On the Road with Iona
- Alice Watson
- May 20
- 6 min read
Telling stories from inside and outside the ropes.
That’s the tagline and DNA of Iona Stephen’s popular YouTube channel On the Road with Iona and in my view, it’s a cut above the rest.
If you’re a golf fan, you’ll likely be familiar with Iona’s Scottish lilt on Sky Sports Golf. As a broadcaster and on-course commentator, she can often be found striding the fairways with Wayne ‘Radar’ Riley, giving viewers the inside scoop on a player’s shot, lie, and demeanour.
Her style is reminiscent of the BBC’s legendary Ken ‘On the Course’ Brown - creative with language, playful in tone, and packed with insights that enhance the television pictures.
Iona occasionally appears on other networks, such as CBS in America and BBC Sport on home soil, and she has hosted numerous prize ceremonies and presentations at golf’s marquee events, including the 2024 Ryder Cup in Rome.
But alongside these formal media roles, Iona also produces content for her own YouTube community which launched in 2023 and if you haven’t discovered her videos already, then you’re in for a treat.
At the heart of the channel, I think, is an ambition to tell the story of golf and capture the soul of the game.
Exploring the people and places that characterise the sport, from the stars of the PGA Tour to the members of a local course, and delving deeper into people’s relationships with golf, whether that be their personal histories as players or the unexpected journeys the game has taken them on.
There’s been a red carpet roll call of guests on the channel so far.
Major-winning professionals in Adam Scott and Georgia Hall.
Iconic coaches such as Butch Harmon and Dan Grieve.
Fellow TV broadcasters in Zane Scotland and Dan Walker.
And celebrated athletes, actors, and personalities including Kelly Slater and Jamie Dornan.
Irrespective of the guest, Iona consistently delivers insightful conversations, asking thoughtful, perceptive, and meaningful questions which result in interesting and revelatory interviews time and time again.
That is to say, you learn something over the course of her videos, gaining a better understanding of the interviewee, what makes them tick, and why they are passionate about the game of golf.
The edition with Adam Scott sticks in my mind. You watch him loop around Wentworth carrying a half set of a clubs in a one strap, over the shoulder pencil bag. This is a rare glimpse of the 2013 Masters Champion in a setting you wouldn’t normally find him in.
It’s somewhat reminiscent of James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke in which he places world-famous musicians in the front seat of a car and invites them to sing their iconic hits in the space viewers would usually belt out their lyrics.
Iona does something similar, conducting intimate interviews with notable golf personalities as they play a casual 9 holes in the setting sun.
It’s a winning formula.
Three instalments that I’ve enjoyed recently encapsulate what On the Road with Iona is all about and give you a sense of the different video formats. If any whet your appetite, just click on the title to start watching...
In 1 hour of pure golfing magic, Iona travels to West Palm Beach, Florida to speak with Brad Faxon - 8-time PGA Tour winner, putting coach to Rory McIlroy, and TV commentator and analyst for America’s NBC and the Golf Channel. The video shifts between an intimate sit-down interview and ‘on the green’ putting lesson which means personal reflections are mixed with priceless insights on technique. As viewers, we travel vicariously through Iona, imagining we are lucky enough to get tips from the putting guru himself and learn more about his putting philosophy. Brad comes across as personable, knowledgeable, and articulate, and his passion for the game seeps through the screen. It's clear he believes in the art and artistry of putting, but make no mistake, he is meticulous and methodological in his approach, extremely precise with green reading, set up, and process in the pre-shot routine. It’s not many who can say they’ve had tuition from, and a green-side chat with, one of the greatest putters of all time - who just happens to mentor a Grand Slam champion too.
Closest in style to other YouTube golf offerings, Iona has an enjoyable 'Chasing the Red' series in which she films her stroke play rounds and tries to shoot the best score possible, entering into the red figures. In this episode, she plays with former tour pro and fellow broadcaster, John Morgan, on his home patch of Clevedon GC in Somerset. The round is a delight, in part because of John’s warm personality, boundless talent, and undeniable flair for golf. Zooming round in a buggy, we watch them both trade blows and exchange insights, each giving you a sense of what they’re thinking about over the ball and how they react to different shots, slopes, and scores. John is a clear golfing historian, showing off a nifty set of old school clubs and contrasting them with modern-day equipment. With his backwards cap and West Country accent, he shoots a mightily impressive 5 under-par 67 but their scores are not the main takeaway. It’s the fact that you’ve just watched two people who love the game communicate their passion for it in spades, leaving you excited about your next opportunity to tee it up.
Although this instalment begins with the promise of another score chasing round, it ends up being something totally different. Iona heads to her Scottish island namesake, the Isle of Iona in the Inner Hebrides off the west coast. It takes her two ferries to get there, one from Oban to Mull and another from Mull to Iona, but it’s worth the wait. Iona arrives at a golf course that is free to play and offers fairways full of colourful wild flowers. Maintained by sheep and a small group of local volunteers, this is golf in its most raw and natural form - as Iona herself reflects, it's “golf as it’s meant to be played”. Filmed over 6 holes alongside a local man named Finlay, the video gives you a stunning sense of place with panoramic ocean views and the evocative sounds of seabirds and lapping waves. This is a far cry from the congested commute to work and it transports you to a simpler, purer world. In many ways, the short video speaks to the channel’s core ingredients - the spirit of golf, unforgettable locations, and the people who populate our golfing planet. Iona reminds us that we sometimes need to put the scorecard and pencil away, soak in our surroundings, and remind ourselves how lucky we are to play this ancient game.
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These examples only scratch the surface of Iona’s back catalogue of videos.
The camera work and edits are getting better and better over time, and each instalment always feels well worth your time.
It’s an innovative and compelling way to watch golf content that routinely gives you an alternative insight into the game and the people who play it.
Players have an opportunity to show a different side to themselves than is usually captured in post-round interviews or bitesize social media clips, and broadcasters, too, develop their golfing identities and share a new form of storytelling that offers a fresh take on the sport.
It’s undoubtedly influencing younger generations and bringing new demographics into the game. Bryson DeChambeau’s ‘all in’ approach on his own YouTube channel underlines the medium’s potential and reach.
Iona sums up the shifting tides of golf media nicely in her recent column in Today’s Golfer [1]:
“At the end of the day, golf isn’t just about scorecards and swing paths. It’s about stories. And right now, some of the most powerful are being told by people holding cameras, not clubs”.
Check out her channel - you won’t regret it.
[1] ‘Content creators could be crucial to the future of golf’ - 17 Apr 2025 - Today's Golfer Magazine - Readly
