Talk Birdie To Me

The Australian Open starts tomorrow, and today Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen are live from Royal Melbourne. We start with a special guest - Tour Pro Elvis Smylie has dropped him and Nick, has just come from a weather briefing and runs through for Elvis what they've just found out about tomorrow's weather. Warm and Windy......the warmth was expected, the wind was not.We ask Elvis how he's planning to play the course, and how the greens are playing in his practise runs. Mark has had a couple of spies watching a number of players and his mail is that the greens are fast...Leishman was struggling to stop the ball, but Rory was able to. The fringes have been the subject of much talk, what does Elvis think? And will his play differ from last week at Royal Queensland.After Elvis heads off, former Royal Melbourne Captain and historian of the course Andrew Kirby drops in. Kirbs tells Nick and Mark how the course has been set up, and how it may play given the wind. In some breaking news literally 2 minutes before Kirbs dropped in, Rory has just had a press conference where he was asked what the best course in Melbourne was - we all expected he'd say Royal Melbourne.....he did not. Much to everyone's surprise, and Mark says that Rory is clearly a 'bad judge of golf courses'.Kirbs, with his long history, explains what makes Royal Melbourne so special for him, and what his favourite tournament ever has been here.And after those couple of chats....we're all off to walk the course and soak it all in !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 Australian Open week, and we're excited...but...we start by chatting about the BMW Australian PGA at Royal Queensland. Fantastic win by David Puig, and an exciting tournament to watch. Mark asks Nick how the LIV / DPWT arrangements work and how Puig will manage his schedule now. Both Nick and Mark raved about how Puig constructed his tournament.Without any notice for Nick to take cover, Mark comments that he loves the commentators, but he has an issue with how the coverage is put together, and he launches in with poor Nick completely unawares.Golf.com have released a new Top 100 list (see it here), and Nick and Mark discuss some of the placings and muse over where Royal Melbourne Composite would rank were it a rankable course. Nick gives Mark payback for his comments on the commentary by making an observation about Kingston Heaths drop on the list, and what the cause might be. Mark ducks for cover.Mark played Royal Adelaide last week and describes it as 'a national treasure', he tells Nick why he loves it so much. Nick is playing the Cathedral Invitational shortly and he has had no time to practise, he is worried.....but at the same time he's excited about the tournament given the course and the calibre of players. Mark says the Cathedral Invitational is good for golf, and a real plus, given the players, the cost, and the proximity the fans get to the players.We pay tribute to Fuzzy Zoeller who passed away last week, and we replay one of his most iconic moments. Then onto the BMW Touch of Class, which has two entrants today !!And then, perhaps in payback for Nicks Kingston Heath comments, Mark has a crack at something else he felt was missing from the TV coverage of the BMW Australian PGA at the weekend.The Top 5 for Betr, inspired by Fuzzy, is the Top 5 most interesting hole in ones. We hear the story of when Mark hit an Ace and thought he'd won a car. Spoiler, he hadn't. The story is an absolute cracker.Lots of feedback today - carts, Minjee, Cam Smith, LIV, The Old Course - and Nick gives his thoughts on why Cam Smith's form has been off.Clearly lots of golf this week to cover off in the PING globals and Nick takes us through it all.And then....for watchMynumbers....Mark gives his masterclass. We need to be honest, Mark thought Nick was doing it, and prepared nothing. And truth be told, the masterclass reflects that lack of preparation. Mark feels it is valid. Nick is unconvinced. Dan is extremely underwhelmed. You be the judge. Feedback welcome.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.

The BMW Australian PGA last weekend was excellent, and this week our attention turns to The Australian Open at Royal Melbourne. We start with a chat about the weather, it has been very wet in Melbourne, although the forecast for the day prior to the Open is for a hot and dry day, nonetheless the course has had plenty of moisture, what does that mean for it? Nick and Mark discuss.We run through some of the field, and Mark wants Nick to give a view on how some of the big boys will play the three Drivable Par 4's at RM. And we discuss a couple of smokeys who Nick and Mark feel might play well this week.And then we frame up a Betr Talk Birdie Multi with 3 legs. Only one of our multis has come off, but if you were on each of them Mark calculates you're still ahead. pick and Mark explain why they're confident about this one. Before we get the price back for the multi from Betr, Dan raises that he has spotted Mark fighting with wolfpackers on Twitter again....Mark doesn't deny it, in fact leans into it. And then the odds for the multi are in. A handy 21 bucks. Remember to gamble responsibly.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 a Talk Birdie Feedback pod, we have some comments from wolfpackers about Nick and Marks discussion a week or so ago in which Mark said that Brooks Koepka would not get back to top form unless he returns to the PGA tour. Some had a different view, and felt there was context around his form over the last couple of years that was relevant.Nick comments that for some players (Bryson) LIV feels a great fit, and muses that he feels Rahm might prefer to be back on the PGA Tour.Then we have some brutal comments from wolfpacker Roger about the Old Course. Nick and Mark respond.After the turn, is the story of an amateur player partnered with Nick in a Pro Am telling him that he should do something else because he won't earn a living with his golf ability true? We find out.On that note, if Nick and Mark hadn't been Tour Pros, what would they have been? We find out the 'sliding doors' career paths. And Mark reveals how the Texas Tech opportunity came about and why wagging school might just be the best thing he ever did.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 Talk Birdie Mini today, no time for a longer pod as Nick is commentating at the BMW Australian PGA and Mark is glued to the TV watching it....but we can sneak a mini in!Today, after Mark saw a tweet from a guy called 'Rick Golf' (Twitter page here) on how golf carts have 'destroyed' US Golf, he wanted to discuss carts with Nick.Both Nick and Mark are 'walkers' although Mark doesn't mind using a cart for 9 holes if he's playing 18, but both enjoy the walking element of playing golf. Nick makes a case that he plays better when he walks as you have better visibility, you can read the greens more effectively, and he finds it helps with the rhythm of his round. Mark agrees, and says if you are using a cart, there is nothing better than your playing partner driving off in a cart, and you walking down the fairway with just a putter in hand after hitting a 3 or 5 wood on a Par 5 !!A fun mini today - and now back to the BMW Australian PGA !!!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.

The BMW Australian PGA starts today at Royal Queensland and we sat down with the Australian PGA CEO Gavin Kirkman for a chat about the tournament and what he is working on currently to grow golf.We had to start with an update. Brisbane has been hit by some quite severe storms last week, and as recently as Monday this week, was the course damaged, and have the storms caused any issues with, or changes to, the structure of the tournament? Gavin gives us the latest information and looked at everything having just walked the course prior to our conversation.Nick and Mark are impressed with the calibre not only of the Australian and New Zealand players, but of the International contingent who have come to Brisbane for the event, and ask Gavin whether he feels there is further plans for co-sanctioning with the DPWT, following the excellent work with the Hotel Planner Tour. Gavin reveals that the DPWT CEO Guy Kinnings is travelling to Australia for the event, and then heading to Melbourne for talks about working more closely with the Australian PGA....that is great news.After the turn, we discuss Tuesday nights PGA awards in Brisbane, and the announcement of Minjee Lee as the Greg Norman medal recipient for the 4th time. Well deserved, in a tough field.Nick has spotted on the calendar a new event pencilled in as TBC for March 2026 and asks Gavin outright what it is. The early part of 2026 looks excellent with the Webex series events, and 4 Ladies European co-sanctioned events in Australasia.Mark asks Gavin why the Queensland PGA event last week had a smaller field than usual. Gav explains....it has something to do with cows and curtains. Classic Queensland.....And before we wrap up, Gav tells us about the time he watched Nick O'Hern in a playoff against Peter Lonard at one of Nick's favourite hunting grounds - Coolum.A great chat with the PGA of Australia boss today! Enjoy the tournament over the weekend !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 a massive fortnight in Australian golf, the BMW Australian PGA starts in a day at Royal Queensland, and next week the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne. What a time to be a golf lover!Today Nick and Mark run through the field for Brisbane, and it's impressive. Some wonderful Australian players of course, but the international field is very strong. We run through a few of the players who could mount a claim for the win. Nick produces a great stat regarding international vs Australian winners of the tournament....which helps to frame the discussion around our Talk Birdie / Betr multi. Nick and Mark are also feeling confident that Cameron Smith will come ready to play, and that Marco Penge will be looking for redemption after a poorer than expected performance a week or so ago.Brisbane has had some major storms, what does that mean (if anything) for the course and how it will play, Nick and Mark discuss.And then Nick and Mark name their predicted winner of the tournament and explain why, and their dark horse.Remember to gamble responsibly, but if you'd like to have a look at our Talk Birdie / Betr multi - head to the Betr website or app, search Betr specials and the Talk Birdie multi is there waiting for you!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.

Huge pod today, for a number of reasons. Firstly we welcome Hostplus as a major partner, Hostplus have been a huge supporter of golf for a number of years, and we're excited to be partnering with them at Talk Birdie To Me.Secondly we have a very special guest on the masterclass with Nick O'Hern today, he has a legend of Australian golf giving a putting masterclass later in the show. You don't want to miss it.But the drama....the stories....the emotions...of the final US Tour Event and those players on the bubble. It was a rollercoaster over the weekend. Nick and Mark watched plenty of it and discuss today, and we have a listen to one Tour Pro who has lost his card as of the weekend. It's a difficult listen as the emotions run over.And in exciting news, the idea Nick and Mark floated a few months ago of a show focused on the cutline actually eventuated! With the PGA cutline show starting last week. Only one downside, they didn't take our suggestion of getting Monday Q's Ryan French to host it....but maybe that will come. The shortened cutline is hugely significant to players, and we chat about that.A number of movements in and out of LIV this past week, which we look over, including the Laurie Canter story.The Australian PGA in Brisbane this week, later in the week we'll have a chat to Golf Australia boss Gavin Kirkman who is at the event and get the inside word on it, and we're giving some thought to a Betr multi to sort....that will be in the next 24-hours....we'll try and rinse Hummer at Betr. Nick and Mark are excited for the tournament, Mark is pumped about the number of DPWT and LIV players who've travelled, it will be a ripper weekend. Can Elvis Smylie defend the title?Nick and Mark discuss Metropolitan in Melbourne and how the course is settling in - Nick has many fond memories of Metro, and one bad one....which he explains.For BMW Mark's turn for a Touch of Class this week, after being briefly hijacked by Dan, and Mark has an unusual recipient of the Touch of Class award.After the turn we toy around with a new segment we've loosely called 'Good for Golf', which is essentially something that has happened, or should happen, which would be a 'plus' for golf. Hostplus are good for golf, and have supported the sport for years, so it's a natural fit. Mark has a great suggestion.Ping Globals from Nick, it might be getting to the end of the year, but gosh there's been some great golf played. And the Betr Top 5 from Mark is his Top 5 fave Queensland golfers who never won a major. Nick tells a hilarious story about Ossie Moore during Marks Top 5.For Southern Golf Club, plenty of feedback - iron covers (again), Aaron Rai (again), Tech in golf, broomstick putters, some feedback on last weeks course record with GUR, and we touch on the 'Dixon' incident on last weeks podcast.....And then, for watchMynumbers, Nick O'Hern's masterclass. Today it is on putting, and he has enlisted the master - Ian Baker-Finch - to give us a masterclass on putting. It's great to listen to, and you should also watch the video on YouTube here.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 Talk Birdie Mini today, and we have a question from Matthew in Nebraska who asks for Nick and Marks thoughts on what he calls 'a rather uncompetitive year' for Brooks Koepka. Nick has been surprised, saying that he felt the LIVG structure and style would have suited Brooks, however it seems to not have. Mark says that his swing, his putting, everything else is still the same - aside from the scores. Mark says that in his view 'LIV has stuffed Brooks game, and the move has backfired for both Brooks and Cameron Smith'. We discuss the difference between the 3 round and 4 round structure, and Nick and Mark talk about playing 6 rounds at times during their career. Pro Ams come up, and Mark says his view is that Pro's should play very few Pro Ams, he explains why.And we end by discussing if we will see Brooks at his best again? Mark says yes. But only when he returns to the PGA Tour.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 a Saturday morning (in Australia for international wolfpackers) and we're live from the Golf Clearance Outlet's brand spanking new store in Mornington, Victoria.The Australian Open is now a fortnight away, and to see how Royal Melbourne is shaping up both Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen played it this week, and compare notes on how it looks and how it plays. Mark said a few months ago that it would need a 'minor miracle' to be ready in time....he gives his verdict on whether that miracle has occurred or not on the pod today.Nick played with Shane Joel, who is Min Woo Lee's caddy, and throughout the day they discussed Min Woo's game, how he might play certain holes, and how far his carry is with his Driver, Mini Driver, and 4 Iron....and Nick and Mark chat about the clubs that Min Woo and Rory McIlroy might use of the tee when they play the Royal Melbourne Composite course in the Open.After the turn, we have a chat with the big boss at Golf Clearance Outlet, Sam Colosimo, and he gives us a snapshot of how the stores are going, what stock is working well, and some of the things you can find instore. Mark rips out to the car to bring in a putter that he bought from Golf Clearance Outlet that he loves, and he shows it off on the pod.A fun Saturday, and good to see the Golf Clearance Outlet team - if you're near a store, check them out in person, if not, everything is online here.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.

Okay....so some context here. Last week Mark Allen's Top 5 was, shall we say, slightly controversial. He listed the Top 5 (which became a Top 20) things that Pro Golfers laugh at Amateurs for doing. Some of the Wolfpack loved it, some didn't....and were not backwards about expressing their view on the list.So today, in the first half of the pod, we read out some of the feedback we received....these whacks are as big a whack as we've ever received so the Top 5 certainly hit a nerve! But we're always prepared to face the music.....and we do.After that, things calm down, and we chat to Darren from Toowoomba who is representing Talk Birdie To Me in the Victoria PGA Pro Am at Moonah Links in December. We find out about his preparation, how he's feeling, and whether he's got a caddy sorted yet. Looking forward to seeing how Darren goes, one thing is for sure, he's going to have a lot of fun!Now, off to recover after the first half of the pod whack-fest......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 and Mark have come in with plenty to discuss, they both watched a heap of golf over the weekend and have seen some great performances that they want to discuss. The one-handed putting of Adam Schenk a highlight, and we discuss one-handed putting. Nick has been reading about a new technique called 'heads up putting' that he explains to Mark. Young pro Max Charles performed well at the weekend and Mark was particularly proud of how Max went given he has been giving him a few pointers, and pinching (with credit) some of Nick O'Hern's tips. Mark discusses what he calls 'formalising acceleration', what it is, and what it achieves. On that, Mark predicted a 64 in the Box Hill Pro Am, he didn't quite get there with his up and downs letting him down.Nick talks about 'the feel'. When you've got it, you're on. He talks through a time playing the Congressional in Washington when he had the feels, and Mark has a story about watching, and then copying Raymond Floyd.Mark gives an update on Charlie Woods and explains why he is a fan of the young fella. Nick's Touch of Class for BMW is on something that Rory McIlroy has done, and not on the golf course. We have a listen.After the turn, we touch on what went wrong with our Betr multi at the weekend. Mark and Dan blame Nick saying he put the mozz on the multi and is at fault. When you hear the facts it is hard to argue. Although Nick defends himself. If this was a court case, Nick would be found guilty and the sentence would be significant. Probably with no non-parole period.Our Betr Top 5 is less controversial than last weeks. We've had a mountain of feedback following Marks Top 5 things that Pros laugh at Amateurs for doing last week, which we'll discuss in a bonus pod later in the week. Today, Nick lists his Top 5 unusual things you see Pros do.Feedback today for Southern Golf Club - some comments about Nicks photo from the Shepparton Golf Club in front of the honour board, Gary Player, Trees on Links courses, and Marks old caddy Drew has written in...Mark reveals the first time he ever hired Drew to caddy for him, and why it went pear-shaped on the 3rd holeA big PING global results today with plenty for Nick to run through - Dubai, LPGA, and a heap more. So much for it being a quiet time of the golfing year!And the masterclass for watchMynumbers.....Mark has brought a chopstick in to illustrate a point in todays masterclass which has to do with having enough 'space' when you're driving.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.

An interesting Talk Birdie Mini today. Wolfpacker Mike has reached out, he's currently a 12.4 handicapper and plays 2-3 times a week. However, in February he is having his first baby and his expectation is that is golfing will come down to once a fortnight....with a new baby that might be a tad optimistic, but fingers crossed Mike! His question is this....for new parents, are there some tips and tricks that Nick and Mark can suggest to help him lower his handicap in a situation where he is playing far less golf..Nick and Mark have 3 tips, including one inspired by Tiger Woods Dad Earl.And this is where you come in....got any tips for Mike? Let us know, message us on socials or leave a voicemail here letting us know your tip(s).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 Mick from Bedford in the UK watched this weeks Talk Birdie To Me, and took umbrage at something Mark said. Mick left a voicemail explaining what that was, and giving Mark a clip around the ears.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 start with a comment from Jeff who watched the Abu Dhabi tournament at the weekend and found some of Wayne 'Radar' Riley's commentary on Aaron Rai amusing. We chat about Radar and how much Nick and Mark love him.Peter has a comment about players on the Champions Tour using carts. He doesn't like it. What's Nick and Mark's view?Clinton is keen about what caddies get paid, and Nick and Mark outline what they used to pay their caddies when they were on tour, and how the bonuses worked. And they explain what 'chiselling' is in the caddy world. Mark says that for the most part caddies aren't making huge money, but the payday comes when a good, or rising, player spots them and they can then hitch their wagon to that player.And we discover what a 'mystery' is in the pro environment. Nick talks about the biggest 'mystery' that ever happened to him, and Mark talked about the 'mystery' that nearly happened to him.And after the turn.....bad language alert....we have a question on the, ahem, Yips from wolfpacker Vek who has an issue. Nick and Mark discuss what Vek might do, and tell a great story about Brett Ogle and his yip phase.Keep your questions and comments coming in, we love them!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.

Fun bonus pod today. We've been running a huge competition with our friends at FootJoy to give away a spot as the official Talk Birdie To Me entrant in this years Vic PGA Pro Am, being held at Moonah Links on the Mornington Peninsula in December.The prize includes entry (obviously) into the tournament, plus accomodation, transfers and if the winner is from interstate or overseas return flights to Melbourne. Plus Snowy at FootJoy will kit out the winner so they're looking the part as well. Massive prize!Today, Snowy is on the pod to draw the winner - which is a random draw of all entrants who qualified, that is who had an official handicap, and were not a Pro. Snowy is not just the FootJoy boss, he also won the event last year so we take advantage of his experience and find out what it was like, if he has any tips for the winner, and if he is playing again this year to defend the title.And then.....(drumroll)......we draw the winner. If you're one of our huge number of entrants, in the end there were nearly 300 people who entered, good luck.....we announce the winner on today's bonus 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.

Todays pod starts with a discussion about Aaron Rai, clearly an excellent player, and a big win at the weekend in Abu Dhabi for him - however Mark tells Nick that Aaron 'makes me laugh', and he explains why. One of the reasons is wearing two gloves, and Nick explains why he does.That said, a fantastic win at the weekend by Aaron, at a course Mark describes as a 'fake links course', and he has a theory on what any 'fake links course' needs to do in order to improve the look of the course. He compares the Yas Links course and how it looks to how Tara Iti and 7 Mile Beach look. We discuss the tournament and the 'brutality' of the course, and look at some of the stats from a number of players. Plenty of great performances.Mark brings up the World Wide Technology Championship, and in particular one Tour Pro who made the cut and had a shocker on one of the Par 4 holes shooting 12. Ouch.Tour Pro Ian Poulter spoke with Rick Shiels this week and listed his Top 6 golf courses in the world, there was one he listed that made Nick and Mark laugh, with their view being it should not be on any Top 6 list....but they have a theory as to why Ian put it there, which we investigate. Mark tells a couple of stories about escorting Ian around the hospitality tents when he was in the country for the Australian Masters and talks about how Ian was to deal with.For BMW our Touch of Class is Ludvig Åberg, the vision is spectacular and you'll see it on our YouTube show, but Nick and Mark talk through it and explain why it is so good.Inspired by Aaron Rai, Mark's Top 5 today for Betr is the Top 5 (or is it Top 20?) things that Pro Golfers laugh at Amateurs for doing.Plenty of results for Nick to run through in the PING globals today, and one result next week which will no doubt get a run - is Marks performance in the mighty Box Hill Pro Am this week....he is forecasting a 64 so we'll watch with interest.Heaps of feedback on our Gary Player mini, we read out a couple. Plenty of comments on the discussion around technology in golf and how to address the flow on effects, and a couple of comments and our poll result on the LIV changes from last week.And todays masterclass for watchMynumbers from Nick is inspired by Moe Norman, and what Nick has taken from Moe and is incorporating into his game.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.

Bonus pod today with Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen previewing the DP World Tour Championship this weekend in Dubai at the Earth Course. We discuss who is coming in with good form and whilst there are plenty of great players in the event, Nick and Mark believe the combination of Rory's form coming in, and the type of course it is - which Mark says is 'built for Rory' - means he is an excellent chance of winning.Nick says the Earth Course suits long hitters perfectly. So he agrees that Rory looks good, as does Marco Penge as a fellow long hitter in great form. Mark is confident that Elvis Smylie is ready to step up and perform well, particularly with the ramifications for him from this tournament important. So we have built a Betr multi exclusively for Talk Birdie listeners, one which we are quietly confident about - but of course there is never any guarantee, so if you can't afford to lose it, don't bet it. If you want to have a small punt, find our Talk Birdie multi on the Betr app, or website (here) and look under Betr Specials to find us.Rory to win.Penge Top 10 plus tiesSmylie Top 20 plus tiesPaying 31 bucks for Talk Birdie listeners.Good luck, and gamble responsibly!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 Gary Player was interviewed and asked about the best golfers in history and made the statement that while Tiger and Jack were 1 and 2, there was no doubt that he was #3 of all time. There is an argument for that, but it did generate plenty of discussion, so today a Talk Birdie Mini where Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen discuss if indeed Gary is #3 or, if not, who is and what criteria is used.The boys share some stories about Gary, and do their impersonations of him. Mark talks about meeting Gary at The Vines, and Gary asked him to punch him in the stomach....Nick says Gary also asked him (and almost everyone) to punch him in the stomach - which he did! And Nick shares a story about witnessing Gary like up the parents of an overweight kid on the range about his eating habits.A fun Talk Birdie Mini 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.

Tour Pro Scotty Laycock was listening to Nick and Mark chatting about US golfer Jerry Haas getting the yips when Mark was playing with him, and had a story to share about a player he saw having the yips some years ago in Brisbane. Ouch!Hear Scott's voicemail here.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've had a few whacks come in, so we thought we'd take our medicine and spend the first half of this pod copping a serve...and a few wolfpackers have not held back!Kevin lines up Nick for something he did when he was on tour. Parrot has a crack at Mark saying he has no idea what he's talking about on a particular issue.Carlos has a crack at the entire pod over our view on one specific aspect of golf.And Shane listened to a recent interview on the pod and said it was disappointing and we were 'soft'.Sheez....after the turn, we could do with some positivity so we chat with wolfpacker Rod who has some great stories about meeting the great Jack Newton when he was younger, and getting some tips from him! We spend some time reminiscing and sharing stories about the great man.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 might be a quiet time for tournaments, but goodness there is plenty of golf news to discuss this week!But first today, a reminder of our Victoria Pro-Am comp. We're looking for one wolfpacker to be our official player in the Vic Pro-Am in December, send us a pic or video of you rocking a pair of FootJoys, your handicap, where you play, and all eligible entrants (ie: who have a handicap and aren't a pro) will be in the draw next week on the show. If you're in Melbourne great. If you're interstate, regional Vic, or New Zealand, we'll sort your travel and accomodation. Entries close COB Monday November 10th. We discussed the huge LIV changes on yesterday's bonus pod, if you've not heard it, it's in the feed and worth checking out. Nick and Mark discuss what LIV's move might mean, and explore some of the questions that arise now about how they'll do it. Given the magnitude of the move, there is more to discuss, so we chat LIV today.The Old Course at St Andrews is undergoing some changes in preparation for the 2027 Open Championship, in part to address golf's length issue. Nick has a firm view on how to address this, and he doesn't believe extending courses is the way to go. Mark has some thoughts as well. We run through the Old Course changes, and discuss whether they'll make a difference, or are relatively minor.Marks Touch of Class for BMW is on a young 20-something player he saw at the weekend who played beautifully....he explains the context and reasoning. Nick raises Lee Trevino's comments about the Top 3 players in the world, following Gary Players thoughts. And the WPGA schedule has been released for 2027, it looks good. Nick talks us through it.Top 5 for Betr, in light of the St Andrews changes, Nick lists his Top 5 holes that have been lengthened - for better or worse. Mainly for better. In fact all for better. Slightly misnamed Top 5.The mighty Southern Golf Club bring us feedback, and we start with a whack for Mark over comments he made on last week's podcast. Into a number of various 'yip-centric' comments following our yip-heavy pod last week. Also, a number of comments on Nick O'Who's performance in the Titleist simulator last week. Mostly positive, with one piece of constructive criticism. And some feedback from Tour Pro and legend Bradley Hughes on the drivers.PING Globals, Nick takes us around all the results from the last week. Mark has a crack at the music in the opener. Some things never change. He invites wolfpackers to suggest a new opener. Don't listen to him.Into the masterclass for watchMynumbers, Mark played at the weekend and in his words 'played bad', he had an issue with his swing, but he reckons he may have solved it. He explains the problem, and what he did to address it.If you haven't heard our LIV bonus pod from yesterday, it's in the feed here and on YouTube here.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.

Big news from LIV Golf today with the announcement of a move to 72 hole tournament in 2026, we read the statement that LIV released. Nick and Mark discuss the implications, why they've done it, and what it may or may not mean.How will it work within the Teams & Individuals structure?. Could a cut be on the cards in LIV tournaments? Why are they doing it? Mark believes it is designed to put pressure on Trevor Immelman who basically oversees the OWGR these days.The PGA are yet to respond, however Nick reads through the PGA's response from a couple of days ago to the LIV Promotions format and what the PGA have said in response.Massive news, and Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen are all over it on Talk Birdie To Me.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 by looking at a tweet from golf stats guy Lou Stagner that a wolfpacker sent in, both Nick and Mark enjoy Lou's insights usually, but this time he has made a comment that they both vehemently disagree with regarding the St Andrews Old Course.We discuss the Old Course and why it is special. Mark brings up the 1984 Open Championship, famous for Seve, but tells the story of what happened to Ian Baker-Finch on the last shot of the day as a result of the sprinkler the night before. Speaking of IBF, Paul has written in with a suggestion for Australian golf coverage. Ken replies to wolfpacker Martins comments last weeks about The Players being a possible major, and Ken pretty much gives everyone a whack - Nick, Mark, Golf Australia. Ross has a question about Tour Pro's moving back to amateur status, and Nick and Mark talk through why they would never do it.A question from lefty Matt on his concerns about being fitted for new clubs.David reckons Nick and Mark are being too kind to LIV Golf and believes it is a failure. We discuss some of the players currently re-signing with LIV.Scott has an idea regarding the Australian Masters, and it reminds us that we've not reviewed Royal Sydney yet - if you've played it, we'd love your thoughts.And we finish on a comment from Paul about returning to golf after some tideway, and the difference hybrids have made for him.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.

Big pod today, we start by discussing the great win by the Australian Women in the International Crown in South Korea. Sensational! A wonderful performance.Speaking of fantastic womens golf, Nick was excited to see Yani Tseng back in the winners circle, and what a finish it was. It's been a long time, great to see her back.Mark has a history of, from time to time, teeing off on local councils. And today he has a bee in his bonnet about a local council and what they have done to a suburban Melbourne golf course.Then, we talk yips. Risky territory we realise that. But we chat about the yips, how they occur, how to fix them, and hear some hilarious stories on the way. Mark talks about being a tad yippy at one point and how he fixed it, Nick explains why he moved to putting right-handed and what he had to learn to do, and Mark tells us what he calls 'the greatest yipping story ever'. A bold claim, but to be fair, it's a pretty funny story. Mark raises Peter 'Pom' O'Malley and his flirtation with a bit of yip activity, and wants to confirm whether his memory is correct so he texts Shags, Poms caddy, to ask him for clarification.A fantastic Touch of Class for BMW today featuring Michael Brennan, who won his first PGA tour event at the weekend, however the Touch of Class is not about his performance as such, but something else related.After the turn we launch a massive opportunity for one wolfpacker. We have a spot in the Victorian PGA event coming up in early December to give to one Talk Birdie listener! It's a Pro AM, so you'll be partnered with a Tour Pro and in the same group as last years winner Tim Snow (of FootJoy). To have a shot - send us a pic of you rocking a pair of FootJoy's, your handicap (you need one to play), where you play your golf, and a video of your swing would be fun to see as well. We'll pick 10 finalists, and randomly draw one on the pod in a couple of weeks.If you're in Melbourne you're sorted. If you're interstate, regional or international, we'll fly you to Melbourne and put you up for the time you're here. Send your entry to us either via socials, our website or email it here.Top 5 for Betr is on, what else, the Top 5 'yippers' of all time. Yikes.Nick runs us around the world in what really was quite a massive weekend of golf in the PING Global results.Been a long show today, so a shorter version of feedback for Southern Golf Club - we always love to hear from wolfpackers, keep it coming.And we wrap with a masterclass from Nick, for watchMynumbers, inspired by Yani Tseng on putting the opposite way.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 bonus pod today with Damien de Bohun, Golf Australia's General Manager - Clubs, Facilities, and Places to Play. Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen have two items on the agenda to discuss with Damien today:Firstly, the new Golf Australia handicap system and how the rollout is going. We've had mixed feedback from wolfpackers. Many love it and think the change is excellent, however some are critical of some of the bugs that have emerged, and importantly we've had a number of listeners who have suggested their scores are not being captured correctly - including wolfpacker Tom who wrote to us, so we want to ask Damien about those things and find out the latest. Mark is also keen to know why the change was necessary, what was wrong with keeping it the way it was?Secondly, there have been developments today on the Moore Park saga in Sydney where NSW Premier Chris Minns and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore appear to be pushing ahead with their plan to cut one of Australia's busiest golf courses in half, moving it from 18 holes to 9 holes. Damien talks about the latest developments and the Golf Australia proposal which he says lays out clearly how they can achieve what the Premier and Lord Mayor are looking for, more parkland, and retain 18-holes at Moore Park. Damien says that given how important Moore Park is, Golf Australia are seeking a meeting with the Premier and Lord Mayor in the coming days and are confident that when the proposal is understood, it should be received favourably.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 past week we received a message from wolfpacker Martin on a subject that Nick and Mark have strong views on - the introduction of a 5th major. Mark has held the view for some time that The Players Championship should be given major status, Nick loves the event but disagrees. Martin believes Mark is wrong and it would be a bad move to give The Players major status, and he has a number of points to make to support his view.In a Talk Birdie Mini today, Nick and Mark discuss how a 5th major might look, and respond to Martins comments.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.

Michael from Stawell in Victoria was listening to our chat about Club Championships a couple of weeks ago and left a voicemail with his experience....it went right down to the wire!!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 big feedback pod today prefaced with a warning. A wolfpacker wants to give one of the two a massive whack. Is it deserved? We'll find out when we get to that after the turn.Firstly - Greg has messaged in about our recent question on people who inspired your golf, and he has a family of people to mention....four tour pros in the one family! John has written in about a song at his club The National in Victoria, and that reminds Mark that he got a slap around the choppers last week when he said Kingston Heath needed a song - it turns out that they have one. Is it better than Marks AI effort to create one? It could hardly be worse. We'll play it at the end of the show today and if you feel so inclined you can have a listen.Robert has some feedback on Vietnam - a course he thought was ordinary, and one he thought was excellent albeit over-priced. Subby wants to know if Mark has been using his new hip turn technique and if so how it is going.Then a comment from a wolfpacker in the US who caddies on a major course and says that he feels many players don't use caddies in the correct way. Mark loves the US caddy culture and would love for it to catch on in Australia. We end from the same wolfpacker with a story of when he played with Moe Norman !!!!To the whack. Tim has an issue with Mark. Brutal.Then we speak with Geoff on WhatsApp who did an Open Rota tour a while back, and has some comments own using caddies when he was travelling through the UK.Lee has a question about the Australian Open timing - not the date but the times play commences....which gets Mark onto one of his pet hates - the U-Draw.Bill has a comment on Pre-Shot Routines. And 'ShankedIt' has a goal that they use in their golf to share.Stick around after the credits for the Kingston Heath club song, and see if you make it all the way through.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.

Back for another week, and even on weeks when it feels golf might have been a little quiet, there always seems to be plenty to discuss. We start this week with a reminder about our Talk Birdie survey....we want to know your opinion on the show: good, bad, or indifferent - and one respondent will win $300 to spend at FootJoy, and $300 to spend at Golf Clearance Outlet. The survey takes 8-minutes tops, probably less, and you can find it here. It closes on Friday October 31. We'd appreciate it!Onto golf news. Mark has been reading the New York Times. We were as surprised as you. However he read an article on the LIV/PGA Merger, or lack of, and raises this with Nick. Is it still a chance, is it all over? Nick is curious about the next wave of signings, and re-signings, given the initial contracts for many of them are about to be up. What about the franchise sale model, is that alive or not a starter now? Ultimately whether there is a merger or not, Nick and Mark discuss the increasing number of LIV players playing PGA tournaments and give their view.Nick commentated the WA Open at Mount Lawley over the weekend and loved the course, he may be a little biased given it's his home course and his brother runs the joint, however he said it was brilliant. Mark is keen to know what the players thought. Nick tells a great story about the ultimate winner, Oliver Bekker, and how he saved the tournament on the final hole.Mark saw a tweet from OCM over the weekend on a new course that Mike Cocking has designed in Georgia called Fall Line. The pics are extraordinary, and it looks eerily similar to Sandbelt courses. We discuss, and Mark is going to try and get Mike on the pod perhaps next week when he returns from overseas.And then a voicemail comes in during the pod - it is Rick from Perth with a question about hybrids in his bag.Mark plays a clip of a Scott Fawcett from Decade Golf talking about stats putting from 25 feet.....the stats are revealing. Leads to a story about a coach of Marks who he says was awful.After the turn, Nick awards the Touch of Class for BMW to Scott from Townsville who played in the BMW Golf Cup National Final last week and absolutely shot the lights out. Mark says his scores around Sanctuary Cove were 'pro-level'. A fantastic event, and we find out how you can enter next year if you're keen.Thanks to Betr, a great Top 5 today from Nick - the Top 5 unique greens in world golf that he has played. See if you think he might have missed any.For Southern Golf Club - heaps of feedback : Moe Norman comments, WA Open feedback, a Top 5 observation from last weeks show, and with his induction to the Vic PGA Hall of Fame, one wolfpacker is keen for us to get Robert Allenby on the pod.Onto the PING Globals - Nick takes us around the world, still plenty of golf going on so lots to discuss!And for watchMynumbers, Mark's Masterclass this week is on waggling prior to moving to address and how he feels it has helped his game. 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.

Paul watched the WA Open at the weekend and enjoyed it, however has a question about how the commentary team referred to Marc Leishman. Have a listen to his message.....fair point from Paul, or is he over-analysing it a bit?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 with a number of questions and comments for Nick and Mark to discuss.Jeff makes the observation that he feels golfers need to 'lower their expectations' in order to achieve better results. His message explains his thinking, and Nick and Mark discuss. 'Tramspotters' has a mate who he says plays practice rounds like comp, and comps like practice rounds and it causes issues. Nick and Mark talk about where you should do your 'tinkering', why, and how they do it.Feedback on our Mini last week where we read out Freds email where he talked about going from hitting it like Scheffler to hitting it like Captain Hook in the one round. Mike said bad shots happen, just deal with it, and we read a message from Scott who plays at the same club as Fred and responds to the discussion.Alan wants to know if caddies make a difference to (non pro) players. Nick and Mark say they do, with some caveats.Spindles has some comments on the Golden Bear, and Nick and Mark discuss the great man.And we end with a message from Thomas who is a huge fan of Moe Norman, and is keen to hear Nick and Marks views on Moe and his game. Mark, as it turned out, had some time with Moe and tells a couple of great stories that you must hear.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.

Cameron from Brisbane left a voicemail after hearing Nick and Mark discussing Club Championship horror stories....his story is indeed a horror one!!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.

Big show today, we're back from the Gold Coast after a great time at Links Hope Island with 80 or so wolfpackers, although Nick has headed back for a BMW event at - would you believe it - Links Hope Island! So Nick is on WhatsApp from Queensland living the good life whilst Mark and Dan slave away at Talk Birdie headquarters keeping the engine running.We start with a couple of stories from the Talk Birdie golf day, and if you haven't watched the video of the day, check it out here, worth a look. Thanks again to the team at Links Hope Island, they looked after everyone beautifully. Then we hear a story from Mark about a guy called Scott who he saw at his golf club at the weekend, and they chatted about his swing - Scott wondered if he was coming over the ball, however Mark discovered a different issue, and it's an important one for any golfer - we discuss what it is, what it does, and why it's important to be across. During that convo, Nick tells a story about Tour Pro Brandt Snedeker, whilst Mark debuts a 'magnet' he bought on Temu to illustrate the point he was making.Nick names the highest maintenance golfer he saw on tour.Nick and Mark discuss the demise of Q School - is it a good thing or a bad thing?BMW Touch of Class today is Marco Penge, the winner of the Spanish Open at the weekend. Mark explains why he has awarded Marco the Touch of Class. For Betr, our Top 5 today is the Top 5 'Shoe Wearing Pros'. What? You Say? Looks weird reading it, but makes sense when you hear it.Nick takes us around the world in the PING Global results, plenty to talk about and of course he gives a shoutout to the mighty WA Open this coming weekend at his home course in WA with a tip to watch out for the 4th hole at Mount Lawley!Lots of feedback for Southern Golf Club - topics include our Talk Birdie Golf Day, Brett Ogle, the China Open, Jeeno Thitikul, a whack for the team from a wolfpacker, and a comment from Tour Pro Steve Elkington who heard Marks story about him and his brother Rob a couple of days ago on the pod.And we wrap with a masterclass for watchMynumbers from Nick, this week from the Gold Coast with special guest, Tour Pro Elvis Smylie!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 start with a comment from wolfpacker Dave on pace of play in the womens game. Which provides a sweet opportunity for Mark to do one of his favourite things - have a crack at Keegan Bradley, which he accordingly does.Martin from WA has a dodgy knee and wants to know if there is anything he can change in his swing technique to be less intense on his knee. Greg has just got back from Vietnam, flying on the same flight as Nick, and is curious as to Nicks favourite course there. John has an up and coming player that he reckons Nick and Mark need to keep an eye on. Jeff very nearly incurs the wrath of Nick and Mark with a misjudged opening line, but goes on to discuss seeing Lucas Parsons play and how much he enjoyed watching him. Rob has a comment and question regarding rule changes and specifically etiquette when it comes to the pin. Craig has a story about meeting Nick and watching him self-combust at The Vines once, Nick explains what happened, where he went wrong that day, and what he learned from it.And Mark raises the rules infraction that Craig Stadler had when he was attempting not to get his pants dirty.....true story!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.

On Wednesday Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen were at the beautiful Links Golf & Wellbeing at Hope Island for an 18-hole Talk Birdie To Me golf tournament with around 80 Wolfpack members. We loved it! So much fun. A chipping and putting clinic in the morning, lunch, then the tournament, along with dinner and presentations to the winners. And then we did a 30-minute live Q&A with everyone. As you would appreciate not everything discussed at an event where no question was off limits is 'publishable', so this audio isn't the entire Q&A, but we thought we'd give you a listen to some of what we discussed on the night after the tournament on the Gold Coast.Great fun, and a huge thanks to David, Abi and Dylan from Links Golf and Wellbeing for looking after us and the Wolfpack, they could not have been more hospitable ! 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're enjoying doing our Talk Birdie 'Minis' lately, a short episode focused on one theme or question which runs 10 minutes or so (we went a bit long today....). Todays mini is a question from wolfpacker Fred in Queensland who is a scratch marker having a very specific challenge with his game, and he would like Nick and Mark to give him some thoughts on he might address it.It's a great question and one that all golfers deal with at some point, even Nick and Mark, who talk about how they handled the issue Fred 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.

Voicemail today from John who plays at the mighty Box Hill Golf Club in Melbourne, with a story of what he says is the most amazing round of golf he's seen in over 50 years. When you hear the story, you may well agree!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.

Plenty of golf to discuss, as this episode goes to air Nick, Mark and Dan are on the Gold Coast at Links Golf and Wellbeing playing our first Talk Birdie Tournament with 80 or so wolfpackers.We were particularly excited with Wade Ormsby's performance at the weekend...what a win in Jakarta! But in Australia, it is club championship season, which is always exciting, and we discuss what it means to clubs and how they structure it.Nick played at the weekend and had a great time, and we hear a few stories from club championships in the past - including one story of Mark's that he describes as 'horrendous'. Nick tells us of his club song, and whilst he doesn't sing it for us, he does tell us the lyrics. Mark is disappointed that his club does not have a song and decides to rectify it during the break using the Suno app - which creates songs to your specifications. Nick tells us of one particular player whom he could never beat in his club championship - and we hear a great story about Steve and Rob Elkington which has to be heard to be believed!Great win by Bobby McIntyre in Scotland, a hugely popular player, and a wonderful win. He is also a deserving winner of our BMW Touch of Class this week through how he spoke following the win.After the turn, we hear Marks song. Is it any good? Well put it this way, you might want to fast forward through the 30-seconds we gave it. The whole thing was 3-minutes long, we lasted 30-seconds and that was pushing it. We do however play a song from a young Irish singer who wrote a tribute to the European Ryder Cup team, it is excellent.Following Bobby Mac's great win, Nick lists his Top 5 favourite Scottish golfers. Does a certain player get a mention, would Nick risk incurring Mark's wrath?Feedback today - some comments on James Sutherlands appearance last week, and a suggestion for the greatest putt of all time from a wolfpacker in the UK. Does it get received well? Some more comments on the Ryder Cup, and we discuss Stewart Cink's comments about the interview process for the captaincy of the US Ryder Cup team.Ping globals has plenty of results from around the world, Nick O'Hern takes us through them all. And a ripping masterclass for watchMynumbers from Mark today on pre-setting your hips, particularly as you get older. He's seen a video, seen Matt Gogel doing it, and tried it....and loves 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.

After dropping into the Talk Birdie studio last week, Golf Australia CEO James Sutherland has briefly come back with a couple of players who have just signed on for the Australian Open, and he reveals them to Nick and Mark and hints at some DP World Tour names to be revealed shortly.He gives an update on ticket sales saying that this is not a normal golf event, and that is what they're seeing in ticket sales with under 1,000 GA tickets left for the sunday which is well ahead of the same time in previous years. Nick and Mark want to know who will be partnered with Rory, and whilst James can't reveal that, the boys give their suggestions on how it might look....watch this space.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.