If you’ve spent any time on the "golf side" of the internet over the last decade, you’ve seen the logo. It’s a simple, stylized fried egg. Usually, it’s attached to a deep-dive thread about a bunker at a course you’ve never heard of or a podcast episode where two guys talk for three hours about the "rollback" of the golf ball. At the center of this orbit is Andy Johnson, the founder of The Fried Egg.
He didn't start as a media mogul. Far from it.
Back in 2015, Andy was just a guy with a newsletter and an obsession. He wasn't trying to build a massive brand. He was just bored with how golf was being covered. Most major outlets were obsessed with Tiger Woods' glutes or what someone wore on the 16th at Scottsdale. Andy wanted to talk about why a green sloped to the left and how that affected a player's strategy.
Why Andy Johnson and The Fried Egg Matter Right Now
Golf is in a weird spot in 2026. The professional game is fractured, but the interest in playing and understanding the game is at an all-time high. This is where Andy Johnson stepped in. He filled a gap that most people didn't even know existed: the architecture gap.
Most of us play golf, hit a bad shot into a bunker, and get mad. Andy looks at that same bunker and asks, "Why did the architect put that there?" He basically turned golf course architecture—which sounds like the most boring subject on earth—into something that regular people actually care about.
It’s about "strategic" vs. "penal" design.
It's about why width on a fairway actually makes the game harder for good players and easier for bad ones.
Honestly, the influence is real. Even Rory McIlroy famously admitted in a press conference that he watched Fried Egg videos to prepare for major championships like the PGA at Southern Hills. When the best players in the world are using your "hobby" content as a scouting report, you've probably moved past the "blog" phase.
The Origin Story: From the L Train to the Fairway
The Fried Egg wasn't born in a boardroom. It started on the L Train in New York City. Andy was working in corporate development, but his brain was elsewhere. He grew up as a competitive amateur golfer, and he was the guy reading Golf Club Atlas at 18 while his friends were reading... well, anything else.
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He realized that mainstream golf media was ignoring the "soul" of the game.
He taught himself how to write.
He taught himself how to take photos.
(Fun fact: he’s actually colorblind, which makes his photography skills even more impressive.)
The newsletter grew. Then came the podcast. Then came the Shotgun Start, a more "current events" driven show he co-hosts with Brendan Porath. Today, The Fried Egg is a full-blown media house with a membership program called Club TFE, events, and a team of writers.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Brand
There’s a misconception that The Fried Egg is just for "golf snobs" who only like private, $50,000-a-year country clubs. That’s actually the opposite of what Andy preaches.
One of the biggest impacts he’s had is highlighting "hidden gems"—affordable public courses with world-class design. He’s obsessed with places like Lawsonia in Wisconsin or Aiken Golf Club in South Carolina. These are places where you can walk for under $100 and see design features that are just as good as what you’d find at Pine Valley or Augusta National.
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He argues that good architecture shouldn't be a luxury. It should be the standard.
The Evolution of the Voice
If you listen to the podcast today, you’ll notice it’s not just about grass and sand anymore. Andy has become one of the most vocal critics—and observers—of the PGA Tour and the professional landscape. He’s dry. He’s often skeptical.
He doesn't do the "corporate cheerleader" thing.
This has occasionally ruffled feathers. There are fans who miss the days when it was just architecture, and there are others who love the "Shotgun Start" style of calling out the absurdity of professional golf. But that’s the point. It’s an authentic voice in an industry that usually speaks in PR-approved platitudes.
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Actionable Insights: How to Enjoy Golf Like Andy Johnson
You don't need a degree in landscape architecture to get more out of your Saturday morning round. Here is how to actually apply some of the "Fried Egg" philosophy to your own game:
- Look at the Greens First: Next time you play, don't just look at the flag. Look at the "contours." Where is the architect trying to funnel the ball? If the green slopes hard left, you probably shouldn't miss it on the right.
- Embrace the "Fried Egg" Lie: The brand name comes from a ball buried in a bunker. It’s a metaphor for the bad breaks in golf. Instead of getting tilted, realize that "rub of the green" is part of the design.
- Seek Out Municipal Gems: Stop overpaying for "championship" courses that are just long and boring. Use resources like the Fried Egg course guides to find local munis with interesting land.
- Think Backwards: Start at the green and work your way back to the tee. Where do you need to be to have the best angle into the pin? Usually, it's the side of the fairway that looks the most dangerous.
The reality is that Andy Johnson didn't just build a website; he changed the vocabulary of the modern golfer. We talk about "angles" and "template holes" and "restoration" now because a guy on a train decided that golf deserved better coverage than just scoreboard updates.
Whether you’re a scratch player or someone who loses six balls a round, paying attention to the ground you’re walking on makes the game a lot more interesting. That’s the real legacy of the egg.