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Fairway — Issue No. 14 · February 2026

The Game
Between
the Shots.

The Voices

Written by people who argue about this stuff in the car park.

Black and white portrait of Robert Callahan, a man in his fifties with a weathered, thoughtful expression

Robert Callahan

@callahan_links

8-handicap · Links purist · Has played all 10 Open Championship rota venues

Robert grew up caddying at Portmarnock and has spent thirty years chasing the kind of golf that requires a sweater in July. He writes about course architecture with the precision of someone who still walks every round.

A great links hole doesn't punish the bad shot — it rewards the brave one.
Course Architecture9 min read

Why Carnoustie's Barry Burn Is the Most Honest Hazard in Golf

There is a particular cruelty to the Barry Burn at Carnoustie — not in its depth or its width, but in its timing. It appears at the exact moment you have decided the hole is won. In 1999, Jean van de Velde stood on the 18th tee with a three-shot lead and the Claret Jug already half-poured in his imagination...

Black and white portrait of Diana Osei, a woman with a direct, confident gaze and natural hair

Diana Osei

@diana_fairways

14-handicap · Equipment obsessive · Plays 80+ rounds a year

Diana spent a decade as a club fitter before she started writing. She believes the gear conversation in golf has been captured by marketing departments, and she intends to take it back. Her reviews are long, opinionated, and occasionally furious.

The iron that fits your swing is always the right iron. The one on the tour truck rarely is.
Gear Review11 min read

I Gamed Blades for Six Months. Here's What Nobody Tells You.

The argument for cavity-back irons is empirical: more forgiveness, more distance, more consistent launch. The argument for blades is harder to articulate without sounding like you're selling a philosophy. But after six months with a set of forged 1-irons that felt like they were designed to punish me personally...

The Saturday Read

One email. Every Saturday.

The five best things we read, wrote, and argued about this week. No algorithm. No filler. Just golf worth your attention.

Black and white portrait of Tom Bergstrom, a young man with an earnest, focused expression

Tom Bergstrom

@bergstrom_golf

3-handicap · Former college player · Covers the majors on-site

Tom played D-III college golf in Minnesota, which means he learned to hit low, punched 7-irons into headwinds before he learned to hit a driver. He covers the majors the way a beat reporter covers a trial — on the ground, taking notes, talking to caddies.

Augusta in April is the only place in golf where the weather is part of the narrative.
Major Recap7 min read

Thursday at The Masters: What the Leaderboard Doesn't Tell You

By 7:45 on Thursday morning, the first groups are already threading through Amen Corner and the azaleas are doing what azaleas do — performing. There is a quality to early Masters coverage that the television broadcast never quite captures: the way silence works at Augusta, the specific weight of the gallery when someone makes a move...

Featured Reads

Worth your Saturday morning.

Aerial view of a links golf course with undulating fairways and natural rough, early morning light
Architecture12 min

The 500-Acre Argument: How Tom Doak Designs a Course Nobody Asked For

Tom Doak doesn't build golf courses for committees. He builds them for the golfer who will stand on the 14th tee in forty years and understand exactly why the green tilts the way it does.

Robert CallahanRead →
Close-up of four golf wedges laid out on a practice green, their grooves catching afternoon light
Gear6 min

The Wedge Stack: Why Tour Players Carry Four and You Should Too

Diana OseiRead →
Pebble Beach 18th hole in winter morning light, the Pacific Ocean grey and textured behind the fairway
Travel8 min

Pebble Beach in January: The Bucket-List Course Nobody Told You Is Better in Winter

Marcus DelgadoRead →
Golfer practicing chip shots on a practice green, the ball in mid-flight against a soft green background
Instruction10 min

The Short Game Studio: I Spent 90 Days Fixing My Chipping. Here's the Data.

Priya MehtaRead →
Latest

From the desk, this week.

A short par-three golf hole with a narrow green surrounded by bunkers and Rae's Creek, Magnolia trees in bloom
Course Architecture8 min

Augusta's 12th: The Most Important 155 Yards in Golf

Golden Bell is not the most difficult hole at Augusta. It is the most theatrical — and theatre, in golf, is what separates the majors from the rest.

Robert CallahanRead →
Golf driver laid on a club fitting mat, technical specifications visible on an adjacent monitor
Gear7 min

The Proper Fitting: Why Your Shaft Matters More Than Your Head

The clubhead gets the marketing budget. The shaft does the work. It's time to have the honest conversation.

Diana OseiRead →
The Old Course at St Andrews on a grey November morning, the town visible beyond the 18th green
Travel9 min

St Andrews in the Off-Season: A Pilgrimage Worth Making in November

In summer, the Old Course belongs to the bucket-listers. In November, it belongs to the wind and anyone willing to walk into it.

Marcus DelgadoRead →
Golf leaderboard at a major tournament, crowd gathered around the 18th green in late afternoon light
Major Recap5 min

Monday Morning Debrief: What the Masters Leaderboard Missed

The number next to the name tells you who won. It doesn't tell you about the chip-and-run on 13 that changed everything.

Tom BergstromRead →
Golfer practicing putting on a practice green, focusing on a short putt from three feet
Instruction6 min

Practice Green Discipline: The 20-Minute Putting Routine That Actually Works

Most golfers practice putting until they feel good. That is not practice. That is comfort-seeking.

Priya MehtaRead →
A golf scorecard and pencil resting on the edge of a cart, numbers filled in after a round
Essays10 min

The Handicap Lie We All Tell Ourselves

The World Handicap System exists to make competition fair. We use it to make ourselves feel better about a 90 we should have shot 84.

Robert CallahanRead →
The Saturday Read

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Every Saturday.

The five best things we read, wrote, and argued about this week. No algorithm. No filler. Just golf worth your attention.

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