Guest: Scott Knowles

In this episode of Linked By Golf, Ross chats with Scott Knowles — Junior Ryder Cup Vice Captain and Manager of the Stephen Gallacher Foundation — about elite junior golf, team culture, and building pathways into the game.

Scott shares what it’s really like behind the scenes at the Junior Ryder Cup, from seeing world-class junior talent up close to helping select and support Team Europe players competing at Bethpage and Marco Simone. He explains the challenge of building a team, not just selecting the best individuals, and the unforgettable experiences young golfers get when they step into the Ryder Cup environment.

The conversation also explores Scott’s own playing journey — from never winning as a junior to becoming Scottish Golfer of the Year — and the lessons learned from competing alongside some of Scotland’s strongest amateur golfers of the era.

A major focus of the episode is the work of the Stephen Gallacher Foundation, where Scott helps introduce young players to golf through creative competition formats, coaching programmes, and events designed to build confidence, skills, and long-term love for the game. The foundation’s philosophy is simple: grow participation first, and performance will follow.

Topics covered in this episode:
• Inside the Junior Ryder Cup experience
• Selecting Team Europe players and building team chemistry
• The standard of elite junior golf today
• Scott’s amateur career and Scottish team experiences
• Balancing golf, work, and family life
• The cost of junior golf development
• The Stephen Gallacher Foundation pathway model
• Flag events and junior competition formats
• Long-term player development vs early performance
• Creating opportunities for young golfers

Stephen Gallacher Foundation
https://stephengallacherfoundation.com

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@linkedbygolf2024

Guest: Coleman Rollins
Instagram: @colemangolfs

In this episode of Linked By Golf, Ross chats with Coleman Rollins, a software engineer and golfer documenting his journey building a DIY open-source golf launch monitor from scratch.

Coleman shares how curiosity about expensive commercial launch monitors turned into a hands-on engineering project combining radar technology, Raspberry Pi computing, and open-source software — all documented publicly on Instagram so others can learn alongside him.

The conversation covers everything from caddying in Minnesota to testing radar data in a garage in Seattle, plus what it takes to turn raw motion data into meaningful golf metrics like clubhead speed, ball speed, launch angle, and spin.

At its core, the project is about making golf technology more accessible and showing that innovation in golf doesn’t always have to come from big companies.

Coleman’s tagline says it best:
“I built a launch monitor at home so you can too.”

• Growing up in Minnesota golf culture

• Moving from curiosity to building a launch monitor

• Radar vs camera launch monitor technology

• Using a Raspberry Pi as the “brain” of the system

• Trial-and-error testing at the driving range

• Building a custom enclosure for the device

• Making the project open source

• The role of community learning in golf technology

• What comes next: simulator integration and data analysis tools

• Puetz Golf

• Gerry Gubash — Radar engineering guidance

• Peter Michels — Enclosure design and fabrication

• OpenFlight GitHub Repository

Open-source project:
https://github.com/jewbetcha/openflight

Follow Coleman’s build journey:
Instagram — @colemangolfs

Follow the podcast:
@linkedbygolf2024

In this episodePeople and projects supporting Coleman’s journeyLinks

In this episode of Linked By Golf, Ross sits down with renowned golf coach Kendal McWade to explore a radically different way of thinking about golf coaching, skill development, and performance.

From playing on Scotland’s competitive circuits and qualifying for a European Tour event, to working with Ryder Cup players and tour professionals, Kendal shares the story behind his journey into Instinctive Golf and why he believes traditional coaching methods often miss the point.

This conversation dives deep into motor learning, exploration, problem-solving, and why golfers should focus less on positions and more on developing skills through experience.

If you’ve ever felt stuck working on your swing mechanics — this episode will change how you think about improvement.

• Kendal’s journey into golf coaching and the moment that changed everything

• Discovering Extraordinary Golf and the influence of Fred Shoemaker

• Playing professionally in Scotland and qualifying for the Glasgow Classic

• Working with tour professionals including Paul McGinley

• Why many great players learned without formal coaching early on

• The difference between performance coaching and skill acquisition

• Why exploration and “motor babbling” are essential to learning golf

• The connection between trick shots and real skill development

• How golfers can build confidence by learning to solve problems with the club

• Why there is no single “correct” golf swing

  
  

Golf improvement isn’t about copying positions or chasing a perfect swing — it’s about learning to use the club to solve problems and developing your own movement patterns through exploration and experience.

If you enjoyed this episode of Linked By Golf, make sure you follow the podcast so you never miss a conversation with the people who make golf such a powerful connector.

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@linkedbygolf2024

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