢 Titleist Players 4 Carbon stand bag and Titleist Cart 14 StaDry cart bag (mentioned as top-reviewed options)
🟢 Motocaddy Cube trolley (Colin's current trolley), Motocaddy Dry Series cart bag and Motocaddy Protekta cart bag with the EASILOCK base
🟢 PowaKaddy Dri-Tech cart bag and PowaKaddy's magnetic bag-to-trolley system
🟢 G/FORE golf bags, including the camo parachute carry bag and the croc-embossed leather tour bag
🟢 Scotty Cameron golf bags
🟢 Srixon tour bag (Ross's £50 eBay find)
🟢 Nairn Golf Club: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nairn_Golf_Club
🟢 Nairn Dunbar Golf Club: https://nairndunbar.com/
🟢 Cally Palace Hotel and Golf Course, Gatehouse of Fleet: https://bespokehotels.com/cally-palace-hotel/
🟢 Coastal Kippford holiday park (formerly Kippford Holiday Park): https://www.visitscotland.com/info/accommodation/coastal-kippford-previously-kippford-holiday-park-holiday-caravans-and-lodges-p272171
🟢 Craigieknowes nine-hole golf course, Kippford (designed by Colin's dad)
🟢 Gatehouse of Fleet Golf Club: https://www.gatehousegolfclub.com/
🟢 Other South West Scotland courses mentioned: Kirkcudbright, Newton Stewart, Dumfries and County, Dumfries and Galloway, Southerness
🟢 Ross's chipping aid (referred to as a "strike wedge"): product not confirmed, please check before adding a link
🟢 Both Sides of Par on Instagram: @bothsidesofpar
🟢 Colin on Instagram: @mcgraygolf (spelling to be confirmed)
Weekly Competitions
🟢 Nairn Dunbar Golf Club, Nairn, Highlands. Sunday 11 October 2026. Gents open, 21 handicap limit, £30 entry. Ross notes there's plenty of room on the tee sheet and calls it an absolute bargain for a course with a green fee around the £100 mark. The club website lists this as the Springfield Autumn Classic Open with booking via BRS, but the date, price and handicap limit above come from the episode and should be confirmed: https://nairndunbar.com/visitors-open-competitions/
Chapter List
00:00 Welcome and Ross's worst round in three years
02:10 Ross's new Ping Hoofer Lite and Colin's bag research
09:42 The stand bag on a trolley problem
12:37 Dream bags: G/FORE and Scotty Cameron
15:51 Cart bag roundup: Titleist, Motocaddy and PowaKaddy
19:58 Weekly open: Nairn Dunbar
21:00 Ross's chipping practice update
24:03 South West Scotland trip: Cally Palace
26:35 Kippford and the course Colin's dad built
28:19 Gatehouse of Fleet and the drop-shot ninth
30:57 More courses to play in Dumfries and Galloway
32:16 Wrap up and where to follow the show
