Ep94: St Andrews Beach, with Mike Clayton

We invited Clayts on to help us profile St Andrews Beach, so naturally the episode opens with a discussion about 1970s house prices, closes with a brilliant Clayts monologue about molded grip trainer clubs and namechecks at least 20 Aussie courses along the journey!

Early in the life of this pod, we recorded an episode with Clayts where we discussed a bundle of Mornington Peninsula courses. We thought it was best to go back and revisit some of those layouts, devoting individual episodes to several courses. And who better to discuss St Andrews Beach than Clayts? Co-credited with its creation, he was there when the course was being designed and built, and nobody has completed more laps of the course than Mike.

In a wide-ranging chat we talk about the early days of the St Andrews Beach project, when it looked like being a 27-hole project with involvement from Ian Baker-Finch, a 36-hole private club with a buy-in of $50k for a 99-year membership, eventually becoming a publicly accessible 18-hole course, which at one point almost 20 years ago was closed for play and faced with a very uncertain future.

Our episode addresses Tom Doak’s work and his views on one of his best and favourite creations.

A great thread on St Andrews Beach on golfclubatlas - https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,48455.0.html

Another great review by Garrett of Fried Egg Golf –

https://www.thefriedegg.com/courses/st-andrews-beach-golf-course

And Doak discusses St Andrews Beach back in early 2020 with Andy Johnson

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6pmUSLrmApr0pLCTkopL2J?si=r_-Y-KWIR0Wv97reAqq2kw

Thanks to Clayts for his time and his continued support of our pod. It’s wonderful to get his views on his beloved St Andrews Beach and a whole host of other topics we discussed through this episode – one which we’re sure you will enjoy.

Our Podcast is published with support from Angus And Grace Go Golfing. Check their insta page and website for some of the best golf apparel on the planet. The latest Australian Golf Passport cap and tee have both sold out but there’s tons more cool stuff in store – and Cashmere is soon to arrive. We thank Matt – our OG partner!

Thanks to Dean and everyone at Seed Golf – they continue to provide 20% off for Australian Golf Passport listeners via the code AGP at checkout. Get your hands on some premium golf balls at a super low price. Once you’ve tried them you will be so thankful. The article we discussed during the episode is below for those who want to read more on the high quality Seed SD-02 model…

https://www.todays-golfer.com/news-and-events/equipment-news/seed-sd-02-v-vice-pro-plus-golf-balls/

Images related to this episode can be found on our Instagram page (@AustralianGolfPassport) and on Twitter / X (@AusGolfPassport). Images accompanied by attribution to their owners / creators.

Podcast intro music - Nbhd Nick / Stop Playing With Me-Instrumental / courtesy of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.epidemicsound.com