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Michael McEwan is the editor of bunkered, Scotland’s biggest golf publication and one of the leading golf media brands in the UK.
He has spent more than 20 years writing about golf, interviewing some of the biggest names in the game, hosting podcasts, and helping shape the way golf stories are told.
But Michael’s story starts a long way from press rooms and tour ranges.
He grew up in Orkney, surrounded by wide skies, quiet streets, Christmases under the Northern Lights, and the kind of childhood that only really starts to look magical once you’ve grown up and paid council tax.
From a young age, he loved sport and writing. While other kids were recreating goals in the garden, Michael was watching football highlights, taking notes, and writing match reports on an old Apple Mac. Which is either very charming or a warning sign that someone may one day work in media.
That early love of storytelling never really left him.
In this episode, Michael talks about his life in golf media, what writing has given him, how he handles criticism, and the much more personal story of miscarriage, fatherhood, grief, and learning to understand what loss had done to him.
This is a conversation with someone who has spent his career finding the right words for other people’s stories, and then had to find them for his own.
Michael’s story shows how grief can sit quietly behind a very functional life.
You can keep working, writing, parenting, joking, answering emails, and looking broadly fine from the outside, while still carrying something that has changed the way your body and brain respond to the world.
That comes through strongly in this conversation.
After experiencing miscarriage, Michael talks about the fear that followed. Pregnancy became something loaded with dread. Sleep became difficult. His mind kept scanning for danger, even when life appeared to be moving forward.
That is a very human response to trauma. The brain tries to protect you by staying alert. Useful when danger is immediate. Exhausting when the danger has passed, but your nervous system missed the memo.
Michael also talks about struggling with the language around PTSD. That matters. Many people can recognise pain in others, but resist the same words when they apply to themselves. A label can feel too big, too clinical, too far away from who you think you are.
But his story shows that understanding what has happened to you can be a relief. It does not fix everything. It gives you a map. And when your head has been wandering around without one, that matters.
At its core, Michael’s story is about loss, fatherhood, honesty, and the power of saying something out loud. Talking does not make grief neat. It can make it less lonely. Sometimes that is the first useful thing.
If parts of Michael’s story land with you, these might be useful:
Miscarriage support, UK
The Miscarriage Association supports people affected by miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy and molar pregnancy, with information, personal stories and a support line.
🔗 miscarriageassociation.org.uk
Pregnancy and baby loss support, UK
Tommy’s provides information and support for anyone affected by miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death or termination for medical reasons, including pregnancy after loss.
🔗 tommys.org
Baby loss support, UK
Sands supports anyone affected by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby, and offers a free national helpline for bereaved families.
🔗 sands.org.uk
PTSD information and awareness, UK
PTSD UK provides information about PTSD and C-PTSD, including how trauma can affect people long after the event itself.
🔗 ptsduk.org
Mental health support, UK
Mind offers information, helplines and local support for stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and difficult life periods.
🔗 mind.org.uk
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