Ep174: Why a Club Fitting is Important, Demise of Q School, and Elvis Smylie Joins Nick O'Hern for the Masterclass

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.

26 Loka 10min

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.

24 Loka 1min

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.

23 Loka 27min

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.

21 Loka 1h 2min

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.

20 Loka 1min

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.

16 Loka 23min

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.

15 Loka 1min