Talk Birdie To Me

We start todays show talking about the Travellers and the excitement of the playoff between Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler, it was a fantastic finish, Nick was glued to it and was impressed by the crowds who turned up for the playoff that morning. We go with an early Touch of Class.3:00 Touch of Class for BMW goes to Viktor for the viking tribute with the crowd, it was a ripper.4:00 We can't ignore the Phil Mickelson news that has been coming out over the last few days, and Nick and Mark discuss. We'll avoid the details of what is has been alleged that he has done, and we more talk in broad brushstrokes about Phil and his career. Mark says that he feels it will be difficult for Phil to ever play again, and Nick says that his downfall has been sad to see. Both feel that Phil would have made a brilliant commentator, but that seems very unlikely now.7:00 The news that has come out about the new PGA Tour Schedule and Structure, we discuss in detail. Nick and Mark love it. We discuss some of the key points: promotion/relegation, the removal of sponsor invites, shorter schedule, how do the tours work together and what is the path for any returning LIV players?14:00 Chat about the PGA Tour's approach to shoring up national opens, clearly a power move, and Mark says that whilst it is a good move, no way it would have happened without LIV.18:00 Have Golf Australia given Mark a whack? Dan says yes, Mark is a little more circumspect about it. We explain on the show22:00 For Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official superannuation partner, Mark awards this weeks plus for golf to the proposed Mens schedule that the PGA Tour have released.After the turn:26:00 Nick lists the Top 5 Tour Pros who go down rabbit holes trying new things for their game.35:00 Lots of feedback, heavily Wyndham Clark based - not so much on him, but on our comments about him. Also feedback for Southern Golf Club on Niemann's penalty, Nicks comments about young Australian golfers, and a couple on Min Woo Lee.45:00 Nick's global highlights from the last week, an underwhelming set of results for Australians - Karis Davidson aside - but some great results from others to run through, including an appalling effort from a caddy in Europe....53:00 And for the Golf Clearance Outlet, we wrap with Mark's masterclass - 3 key things to do to start your swing, particularly if your flexibility isn't what it was.And right at the end of the show, Mark and Dan play a short musical trivia game for fun while Nick isn't in the studio. See how you go....We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today's Monday Mini Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen put Australian Tour Pros under the spotlight, the men specifically as the women are killing it. But following a week where no Australian made the cut in the US Open for the first time since somewhere around the 1950's, is there a problem? Certainly you, wolfpackers, seem to think there may be given the volume of correspondence we received following the cut on Friday.Is there a problem, what is it, and what are some of the ways we could address it? Nick makes an observation about the entitlement of some younger players today, and Mark says that the access to Q School was easier in previous years, and says that the basketball model for talented young Australian basketballers is worth looking at for young golfers. He explains how that system works on the pod today.And we finish on a positive by discussing some of the great womens golf flushers over the years, including some Aussies. But join the conversation....what do you think would help with the approach to become stronger for men internationally? Love your thoughts and ideas.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Friday Feedback pod today, and it's got an Australian Open flavour, with plenty of comments on the news that the 2027 tournament will be held at Peninsula Kingswood. First up is Tracey, who simply wanted to say how pleased she was that the AO would be played at her home course, and why wouldn't you be! Mark makes the observation that he things PK has the most impressive 'drive in' in Australia, and that the emerald colour of the course is spectacular at the moment. Nick and Mark discuss when courses go into dormancy.Recently we filmed a few holes at The Furrows at Kingston Heath, if you haven't watched it on YouTube you can see it here, and we kick around the idea of heading north to Queensland during the winter dormancy in Melbourne....if you think there is a course, probably in Brisbane, that we should head to and film a couple of the key holes or key areas at, let us know in the comments and we'll pick one to go to in a few weeks.Wayne says that the PK news is great, and that it has the best clubhouse/course combo he's seen. Nick and Mark discuss and kick around some of their faves.....Mark names one veeeery famous course as having an underwhelming clubhouse, and menu. Trav also loves the AO being at PK.However, Michael makes a comment that whilst it's good for now, when LIV dies, after the PGAT contract with Golf Australia, he reckons the PGAT are out. Nick and Mark discuss.Funk has an idea about the composite structure of PK, do Nick and Mark agree? We discuss the composite, Mark has spoken to Mike Cocking about it, and he (Mike) reckons it's going to be great.And before the turn, John has a moment for Mark about his complaint on last weeks show about the lack of warm bread rolls in restaurants these days. Rest assured, we'll deal with all the big issues on Talk Birdie To Me.After the turn, we have a call from Dave from Brisbane who is a 5 handicapper and using old Wilsons, and has some questions about upgrading. Nick and Mark discuss how upgrading would help Dave's game, and explain why - Nick reckons, if Dave is off 5 with his current gear, he's a shot at scratch with newer gear. Whilst we've got Dave we get a rundown on his local Ipswich club and how it's looking and playing at the moment.A fun Friday Feedback pod today, keep your questions and comments coming, we love getting them!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greg watched the US Open at the weekend and was particularly frustrated with something that he watched occurring, which he feels is becoming increasingly common. He left a voicemail with his concerns - let us know in the comments if you agree with Greg, or have a different view.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've all come in a bit bleary eyed after four early starts in a row getting up for the US Open, but we thoroughly enjoyed it, as you no doubt did as well. There was plenty to like, and a few average things as well. We chat about it all on this weeks main pod episode.1:00We start with the US Open of course, Mark was underwhelmed by Shinnecock Hills, the weather did play a role, we discuss the impact on the early and late players, and how it can work for you or against you quite significantly. Nick tells us the most extreme example of this he ever saw, and Mark talks about playing an Australian PGA at NSW with the wind screaming around the course.6:00 Wyndham Clark, now a 2-time winner, Mark is interested in how his swing has evolved over the last 3-4 years, and describes what he is seeing. Interestingly, on the final day under pressure, he slipped back to some of his old problems (by his own admission). Nick decides to do todays Masterclass on some of the drills he has noticed Wyndham doing. 9.00 Scottie Scheffler. Nick says he was on his B or C game at the weekend, and still finished well. Mark says his distance control was off, and he was not turning the ball with confidence.11.00 Mark was impressed with Sam Burns and reckons he's a good shot for a big win at some point soon. 12.30Back to Wyndham, we discuss the crowd reaction, it was largely unsupportive. We chat about it, what happened at last years US Open, and his comments about that after the tournament. Nick says that he has an 'anger issue'.18.00 Are Long Island golf fans are a 'stain on the game of golf' ? That's the claim. Mark agrees.20:00 Neimann's 2-shot penalty, which Mark describes as a plus for golf thanks to Hostplus, saying it's about time this behaviour is cracked down on.22:00 Should swearing by players be subject to penalties? Nick says yes. Rahm the worst offender Nick saw at the weekend.23:00 Oh and our Talk Birdie / Betr multi came off, it's our third one, and Mark is particularly happy as he built this one himself! 24.00 We discuss Sam Burns marking his spot, was it cheating? Maybe, maybe not, not enough evidence, but it didn't look good.25:00 But Wyndham, well he did do some shonky stuff, and Mark says he is now on the 'Talk Birdie cheating watchlist'. We discuss why.29.00 For BMW, this weeks touch of class goes to 17-year old amateur Miles Russell....well deserved and a fantastic moment. After the turn:33:00Mark lists the Top 5 players 'cheered against' at majors. Does Monty make the list?36:00Whether he does or not, Mark does tell a very funny, albeit slightly crude, Monty story.39:00 US Open focused, and heavily leaning towards the women this week, Nick runs around the world in the PING Global results. 43:00 Feedback: Lots of comments and questions on the US Open and the various things that happened, Min Woo Lee, Penalties, Bryson anchoring (or not), Bifurcation, Tapping down before your shot. And a question for Nick about whether gym work has gone too far and is causing injuries to modern players.52:00 Mark has an idea for a Monday Mini with a bloke whose a grass expert. Bear with us....it sounds boring....but when Mark explains it, actually it sounds pretty interesting. We'll do some work on that behind the scenes and get back to you.55:00And inspired by watching Wyndham Clark's drills, Nick outlines some of the drills he has seen him do and what they're intended to achieve.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Monday Mini today and wolfpacker Will in Sydney has sent a short video in, which we talk through on the pod for audio listeners, showing something that was within the rules of golf many years ago, yet now is not. Will reckons it should be made legal again. Nick and Mark discuss.And then we talk about some great rule changes over the years and, perhaps more importantly, some of the rule changes that should be made!It's a quick listen, less than 10-minutes for our Talk Birdie To Me Monday Mini today. We'd love your thoughts in the comments on whether Will is right, or not, and what other rule changes should happen.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Love this voicemail from Travis on the Gold Coast, his 12-year old daughter is learning the game and Travis wanted to a shout out to his local Club Pro at Coolangatta/Tweed, Jay Borra who he raves about. A fantastic testament to the great work PGA Pros do to help grow the game!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Friday Feedback pod today, and it's good fun as usual. Some ripping questions and comments from you for Nick and Mark to discuss.1:00 John from Mandalay Golf Club, north of Melbourne, who outlines a local rule at his club which he rates, and is keen on Nick and Marks thoughts on it.4:00 Andrew from the UK is a righty, who feels he should try putting lefty, and asks Nick about it - plus a question for the boys about dealing with the heeby jeebies.7:00 Matthew from the US who has an idea on the technology 'rollback', and an observation to do with that around The Masters.9:00 Don with a comment on our Dottie Pepper chat a couple of weeks ago.After the turn, Mark does a flip flop about Monty coming on the show, however he has a pretty reasonable rationale. It's still a great flip flop, but not as good as this one which was a flip flop flip.13:00 Alyce has messaged in about a charity event her partner Kevin is doing on the Gold Coast to raise money for prostate cancer...a great cause, if you can spare even 5 or 10 bucks, here's the link. 14:00 Gary with a comment on seeing Brett Ogle play in Tassie, leads to a great story from Mark about Brett when he (Mark) was 14. Possibly involving a somewhat shady caddy.18:00 AB with a request for a guest....we like it.19:00 Mark tells a story about staying at Steve Elkington's house, and falling asleep on the front lawn, to be woken up by an animal poking him. 21:00 A few comments on our 2 PGA Championship titles vs 1 other Major title, and a fun chat about what would be on Nick and Marks menu should they have ever won The Masters.That's our Friday Feedback pod, have a great weekend !!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's US Open week and it's a big one, particularly for Adam Scott who plays his 100th consecutive major....extraordinary. Nick and Mark discuss this wonderful achievement, and share some insights into how Scotty approaches his game.Shinnecock Hills is a 'brutal' course, and requires some careful course strategy...even then the weather can play a role and throw plans out the window. Nick and Mark chat about what might happen. We run through the power rankings, and look at who can win and why, and who probably can't. And we frame a multi with our mate Hummer at Betr, it's a good one, but remember not to put much on - 10 bucks is plenty for a bit of fun. Head to the Betr website or app, opening an account if you don't have one takes a couple of minutes, and search for Betr specials, and you'll find Talk Birdie To Me there - here's the link to the website. Remember to always gamble responsibly.Enjoy the US Open !!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What a week. After the excitement yesterday of the PK news, and the co-sanctioning with the PGAT (along with the DPWT), and what that could mean, we've got plenty to run through. And given that, we thought we'd kick off the show by chatting to Tour Pro, and Peninsula Kingswood royalty, Marcus Fraser about how it came about and whether the excitement levels are off the chart. Marcus reveals that there has been offers before for events at PK, but the board decided to wait for the right event, and that has paid off. Whilst the course will play as a composite, he is yet to have a decent look at the routing, however he said the excitement around the club is huge. For Hostplus, the AO at PK is our plus for golf this week.Mark questions why the even need the composite approach, which he and Nick discuss.This weeks BMW Touch of Class is easy. Last week, just after we recorded the pod, we heard the news that the legendary Brian Twite from Metropolitan had passed away only 2 months shy of turning 100. Mark tells a great story about getting in trouble from Brian when he (Mark) was a mischievous kid doing what mischievous kids do, and being chased by Brian on a motorbike on a golf course!Mark read this week that LIV are saying that they have a number of Australian sponsors who are interested, and Mark asks Nick - where have they been for the last decade ? On LIV, with rumours (unsubstantiated) of money not forthcoming to wrap up the season, what could that mean were it to occur. Mark read this week about the details of Jon Rahm's LIV deal, the numbers are mind-blowing, and Nick describes them as 'silly'.Nick and Mark discuss how it is disappointing that the prizemoney in Australia today, is pretty much what it was 30-years ago.It is US Open week, we touch on it briefly today - not because we're not excited but because we'll do a preview pod over the next day or two and get into some real detail about the tournament. We do discuss Shinnecock, and some of the adjustments to the course - particularly the widening. Nick describes this course as 'brutal'.After the turn, as if he needed another reason, Mark has found one to criticise the world feed over. Nick reckons Charlie Woods may well be on the bag in the US Open, that would be interesting.Nicks Top 5 this week for Betr, and he lists his Top 5 memorable moments from Australasian players, one player makes two entries! For Southern Golf Club, into feedback:Ron has a fun fact about Nelly Korda's win a week or so back, Ken and John each have some feedback on Marks 'Swatters' Top 5 from last week, we hear some great stories about Sandy Lyle. Lots of feedback on our video from The Furrows last week - see it here - Gards, Angela, and Pete loved it, Wolfpacker Mark has a question for our Mark about his putter, and Ali Whittaker, commentator extraordinaire, enjoyed Nick showing different shots for how different people play. And on The Furrows video, a whack from Soph for one team member who gets a little defensive over it.The overwhelming feedback was that you want more of that sort of stuff, so we think one a month might be good....let us know in the comments if you reckon that would be worthwhile (or not).Message, and a request, from Simon over the international feed, and Mark goes rogue and lays the blame for the international feed's very existence at the feet of one person. He names the person who he blames, and explains why he believes that said person is responsible. Ouch.Few more bits of feedback, Darren on the 3-club challenge, Dodgy on the 7-club tournament idea, and Stephen has what is essentially a crack at Nick O'Hern...!PING Globals from Nick, not a hugely busy week in golf, but a few things going on around the world. Mark read a tweet from Ryan at Monday Q on 'Why Cuts Matter' which he discusses, and Nick and Mark discuss the strategy behind attempting to qualify for a major.And for the Golf Clearance Outlet, Marks masterclass is on 'finishing balanced'.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A 'Big News' Pod today with Golf Australia boss James Sutherland announcing some very exciting news relating the 2027 Australian Open, which will be held at Peninsula Kingswood on Melbourne's sandbelt. That wasn't the only news he revealed, it was a big day, and James joined Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen to discuss the announcement.Nick and Mark ask about the rationale behind PK being played (at the AO) as a composite course, which James talks to, and describes the course as 'a hidden gem', he also reveals that for a long time now Golf Australia have 'harboured a desire to have our national open at Peninsula Kingswood'.Nick is curious as to what, if anything, this means for the North Adelaide deal and puts that to James. Mark asks about the move to co-sanction now not only with the DPWT, but now with the PGA World Tourmark wants to know about the co-sanctioning with the not only the DPWT, but the PGAT. And he asks what this means for prizemoney. James says that we now have certainty of where the national open will be played for the next 7-years, and in 2027 we'll see a 'significant boost to prizemoney'. He goes on to say that Golf Australia have the highest of aspirations for the open, and the intent is for it to be one of the Top 10 Golf events in the world.A busy day for James, he is being chased by plenty of people, but we managed to keep him for a few more minutes to put a couple of wolfpacker questions to him. Craig asks if the LIV factor played a role in the PGAT getting involved, and will their involvement remain if LIV collapses. Evan wants the Masters to return and asks James if there is a chance that can happen.A big day for Australian golf, and great to hear the news from the guy who did the deal.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's US Open week for the Men and today's Monday Mini couldn't come at a better time.....more on that in a sec...But first a couple of winners from our recent Talk Birdie To Me research study....drumroll....Congrats to David Lindsay from Adelaide who has won 300 bucks to spend on a new pair of FootJoy's, and Simon Tagg from Sydney who has scored $300 to spend at the Golf Clearance Outlet! Well done fellas, and thanks for everyone who took part in our questionnaire, plenty of good things to take out of it, and plenty for us to improve....we appreciate you taking the time.Now, onto the Monday Mini. Wolfpacker Craig has written in saying that this week is the anniversary of one of his all time fave golfing memories....the 2006 US Open, Nick O'Hern stalking the field and shooting the lights out on the Sunday, Phil Mickelson melting down, Colin Montgomerie falling away on the final day, and Geoff Ogilvy coming home with the chocolates. Just an incredible tournament to watch where scoring low was at a premium that weekend.Nick talks us through the first 3-days, and then in detail what happened on the sunday, saying that the course was 'brutally tough', and that there was carnage happening everywhere. He talks through where it went wrong for Monty, and for Mickelson. And then we look at some of Nick's figures. He finished T6, which is impressive by any standard, however whilst he has very fond memories he does recall that as his one chance to win a major, which he let get away.A fantastic Monday Mini with some wonderful memories of 2006.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Voicemail from Daff in Brisbane who is a new wolfpacker, and left a message for Nick and Mark saying that a few tips have helped his game out....although we're not entirely sure that a pre-Monthly Bundy & Coke was one of the tips, but it seemed to work for Daff !We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Friday Feedback pod today where you decide where the content on the pod goes. And we start with an excellent question for Nick and Mark from wolfpacker Robert.01:00 Robert wants to know how Nick and Mark manage the 'the feel of their swing' and when do they lose conscious sight of the ball. A great chat about what Nick and Mark do, and what some of the greats do06:00 Johnny with a golf cart story from his club.07:00 John on how he and his golfing buddy use their cart, Mark reveals his cart plan for when he gets older, and Nick tells a very funny story about his cart experience at Cathedral at the weekend.08:00 Another John, who lets us know about his club's twice annual 3-club event. Nick and Mark discuss what their 3 clubs would be.10:00 Beckom has an issue with golf associations and PGA's around the world not enforcing behaviour and etiquette from Tour Pros.After the turn, last week Mark asked people to nominate some of the YouTube golf instructional channels they watch and enjoy, and we had a bunch.12.00 We had input from Carl, David, Seve and Ian....plus Mark listed a couple he likes. 17.00 Nick reveals a bizarre fact about his Dad....one that will blow your mind, two actually, one to do with eggs, the other to do with baseball. They're both impressive, the egg one is wild.19:00 Another YouTube comment from Jeff, who went recently to the Titleist Performance Institute to get tested....he has sent in a short clip of his swing for Nick and Mark to review.20:00 Message from Craig on Monty, leading to Mark telling a story about when Monty went to Houston for college and how his golfing ability was considered pretty ordinary at that time, Nick jumps on with an extraordinary story about Monty nearly not pursuing golf as a career, until one fortuitous moment.And we end the pod with Mark putting our podcast license at risk....We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Another busy pod this week, particularly considering some big tournaments over the weekend! Snapshot of the show below, with rough times of when we talked about the various issues:1:00We talk Nelly Korda's huge win, that final putNellys win, chat about the win, that final putt in particular, which was thisclose to missing. Nick noticed something about her caddy that he found strange, and mentions to Mark. We look at Nelly's stats, her putting results must have been a record for her, they were exceptional, and Nick discusses an unusual thing Nelly did mid-tournament. We discuss her nerves on that final putt.8:00Riviera looked amazing, far better than it usual does (at different times of the year).10:00More on Nelly, that's how good she was.11.00Mark discusses the commentators at the US Women's Open.12.00 Strap in.....the International feed vs the Normal feed. Mark is at his wits end, and wants to know what will it take to end it, saying it is so far off the mark.17.00Nicks mate shot his first ever hole in one at the weekend! Nick was rapt. Another mate shot one with nobody else around, Nick sadly for him said that it doesn't count.20:00Exciting news for one of our great mates, David Elia from Hostplus, who was awarded an Order of Australia in the Kings Birthday honours list this week. Well deserved! Is that our plus for golf this week? Well as exciting as it was, no, Mark awards the 'plus for golf' to something else.21:00This weeks Touch of Class for BMW goes to Nelly Korda....sort of.....Mark explains on the show.23:00LIV golf....a big week for LIV with a number of announcements about their proposed structure, prize money, and how they'd like to tie in with national opens. It's dependant on investment, but if it comes to fruition, there are some interesting ideas there.29:00Next week on the show we'll have Golf Australia boss James Sutherland on, if you have a question you'd like us to ask him on your behalf, shoot it to us in the comments and we'll pick three at random to ask the big guy.After the turn:31:00Nick talks about 'sclaffers'. What's a sclaffer? We did'nt know either....Nick explains. And Mark makes a big comment, intended as a compliment, about Rodger Davis.34:00Top 5 for Betr, Mark lists his Top 5 'spine tingling swatters', golfers with slightly unorthodox swings who made you go wow when you saw them hit the ball/38:00Ping globals, certainly a big one - Nick runs through LIV, Memorial, US Womens Open, Champions Tour, DPWT, plus an update on Cam Smith and how his form line is looking.45:00For Southern Golf Club, feedback this week - heaps on our chat with Dottie Pepper, the International Feed, Nick might have missed a big celebration in his recent Top 5, Steve Elkington, a Top 5 idea inspired by Seve, some holes that a wolfpacker reckons we missed last week in the chat about 'golf holes architects would never design today'.54:00 And for the Golf Clearance Outlet Nick's masterclass comes from Kingston Heath today, where he talks through Nelly Korda's grip change mid-US Open at the weekend.A big pod today, don't forget to subscribe and if you feel so inclined, drop a comment below, it costs nothing but really helps the algorithms spread the show around further.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've been getting plenty of feedback and questions lately, so we thought we'd do a bonus feedback pod for a bit of fun.And we start with wolfpacker Dave coming out of the blocks hot with a whack for Nick and Mark over their comments a week or two ago about what a 14-handicapper would shoot at Augusta.Todd from the UK asks whether any region in the world has more quality golf courses in a concentrated area than Melbourne, Nick and Mark can only think of one possible contender.Darren has some observations and questions around the sounds off the club that pros make in tournaments and why it is different? Mark tells a story about seeing long hitter Jason Zuback in action and the sounds he made.Peter has written in - he agrees with Mark (and Nick's) stance on cheating, however has a bone to pick with Mark about it.Rebecca messaged us about her Dad, Neil, who has broken his age now 300 times !!!!!!!! Wow!!!!And we wrap on a question from Alex....who makes the statement that he feels the PGA Championship is the 'least' prestigious of the majors, and if Nick and Mark had a choice would they rather 2 PGA Championship wins, or 1 win from another major. The boys give their view...and they each have a slightly different response to the question.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Monday Mini today from a wolfpacker with an unpronounceable name (or is it...), however the comment / question that this person has for Nick and Mark is about the merits of adding a 5th Mens Major, but theming it as a retro major.....everything as it was 30-40 years ago. Nick and Mark discuss how it might look, the gear, the equipment, the rules, the clothing....it's a fun chat. It will never happen, but it's a fun hypothesis to explore.Nick says that, in the event it were to happen, it would lengthen the gap between the top pros like Rory and Scheffler, and the more average pros and that if you give them a few weeks to get used to the gear, they'd nail it. Mark makes the point that the equipment then, particularly the driver, helped pros like The Shark dominate.Nick also raises some news on Tiger's young bloke Charlie that he saw last week, which we chat about - relevant to this mini as Tiger had Charlie learn on old style blades so he had to learn to find the sweet spot, it meant he lost to some players early, but the skills it formed were excellent.A fun Monday Mini today !We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Owen from Axedale in regional Victoria was listening to Nick and Mark talking about 'Shambrose' last week, and called in to explain what they do at his club....sounds like a fun way to do it! Have a listen to Owen's voicemail.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Friday Feedback today, and for some reason they always seem a touch looser than the usual pods, tis the nature of a friday....We start with a message from Teddy in Thailand, we did a mini last week on Teddy's grip issues, and he writes in with some more info, and Mark received an email from Ben Jackson the honcho of a grip company with some info on their Thai distributor - who happens to be based where Teddy lives! What are the odds!We start with some feedback on Marks outrageous behaviour of watching lawn mowing videos last week when we were trying to record the pod. Strangely, most wolfpackers seemed to not have an issue with it....we may have misjudged the room on this one (to Marks happiness). For some reason we then merge into more snooker chat....seriously Talk Birdie is on the verge of jumping the shark Fonzie style.But then onto the real stuff. Couple of comments on the discussion last week about whether all handicaps are created equal, one of which is a sort of compliment from Dean who agrees with Nick and Marks views, but then goes on to whack the boys over the recent Talk Birdie Top 20 Golf Course list. Leads to a chat about Queensland courses, and Nick and Mark list their fave Queensland courses and why. No surprises as to Nicks.Steven from Western Australia has a story on Monty which brings much joy to Mark, and then a couple of comments on the ball striking of Ángel Cabrera, Nick and Mark discuss what it was like to watch him hit the ball, and to play golf more broadly.Al is a lefty, and is after some advice from Nick about how to maximise the influence of his dominant hand, he's a former cricketer who came to golf late, and is struggling a little with the right hand placement.Bruce has noticed something Tour Pros do that he finds frustrating, and is keen for Nick and Marks thoughts. Greg agrees with the boys Rory McIlroy comments following what he said about Royal Melbourne not being 'fit for purpose'. Athol has heard our chats of recent pods on the Ryan Ang situation and has a whack for Nick and Mark over it.Aaron heard us wondering about Links Kennedy Bay last week, and wrote in to clarify where the course is at, which leads to us discovering that Nick is planning a trip to WA next year and not only has he failed to secure Mark and invite to Long Island, but he's not bothering to see if Mark and Dan want to come along! Sure it's a family wedding, but let's not let that get in the way of a golf trip!!!!By the way, speaking of golf trips.....don't forget to suss what our mates at GolfLoot have for you to win....see it here. Well worth the membership.And we wrap with some comments from Alan on the number of clubs in the bag.A fun Friday Feedback pod, hopefully we can get through the shows next week with zero lawnmowing and snooker chat....We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well this is very special. Dottie Pepper is a legend in the golfing world, a wonderful player with a stellar record, and a groundbreaking commentator and today for Hostplus, we're hosting Dottie on Talk Birdie To Me.We start with Nick and Mark asking Dottie to tell us how she got into golf as a youngster, and her story about how it started, given her Dad's background as a Pro Baseball Player is fantastic. Her setup at home was pretty helpful!Nick asks her about being the leading player on her high school team with one very important detail that makes it even more impressive. And Mark has always been interested to watch the leading amateurs in tournaments, and is keen to hear what that was like for Dottie as that amateur.Dottie tells a great story about playing qualifying and making a significant error in the 9-holes she played....and why her sister contributed significantly to Dottie's 'breakthrough moment'.Nick and Mark have said for some time that the Women should probably have only 4 majors, and they ask Dottie her view. She agrees - and names the tournament that she believes should be dropped as a Womens Major. Mark observes that the womens game is so strong at the moment with the depths of fields fantastic, and asks Dottie if she agrees and if so why the womens' game is so strong these days. She highlights one particularly player who she feels is particularly impressive.After the turn, we chat about her commentary. Dottie explains how she developed her commentary approach and skills, and shares the advice she received from Mike Tirico and Judy Rankin which helped her. Recently Aaron Rai wowed the world with his performance to win the PGA Championship, particularly on the final day, and Mark asks Dottie where that ranks in terms of the greatest golf she has seen played. She tells us....but.....she also tells an amazing story that we were unaware of about Aaron Rai's Dad on the final day of that tournament!!!Back to commentary. She was given some advice once about what never to do when commentating Tiger Woods....she shares that with us. Dottie also tells us a couple of great Tiger stories from her experiences with him, and she talks to us about what it was like being the first on course commentator at the 2020 Masters - quite the achievement!And we wrap up a wonderful conversation with Dottie, for Hostplus, by finding out what her plans are for the next stage of life, whenever that may be. When the time comes to retire, what does she hope to do.We are quite sure we speak for everyone when we say that we hope Dottie Pepper retiring is a long way off yet!!!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week is US Open week for the women, and there are a bunch of Aussies playing, a couple with a real shot, we discuss who might be able to win. Nick is veeeery confident about one particular golfer given the nature of the Riviera course, and how it may suit them. Nick gives Mark an impromptu pop quiz on how many Australians, and who they are, have won at Riviera, and we talk about how the course is set up.Nick and Mark discuss the 10th hole, one of Nicks faves, which leads to a chat about unusual golf holes, ones that course designers wouldn't be able to build today for fear of being laughed out of the room....we list a few.Memorial this weekend, and it's a big one, honouring the legendary David Graham this year....well deserved and very exciting.Mark was fascinated by Bryson's use of AI to help him with an issue at the weekend, and discusses what happened with Nick. Mark then decides to see if AI, ie: Grok, can help Nick with some tips to get more width in his swing. Results are mixed it's fair to say. But, Mark has been watching some YouTube instructional videos and trying some stuff out....his masterclass today on one thing he's been trying that seems to have worked well.For Hostplus, this weeks 'Plus for Golf' is the US Womens Open being at Riveria, it's a great course, and the tournament will be sensational. Nick nominates Joaquin Niemann as the BMW Touch of Class winner this week for something he did in Korea....and it wasn't when he was playing.After the turn, Nick's Top 5 for Betr is the Top 5 celebrations he has seen in golf....there are some rippers!For Southern Golf Club....feedback today. Lots on Bryson and his decision on where he might play next season, heaps of feedback on Slow Play, including one bit of feedback from a superstar Australian sportsperson (not golf) who has written in, and we have received a video from wolfpacker David in the UK on something concerning that he saw in the Byron Nelson a couple of weekends ago, and wants the boys view.Heaps to discuss in the PING Globals, lots going on, and we debate Russell Henley's ranking....we think he might be Top 10, but are unsure where....so we check on the Find My Player app. He's quite under rated, including by us apparently!And finally the masterclass for the Golf Clearance Outlet, Mark has a tip he's found on YouTube, and he is tweaking his takeaway a touch, is it working? He seems pretty happy!And tomorrow, for Hostplus, a fantastic episode - we host the incredible Dottie Pepper on Talk Birdie To Me, that is an unmissable ep!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Monday today, and that means a Talk Birdie Monday Mini.....before we get into it, Mark decides to give an update on some other thing he's bought on Temu. At this point, Nick and Dan reckon he's on the take and there is some cash for comments going on, that Mark is conveniently cutting Nick and Dan out of. We'll get our lawyer Denis Denuto to look into it, but that's a story for another time.Technology.....it's an ongoing issue and everyone has an opinion. Today we hear a few, and discuss.Firstly, a YouTube comment saying that Nick and Mark are looking at the rollback of gear all wrong, and they explain why. Then a voicemail from Rob on the Sunshine Coast with a suggestion on how to deal with long hitters.. Keith has a very good question about what might need to happen to the other clubs if the Driver is wound back.Then we discuss if a juiced up golf tournament might be fun, in the spirit of the enhanced games in Las Vegas. Could it work? Dunno. But it would be fun to watch.Nick heard a voicemail on Talk Birdie at the weekend from wolfpacker Paul with his solution on the length issue....and had a couple of comments about the number of clubs in the bag, and we finish with a crack at the PGA from Drew who reckons that they've got it wrong.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Firstly apologies. It's a Friday Feedback pod, which is derailed slightly by a new 'hobby' Mark has discovered....which delays the start of the show by a minute or so. But....once we get back on track, there's plenty of great stuff to discuss. Daz wa watching Alex Smalley and feels he is giving off Nick O'Hern vibes in how he plays, his demeanour. Mark can see that. Speaking of lookalikes, Mark is horrified by Tour Pro Jackson Suber who has modelled his look, his game, and his mannerisms on Keegan Bradley.....of all the players....Mark is incredulous that Jackson would choose Keegan.Scott has written in, he is a Brett Ogle fan and bumped into him in Canberra recently, and was talking to Brett about Mark's recent comments on the pod regarding Brett's low shots. Scott reckons we have to get him on....he's right, we do.Andrew from the UK was pleased to hear us discuss Robert Rock last week and told us a story about watching Rocky play recently, he hasn't lost much! Craig enjoyed Nick's Top 5 'nicest golfers' list last week, and is keen to know where Nick would put Phil Mickelson on that list. Nick gives his view on his experiences with Phil, and Mark alludes to a story about Phil and Paul Gow which showed a more competitive side of Phil.Following the Aaron Rai chat last week, Bill has messaged about his approach to gloves and why, Jonathon reckons Aaron is all class - correct, and Laurie has an observation on iron covers.CT has a question for Nick and Mark about caddies and how much difference do they really make? Doc is debating whether to play from the forward tees, or remain at the back, and asks Nick and Mark their advice for him, and we finish with a great story from Scott who years ago watched Terry Price tear up a golf course in Townsville!A fun Friday Feedback pod today!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this bonus Talk Birdie Mini, we received a voicemail from Teddy in Thailand, and he has arthritis in his index finger - never ideal for a golf grip. Teddy is after some thoughts from Nick and Mark on options that may help - and whether you're in Teddy's position or not, the grip conversation and advice is a fascinating listen.We discuss the various grip options, the Greg Norman grip, the 10-finger grip, the interlock, and chat about the best kind of gloves that may help Teddy.Some time ago Mark watched a video which outlined the significant difference fresh grips can have, even on quite old clubs, so he is a proponent of that. In this mini Mark mentions Ben Jackson's Gripmaster, the link is here: https://thegripmaster.com/Thanks for the voicemail Teddy, good luck with your golf, and with the arthritis work arounds!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We start today with Nick talking us through the new Long Island course(s) which he played late last week, a course redesign that Mark describes as a 'new concept in golf', whereby it is basically 3 courses. Nick played one of them and outlines what it was like, he cannot wait to go back. The team at OCM have done a great job.And onto a huge talking point of the week. The tournament at TPC Craig Ranch in Texas, where the course underwent a $25m redesign to make it tougher for the pros, was it? Well perhaps not. Nick and Mark look at the scores....wowee. Mark describes course designers adding in multiple pin placements a 'con' and explains why.Nick has got his hands on a survey that the PGA Tour has sent to Tour Pros, and there are some fascinating questions that they have asked. He talks through some of the most intriguing ones. Mark shares a revealing stat on his club head speed and carry today vs when he was on tour.....interesting! And we compare a couple of Titleist drivers, a newer one vs an older one. Nick also has a stat, one to do with Tiger and his driving distance.Mark says 'Rory McIlroy broke my heart'. Was this a romantic situation? Is it love scorned? No, it's far worse, Mark explains on the pod. Nick, being supportive, after hearing the story says that Rory is wrong. We discuss bifurcation for a bit. It really is the only solution.And what about Bryson? A YouTube star or a Pro Golfer? What will he do? He has said he is uncertain. Mark is 100% clear on what he'd like Bryson to do, Nick more circumspect.And for Hostplus, our 'plus' for golf this week is the Long Island redevelopment!After the turn.....following Nick's Top 5 nicest pro golfers last week, today Mark lists the top 5 'arsehole' acts he has seen Tour Pros do. Does he name names? Well, one. But Nick also has a story about an arsehole act that happened to him from a Tour Pro, he refuses to give the name, despite Mark and Dan trying to trap him - but from the clues, see if you can guess?The PING globals, plenty to talk through, including the great win by Scott Hend at the weekend! Fantastic to see.For Southern Golf Club, plenty of feedback, including on Nick and Mark's analysis of Cam Smith's swing last week, and we have a listen to his coach Claude Harmon speaking on his 'Son of a Butch' podcast about working with Cam.Feedback on cheating, including an incident at The Grange in Adelaide, AO Comments, and we get our discussion on where Lions live from last week clarified.And for the Golf Clearance Outlet, a cracking masterclass from Nick O'Hern inspired by watching Si Woo Kim at the weekend doing something unusual with his putting.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Monday Mini today where we look at a question from Postman who is frustrated by slow play, and wants Nick and Mark to list their tips for 'Ready Golf'. The boys list the things that they reckon you must do, and we read through a few tips from wolfpacker Tony who has given his own list.So Nick and Mark are listing their 'ready golf' tips, have they missed any that you feel are important? Let us know in the comments.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've been talking a fair bit about the challenges of Pros hitting the ball farther, and what technological adjustments are required....the ball rollback, driver heads, and a variety of creative things on the golf courses. But wolfpacker Paul reckons he's nailed it, and it doesn't require any redevelopment of equipment.Have a listen to this voicemail from Paul with his solution to solve the issue. Let us know if you think he's onto something.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Friday, and that means a Friday Feedback pod. Today some great questions and a number of whacks for the team...ouch....but we start the show with a Friday Feedback jingle, should we keep it or dump it? We'll whack a poll up on Twitter, whatever the Wolfpack say goes.Onto the feedback....Jonny reckons we missed a few obvious nicknames in our chat last week, a couple of 'animal inspired' ones, and Aussie golf legend Mike Harwood's nickname, Mark tells the story of how it came about and the fellow pro who christened him with it.John then points out one of Mark's old nicknames, which he thinks The Ox came up with - however it wasn't him, but another very famous AFL footballer, and Mark explains how it came about.Mathew has a question on Peninsula Kingswood.Then some whacks. Jerry has a crack at both Nick and Mark over one aspect of the show, and Steven has a go for pretty much the same reason.....do Nick and Mark cop the criticism or hit back ?Jeff then has a great story about a day out many years ago at The Australian Masters watching some big names on the range, and what he watched (and listened to them) doing.Craig heard us chatting last week about seagulls pinching golf balls and has a story about seeing a crow nudging a ball on a green in the UK and what happened.AFL superstar Matty Richardson chimed in on the video we shared last week of Bubba Watson critiquing his swing, and whilst talking footy, apparently Nick has been hanging around Mark's team Collingwood lately, and Mark is a little concerned about whether Nick might be giving them dodgy advice. Every chance.AB comes off a long run and gives Nick and Mark a whack about LIV, but not for the reasons you might think. Seed has a question about Greg Norman when he was playing and the crowds.And now onto the culinary section of Talk Birdie To Me: Burgo chimes in on Turkish Delights in Istanbul, and CK wants to respond to Marks comments and questions about the calibre of sushi in Australia vs Japan from last week, and Producer Dan has a comment from his brother Mike, who lives in Singapore and lived in Hong Kong for a decade, about Marks bold claim that Chinese food in Australia is better than in China.Also randomly Mark decides to share a Michael Jackson fact with us. No idea why. It was awkward.But whilst we were talking Japan it reminded us of the amazing opportunity that you have to win a golfing trip to Japan with Paul Sheehan from GolfLoot - join as a member, starts from about 12 or 13 bucks a month, there are a heap of regular prizes - and some huge ones, like the Japan trip! All the details at GolfLoot here.Mark has a great story about playing on the China Tour and getting into an awkward situation at a bar with Lucien Tinkler, and we hear why Mark turned down the opportunity to play for Australia and regrets it.Finally, a great question from Dylan about the calibre of handicaps and which is better.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Big pod today, and of course we start with the fantastic win by Aaron Rai, he came from behind, but what a final day - particularly the last 9 or 10 holes on (his) Sunday. Mark says if you're going to win a golf tournament, that's the way to do it....Nick says that the finish was insane. We discuss the clubs he had in the bag.Aaron of course was the headline, but there were other notable performances. Cam Smith had a cracking tournament, and was in the hunt until midway through the final day. We discuss the challenges of him parting ways with his coach prior to the tournament. And Nick and Mark talk about his swing, Mark has a video from the weekend of Cam that he breaks down and discusses, and talks about how Trevor Imelman had some great observations on Cam's swing on the commentary. Min Woo played well, but couldn't keep it going through the weekend, and Nick said that when Jon Rahm birdied the first two holes he thought we were on. Nick and Mark both agreed, great to see Rahm playing well.We discuss the golf ball rollback, and the ball Cameron Young used in the tournament....interesting...leads to a chat about drivers and bifurcation.For Hostplus, our plus for golf this week was Aaron Rai - not the win as such, but the dedication to his family, which was beautiful to see.From a plus, to a negative. Ryan Ang at the weekend on the China Tour. It's quite disgraceful that he is even playing at the moment, and it's something that the various tours need to fix.Mark raises the routing at Kingston Heath for the Australian Open, he doesn't like it, and implores Golf Australia to change it saying it 'isn't too late'!After the turn, for Betr, Nick lists the Top 5 nicest players in golf....spoiler alert, Aaron Rai makes the list!Feedback for Southern Golf Club, we hear from you on Aaron Rai, Keegan Bradley, Garrick Higgo, Cheating, Inhoi Hur, the Australian Open news from a week or two ago, and feedback on Nicks comments about Cam Smith last week.And for PING, who'll help you play your best, Nick takes us around the world with the PING Globals.We wrap the show with a great masterclass for the Golf Clearance Outlet, inspired by Aaron Rai, Mark's masterclass is on 'courage'.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Monday Mini today and we're chatting with Craig from Western Australia, who now lives in Warrnambool in Victoria. Means he gets to play the beautiful Warrnambool and Port Fairy regions....lucky duck....However, Craig is looking to develop his game further and he is unsure of how to explain to a prospective golf coach exactly what he's looking for. It's obviously an investment in time and money so you want to get it right. He's come to ask Nick and Mark for a few thoughts which they are happy to share. Mark coached for 7-years, and he explains how he liked people to explain to him what they needed and why it made a difference. Nick has some thoughts on why the timeframe you're looking to be with a coach makes a massive difference to the initial conversations.We reckon Craig will nail this and his game will go from strength to strength!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Friday Feedback pod today, and it gets off to a rough start with Mark suggesting that we are overworked and he feels like the kid in Conan the Barbarian.....bit of mayo on that tbh.But onto your feedback!Darren has some comments on Justin Rose after our chat last week. Keith has written in about Marks 'creating space' video (see it here). Carl heard Nick and Mark talking last week about the demise of the bump and run, and had a comment.Fun question from David who wants to know what some nicknames of players were...there aren't too many that Nick and Mark can think of, but there were plenty of caddy nicknames, they reminisce about a few.After the turn, Drew from the US reckons that we all need to give Scott O'Neil some time to get LIV's funding sorted, and Drew is confident that he will. Basically he reckons we're writing it off too soon.Nick has found out what TGL stands for....and it's not what we all thought!Jack has a question on LIV, if it fold, what the legal ramifications might be for players regarding outstanding contracts. Would Nick and Mark take the Saudi's to court? mmmm....perhaps not.Last week Mark posed the question - do people in Turkey eat Turkish Delight chocolates? We've had a couple of wolfpackers write in to clarify.And Alex has sent in a video of one of Mark's fave players with a killer chip that is absolutely world class....Mark is suitably impressed!And a reminder that our annual Talk Birdie survey is open until Sunday, $300 to spend on FootJoys, and $300 to spend at the Golf Clearance Outlet could be yours for taking the 6-7 minute survey! Here's the link.And we end the show with a very funny story from one of Marks sources in the US, albeit going a bit pear-shaped at the end....apologies to anyone who Mark offends.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A bonus Feedback pod today, specifically focused on the news from last week that Golf Australia head honcho James Sutherland revealed on the Talk Birdie To Me podcast, about the Australian Open moving to North Adelaide in a multi-year deal.We've had mountains of feedback from wolfpackers, and it is mixed. Some love the idea, some hate the idea, it would be fair to say that there appears little middle ground, the feelings are strong either way. We start by replaying some of James comments about his excitement about the news, and his confidence that if they get the course right it will be the biggest Open ever.Nick and Mark have been thinking about it since the heard the news, and have some concerns. In a country where we have some incredible golf courses that are world standard in multiple states, courses that players love, it seems a risk to have our biggest event on a course that is not built yet, at least not to Open standard as it's currently a public course. Mark understands that the backdrop of the city, so close to the CBD, will give it something special, however he'd like to know what sort of course it will be, what style of course? Nick has never seen the course, however has a friend who has, and likens it to (for Melbourne listeners) like an Albert Park level course at the moment.The speculated $45 million price tag will be likely to include infrastructure, of which there will need to be plenty, Mark wants to know if that includes fees for some internationals to come here, saying that the $3-4 million Rory was paid to come to Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath will not be anywhere near enough to get him to North Adelaide.Lots of feedback (good and bad) including the legendary Bradley Hughes with his views on the multi-year arrangement.This will evolve, and we're always keen to hear what you think so let us know on socials or comments on the pod itself.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Huge Talk Birdie today, we start with the great win from Lucas Herbert on the LIV Tour, and how his record just gets better. Mark talks about when he played with him in the Vic Open, and Nick shares a story about playing with Lucas on the Gold Coast. Nick describes him as 'streaky' and says consistency is the next goal for Lucas. Unfortunately not in the PGA Championship this weekend which is a shame, and we talk about where he may end up, and have status, should LIV fold.The Korean cheating incident continues, with more coming out about what happened when Inhoi Hur cheated in the tournament and the rules officials completely screwed it up. Nick has received an email from one of the broadcasters at the tournament who listens to the pod, and says that whilst our comments last week were on the mark, there were some more things that happened that he witnessed which we didn't discuss.....he fills in the gaps....holy hell, could this wild story get wilder? You bet it can.He reveals that all four rules officials who erred were Korean Golf Association officials, none from the Asian Tour were involved. He says 'no sane golfer would ever accept a ruling that gave them a mulligan', and confirmed that the Asian and Korean players were all furious with both the officials and Inhoi Hur. He also describes the mayhem at the clubhouse which he witnessed, and that he was there when Inhoi Hur's wife was screaming at officials, so much so that Inhoi took her out of the clubhouse - the only honourable thing he did all weekend to be honest.Nick plays a grab from Sean Connery on golf, which Inhoi Hur could do well to consider in future.Onto the Australian Open. Following our chat with James Sutherland last week with the news of the AO move to North Adelaide, we've had some time to process it, and Nick and Mark aren't entirely convinced. Nick says he has some concerns and worries the course will not have the cache for the big international names to make the trip. Mark is worried that the course has bee committed when it's not even built yet, however he understands from someone who is in the know, that the offer made by South Australia was one that was impossible to say no to. Plenty of feedback on this from you, which we won't do today - given the volume of cheating feedback - but we'll do a bonus feedback pod tomorrow just on the AO.For Hostplus, Nick says that his 'That's a Plus' for golf this week is the career of caddy Mick Doran who has retired this week. One of the great guys on the tour.A reminder of our Talk Birdie To Me annual survey, great prizes up for grabs, it takes about 6 minutes the link to do it is here.For Betr, Marks Top 5 this week is people, some golfers, who were given names by their parents that are very golf inspired, perhaps with an intention in mind. Has he missed any? Let us know.The PING Globals from Nick, plenty of results to run through including a strong performance from Ryan Ruffels who played at the weekend, Mark tells a story about playing with him when he (Ryan) was 14 and being blown away by how good he was. Nick also mentions Boo Weekley who won at the weekend, and we remember the orangutan story....if you missed it, you really need to see it. Here's the link.Feedback today for Southern Golf Club is all focused on the Inhoi Hur cheating saga. We start with a voicemail and then work through just a fraction of the huge amount of feedback we received from you.And a ripping Masterclass for the Golf Clearance Outlet from Nick on rhythm and tempo and why 'matching' the two is important, inspired by Brandt Snedeker.Phew....a big pod today, back tomorrow with an Australian Open bonus feedback pod!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Big week this week with the PGA Championship at Aronimink. Nick has mixed memories of the course, and by mixed, we mean ordinary ones....he's played it a couple of times and in his words the course 'beat him up', Nick and Mark discuss the course, the style, and how it plays. Nick says that it's all about the par 4's on this course, they grind you down, and you need to control the spin.Mark has loaded in all the players he wants to follow on the Find My Player app - it's a ripper, if you haven't downloaded it, well worthwhile - get it at Google Play or the App Store. We run through the power rankings and look at the top 15 or so players, Mark is red hot for Cameron Young saying it is inevitable that he will win a major. And we frame up our Betr multi, which looks on the surface to be a pretty decent shot. Hummer at Betr frames it for us. You can jump on board at the Betr website or their app, look for Betr specials and you'll find out multi there:Scheffler to beat BrysonRory to beat RahmCameron Young Top 10Looks very doable. It'll be a cracker this weekend, can't wait !!!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sheez we've had some feedback on the cheating incident in Korea a week or so ago, and we have some very interesting inside information from someone who was at the course in a role where they saw everything - we'll read out some of what they have said on the main pod this Wednesday....it is WILD !!!We'll also hear a bunch of your feedback on the show, some comments, some questions about that incident, and cheating in golf more broadly. Today though, a couple of voicemails talking about the Korean incident, broadly, one from Owen from Axedale (near Bendigo) on how they deal with this situation at their club, and a second from Chris from Illinois who feels that the way the OB was handled in that tournament was wrong, and the situation may have been avoided by doing what he suggests.Two voicemails for the price of one today !Make sure you hear tomorrow's episode though.....this info we'll read out is quite extraordinary.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A fantastic Monday Mini today where a question has come in from wolfpacker Craig, and it's a ripper. Essentially Craig asks Nick and Mark if, at the peak other careers, or when they were struggling, if they had a phone call from LIV (in the hypothetical scenario LIV was around then) would they have said yes or no.Both Nick and Mark answer the question. And they discuss other players who have gone, and whether it was the right move or not, one Australian player Nick and Mark name and say he timed it perfectly. Another they name and say they feel it may have made the wrong call and had he not gone he may have been the greatest Australian golfer ever.A great Talk Birdie To Me Mini today, off the back of a ripping question from Craig.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tour Pro Scott Laycock was listening to the main pod this week where Nick and Mark were angry about the cheating in professional golf, specifically the incident last weekend in Korea. Scotty also had a poor experience in this vein in Asia when he was on the tour and left a voicemail outlining what happened.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a Talk Birdie 'Friday Feedback' pod today with plenty of great questions and comment, and one offensive one (we're talking about you Greg....).We start with Glenn who has some more info to add to the discussion last week about Nelly Korda and her Australian connection. Onto Ange who has just returned from the US watching The Masters, and poses a fantastic hypothetical question to Nick and Mark about what he might shoot if he played Augusta with some criteria....very funny. Steve, and separately YouTube viewer 'Found1', have some strong views on bifurcation which they put to Nick and Mark.Paul is a fan of pot bunkers. Nick and Mark are not, at least not on some courses and typically not in Australia.....but in the UK? Maybe that's different.Last week a YouTube wolfpacker called Nick and Mark 'berks' over their comments on LIV. None of us knew what it meant, we just thought it was a funny insult, and we all forgot to look it up. But Jim knows what it meant, and it's not good...he lets us know. Safe to say we probably won't be adding that one to the vocabulary.Afte the turn, we read a message from Jules who just listened to the recent mini where Nick was telling stories about playing with Bubba Watson....and she recalled seeing Bubba review AFL star Matty Richardsons golf swing a couple of years ago, and wanted to know if Nick and Mark had seen it....they hadn't, so we listen to/watch it....it is very funny! Whilst the shot didn't quite end how Matty might have intended, there are some positives - Nick and Mark review what they see.Di has written in about Shadow Creek, and other courses in that part of the world....saying there are major issues, and in her view courses will be closing down.Scott wants to know when our next golf day is....good reminder, we need to get our act together on that. Which does remind us about a competition we're in the early stages of designing....one wolfpacker will get to fly to a certain brand new Australian golf course and play a round with the designer, and Mark Allen.....not too much else to say yet, aside from watch this space.Dave has a question about wedges, and the lost art of the bump and run. Bill has tried out what Mark recommended in his 'creating space' YouTube video a few days ago.And we finish with Greg. Bloody Greg. Poor form, and a suspension from the pod may be in order.....Don't forget our annual survey - you could win $300 to spend on a brand spankers pair of FootJoy's, and $300 to spend at the Golf Clearance Outlet, survey takes 6 or 7 minutes, totally painless....and you can do it here: https://access.itsmystation.com/s3/talk-birdie-to-me-2Have a cracking weekend ! Hit em well !We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Big news today with Golf Australian announcing that The Australian Open will be moving to the North Adelaide Golf Club, following a redesign from Greg Norman, from 2028. It is a multi year deal and suggests the South Australian government is very keen to retain top level golf, particularly with LIV's future uncertain.Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen spoke to Golf Australia CEO James Sutherland this afternoon, live from North Adelaide Golf Course about the announcement, and the launch of Golf Australia's 'BIG SWINGS' strategy'.All went well! Until the line went dead (ouch!), but that can happen on golf courses, however James had outlined the key points. A big day for Golf in Australia.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Strap in, this is a big pod - albeit a day late as Nick has been in Queensland - but we got there!Also, before we start a reminder of our annual survey (there are prizes!), here's the link: https://access.itsmystation.com/s3/talk-birdie-to-me-2Onto the show....Mark Allen in particular has come in hot over what happened on the Asian Tour event at the weekend, and we launch into it from the top. Cheating in professional golf. There are at least three instances we know of in recent times, Inhoi Hur's behaviour and actions at the weekend at the Namseoul Country Club were disgraceful. Mark Allen says the facts in this story have shocked him, saying what happened at the weekend has blown him away.Nick and Mark explain what happened, and give their view on why it was a disgrace to professional golf, saying it can only be described as cheating. Essentially, he was given a mulligan on a professional tournament.We compare Inhoi Hur's actions to those of Cam Young at the weekend, who called a penalty on himself incurring a one-shot penalty. Mark says what the penalty for cheating should be for a first offence, and a second offence...Nick agrees entirely. Nick spoke to a Tour Pro who played in the tournament and said that all the players were 'headless' with anger over what happened.Is cheating in professional golf endemic? Well Nick says there was always rumours about the Asian Tour, and both Nick and Mark have experienced it. But there are other recent examples, and Mark names one player who was recently banned in Australia, and simply moved to another tour. And we discuss another Australian pro who was recently caught dropping a ball out of his pocket in a tournament.Phew. Onto LIV. We talk about the Jon Rahm news, and Scott O'Neil's comments about the search for investment for LIV to continue beyond 2026. Does it survive? Nick and Mark give their view.That's a plus for Hostplus this week is an unusual one - the plus for golf is that Inhoi Hur did not win the tournament, that's good for golf, he didn't deserve to and thankfully he didn't.And into the turn, we chat about the Australian Golf Digest's Top 100 golf course rankings list which has come out over the last few days. Do Nick and Mark rate it? We discuss.In the turn - speaking of cheating, Nick and Mark discover that the Tour Pro whose card they refused to sign was the same person! They don't name him, but they give a few clues if you feel like sleuthing....For Betr, Nicks Top 5 is - if you are going to cheat in pro golf (which you should not) these are the 5 most common ways to do it.Feedback for Southern Golf Club - we start with a few on our John Senden interview, could have read 100 out, there were heaps. Question about Adam Scott hitting the wrong ball at the weekend in a tournament, comment about Carlotta Ciganda's slow play, and a couple of LIV comments - there's been heaps, but we touch on a couple.Nick takes us around the world in the PING globals, lots going on, and some great performances. Mark sidetracks the PING globals with a discussion about chocolate bars....which requires your input if you can help.For the Golf Clearance Outlet, Mark's masterclass today is inspired by Cameron Young's wedges, and why he feels high bounce wedges are worth a shot.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Talk Birdie Monday Mini, a short episode where we typically discuss one issue or one question from a wolfpacker. And today, we've had a message from Peter who has disagrees strongly with Nick O'Hern's views on bifurcation which in fairness are largely shared by Mark, but it is an argument Nick has been prosecuting for a long time now.Peter believes bifurcation is a bad idea and would be terrible for golf, he explains why. Nick and Mark give their views on Peter's thoughts and suggestions, which include the possible introduction of pot bunkers, and some other thoughts on distance control.Nick says, as he has previously, that distance is out of control at pro level however many of the issues are caused less by distance, and more by accuracy - specifically the now negligible difference between driver and 3-wood. Mark relays a conversation he had recently with Geoff Ogilvy on this exact issue.We also chat about the ball - this is an area that Nick and Mark disagree on, both give their rationale.Not sure if we've solved the problems in this Monday Mini, but it was fun to kick around for 10 minutes. Thanks for the message Peter, hit em well !!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Friday, and that means time for a Friday Feedback pod, plenty of comments, and some questions , and Nick and Mark run through them today.We start with a comment from Derek whose Dad had the opportunity to meet, and get an autograph from Jack Nicklaus - but chose not to for a very odd reason. Derek explains. Ouch.Anthony is going to take his young fella Connor to the Australian Open later this year, and is after some advice on what the best day (or days) might be to see some of the big names. Adrian played Moonah Links recently, got beaten up by the course but loved it, and wants to know if it will lever host an Australian Open again and if not, why not?Last week we had some feedback about a club in Brisbane charging members who brought their own buggy or scooter, and we had several comments about that. Adam said that his clubs charge an extra fee annually for scooters for insurance purposes. Womble said that clubs charge a 'trail fee' for maintenance of the paths because buggy and scooters are more damaging than walkers. Keith said pretty much the same thing.After the turn. Ian has a question for Nick and Mark about Justin Rose and Lydia Ko's pre-shot routines, why they do what they do and what they're trying to prevent happening. Leads to a great chat about pre-shot routines, and some of golfs more quirky pre-shot routines.We had a comment last week from a wolfpacker who does not like handicaps, and reckons the system should be dumped and we simply play to our level with similar people, or cop a whack in a game. A couple of listeners - John and Sean,each pointed out that there are some other sports that handicap. Frank is a newish listener who is currently working his way through all the back episodes of the show....sheez.....we give him a prize as a thank you, welcome and well done - 250 bucks to spend at the Golf Clearance Outlet, thanks Franky !!!David saw Mike Harwood in action and messaged with some thoughts about just how good he was.And we wrap with a pretty blunt comment from Dave saying that there should be only one mens major in the US.....Nick and Mark respond.Mark casually drops that his monthly medal is on this weekend and he is sensing a course record coming on.....we'll find out next week.A fun Friday Feedback pod today, hope you had as much fun as we did!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Breaking news this morning Australian time, it has been confirmed that the Saudi Arabia PIF is in the process of advising all parties that it will not fund LIV following the end of 2026. This means without significant sponsorship from external parties, LIV will either struggle to continue, or perhaps will continue in a far reduced form.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a great guest pod for Hostplus, we love this bloke - today John Senden joins Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen to talk about his career, playing on the Champions Tour currently, and how he manages his golf given his diagnosis a few years ago with Parkinson's Disease. A fascinating chat with one of golfs good guys.Sendo has an exceptional record. He won the Australian Open in 2006, and he is a two time winner on the PGA Tour in the US - the John Deere Classic in 2006, and the Valspar in 2014. He's currently playing the Champions Tour in the US, and has made 87 out of 91 cuts on that tour if you don't mind !Sendo tells Nick and Mark about the Champions Tour, what it's like, what he enjoys about it. And then we go a little earlier, and he tells us how he first got into golf at Keperra Golf Club in Brisbane where he met his then, and now, coach Ian Triggs. He talks about the relationships and environment at Keperra really got him on his way in golf.Nick tells the story about first coming across Sendo playing the Troppo Tour in North Queensland, and Sendo recalls a hilarious story about Nicks car broken down an hour of Mt Isa on the highway....it's a ripper. But from playing the slightly less curated courses of the Troppo Tour to some of the best courses in the world, Sendo talks about making the adjustment from the Bermuda greens of Queensland to the Sandbelt courses in Melbourne, and what he had to learn very quickly,Sendo is well known for his extraordinary ball flight, both Nick and Mark have admired it for a hundred years, and the boys ask him if it was a learned talent or if it came naturally, Sendo talks us through that.He talks about going to Europe, how he did it and why, and explains why without his European experience he would not have survived in the US. Mark has heard a story about Sendo and Tiger Woods....and is keen to go to the source and find out if it's true.....Sendo confirms that yes it is !After the turn, we discuss his Parkinson's diagnosis. How did he first find out, what were the indications there might be an issue. Sendo explains what he did about it, and how manages it to stay as healthy as he can. He talks about how he handles his nerves when he is playing, and the tremors. Nick is curious to know if the tremors affect his putting in particular. Sendo reveals the area of his game that Parkinson's impacts the most, and how he handles that. And we finish by finding out, what's next for him, what comes after golf?A fantastic guest episode today with John Senden, one of golfs great gentlemen.If you're impacted, either personally, as a carer, or as a friend or family member, by Parkinson's Disease, the best source of information is at the Parkinson's Australia Info Hub here: We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A big pod today, and we start by chatting about Nelly Korda's big win at The Chevron, and it was a clinic, she won by a mile in a dominant display. Mark is amazed that she's only won the 3 majors, it felt like more. As good as Nelly's win was, the crowds and viewership was light, and Mark saw a tweet from Tour Pro Meghan MacLaren who posed the question as to why the interest was down, what is missing? Nick and Mark are huge fans of the women's game and have been for a long time, however we discuss the tweet and kick around what some issues may be.If we were to 'blow up' the women's major structure, what would you do? Mark says Shadow Creek is a no-brainer, and Nick would love to see a Women's Masters type even at Cypress saying it would be huge. Nick and Mark discuss if The Chevron itself is the issue. A good, perhaps not amazing, course. A major named after the sponsor. Nick says it doesn't have the feel of a major.For Hostplus, Mark awards Nelly Korda our 'That's a Plus' for golf, but not for winning the tournament, for something else. And we read a message from wolfpacker David who noticed something interesting on Nellys kit, Mark asks Grok to clarify. For once, Grok works. Marks 50 bucks paying off.What about Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick. What a story. It was a great win, and wonderful to see Alex get some just rewards following the win. We look at where their rankings are on the Find My Player app, if you haven't seen it, we love it. Follow any player on any tour in seconds. Download Find My Player from the App Store or Google Play. And for BMW, Matt Fitzpatrick gets our Touch of Class this week (how many is that!!!).We discuss the LIV news from the last 24-hours which will see a gap in the schedule of 6-weeks, with Louisiana now postponed. What does it mean (if anything). Mark's source, who he spoke to a couple of days ago, has given Mark some very interesting information about the reason why LIV may be slowing slightly - it has something to do with what is going on in Iran. Mark explains.And we talk about the appointment of Jim Furyk as US Ryder Cup captain.After the turn, for Betr, Mark lists the Top 5 courses in the world that would guarantee increased eyeballs were they to host women's majors. Love your thoughts on whether he's nailed it, or missed something.Plenty of action around the world in the PING Globals, Nick runs us through everything, and for Southern Golf Club, lots of feedback today: we start with the PGA cancelling a couple of events and whether this is an opportunity for Australasia to swoop in, Riley has a theory on Min Woo Lee at The Masters, Martin has a question about inconsistent ball striking, Mark has a view on the potential of returning LIV players, John agrees with Nick and Mark from last week that LIV is unsustainable but adds that the PGA's response to LIV has equally been unsustainable. We discuss.Then a couple of whacks. Laurie says that Nick and Mark are 'cheering for the death of LIV'. The boys respond. And Duane says that we're 'berks who are banging on with rubbish'. We respond, and also pay tribute to Duane's use of the word 'berks', and Nick, Mark and Dan kick around some of our favourite insulting words. You might have some to add! (Keep it clean though.....).And Sam wants to know how would LIV working with national opens even work, and why would the players do it?And for the Golf Clearance Outlet a great masterclass from Nick today, on chipping with your left hand low. We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A bonus Mini episode today. Wolfpacker George wrote to us about a comment made by Nick recently where he said something along the lines of Johnny Miller would sometimes oversimplify his putts, he sent a clip to a video which we'd seen before but it is well worth another look.Even if you're listening, rather than watching, you'll get the idea. Nick and Mark discuss the video which involves Johnny and the great Jack Nicklaus which shows say the boys just how 'cool' Jack was. Nick talks about how fascinated he was by Jacks putting style, saying that he is, along with Tiger, the greatest clutch putter ever.Mark tells a story about Jack coming onto the tee when Mark was there with his caddy at an Australian Open in Sydney and what happened, and we hear Nick's great story (which never gets old) about Jack asking to sit with him over breakfast at Muirfield.A short bonus mini today, always great fun to talk about Jack !!!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every Monday we'll do a 'Mini' episode, and you'll never guess the name.....we're calling it a 'Monday Mini'. Nice.Today, Nick and Mark are discussing an issue that consistently comes up, raised by wolfpacker Stockers, on the 'tyranny of distance' and the challenge of the 'big boys' hitting the ball longer all the time. Stockers has a couple of suggestions on this, and on bunkers and how they are treated. It's a ripper point and he has a couple of interesting ideas....but do Nick and Mark agree with them?We discuss Stockers ideas, issues with drivers, bunker treatments, and the old 'bifurcation' conversation. Nick and Mark agree, partly, on how bifurcation should be handled with one significant differing view.Nick has an idea about a tournament he would love to see come to fruition. He says it never will, but he'd love it. And we wrap the show with some footage of Mark and his buggy casually strolling around the Box Hill Golf Club, filmed from the 4th hole green by Dan, whose house backs onto Box Hill Golf Club. If you're listening to the pod you won't see it, but you can picture Mark, putter in hand, strolling along looking very pleased with himself.A fun Monday Mini today on Talk Birdie !We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David from Mornington left a message for Nick and Mark telling us a great story about meeting the great man, Jack Nicklaus, in 1988 and what surprised him about the conversation they had.Great experience David...that's a ripper!Got a comment or thought to share? Leave a voicemail at the link here: https://tr.ee/TbNhhoWe're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every friday we do a feedback pod, and from today we'll call them what they are - a Friday Feedback pod! Today we get off to an average start when Nick and Mark start giving each other feedback on their FootJoy shirts....perhaps they misunderstood the concept of a Friday Feedback podcast. But after we clear up that misunderstanding, onto the good stuff.Ando is from NSW Golf Club and has messaged us about our comments on how windy the course is, he has a story about a Victorian Golf Course which, at least on the day he was there, was so windy the siren sounded and they couldn't finish the round.Luke has a comment on 7 Mile Beach in Hobart.Willow has an observation about Seve Ballestero and his caddy, the legendary Billy Foster. Mark talks about his first ever full-time caddy, and Nick explains how Alana was his 'spotter' when he was looking to hire a caddy. Whilst on caddies - Christopher has a request for us to get Nick's long-time caddy Wilbur on the pod.Ian has some pretty strong opinions on handicapping. We find out if Nick and Mark agree.And then...okay this could go pear-shaped....Andrey wants to know that if Nick and Mark today, at their current age and form, played an LPGA Tour Pro would they win? The answer comes with some caveats, but it's a bit of a 'yes and no' answer - the boys explain their thinking and what they believe would happen.James has a great story about his wife Jo and her performance on a particular hole at Huntingdale a couple of weeks ago. David was attempting to join a club, however they have not allowed him to given he wants to bring his own golf scooter/buggy....and asks about that.And we finish with a ripping question from Craig for Nick about Rory McIlroy and The Masters.Have a great weekend, that's our Friday Feedback pod this week!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partnerBMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;And Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.