This week on This Golfing Life, we begin a special two-part interview with former PGA Tour and European Tour pro John E Morgan — one of the game’s great characters, and a golfer whose rise was as unconventional as the man himself.
In Part 1, John takes us back to a working-class childhood in Portishead, growing up as the only son of a Bristol docker and falling hopelessly in love with golf. He talks candidly about dyslexia, bullying at school, the obsessive competitive streak that drove him on, and why his larger-than-life personality never quite fitted the blazer-dominated culture of elite amateur golf.
He also opens up about the epilepsy diagnosis that would shape his career, the moment he considered walking away from golf altogether, and the brutally simple advice from his father that changed his mind. The episode ends with an extraordinary twist in Spain: a £50 golf commercial, two holed shots, and a chance encounter with the man who would bankroll his professional dream.
Key quotes
“It’s hard to feel vulnerable when you feel invincible.”
“I had to be the jester. I had to be the one that brought the laughs. I had to be the crazy one that would do something off the wall.”
“I didn’t play ball. I was the jester and the menace. You told me to go that way, I’d go the other.”
“I was just loud and proud golf, mate. Loud and proud.”
“You’ve been given a chance, John. Go and use it.”Chapters
00:00 — Introducing this week’s guest, John E Morgan:
Part 102:28 — Where golf first entered John’s life
03:11 — Growing up the son of a Bristol docker
04:40 — His sporting father and an unusual golf education
06:28 — A hole-in-one aged 10
08:32 — Seve, Sandy, Faldo and his childhood heroes
10:16 — Always looking for the outrageous shot
11:07 — Dyslexia, bullying and school
12:43 — The teacher who told him to stop talking about golf
13:48 — The scrapper and the will to win
15:24 — The making of his short game
18:42 — What separates the very best players
24:20 — Tiger, Vijay and life among the greats
29:09 — England golf and when your face doesn’t fit
32:44 — The jester, the menace and the night that changed everything
37:24 — Epilepsy and feeling vulnerable
44:00 — Dad’s reality check: golf or the docks?
46:56 — Spain, the buggy boys and a £50 commercial
49:39 — Two hole-outs and finding the golden goose
53:04 — Coming in part two: the meteoric rise
Links
John E Morgan on Instagram
RNGC, Dan Davies' backyard golf course
Dan Davies on Substack
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