Talk Birdie To Me

There never seems to be a quiet week in golf, and this week is no different. But before we get into the show, we touch on our Betr multi which was so close to coming off. Rory did the job, Min Woo feel agonisingly short of the Top 10, and Scheffler had a very good weekend, but a poor Thursday and Friday, missing the Top 5. So close, yet so far away....on the flip side a number of wolfpackers seem to have profited from Nick's dark horse tip of Aldrich Potgieter (including Mark and Dan).Nick is over the moon that his good mate US Tour Pro Austen Truslow won at Paraparaumu at the weekend, his first win, and Nick was commentating so saw the whole thing, and was chatting to Austen on the Saturday night before the final day.Huge win for Jacob Bridgeman at Riviera at the weekend, he hung on to claim the title. Mark did see him doing something that he doesn't like and explains to Nick, who completely agrees. And for Hostplus, this week our That's a Plus recipient is Adam Scott for his wonderful performance in Riviera.The BMW Touch of Class from Nick this week is not awarded to a person, although it sort of is a living, breathing, thing....he explains his choice to Mark.Massive news from the DP World Tour with their announcement of a settlement deal for LIV players which sees a number of them now able to play in certain DPWT events alongside LIV. But one player refused to accept the deal....we discuss.Rumour mill....Nick and Mark separately have some mail on something that, should if come off, would be huge for golf. It involves Golf Australia and LIV. They explain on the pod and read out the texts they have each received on this issue.Royal Melbourne's routing for The Australian Open. Good for matchplay, not for the Open. Mark says that Golf Australia need to 'change it now' before it is locked in.After the Turn, for Betr, the Top 5 toughest finishes in golf on courses Nick has played. #1 is a big one, and contains memories that still haunt Nick! He explains why.Lots of feedback - a message on something that a wolfpacker saw at LIV but has not heard about from anyone else, some suggestions on players who have come back from adversity who you feel Mark missed last week - one Australian male golfer and one international female golfer.Feedback on our Ritchie Smith chat from a week or two ago, and Travis (Sophie's Dad!) has written in after Nick and Mark reviewed 8-year old Sophie's golf technique on the pod last week. And then we hear of another young gun, a 14-year old this time, and Mark shares a text from legendary AFL journalist Mike Sheehan about his 15-year old grandson....the kids are killing it!In the PING Globals Nick runs around the world with all the results, and suggests that Talk Birdie To Me may be responsible for killing off Schefflers run of Top 10's....harsh.And for Golf Clearance Outlet, Mark's masterclass is on Rory McIlroy's impressive bunker play.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 if you heard last weeks feedback ep, we had a message from wolfpacker Jack who enjoyed the Top 10 Golf Courses in Australia list from Nick and Mark, and suggested a Top 10 Public Courses list....which we jumped at without really thinking it through. The challenge is that we were inundated with suggestions, however there's no real way to rank them, so we just read out a few of the messages and talked about a couple. Sorry Jack!One of the comments we had was from a New Zealand wolfpacker who used to live in Melbourne, and was playing at Brighton East on the day a very famous TV show and scene was being filmed right outside...he explains.Off the back of a vote for Narooma, Mark raises the sheer number of Hogans Alley's that there are around the world. Narooma having the famous Hogan's Hole.A message from a wolfpacker who has been a walking scorer and had some thoughts to add following our chat about The Australian Women's Open having walking scorers for the first two days this year.And a voicemail from John in Albury about Corowa Golf Club. We've had a huge number of messages about what has happened at Corowa, it's a very sad outcome for a famous course.And on a brighter note, Tim has tried Marks 'right ear' idea, has it worked for Tim? We find out.After the turn, this is very sweet. And it is a little visual so if you're listening to the pod we hope the comments make sense. We've had a message from Travis, he listens to the pod with his 8-year old daughter Sophie, who plays golf and asked her Dad to send some footage of her swings into Nick and Mark to review....which of course we do.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 people who loved seeing Anthony Kim's spectacular performance at LIV Adelaide, it was one of the all time great redemption stories. Gerard from Brisbane agreed, and had some comments on what he saw in the performance from AK, and he gave Bryson a drive by on the way through.Have a listen to Gerard's voicemail.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.

Wow. Anthony Kim take a bow. After some significant personal challenges and demons to work through, this surely is one of time great redemption stories, and we rightly start todays show discussing his performance at LIV Adelaide - particularly his final day performance. Nick has played with Anthony and says that, by his own admission, he could be a difficult character but he has turned that around. Nick shares a text that he received a few months ago from his caddy Wilbur who had spent some time with Anthony and said that he was a changed man.Mark has some stats on Anthony from the last couple of years, that Ryan at the Monday Q Twitter page shared.Rahm's drop. What was that all about? A number of wolfpackers wrote in about it, we all saw it, Mark describes it as 'crazy', although Nick found Bryson's reaction amusing. On Rahm, we have a listen to the audio of him talking about The Australian Open, and Mark tees off again on the date.For Hostplus, Nick says that Rahm playing The Australian Open would be a plus for golf, along with the other big names who might also play it should the date be more favourable.LIV Adelaide was great, and rightly took a lot of the focus, however Pebble Beach was also exciting and Min Woo nearly got home! Morikawa played very well, and Mark says that he deserves enormous credit for recovering from what would have been a difficult week last week for him.For BMW , our Touch of Class this week is the outpouring of support for Anthony Kim after his LIV win. It was great to see.After the turn - we remind everyone of our Betr / Talk Birdie To Me multi - Scheffler to finish Top 5, Min Woo and Rory to finish Top 10 (including ties) at Riviera this weekend. Decent multi and it's paying 19 bucks at Betr, just head to the website or the Betr app, and search Betr specials.....we're right there!Marks Top 5 is players who have bounced back from significant adversity. There's some great stories.The PING Globals from Nick has plenty to discuss - and he diverts for a moment to tell a very funny story about an orangutan.....it sounds strange, but trust us, it's a must listen.Heaps of feedback - lots on LIV, also OWGR points, our Top 10 course list, and we discuss the Huntingdale redo.Nick's masterclass today is inspired by Anthony Kim.And just as we're wrapping the show, Nick gets a text from Wolfgang at BMW who has sent us his Top 10 Australian courses....and he's played them all!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.

Massive tournament this week in Los Angeles, with Riviera on, and today we preview the tournament. This event has a cut, and the 10-shot rule is in play which is a good idea, but can go pear-shaped and we discuss when it did.Nick has played Riviera half a dozen times and he talks through how the course plays, what he enjoyed about it, and one hole he particularly loves. Mark wants to know if Nick would use the same clubs, in hindsight, as he typically did when he played there. He wouldn't as it turns out, and explains why.There is a specific kind of golfer, according to Nick, who Riviera suits beautifully and that starts to shape a Betr Multi that we're building for wolpackers. There are three players who stand out for different reasons, and our multi is built around them. Interestingly, we expected the multi might be about 8 bucks....it is well over double that! So whilst there is no guarantee of course, this Talk Birdie To Me multi feels like it might be worth considering.Nick also notes the back tees on one of the holes have been moved, which he feels suit the three players we've gone with. And outside of those three, Nick and Mark give their dark horses. Marks are perhaps predictable, a leopard never changes its spots, Nick has gone for a huge outsider and gives his reasons.If you have a Betr account, jump on board the Talk Birdie To Me multi, just head to Betr on the website or the app, and look at Betr specials, you'll find us there. If you don't have an account, it takes only a couple of minutes to set up. Either way, remember to always 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.

This will be fun. Today we're hosting superstar golf coach Ritchie Smith for Hostplus, and boy oh boy do we have a bit to talk with him about.Ritchie is unquestionably the leading golf coach in Australia, and you can make a compelling argument that he is the leading coach in the world. His stable of players include (among others) Min Woo Lee, Minjee Lee, Hannah Green, David Micheluzzi, Yuka Saso. Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen start by finding out how Ritchie got into golf, he started as a player, and he was a good one, but transitioned into coaching quite early.We find out about how he selects which players he will work with, the criteria that he has, and how he finds them or how they are brought to his attention. There is quite the process and quite a checklist, Ritchie explains why this is so important to him. One of the attributes is that he only works with players who are prepared to be 'vulnerable', and he tells us why this is a non-negotiable for him.Ritchie coaches Ryan Peake who has had some well documented challenges, of his own making, and Ritchie discusses the background, how they reconnected, and how he helped Ryan integrate back into golf after some years away following his incarceration.Hannah Green is one of Ritchie's most successful golfers, he describes her as 'the prototype of what I'd like my golfers to be'. He explains how he identified her as a kid, her development in the shadow of a couple of bigger names, and more recently how Hannah and he have completely rebuilt her swing. He explains how and why, and the results. Ritchie started working with Minjee as a 12-year old when he, in his words, 'didn't know what I was doing', clearly he does now! He talks us through Minjee's putting issues, why they changed to the long putter, and the results. He also coaches Min Woo and we're interested in his insights into coaching him, and particularly the work they are doing on Min Woo's iron play. Ritchie says that ''his iron play (was) poor", and he explains how they have been fixing it to ensure that aspect of his game is stronger. And he explains why he got 'cranky' with Min Woo at the Cognizant Classic, what he said to him, and what he had him change....and what happened as a result.David Micheluzzi has just come on board to be coached by Ritchie, and he explains to us what they are working on, and the theory Micheluzzi had on his swing that Ritchie needed to disprove for their work together to be successful. And we finish by finding out what comes after golf for Ritchie, what are his plans and dreams when he gives golf away!A fascinating chat with arguably the worlds best golf coach, thanks to Hostplus it was great to host Ritchie Smith 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 with some cracking messages to chat through.We start with a couple on the Australian Open cancellation, on day one, that Nick and Mark spoke about recently. Raymond has written in and he was caddying that day, and remembers it very clearly, he runs through what he was seeing on the day. And Brad, who narrowly missed qualifying for the Open that year and went along with his wife to watch the tournament - unfortunately the day was, obviously, cut short!Phillip has some news on the Australian Women's Open which he asks Nick to confirm, or otherwise.McDougal has a view on this weeks comments about The Players Championship. Mark heard us discussing conceding holes last week and Nick and Mark noting how rare it is, he points out a very famous occasion from an Aussie! Andrew listened to Nick and Mark's 7 predictions, and has a prediction of his own.And after the turn, we review the putting technique of journalist and wolfpacker Jon Ralph who was playing with Mark last week, and was caught on camera putting to save par. We ask Nick O'Hern to analyse Ralphy's putting technique. Is he impressed or underwhelmed?Kevin from Vietnam writes to Nick with his views on the courses in that country, Nick knows it well having played golf there a number of times.And we read a note from Brenton of the Woodburn-Evans Head Golf Club in NSW who recently had a significant theft at the club, and are putting on a great day in March to raise funds for recovery. You can find out more 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.

Like everyone Chris from Rutherglen on the NSW/Victorian border was excited about Elvis Smylie's win on debut for LIV last weekend, and in the lead-up to LIV Adelaide this weekend he watched a video on the LIV YouTube channel with every shot of Elvis' final round in the Riyadh tournament and left a voicemail recommending it and explaining why and what is in it. Have a listen to Chris' voicemail, and you can see the video he's referring to 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.

No time to muck around - right off the bat we reveal the BMW Touch of Class recipient this week, and it had to be Elvis Smylie....a huge win in his LIV debut, individual and team and a well deserved Touch of Class for BMW. Nick and Mark discuss how Elvis played, particularly with Rahm on the tear in the late stages, and how he has moved from 130 to be in the 70's now, on the verge of a Masters spot if he can have another couple of solid performances.His timing was pretty good given this was the first LIV tournament eligible for OWGR points, although both Nick and Mark feel the structure of how many points is not yet right. Obviously this weekend is LIV Adelaide, which as usual will be crazy - Adelaide being consistently LIV's best event.Brandel Chamblee made some controversial comments about The Players this week, Nick and Mark discuss and respond to his comments, around the field, the prestige, and Mark asks Nick if he could choose, which one major would he like to win. Nick also gives a recommendation for a restructure of the Women's Majors.Mark watched the Waste Management tournament in Phoenix and loved plenty of it, but was disappointed with two things. He explains.He has also brought in a ridiculous photo regarding aim point and straddling the line - it is truly insane we'll put it on socials, and show it on the YouTube show. We decide that were straddling the line to be banned, and it should be, that would be a plus for golf, and we reckon our friends at Hostplus, who are mad golfers, would completely agree.Oh dear.....the Chili Dip that was seen around the world from Colin Morikawa. We've all done it, but most of us not on international television. We discuss using the leading edge and 'hands of gold' when chipping. Nick and Mark watch the video, and give their thoughts on his technique.After the turn, following a chat about the OWGR points, we look at what you get for each tournament and if it is equitable. Then, for Betr, Nick's Top 5 is the Top 5 Chili Dips in golf....there are some classics, and a couple of very heavy hitters in there!Feedback for Southern Golf Club - we read a couple about Elvis, there were plenty, lots of comments on the Top 10 list - including a ripper of a suggestion from wolfpacker Jack who'd love a Top 10 Public Course list....which we reckon wolfpackers are better to suggest as there will be bunch we've not played. So....let us know what you reckon are your favourite public access courses, shoot a message through via the website, a voicemail, or comment on socials....you might have 1 suggestion, you might have 5, or somewhere in the middle, doesn't matter....give us your views and we'll compile a list.Nick runs through the results in the PING Globals - plenty of golf, the season is away with a bang. And during them we have a look at Tour Pro Chris Gotterup's swing - Mark has noticed something and wants to discuss it. Nick also has another killer Scottie Scheffler stat....this is becoming a habit, maybe we need a stats theme song opener?And predictably, Mark tries to search something on Grok and it goes pear-shaped....We wrap the show with a Masterclass for the Golf Clearance Outlet from Mark inspired by Colin Morikawa's awful chip at 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.

As U2 famously said: 'there's been a lot of talk, maybe too much talk' about Top 100 golf course lists, and last week there was another addition that caught Nick and Mark's eyes. Golf Australia Magazine gave their Top 100 Australian courses list, you can see it here. Like all lists, there is a degree of subjectivity to it and there's plenty on this list we agree with, and plenty we'd question, but that's part of it.Having said that, we decided to do the official Talk Birdie To Me 'Top 10 Australian golf course list'.So today Nick and Mark list their Top 10 Australian courses. We'd love your feedback, whether you agree or disagree, and if there are any standout courses that belong in the Top 10 that weren't AND what course you would remove to put it in there.We won't list them here, but we will list the state breakdown:On Nick and Marks list is:6 courses from Victoria;2 from Tasmania;1 from New South Wales;and 1 from South Australia.mmmm this could get controversial...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.

Dee left a voicemail regarding the Peter Senior podcast which, if you've not heard it, is well worth going back to. Dee's comment is specifically around Pete's wonderful King of Spain story, one of the all time greats, so we decided to revisit it and play that particularly story again after Dee's voicemail.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 with some great comments and questions to run through.We start with Graham who heard Nick's advice last week about not aiming for the flag, and he explains where he aims. Nick and Mark talk about they do, and did when they were on tour. Plenty of feedback on Marks 'gimme' theory from a couple of weeks back.Bean disagrees with Mark and explains why, Andy says gimmes are a slippery slope, Gary believes unmissable putts are too subjective, Peter accuses Mark of a double standard, and Robert reckons the main issue with gimmes has to do with beer. Phew....After the turn, Tom in Arizona has a request for content on the pod...it's a nice idea...! Arthur disagrees with Mark that the BMW PGA should move from Brisbane to Sydney, he wants it to stay where it is. Kevin is a new wolfpacker and is working through the prior episodes and has a question about something Nick and Mark discusses in episode 7 (?!?!?!??!), back in 2023!!!! Welcome aboard Kevin!And then to Duncan. Oh Duncan. He has messaged in defending Monty, and risking incurring the wrath of one Mr Mark Allen.Dave agrees with us from last week that Scheffler is a gun, but says he is not yet run the same conversation as Tiger - and provides some stats to support this. We discuss if Scheffler will get to ten career majors or not.And a couple of final comments from Darren, and Malcolm, both of whom enjoyed the chat with Peter Senior (it was great fun). 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.

If you saw or read about what happened to Calum Hill in Bahrain at the weekend, you'll no doubt have found it as difficult to watch as we did. He had a very tough weekend, completely lost his game and it didn't end well for the poor fella. We had a couple of messages from wolfpackers about it - Josh on email, and Gordon on voicemail - the thrust of the messaging was how do we prevent happening to us, what happened to Calum.Firstly Nick and Mark chat about the weekend in Bahrain for him, Mark didn't see a lot of it, Nick saw plenty and runs through the various scenarios that played out. In the end, it comes back to routine, and Nick and Mark explain why that is the case, and how you should look to construct yours to ensure what happened to Calum doesn't happen to 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.

Phew it's a big show, so much to get through!We start today by discussing the phenomenon of Justin Rose. Nick and Mark both love how he plays, his attitude on the course and his focus off it. They explain why. Nick recalls playing with him as a young pro and even in Justin's difficult earlier days on tour, his attitude was always great. Nick gives Justin the BMW 'Touch of Class' today on the show, and shares a great story about his partnership arrangement with Morgan Stanley. We look at some of Justin's stats from the Underdog Golf Twitter page.Mark found the seemingly relentless coverage of Brooks Koepka at Torrey Pines at the weekend amusing. He reckons they showed nearly every shot of Brooks, and has a theory as to why.News broke last week after our main pod that Patrick Reed was leaving LIV, Nick speculates as to the reasons why and we discuss who they might replace him with.Bahrain at the weekend....goodness. Calum Hill had a pretty tough time. We touch on it, but we'll come back tomorrow and do a mini discussing what happened to him and how you can prevent it happening to your game.Okay...we need to discuss this. Keegan Bradley is out of control. For viewers on YouTube we watch an extraordinary clip, which Nick and Mark commentate through on the pod. His aim point technique is 'terrible' and Mark says that Keegan needs to be 'shamed' for it. He gives his solution to the problem, Nick has a different one and gives his. Both agree it's out of control and the PGA are allowing it to happen. Mark says that if this can be fixed, then it's a real 'plus' for golf.Another bad look for golf was the LPGA opening tournament in Orlando. Weather issues sure, a shortened event, the course was unplayable until it wasn't. The whole thing was a mess. That said Nelly Korda played incredibly.Marks Top 5 for Betr today is the Top 5 farces in golf....one player makes two appearances ! And Nick and Mark discuss refusing to sign another players card when they knew he had cheated.And then - we're about to hook into the PING Globals, and our great mate, David ,The Ox, Schwarz, wanders into the studio unannounced! So of course we have to chat to him.....he has a couple of ripping stories from his golf club - one about the disastrous spring roll situation, and another about the time the drinks cart was cancelled on a 40-degree (celsius) day. He also tells us about our mate Scotty Cummings getting his first Ace !!! Always great to see The Ox.Anyway back to the PING Globals, and there's been a boatload of results over the last few days and Nick runs through them. Into some feedback and we start with a brutal one....a member of the pod gets a serious whack from wolfpacker Daniel. Plenty of other feedback on the dress code conversation, and a wolfpacker who tried Marks 'tip of the century' last week to great success.And we wrap the show with a masterclass on taking spin off the ball from Nick O'Hern for Golf Clearance Outlet.Fun show 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.

Patrick Reed is a controversial player, has been for a long time. Tour Pro Scotty Laycock has an incident that he saw involving Patrick in 2021 at Torrey Pines that he says is the worst he ever saw. He explains what happened, and why he found it so galling in a voicemail 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.

Today we bring out the crystal ball, and if Betr were framing a market on these predictions you'd want to get on board! Nick and Mark have 7 predictions that they (well Mark anyway) are guaranteeing will happen in 2026....rock solid, ironclad guarantee.Here's a heads-up on some of what they've setting in stone.....Prediction #7: Nick predicts who will win at Shinnecock Hills and explains why this person will win.#6: Mark has a prediction involving LIV Golf.#5 Nick names an Australian player who he says will definitely win a major this year.#4 Mark names a different Australia player who he says will win a major this year!#3 Nick names an Australian player who he says will crack the Top 10 this year....guaranteed.#2 Mark has a technical prediction for the game.And #1.....Nick has a prediction about the Presidents Cup, and a rationale to go with it.So there you have it. 7 things that you can take to the bank that will 100% happen in 2026 !En route through the predictions, Mark tells a great story about Seve Ballestoros and a divot, following Dan revealing he was hit by a Ryan Fox divot at Royal Melbourne when he got a little too close to the action.We'll check in with the list in December and bathe in the glory of our successful predictions.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.

Rod is a wolfpacker who spends his time between Thailand and Melbourne and has two suggestions for the 'greatest shot ever made', and left a voicemail for Nick and Mark. Both pretty good suggestions....but will the boys agree? They're harsh judges....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 fun weekend mini today. When we say fun, it was fun for Nick and Dan, less so for Mark as an awkward question is posed to him about the dress code at a certain golf club that he may be extremely close to and fond of. He dances, manoeuvres, and tries to answer as well as he can. And then Nick tosses in another awkward question towards the end of the pod.Good fun, just not for Mark, on this weekend mini.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 O'Hern and Mark Allen are fired up to improve their games in 2026, but also to improve the games of Wolfpackers this year - doesn't matter if you play multiple times a week, once a week, once a month, or rarely - if you do these 4 things, your game is guaranteed to improve and you will shoot lower scores.A couple of the tips are putting focused, one is wedge-play focused - and number 1 is a must-listen....it is so deceptively simple, you can do it immediately, it costs zero, and Nick and Mark are giving an ironclad guarantee it will improve your game.And in classic Nick style he adds in a fifth one, but it's a good one, grab a subscription to his website 'Play Your Best Golf' there's a heap of videos there that will help you, subscriptions are very reasonably priced - however for Talk Birdie To Me listeners/viewers, Nick has an offer available until Valentines Day of 30% off. Here's the link: https://www.nickohern.com/ and the discount code is TBTM30.Let us know how you go with the tips!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 in December Nick O'Hern made a comment about 'smelly opening holes', in other words those opening holes that you just feel uncomfortable on. So today, we thought we'd discuss a few notable ones - obviously it's, generally, unique to each person of course.However the #1 smelliest opening hole is one that both Nick and Mark are in vigorous agreement on - and that is The Lakes in Sydney. They explain why, and discuss a couple of difficult experiences there.Mark lists off a couple of other Australian courses with smelly opening holes, and one international. Nick lists a few international courses and one on Melbourne's sandbelt. One of Nick's, a US course, was not only about the opening hole but the entire course ! And one was a course where he played a US Open at, finishing 20th, with an opening hole he just did not enjoy.And it provides an opportunity for Nick to tell us the story about the one time in his pro career he was DQ'd, and another Tour Pro was (in part) to blame.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 a break through January and a fantastic collection of holiday mini's, Nick and Mark are back today with a massive first pod of 2026! So much to discuss, we barely know where to start, so we've decided to just hook in and see where the chat goes.By the way, Nick has come back physically injured - or at least he was, and he's on the mend. Mark has come back emotionally injured due to an issue with his handicap. So both are tender. Dan's fine.We start with the big news a fortnight or so back about Brooks returning to the PGA, what it means, the impact of it, and Nick talks through the PGA 'Returning Member Programme' and what the criteria is. Mark discusses the rumoured offer that may have come, or may be coming, to Bryson - the numbers are mind-bending. Nick says that ironically, given they're not the best of friends, Brooks leaving has given Bryson huge leverage.Mark has gotten in trouble over the break and is not allowed to name his 'source' in the US of much of his rumour and scuttlebutt. He can still reveal said rumour and scuttlebutt, however he just can't name the source.....if you've been listening for a while you will know who that is. But....Mark has said that his mail is that whilst the PGA paid the fine that was on the table for Brooks, they also made the same offer to Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. The plot thickensWe discuss Elvis Smylie signing with LIV. Nick is good mates with Elvis and Mark wants to know if Nick knew it was coming and kept it from us. Nick is curious about the fine situation - Elvis has told Nick he'll be playing DPWT events, so who pays the fine? Particularly as LIV are now now longer paying Rahm and Hatton's fines. Mark estimates what he thinks Elvis has signed with LIV for. It's a boatload. On fines - Rory had some comments last week about them, and we have a listen to what he said....particularly in the context of The Presidents Cup.Back on Elvis - Mark says having no money concerns is likely to help Elvis' game. Nick disagrees and says often having that much cash can have the opposite effect on a player. Speaking of money. Scheffler has cracked $100 million PGA Tour earnings. Wow. And his stats from 2025 are exceptional, Nick runs through them. Mark raises The Australian Open date (again!), given the next couple of weeks is precisely the time that he feels it should be on, and he explains why he feels that way again, saying Golf Australia should be in a room with Brian Rolapp to organise it, at the very least make the effort to explore it.And we head to the turn by remembering last weeks Hostplus Guest pod with Peter Senior - huge feedback on it, it was a ripper. If you've not yet heard it then go back in the feed and listen or watch, it was a lot of fun. Particularly a certain story involving Spain. And we had a lot of minis over the break - if you were busy with family stuff or away, understandable, but worth catching up when you can - the majority are quite short and easy listens.After The Turn, for Betr, Nick lists the Top 5 things that were surprising to him over the break....unintentional, but there is a LIV lean to the Top 5 including a whack from both Nick and Mark for one particular thing that LIV did recently.Thanks to BMW - Mark's Touch of Class today is great, it's a young gun (18-years old!) from the US who did something amazing last week, he's got a bright future ahead of him, Mark explains what he did and why it was so impressive. Unfortunately Nick then takes the pod down a risky path putting our podcast license at risk.We get back on track with Hostplus' 'That's a Plus' for Golf, we've given that to Brooks Koepka's return to the PGA as an indication of the best players coming back together. And speaking of Hostplus, if you have a guest you'd like on the pod - let us know!Mark's talked a big game with the Masterclass today. Tip of the year, maybe of the century. You decide. And then Nick brings us home with the PING Global results , plenty to run 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.

Well this is exciting. Today for Hostplus we're hosting a legend - Australian golfing superstar Peter Senior joins Nick and Mark for a chat about his brilliant career, what he's doing now, and his plans for the next phase of life.Pete talks about his tournament wins, the ones where he came close, and his time on the Troppo tour. We specifically ask about 1989 which was a year where everything went right. Pete describes that year as having a 5 or 6 week period where he believed he could not hit a bad shot, it was a real purple patch.Nick talks about one aspect of his game that he changed directly as a result of watching Pete, and he talks about being a 'victim' of Pete's brilliant run of form at one point.Pete talks about a time in the late 90s when he, in his words, lost enjoyment of the game. He explains how he got it back and who the person was who helped him do so, and 'resurrected my career'.And then after the turn.....what happened in Morocco when, for a moment, Pete claimed that he was the King of Spain. Arguably one of the best stories ever. And he talks about getting sprung wagging school 4-days a week, only going on Wednesdays, to go to the golf course.A fantastic chat with Peter Senior, it was a real joy to host him for Hostplus 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.

In our summer series of Talk Birdie To Me (or our Winter series if you're a Northern Hemisphere wolfpacker) today we revisit a momentous day in Australian golf, for all the wrong reasons.In 2002 The Australian Open tournament was cancelled during the first round, during perfect weather. Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen were both playing in the tournament, in separate groups, and Mark was caught right in the middle of the action. It was so bad, that pros were shooting scores in the 90s on a par 71 course. Extraordinary. Nick and Mark explain, from their different perspectives, what happened on that day and why golf legend Peter Thomson was the saviour on the day.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.

Great question from wolfpacker Pete in Western Australia who is after some clarity on what exactly 'compression' is, he has heard Nick and Mark talking about it, and has read different things about it. Pete is after a bit of clarity on what he calls this 'mystical thing called compression'.He's correct, it is a bit mystical, and Nick, Mark and Pete discuss it at length today on a Talk Birdie Mini.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 Michael listened to Nick and Mark's Top 5 rules to change this week and had one to add to the list. He left us a voicemail at the Talk Birdie website 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.

Ripping question from wolfpacker Mick in the UK today. Mick has asked, what would the Top 5 golf rules that Nick and Mark would each change if they could.Many are similar, however Mark has one that Nick (and Dan) disagrees with and is quite controversial.See what you think of their lists, although the numbers jump around a bit, and in classic Nick style his ends up being a Top 7. Who'd have thought.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 message from wolfpacker Tony today who is visiting Melbourne's sandbelt next week to play Peninsula Kingswood, Yarra Yarra and St Andrews Beach across 3-days. Wow...what a trip that will be! However, Tony has never played the Sandbelt, he is a 20-handicapper, and is after some tips or insights from Nick and Mark on what he should keep in mind to have an enjoyable experience and play as well as he is able.Nick and Mark give some thoughts on the courses and how they play, discuss how Tony should consider length in his shots, why his short game will be important to focus on, and one of the nuances of St Andrews Beach in particular to do with weather. Mark has some comments about bunker play on these courses for Tony.And should he get a caddy? Perhaps, although Nick and Mark have another suggestion which they say would be just as good.A fun mini today, Tony, good luck next week, enjoy your first Sandbelt experience !!!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 Ian has written in with his criteria for a golf course to be considered great, and asked what Nick and Mark would regard as key requirements to be considered that. They each list their Top 5, not entirely dissimilar unsurprisingly, but a couple of nuanced differences.A fun summer (or winter in the northern hemisphere) today 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.

So this Talk Birdie Mini is quite special, for reasons that we won't explain - you'll need to listen. But it's a fantastic story with a great twist. We won't say anything further - but please have a listen, and enjoy how this one unfolds!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.

Happy New Year to you and yours, we hope the year is wonderful for you and you hit em well all year!We kick it off by seeing how the boys New Years Resolutions, if they make them, are going. Not well as it turns out.Onto the Mini though. Wolfpacker Shane has recently returned from a fantastic golfing trip to New Zealand where he was looked after (along with all the other players) beautifully, which inspired him to ask a question of Nick and Mark. When they were on the tour, what tournament, or course, looked after the pros the best and why?Mark names the tournament that, when he was playing professionally, was the worst. It has improved out of sight now, but back then, it wasn't great according to Mark. Nick names a couple that were always great to him, and others. And tells a story of one course which makes bespoke thickshakes for the Tour Pros, and recounts a story of two Pros having a thickshake competition to see who could consume the most in one sitting....!!!!Which leads to a conversation where Nick is asked to name the Tour Pro who had the worst diet. He names a Tour Pro who had pancakes for breakfast, Mexican for lunch, and KFC for dinner. Yet still managed to play pretty well!Mark names a tournament that he said made him feel very special and was always a lot of fun.And both Nick and Mark agree that Coolum was always a wonderful tournament with a great vibe.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 is fun. Today we chat with the 1993 Singapore Open Champion and wolfpacker Paul Moloney who has a couple of great stories.He starts with a story about a one on one masterclass essentially that he had with Seve Ballesteros in Paris, and recounts what Seve was practising and aiming to do with his putting. Fascinating insights. And then a story about playing on Madeira Island with Gabriel Hjertstedt and some of the hairier moments in getting onto and off the island which has quite a unique climate, and airport.Mark recounts one of the two most amazing things he has ever seen in golf, once of which involved Gabriel. Nick talks about his experience playing on Madeira Island and why he has no desire to go back.And we finish with Mark giving Paul a belated (by 32-years) thank you for something significant in his career that came about due to Paul.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.

Scott Laycock is a Tour Pro with plenty of stories and after a recent pod where Nick and Mark spoke about Rory's airswing in The Australian Open, and their experiences with airswings, Scotty left a voicemail about an airswing he had at Victoria Golf Club as a Pro.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 video call from wolfpacker Bill in Florida. Bill is planning a trip to Australia, and is keen to play some courses on the sandbelt - he's after some advice on courses that he can both get onto, and won't break the bank. Mark has a ripping idea that Bill accepts on the spot! He's also curious about when the weather in Melbourne might be most suitable for golf....as any Australian knows, trying to predict Melbourne weather is a little like picking lottery numbers....but Mark has a recommendation nonetheless.Then we have a comment from Brad about watching Peter Senior play recently - which gives us the idea of getting Pete on for a chat. Homework for Mark over the Christmas/New Year Break is to give Pete a call and try and lock him in. We'll keep you updated on how that goes.JD has some feedback on an interaction he had with Colin Montgomerie which is bound to get Mark riled up a little. And it does. Tim has a comment about one of Marks masterclasses and the connection the Jack Nicklaus. David has a question about the golf schedule, and an idea for a new tournament - which is no unlike an idea proposed by Frank Nobilo some time ago.Kristin is visiting Australia soon and has a day booked with family to play NSW - she is keen on any tips Nick and Mark have for the course, they discuss a few of the holes and what Kristin may consider.And we wrap up with a couple of messages about 'golf sayings', one from Stan and one from Martin. And Mark notices Dan is wearing a new pair of FootJoys, rather than one of the older pairs he's been rocking around in for a while....how do they feel? You know they feel good.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 is fun. Today we chat with Darius Oliver from Planet Golf who, among others, designed Cape Wickham. His current project is very special, a new course on the cliffs at Kangaroo Island in South Australia.We start with Darius talking about what makes Kangaroo Island so special, he says that it gets in your blood and mentions a New York Times comment that it is like 'a zoo without fences' due to the abundance of wildlife on the island.Nick and Mark ask about his philosophy in designing this new course and Darius tells us that it needed to be world class, the best possible course it could be on the land, and that his intent was not to look at Top 100 lists but rather to build 18 interesting holes that are each different and are fun to play for golfers. And he is confident that they have done so.Nick asks Darius will Kangaroo Island surpass Cape Wickham? A fascinating mini today and we cannot wait to see this stunning new course when it's ready to open!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.

Another Talk Birdie Mini, as we get thisclose to Christmas, and we chat with Mike from Bundaberg who has a slightly different view from Nick and Mark on technology in golf and how it is being used to manage scores and pros monstering courses.Mike reckons there are ways to do it outside of technology changes, and he puts his case to Nick and Mark to get their thoughts. He also makes an excellent point about when Augusta tried to 'Tiger Proof' the course, which backfired completely.Keep your comments and questions coming, we love them, and have a wonderful Christmas!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 a question last week about golf pathways, we discovered that Acushnet (who operate Titleist and FootJoy) have 18 PGA Pros working for them in various roles around Australia and New Zealand, and we thought it worthwhile chatting to one about their path and how it came about.And Emma Larson is the perfect person to talk to. Emma works for Acushnet in the Melbourne office, made 11 Australian teams and was at one point ranked #1 in Australia - so she's got some serious chops! Emma drops in to talk to Nick and Mark about her story from gun amateur golfer (our words not hers), to being a Tour Pro, and then retiring on medical advice.Emma explains what happened next with her golf career and pathway, and how she initially considering coaching, and tells us why she gave that up....her reasons were not dissimilar to Nicks!A great chat today with Emma Larson from Acushnet, and she shows a great example of one of the many and varied career pathways that are available to PGA Professionals.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.

There's been plenty of controversy around the proposed changes to the Moore Park golf course in Sydney, and in our view there is no valid argument to reduce the golf course. The facts don't stack up. Today on a Talk Birdie Mini we have some feedback from wolfpackers on the plan, and Nick and Mark give their view.Neither Nick or Mark have played the course a lot, however they know the area well, and they know the numbers of people who play it - Moore Park is the most popular public golf course in Australia.Mark says Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore is wrong with her view on golf and who plays it, and NSW Premier Chris Minns needs to be more transparent with the costings.Golf courses serve a wonderful role in communities, and we need to protect 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.

Feedback pod today with some great questions for Nick and Mark.Dan has a question about whether Kingston Heath can handle big crowds for next years Australian Open. Nick and Mark discuss that, and how the course will prepare for the big hitters, will the course be changed to accommodate them?Keith has written it to mention that Bill Dunk, who Dunk's Island at Royal Melbourne is named after, recently had a birthday and he felt Bill should be acknowledged. Nick and Mark agree and decide to reach out to Bill to get him on the show next year. Mark has a great story about Bill winning a small tournament and the speech he gave. Ryan went to The Australian Open at Royal Melbourne and was blown away by the course - but is torn, because he'd love to play it, or one of the other big sandbelt courses, and wants to know is there any way that a normal golfer can get on these courses?A comment on St Andrews Beach from someone who loves it and challenges Nick and Marks comments about it - presumably their comments about its Top 100 worthiness. Nick finds a spot to insert a gag referencing the classic Australian movie 'The Castle'. Great movie. How's the serenity.Ian has a creative solution for sand buckets. Stephen loved the Finchy interview. And Kent loved Nicks thoughts on swapping between left and right saying it saved 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.

Mark has come in excited today. After lending a mate a driver 35 years ago, it was returned this week! He's stoked....but 35-years, sheez....can anyone from the Wolfpack beat that timeframe for a bit of golf gear loaned out and returned? He was also given a ball that he autographed many years ago and brings it in to show us.And then onto the pod. Both Nick and Mark have been hearing from people consistently about just how good The Australian Open was, Nick has written a blog article about it on his website and you can read it here. Nick is still blown away by how exciting the finish was, and Rasmus up and down on the 18th on that final day - although he'd have loved one of the reporters to ask Rory what he thought of Royal Melbourne after he'd finished the tournament.Speaking of Rory, there was a rumour that he was a little frustrated by the Pro Am on the Wednesday, we discuss Tour Pros and their views of Pro Ams generally - Nick and Mark always enjoy them, for different reasons, but do have a couple of rough stories which they share.Rumour this week that Brooks Koepka may want out, in some way, of LIV. Is it correct, how could it even happen given he's got a year to go? Nick and Mark discuss. We talk about how Laurie Canter is looking at a million pounds in fines as he joins LIV and he has apparently said he'll pay them.Mark puts out a call for any wolfpackers in Sydney to come on the pod and give us a review of Royal Sydney. And remember the mysterious gap in the schedule in early March next year? We have found out what tournament is going in there....and it's pretty cool !!A Touch of Class for BMW is from Nick today, and he has chosen an Aussie LIV player for something that happened this week. And he backs it up, for Betr, with his Top 5 moments of 2025. His #1 moment is surprising, but very good.For Southern Golf Club, plenty of feedback - Leishman, Pro Am's this week in the Bendigo area with Lucas Herbert giving back to his home area, reaction to Mark saying The Australian PGA should move from Brisbane to Sydney, and a couple of hairy ones for Nick - one a question about Elvis Smylie, and the second about Peter Thomson - a gentle whack from a wolfpacker.Plenty in the PING Globals, including Nicks performance at Cathedral, and our wolfpacker Darren's performance in the Vic PGA Pro Am, along with Snowy from FootJoy and Hummer from Betr.And we finish, for watchMynumbers, with a cracking masterclass from Mark on some ways to get the most from your chipping practise.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 fun mini today, Pat from Nashville has sent a couple of videos of his swing through for Nick and Mark to review. If you're listening, obviously you won't see the videos however we talk through what we're seeing in detail so you will definitely get the idea and the tips and comments will make sense.Nick and Mark are very impressed with Pat's swing, he's self-taught aside from a few lessons from his GrandDad, has been playing for 3-years, and is off scratch.....seriously impressive stuff. He is a lefty, and Nick and Mark discuss how they like to flip lefty swings around and watch them as rightys, and explain why - and they give Pat a few thoughts on what they're seeing.We love reviewing videos of anything you're working on - be it driving, putting, chipping, whatever - so feel free to send us in a vid and Nick and Mark will take a look!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 some ripper questions and comments from the Wolfpack. We start with a comment about the OWGR points and the discrepancy between The Australian Open and Tiger's Bahamas event. Then Brian has a question for Nick and Mark about 'green spotting' during tournaments.Last week Mark raved about Royal Adelaide, and there was plenty of feedback on those comments - the vast majority agreeing with him. There was also a fair bit of feedback on Nick's most 'interesting' hole in ones (or is it holes in one?) and there were a couple that you reckon he missed....one in particular.Jason wrote in mentioning his fave commentators, and Nick spoke about what it was like having Ian Baker-Finch in the commentary booth during the PGA and the Open. George had a question for Nick about David Puig and Marc Leishman, and Adrian is about to start his PGA traineeship and was keen to hear the boys experiences.Kristin wants to know whether Mark, in his time in Texas, played Prairie Dunes, and then we get to the comments from last week about the Old Course where wolfpacker Roger was critical of the course. Couple of comments including Roger replying to Nick and Marks observations on his opinion.And we finish on Aim Point, with a question from wolfpacker Mark....who is keen on Nick and Marks opinions on it. They don't miss.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 weekend......The Australian Open was sensational, and we are going to spend the next hour reliving it.Mark is in Queensland with the family, Nick and Dan at Titleist and FootJoy HQ in Melbourne, so the show sounds a tad different today. Onto the AO. Nick and Mark loved it. The Australian Open is back, and it was an event that everyone involved, and golf fans broadly, should be very proud of. Mark says last years Open was a 2/10 rating, this years was an 8/10, and he has a Top 5 later in the show of things that could get it to a 10/10 in his view. The big one being the date, it is a challenging date with the South African event and the Bahamas event on at the weekend attracting a lot of big name players. That said, Mark says on TV those two looked second-rate compared to The Australian Open. Changing the date is a no-brainer says Mark.Nick notes that each of the 4 days had completely different weather which made the event challenging but exciting, and he loved the Sunday pin placements...he also said that he was 'sweating bullets' on friday when Rory was sailing a little close to the cutline.But that finish. In fact the 17th and 18th holes. Extraordinary. We analyse what happened, how Rasmus and Cam played the holes. The pressure was huge and Rasmus came out on top obviously.Nick talks about some of the older players who played, and he loved it. And some players who missed the cut who really shouldn't have. How about Min Woo Lee's Open, a tough sunday according ti Nick, and Mark says can you imagine if Adam Scott's putting was more consistent what might happen.Then, Mark makes a big call about the BMW Australian PGA Tournament saying it needs to be moved out of Queensland. He explains why.The BMW Touch of Class today is Richard Forsyth and his team at Royal Melbourne for the incredible job they did getting the course into the shape it was in, it looked magnificent and considering how it was only a few months ago, Mark says that they are well deserving of the Touch of Class award. Speaking of BMW, Nick bumped into his good mate Wolfgang, the former boss of BMW Australia, now in Germany, and a huge supporter of golf in Australia.The Top 5 for Betr....Marks Top 5 things to get The Australian Open to the next level, including a red hot crack at the commentary....which is a little awkward given Nick is one of the commentators.And for Hostplus, each week we look at what is a plus for golf - today, the running of the event by Golf Australia in how they handled a monster crowd over the week, the number of kids roaming around Royal Melbourne, and Mark adds a final one involving Nick O'Hern.PING Globals, well there was plenty of golf on aside from the Australian Open, and Nick runs us through all the results that matter. Next week on the show we'll have two particular results of interest, firstly the Cathedral Invitational, and secondly the Vic PGA Pro Am in which our mate Snowy from FootJoy is defending his title in, and our Talk Birdie Wolfpacker Darren from Toowoomba will be playing in. Can't wait!For Southern Golf Club, feedback this week is all about The Australian Open, and we have a voicemail from Michael in Hobart who has a question about the AO and a Tour Pro who he says 'made a dick move', and wants Nick and Marks thoughts.After last weeks masterclass, for watchMynumbers, from Mark was branded the 'laziest masterclass we've done', Nick says he is doing a lazy one - although it turns out to be excellent. Nick talks about handling pressure at key points, Ala Cam and Rasmus.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 very exciting episode today, we are hosting the legendary Ian Baker-Finch, Australian golfing superstar, former CBS commentator in the US, and the Chair of the PGA of Australia. This is a wide-ranging and open chat with Nick and Mark, starting with Mark asking Finchy about winning the NSW Open by 13 shots in 1984 !! How did it come about that he played it so much better than anyone else? Finchy reveals some behind the scenes information about the famous St Andrews Greenkeeper story.The late, great Peter Thomson was renowned for helping many golfers, and he had a significant influence on Finch's career - he explains how that happened, and why Peter Thomson's presence was so important to him saying that "He Created My Life in Golf".Finchy was on of the worlds great putters, and Nick asks him why he always putted with a glove on, and whether it was inspired by Jack Nicklaus.He tells Nick and Mark about the importance of setup and routine on his golf, and on anyones, saying whilst it is not talked about enough.The 1991 Open Championship. How did he prepare? Finchy talks through the weeks leading up, and how he should have won a tournament just prior to but couldn't close it out. The front 9 of The Open was where he did the damage, leading by a mile, he talks us through what he played on each of those 9 holes.But like many golfers, it wasn't always rosy, and Finchy had some challenges when he 'lost' his game. He talks about what happened, why, and what the contributing factors were. He reveals to Nick and Mark that he actually has one leg shorter than the other, which made golf difficult. Ironically, his challenges on the course and injuries were what allowed him the time to explore the world of television, he tells us how that came about and how he got into television in the US.After the turn, Finchy talks about 'the end game', what is possible for Australian golf? He explains the one thing Australian golf needs to go to the next level saying we have all the ingredients for a world class tour and a world class pathway, aside from a couple of things.And we wrap a wonderful chat with where Finchy sees himself in the next phase of life, in his retirement phase, how does that look for him and what is he planning to do?A great chat and a privilege to host Ian Baker-Finch 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.

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.