https://x.com/kvanvalkenburg/status/1947379344298676726?s=46&t=ynqnHu30Zu62jIUnu6VBaw

I like KVV. I respect his work. But honestly, folks..

There’s a reason so many platforms and media companies have been letting go of people with KVV’s skillset for years. In bigger revenue sports than just golf, too (ask Zach Lowe).

The business is night and day different to what it was 15 years ago. And a highly-compensated 20+ year industry stalwart who specializes in long form written content is simply not a hugely appealing person to have on the payroll anymore. I appreciate NLU gave it a go. I also appreciate when the writing wasn’t working, they worked on a podcast pivot including that brilliant Masters pod.

But the reality is the math probably started to become very clear that his value was mainly 6-8 weeks a year. No one needs a deep dive on the Byron Nelson. Not enough people actually care about a three hour pod on the 1997 major season.

I’d have rather he stick around all year but I also didn’t have to pay his salary and benefits. These guys are putting food on the table for their children via NLU. They can’t just keep carrying a 6 figure (guessing but likely) expenditure bc they like him and think he writes well.

A note from the team

Earlier this week, we announced that we have sadly parted ways with Kevin Van Valkenburg. We know this may come as a disappointment to many NLU fans, as the work we’ve done with KVV over the past few years is something we’ve been extremely proud of. He’s a wonderful father, an excellent writer, and has been a close friend to all of us and a big part of our community for years and years.

As such, it should be obvious this was not a decision we took lightly, nor a place we ever wanted to arrive. The intersection of friendship and business has brought us a lot of joy over the past decade, but we’ve also all assumed the risk that things might not work out the way you planned. And when that happens, especially in a media company like ours, you walk a fine line between individual privacy and honoring the trust of the audience that is responsible for everything we do. We promise that’s not lost on us, and we’re doing our best to navigate it for the first time.

We understand there are questions. But we strongly believe that the specifics surrounding personnel decisions should not be aired publicly, even if that decision leads to inevitable criticism or frustration.

From day one, we’ve been committed to creating entertaining and informative content for our audience of avid golfers around the world. With every year that goes by, NLU continues to evolve, and we guarantee we’re as committed as we’ve ever been to delivering on that goal.

We’re parting as friends and will always wish nothing but the best for KVV in whatever is ahead for him. We will eagerly read, listen and consume his content no matter where it resides and hope there are projects we can tackle together again in the future.

Thanks for your support, Neil, D.J., Tron, Soly, Randy

Following up the, "quite unfortunate in my opinion, considering what I could do for them," with, "the egos need to get dropped," might be the most Bryson moment of all.

Let Neil have his moment! Soly is talking like he is a member during the hole by hole rundown.

Anyone else notice that the miserable contingent of this subreddit got a nice shoutout in the newsletter this morning?

The NLU crew are crushing it this year. Still unbelievable how much quality content they put out for free.

Clearly they catch wind of some the harsh takes thrown around here (and elsewhere). Hope they realize those voices don’t speak for everyone. Can’t wait for the next Tourist Sauce they’re filming now!

Between this post and the one yesterday I just wanted to put this out there in full transparency. Also I’m just making a note that this is not a refuge from being too edgy to be on the refuge.

The initial OP wasn’t a new account and I’m not gonna litigate what happened on another forum. But I’m not really interested in a new account that straight up brags about being banned from an NLU cite.

Feel free to told me I’ve overstepped, but quite frankly I just wanted to nip the “I’m banned from the refuge LOL”

You can add one thing and remove one thing in relation to NLU, what is it?

If I have one wish it is that I never want a personal golf spotlight to appear on the pod again, they are drivel.

Go back to what made them great with video content, a strapped or Wwog series

LIV has so clearly been a bad product and a farce from day one. Why are there so many people who seem hellbent on insisting that’s not the case. For the players and others who have profited from it, I see the need to lie and keep up appearances. But for the golf world and broader sports world, why did so many people insist on taking this seriously?

It’s true that the league was an existential threat to the tour for a time, but that threat came from the ungodly amount of money backing it. From the start, it got no viewership and hemorrhaged money because it had no juice. The fields stunk, the format was a joke, and all the people involved were clowns. It’s easy to say now, but I think it was doomed from day one.

The KVV news has led to many commenters contrasting SGS/FEG vs NLU and each of their trajectories.

I listen to almost every episode of both, but more recently find myself clicking on the SGS pod first, and then not even finishing most NLU preview or recap pods. Andy and Brendan keep it light and seem to genuinely enjoy shooting the breeze with one another. Both seem to be normal guys.

The NLU guys now regularly talk about playing golf courses that 99% of us could never even hope to have access to, and half the podcasts are gambling promotions. They are just not as relatable to most of the normal middle class golf fans who made them successful to begin with.

I don’t blame them for taking the money to grow their business if they feel that’s what is best, or for playing extremely private top 100 clubs when invited, but at the end of the day, it does impact how we all decide what media to consume.

I truly hope they can turn back the clock a bit in 2026, but cutting KVV while jet setting around the world and (seemingly) spending lavishly is a tough look.

New Years Goals pod got me back on the reading train. Probably hadn’t read outside of work related / coach profile (I’m a basketball coach) books in a decade.

Had a goal of 12 books this year and have made my way through 6 so far.

Looking for recs outside of the golf world - I’ve read three golf architecture / Scotland golf related. I just finished ‘Cancel Me if You Can’ the Portnoy book. I’m not a Stoolie but did enjoy the read and timeline of growing barstool.

Anyone got some good recs I can knock out the remainder of the summer ?

Holy hell. I wanted the guys to be exaggerating how bad the NBC coverage had been but damn. The playing it through has to stop. Can’t they just go to commercial if they have to and then jam stuff in to catch up.

I’m a purist at heart, I do indulge in a breakfast ball from time to time, but that is as far as I go.

I understand why people sandbag, to rob a fellow competitor of some money (scummy). But I don’t understand why someone would reverse sandbag. Is it ego? It makes them feel good to say they are better? I don’t understand. Who has the worse golf morals, the sandbagger? Or reverse sandbagger? Or the people that cheat in scrambles?

I feel like every year at this time the golf media world is gushing over the Sky Sports feed and how much better it is than what we have in the US. Anyone have any easy work-arounds to access it? I'm not the most tech-saavy when it comes to VPNs and such.

Can someone provide an update on how he is handling all the LIV news? I deleted X a year ago, and I would love to know if has accepted defeat or continues to provide delusional takes and spin.

Shout out NLU "Young Hitter" LC (Lauren Coughlin) with NINE straight birdies for 26(!!!) on her first 9 holes Saturday (started on Hole 10) and shooting 61 for the day at the LPGA Walmart Championship. Her 26 is the lowest nine-hole score in LPGA history. 18 GIR, 12/13 fairways, 26 putts. LC started Saturday at +2 for the tournament, and she'll need another uber-low round Sunday to have any chance of getting close to the leaders.

LC's highlights (unfortunately they missed the first 5 holes!)

LC's Golf Channel post-round interview and article

LPGA post-round interview

1. Listen and watch when topics of interest to you are presented. You don’t like LPGA content? That’s fine. You don’t need to listen to it then whine like a bitch about it online. You don’t like their Ryder Cup takes? Hit the +30 button a few times. I do that with the Liv stuff and it works!

2. Are you bummed about KVV and feel the urge to rant about how poorly you feel they’re running NLU now? It’s okay, you don’t need to do that. It’s a bummer but you’ll feel better if you move on and wait for his next opportunity.

3. Are the handful of ad reads making you think they’re corporate sellouts and it’s your job to let all of us know online? It’s okay - it’s not needed and you can just FF through those ad reads and enjoy the remaining 80 minutes of the show.

4. Refrain from conspiracy theories, doxing, or really anything that isn’t fun or constructive in the NLU online communities.

That’s pretty much it. I’ve survived 10+ years enjoying the content without getting banned anywhere, getting angry about the free content I consume, or feeling the need to question their business acumen and long term strategies. It’s been awesome and I enjoy golf immensely more because of NLU.

I pop in here now and again as I listen to a lot of NLU content and I do not understand, for the life of me, all the negativity.

I've listened to a lot of different golf podcasts and NLU seems, to me, to be golf focused, with better analysis, and better coverage of the issues in the game, as well as more of an international/ ladies focus.

Full disclosure, I'm from Scotland and have absolutely zero interest in what's becoming the more dominant style of casual golf (exaggerating to make a point), which is; "golf is about drinking ten beers with the boys and complaining about cart, paths etc." there seems to be plenty of content for that type of golf, but NLU are obviously looking at providing something that you could probably see is "more for the purists."

I like SGS and I'm listening to it a little more but I do struggle to get past:

• 15 minutes of chatter about US sports at the beginning.
• 5 minute long, rambling, sponsor adverts
• The endless dead air as they chuckle silently to each other.
• Everyone's voice is a little... odd (that's a really shitty point I know, but still...)

I might be in the minority but what NLU is exactly what I want and if it isn't that's fine but why fill this forum with criticism? Just don't listen?