Talk Birdie To Me

Another feedback pod today, we're getting plenty of comments and questions so keep them coming.We start with a comment from Timothy in reference to our 'hardest opening holes' conversation last week, with a great (ie. funny) story about playing at Latrobe in front of a crowd and what happened.Then a voicemail from Paul in Wollongong with a question on grip pressure.Jamie wants to know why a US players caddy was refused entry into the UK for The Open Championship due to a 30-year old drug charge, yet Ryan Peake was allowed in given his more recent, and more serious, issues.And we have an update on our conversation late last week about a potential Talk Birdie To Me Golf Day on the Gold Coast where we want to get together with the Talk Birdie Wolfpack and have a comp, and a get together.....it is looking promising.Phil has a comment and question on the 1996 Australian Open in Sydney where Mark played, and a question about his home course in Newcastle.And finally today, Adam from Ballarat has a Top 5 suggestion - the Top 5 players who had great potential, but didn't live up to it. Nick and Mark answer it live on the fly.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today on Talk Birdie we have a guest in studio, the boss of Golf Australia James Sutherland, who is in to talk about a few things - not the least of which is how he got Rory to sign on for the Australian Open, and the new handicap system, website, app, which has launched in the last day or so.We start with the Australian Open, and James talks about how the Rory appearance has changed the ticket sales profile, rather than tickets being bought late as usual, they are being bought very early and that the event will be a sellout so if you're planning to go, and thought about turning up and getting a ticket on the day, you will be unlikely to find any available.Mark can't wait to see how Rory plays Royal Melbourne Composite, and Nick says that for a major tournament this (Royal Melbourne Composite) is the best course in the world, and asks James did that have an influence on Rory's decision to come. James outlines how he got Rory's signature, and why he thought he thought, after a handshake agreement, that the deal may fall over!James talks about how they monitor what Tour Pro's say about Australia and that influences their approach to attracting the big names.Onto the new handicap system, it is a significant change, and James explains what it means, why the change, and what it will do.After the turn Mark puts his thoughts on the Australian Amateur to James for his response. Should it be a 72-hole tournament or is matchplay a more exciting structure. James explains what the rationale for the existing structure is and why there are no plans to change it.Finally - ask the boss. We read out a few wolfpacker questions for James:'Swingmate' wants James to explain why prize money in the Australian Open is lower than other tournaments.Ryan believes that golf, at a grassroots level, is expensive and is there anything James and Golf Australia can do about this, particularly for new players.And Sam would like to know what the lessons were (good and bad) from the combined Mens and Womens Opens 2024.A fun pod today, and great to hear from the Golf Australia boss James Sutherland.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well....there's a bit to unpack today. The Ryder Cup had everything. Incredible golf, clutch shots, comebacks, drama, and appalling behaviour from fans....where to start...We start with Shane Lowry's incredible cup retaining putt. Followed by an equally incredible celebration, and after what he had to put up with from the crowd, he deserved that moment. Nick and Mark watched plenty of it over the weekend and loved it. Mark said that he was up and down on his couch like anything.Nick praised the leadership of Luke Donald, particularly his speech prior to play starting where he both inspired his team, and gave a subtle whack to the US team. Nick also noted two key errors that the US team made and explains what they were and why the were errors. Mark believes the selection of Keegan was, in hindsight, a poor one.But the crowd behaviour. Oh the crowd. Whilst a hostile crowd, for the Europeans was no surprise, Mark says what was a surprise was that with only a couple of exceptions the US players let it happen around them and says that they should not want to 'win like that'. Nick explains how you perform at such a high level when you're being abused.And we discuss that extraordinary comeback on the final day by the US team. When we thought they were gone, they very nearly pulled it back in what would have been one of the great wins.And for the US Ryder Cup team, Nick says .....it is time for Tiger.Mark raises Justin Rose's up and down...what a shot it was. And in the BMW Touch of Class, Nick awards this weeks to a US golfer and explains why.After the turn, the Top 5 for Betr is Marks Top 5 Ryder Cup moments from the weekend - good and bad. And of course we finally got a multi to come off, and we're pretty happy about that.PING Globals from Nick is largely, although not entirely, about the Ryder Cup. Although we are diverted slightly when Mark is made aware that Timmy Trumpet is coming to Melbourne....should we get him on? Maybe.Feedback is all Ryder Cup as you'd expect.And Nicks masterclass is on Shane Lowry's winning (or retaining) putt.Massive pod today, Ryder Cup pretty much all show.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feedback pod today and we've got some cracking questions from wolfpackers to run through.Mick has a question about slow play at his club, particularly as they have some older members.Jack is looking forward to the Australian Open and, aside from Rory, wants to know has there been any other big names revealed as coming.Wayne asks for Nick and Marks thoughts on the best Australian Open finish they ever saw.Mike once saw New Zealand's Ryan Fox hit a policeman with a wayward drive, we find out if Nick and Mark ever hit anyone.....Nick did, and drew blood, Mark was playing with a celebrity when the celebrity hit someone - and that story ended hilariously (not for the person but for us).After the turn, we have a 59 to rate, is Mark feeling generous ?Ned is heading to New Zealand in January and is after some advice on courses that he should look to play on the North Island.Richard has a solution to the length issue in golf.Jeff has a suggestion for the best drive under pressure.And following on from Jeffs suggestion, Mark ends on a sad (for him) story (hilarious for us) about a drive on the same course Jeff raises.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After last weeks Talk Birdie Mini where Nick and Mark selected their 'dream teams' consisting of one player from each of Australia, the US, Europe, and an International to face off at Royal Melbourne Composite, en-route to the tournament, there has been an incident rendering all 8 players unable to play, and the venue now out of action.So, excluding the original selections of Shark, Karrie, Tiger, Jack, Seve, Faldo, Player and Locke - Nick and Mark need to select their team to come off the bench.Listen to Nick and Mark muse, discuss and decide live on the pod.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What a week....big week in golf, plenty to discuss. We start with a chat about one of our favourite young players, Elvis Smylie who nearly won the French Open at the weekend! Absolute gun.And Mark tells us about giving some advice to a couple of golfers at his club last night, he explains the tips he gave them with their putting and runs them by Nick - does Nick rate the tips? Mark certainly does, suggesting that, were it to exist, he deserves a Nobel Prize for Golf based on the advice he gave. You be the judge. In a nutshell is was around 'changing the goal of the shot in your mind'.Mark also recommended that you become a 'plonker'. We won't even try to explain, we'll let him do it on the pod.Ryder Cup chat, it's close now, and if you're not on board our Betr multi, give yourself an uppercut, as we reckon it's a shot. Details on yesterday's Ryder Cup preview pod, or at the Betr website here.Both Nick and Mark saw a video this week of Tour Pro Nakajima pulling out of a drive, it was strange. We discuss. And Nick tells a story about a Tour Pro he played with who made a habit of doing it, he names the player.Then...after Mark had an intervention over his social media arguments a month or so back, he's at it again, having fights on Twitter. Nick and Dan raise his behaviour and ask for an explanation....and he gives it. It's do with golf architects, course design, trees, and he lines up from the back tees and has a red hot crack.Calming it down, for our great friends at BMW, the Touch of Class was something involving Steve Alker at Cypress. It was indeed a touch of class, and we explain what happened.After the Turn, Nicks Top 5 memories, thanks to Betr, are his favourite Ryder Cup memories - good or bad. Mark wants to know yours, has Nick missed any? He missed Marks fave, which he explains.Onto Feedback for Southern Golf Club - masses of feedback on our Lucas Parsons chat last week, most good, some bad, we hand-picked a few - including a massive whack for Nick and Mark from one wolfpacker....sheez... Also feedback on iron covers, Mark's LIV Monday Qualifying idea, and a shoutout to a Tour Pro making a comeback after serious illness.Nick runs through results around the world in the PING Globals, with another great stat this week....he's making a habit of these stats, might be a new segment....and Marks masterclass is on bad lies.Phew !!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well it's here, the week before one of the great golf weekends - the Ryder Cup. But before we get to our preview, a reminder about our Talk Birdie To Me Golf Day at Links Golf and Wellbeing at Hope Island on the Gold Coast, it's now two weeks away (Wednesday October 8th), Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen will be playing the tournament along with 80 or 90 wolfpackers. A few tickets left here. The prizes are brilliant:FootJoy vouchers;⁠Titleist GT Driver and 3 wood with a custom fitting with a Titleist Fitting Specialist;⁠A set of custom fitted Vokey Wedges fitted by a Titleist Fitting Specialist;⁠A couple of dozen Pro V1 golf balls;Golf Clearance Outlet vouchersLuxury Escapes vouchersAnd the hole in one prize from Luxury Escapes: a week at the Pullman Maldives with return flights for two if you if you don't mind! Conditions apply, but there is only 3 conditions - pros ineligible (Nick and Mark you're out), only one prize - so if two aces are hit we do a random draw, and it applies on the 17th hole, which is a gettable Par 3.Fun!Now onto the pod. Nick and Mark are previewing the Ryder Cup, and Mark's first recommendation is to download the Ryder Cup app, it's brilliant. Nick talks about his memories of playing in Europe and feeling almost a part of it, as all the European pros wanted to be involved. Mark has a feeling the crowd, despite the US component being parochial, will lean European as there have been huge amounts of tickets sold to Europeans apparently. We discuss the pay controversy and the difference in approach between the Europeans and the US teams, Mark believes this is bad karma for the US and it will 'bite them'.As usual for a big event, we're putting a Talk Birdie multi on and working in our favour is that Hummer from Betr doesn't know a lot about the Ryder Cup, so we shot through our very gettable multi without any context for him and, in a moment of weakness, he whacked it up.Multi is:Scheffler to not have a winning record for the tournament, into;Europe to lead going into day 3, into;Europe to win.7 bucks. Get on board here under Betr specials and if you're not a member, it's a 60-second sign up process. We are confident, but of course there is no guarantee - so if you can't afford to lose it, don't bet it.We wrap up our Ryder Cup preview pod with some comments from Nick on how they are setting up Bethpage and why, and Nick outlines what he believes the US always get wrong in the Ryder Cup.It's going to be a ripper, we can't wait !!!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Ryder Cup week and fittingly we start todays feedback pod with an historical question from wolfpacker Ben on the Ryder Cup. Ben asks Nick and Mark for their recollection and thoughts on the controversial Paul Azinger incident in the 1991 Ryder Cup, it was called the 'War by the Shore'.Marek has an idea about how the 'big guys' could use some of their cash to help young players. Could it work? Would they do it? Nick and Mark give their response.Chad has a question about the use of (or lack of) of buggies by caddies.Rich from Spain doesn't feel Rory's Augusta shot was the greatest ever, and has another suggestion - we hear the audio and discuss. Leads to a chat about where to aim your shots, and why.Speaking of Spain, when he was playing in Europe he visited often a Tapas Bar called 'the Bull Bar' which is unique for a very specific reason, he explains.Wayne is looking for new clubs and is finding it a little overwhelming, he asks for Nick and Marks advice on the best way to approach this.Aaron has a question about member/guests at clubs.And finally we announce the winner of our Golf Clearance Outlet competition where we asked you for your stories on the 'unsung local hero' who helped you with your game in some way when you were young. Our winner, drumroll, is Glenn Kampman with a wonderful outline of some of the great work that local legend, the late Ian Sneddon, did. He was a godsend to golfers, and the community more broadly, in Jerilderie NSW, Australia. Glenn has won a $250 voucher to the Golf Clearance Outlet to spend instore or online, and we loved hearing about how wonderful Ian was!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've been asking for you to let us know who the local hero is who helped you develop your game, maybe as a kid, a teenager, or later - the local unsung heroes. We've been receiving plenty, and we'll post some here, some on socials, to celebrate these very special people. This voicemail from Anthony in Ballarat is a ripper telling us about someone who was very generous with him and his development.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So we've decided to do, from time to time, Talk Birdie To Me 'mini's, which run no longer than about 10-minutes and see Nick and Mark discussing only one issue, or answering one question.This one is great fun. Wolfpacker Joseph, a greenkeeper from New Zealand has asked Nick and Mark to construct their team to face off against the others. For their teams, here are the rules:1 x Australian player1 x US player1 x European player1 x International (any other country)They can be current or older playersNo player can be chosen twice, so once a player is selected, he is unavailable to the other personAnd they have to choose the venue for the tournament.Have a listen to their selections - there are a couple of surprises - and we'll put a poll on Twitter over the weekend (so as not to spoil the choices) and we want you to decide whether Team Nick or Team Mark wins!A great Talk Birdie Mini today, thanks to Joseph from shooting it through all the way from Aotearoa !We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A couple of weeks ago Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen listed golfers they disliked playing with, and wolfpacker John was surprised Greg Norman didn't get a mention, in fact Nick said he enjoyed playing with Greg. Johns rationale was, in part, Sharks treatment of Lucas Parsons as a young pro in the early days. So, there's only one thing for it, let's get Lucas on to explain what happened.We start with some background, how Lucas' career started back in Orange, some of the greats he played with, and some of his greatest achievements....which were significant, he was an excellent player. Nick remembers watching Lucas and being amazed by how powerful his swing was, Mark's the same, but also remembers nights out after tournaments with Lucas having a shandy or three.We hear what the two highlights of Lucas' career were, from his perspective, and he talks about what he admired about how Nick went about his career.And all of that is great. But it's an entree to the main course. And today, for mains, we are serving up Lucas' memories of playing with Greg Norman.And boy oh boy...Lucas doesn't hold back. He tells us why 'playing with Greg was not a pleasant experience', why Wayne 'Radar' Riley got Greg in a bad mood one day which he took out on Lucas, the role Jack Nicklaus played in Greg treating Lucas the way that he did, and the day Rodger Davis gave Greg a talking to over his behaviour on course and got told by Shark where to go.Strap in, this pod gets juicy.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nick's back from Vietnam and he's rocking a tan, which he is happy to show all of us. Mark says golfers tans are the worst, given the time on course and the kind of gear you wear. Nick gives us a run through on the Vietnam trip he did, the courses he played and the fun they all got up. Mark, as it turns out went to Wagga Wagga for the Pro-Am, and had a great time! He tells us about the Wagga trip - and one particular thing he loved about Wagga that he says all golf clubs must do.Big win for Ryder Cup Vice Captain (one of) Alex Norén at Wentworth, he played extremely well and we chat about his win, and the Ryder Cup which is getting closer. Speaking of Ryder Cup vice captains, Mark loves stats coaches, and decides we need to get Edoardo “Dodo” Molinar on the pod for a chat. As it turns out, Nick knows him and says he'll set it up.Mark raises a developing dislike of his - hoodies. And explains why he dislikes them on golfers. But after a brief fashion diversion, back to the Ryder Cup, Nick and Mark feel the New York crowd will be aggressive to the Europeans, and they explain why New York crowds tend to be one of the most hostile in the US to visiting pros, when they're playing locals. We discuss some of the times that Nick and Mark were given some trash talk from a crowd member, they tell a couple of stories.Mark played Royal Melbourne on Monday this week just gone, and gives an update on the condition of the course.For BMW, a touch of class, a video this time from Wentworth which we explain on the pod and play for YouTube viewers - we'll share it on socials as well.After the turn....we've seen the new ad for our mates at Betr, and we reveal a fun fact about the new Goat character in their ad. Into the Top 5 - as Mark promised last week, it is his Top 5 holes in world golf with amazing backdrops as you watch the ball flight.It's going to start quieting down now, but this weekend past there was still plenty of golf for Nick to cover in the PING global results, and he runs through it all. Including two amazing facts about the LPGA - both absolute rippers!Plenty of feedback to run through for Southern Golf Club, some comments, some questions, and some people sharing their sadness at the loss of rules guru Stu McPhee.Mark has heard some news, which isn't great, about Tour School for the Champions Tour and runs us through it, and then for watchMynumbers, we hook into the masterclass from Nick, inspired by Alex Norén's win - more particularly the way he did it.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wolfpacker Paul left us a voicemail with a prediction about the venue for the 2028 Australian Open, sure it's a way off yet, but there's a reason why he has indicated 2028, and he explains in the voicemail message. Much like Steve in The Castle, Paul is an ideas man! See what you think of his suggestions.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We start today with some awfully sad news, long time wolfpackers would know our rules guy Stu McPhee, whenever we needed anything clarified, Stu was our go to guy - what he didn't know wasn't worth knowing. Sadly, Stu passed away last week from cancer, and we acknowledge him on the pod today, and our thoughts are with his family at such a difficult time.And then, as Stu would have expected, we get on with the show.Michael had a question about bag maintenance on course, and who drives that - player or caddy - Nick and Mark explain their approaches. Nick tells a great story about playing in the Australian Open without any wet weather guy....was he focused and tough? Or did he just forget to pack wet weather gear? We find out.Question from 'anonymous' on two friends of his who are going to Cypress Point and the Ryder Cup shortly. Anon has two questions, one for Nick and one for Mark. Leads to a chat about AFL theme songs, for international wolfpackers, AFL football clubs in Australia have theme songs and Nicks favourite team has the definitive worst theme song of all.After the turn, a Vietnam update, Nick is there for the week, we find out where he's played since the earlier pod, and where he's playing today. We get some Monty comments - always fun. And then an amazing story from a wolfpacker about crocodiles at Royal Port Moresby Golf Club !!!!!And we wrap with a question from Dean about pace of play, a hot button for Nick and Mark.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slightly different pod this week, Nick is in Vietnam for the week with a bunch of lucky golfers playing a number of courses there, so he is coming to us from his (undoubtedly luxurious) hotel room for the pod. We get a run through of the courses he's playing, and how he's dealing with the humidity.Leads to a chat about the ideal golfing holiday, Nick and Mark share where they'd love to go for a golfing trip and the courses they'd love to play. On that topic, Mark reckons he may have found a way to sneak a round at Augusta....watch this space....Speaking of golf trips....we run through the prizes for our Talk Birdie To Me golf day at Links Golf and Wellbeing at Hope Island on the Gold Coast. The list of prizes from Titleist, FootJoy, Golf Clearance Outlet is both extensive and fantastic....Mark makes an executive decision on the call as to how we'll award the prizes, which is pretty good so we'll run with it! There are a few tickets left, but we suspect not for long, so if you'd love to play golf with Nick and Mark on the Gold Coast on Wednesday October 8th, all the info here.We discuss the tournament at Cypress Point at the weekend, and we discuss the course....wow. Mark again raises Nicks idea for how the PGA should decide the Champion Golfer of the Year, which he feels fits beautifully at Cypress. And could that structure work for the Australian Amateurs? We say yes.The BMW Touch of Class is a beautiful one today. Nick saw a fantastic video from the DP World Tour involving Shane Lowry, we listen to/watch some of it. It's great.For Betr, the Top 5 from Nick today is inspired, in part, by the Irish Open. The Top 5 courses that aren't great courses, but often have great finishes.Lots of feedback, for Southern Golf Club, including a whack for the three Talk Birdie team members from a myriad of wolfpackers - it was like a class action feedback session! Plus feedback on Nicks story from last week about Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson vs a couple of amateurs, more iron covers, and golf architects.Mark has some breaking news - after last weeks discussion about Lucas Parsons and The Shark, he's reached out to Lucas who has said he'd love to come on the pod and give all the details of what happened when he played with Greg as a youngster....this will be good. We'll chat to Lucas next week.And Mark's masterclass, for watchMynumbers, is on slicing the ball and how to avoid it!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the pod we had a question from wolfpacker Deryck about players smoking on course (in the older days), and it reminded Shaun from Ashburton in Melbourne about a nasty incident in the US that he witnessed, and none other than our very own Mark Allen was there as well!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A feedback pod today, and we start with some iron covers chat - couple of pieces of info, and do Nick and Mark soften their stance on iron covers as a result?Message from wolfpacker Deryck who is curious if Nick or Mark ever played with the cigar smoking Darren Clarke or Miguel Jimenez, and he has a ripper story about Darren. Mrs talks about warming up once behind Miguel, in the early days, and thinking he was a complete hack!Andy dislikes some of the celebrations he sees after tournament wins, and would like to know if the boys feel the same way.And after The Turn, Anthony has a career path for one of the Talk Birdie Team, and would like to know if that team member is keen, and if the wolfpackers can make it happen. Short answer, yes he'd be up for it, but no the wolfpackers can't make it happen. Details on the pod.Chat last week about the TPI swing analysis, and both David and Paul messaged us about a video on YouTube which is long, but apparently very good. You can see it here. Whilst on YouTube videos, Mark watched one at the weekend on how golf clubs are made and found it fascinating. You can see it here.Peter has a comment on the points system that we have been chatting about (for LIV and the PGA). Mitchell from Paraparaumu in Aotearoa has written in about the reciprocals he gets with Melbourne courses, and he's on his way there to play some pretty special courses in October....he's excited!Speaking of excited, Ivan is excited about a new Golf Clearance Outlet store coming to the Mornington Peninsula.Trim has a suggestion for the greatest shot ever made, Nick relays a story that Wayne 'Radar' Riley told him about the greatest shot he ever saw, and Mark tells the story of the greatest 2 shots (they are related) he ever saw!Fun pod today.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week Tiger Woods was asked to name the four players he'd have on the Mount Rushmore of Golf, and he gave his four names. Today we do a new sort of Talk Birdie To Me, which we're calling a 'Talk Birdie Mini', which is an ep which runs around 10-minutes or so, not more.Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen discuss Tiger's names, and then give their own personal Mount Rushmore names - themed as players who influenced their golf the most. And then we name the Talk Birdie To Me Mount Rushmore four.During the pod we hear a great story about Lee Trevino from Nick.While we're talking about players who influenced us, we decide to have a comp for the wolfpackers - we need two names from you. Firstly, the Tour Pro who influenced you, or you love(d) the most, and secondly, the person at your local club, or from when you were a kid, who influenced you the most - not a famous person, but a kind of local hero. We'll read out a few, and the stories, and randomly pick one entrant to score 250 bucks from the Golf Clearance Outlet!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the Ryder Cup teams for the US and Europe now a lock, a little later in the show we discuss the makeup of the teams and who will win. Mark says the European team is very strong, and tips them to win, Nick feels it will be close and the crowd may play a role.However, we start today talking about one of, if not the, greatest courses in the world - Cypress. Stunningly beautiful, and the venue for this weekends Walker Cup which is not being shown in Australia, much to Nick and Mark's chagrin. Yes there was much chagrin to go around. Chagrin wherever you look.Nick talks about one of his favourite books called 'The Match', and explains the premise....fascinating. Mark reckons it should be a movie and on the off chance any Hollywood type people listen to the pod (we realise it's a small chance) can you possibly make a movie out of it? Hang on.....our mate Michael Peña is back in Australian in a couple of weeks, maybe we can hit him up to lean on his contacts.Mark played Royal Melbourne at the weekend and gives a report on the course condition, the fringes, the greens and the trees. He reckons it'll be ready for The Australian Open, and look a million bucks, possibly except for one aspect, which he highlights. There is another thing about Royal Melbourne that he thinks is not right, and refers to some golf architects as 'mad'.We discuss the pathways news from last week, very exciting. Ernie Els comments about Tiger and the Champions Tour, Nick and Mark both feel it's a good move for Tiger and explain why....and in other Tiger-related news, Charlie Woods got a hole in one at the weekend! We have a listen to it.Nick is excited about the some of the European tournaments coming up, and chats through them.Touch of Class for BMW this week comes from the LPGA and features Miranda Wang with a fantastic performance in Boston. Given her surname, cue predictable and obvious Caddyshack joke!On The Ryder Cup - Mark makes the bold call that Betr don't know as much about this kind of golf as Nick and he do, and that he reckons we'll do a multi that will absolutely rinse Hummer and the team at Betr.Into the Top 5, thanks to Betr, and today it's on the top 5 vistas in golf featuring fauna (and such). Why 'and such'? No idea, Mark said it, we couldn't figure it out. Nick talks about the famous cypress tree at Cypress Point.PING globals from Nick, plenty going on to run through.And lots of feedback covering 'Chokers', Steve Williams, Caddies, some stories on Thomas Bjørn after Nicks comments last week, and on Lyndsay Stephen. Plus a whack for Greg Norman from a wolfpacker....ouch.And Nick's masterclass today is on the 'Pinky Drill'.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Voicemail over the weekend from Sandy in Belfountain, Canada, which is just a little north west of Toronto. Sandy was listening to Marks comment that Rory's shot in The Masters was the greatest ever, and whilst he agreed it was great, had a different shot that he feels qualifies for that award - and it involved an Australian!We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.