Guest Pod: John Senden (Aust Open Winner, 2x PGA Winner in the US) - His Life in Golf, How He Started, and Golf with Parkinson's Disease.

This is a great guest pod for Hostplus, we love this bloke - today John Senden joins Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen to talk about his career, playing on the Champions Tour currently, and how he manages his golf given his diagnosis a few years ago with Parkinson's Disease. A fascinating chat with one of golfs good guys.

Sendo has an exceptional record. He won the Australian Open in 2006, and he is a two time winner on the PGA Tour in the US - the John Deere Classic in 2006, and the Valspar in 2014. He's currently playing the Champions Tour in the US, and has made 87 out of 91 cuts on that tour if you don't mind !

Sendo tells Nick and Mark about the Champions Tour, what it's like, what he enjoys about it. And then we go a little earlier, and he tells us how he first got into golf at Keperra Golf Club in Brisbane where he met his then, and now, coach Ian Triggs. He talks about the relationships and environment at Keperra really got him on his way in golf.

Nick tells the story about first coming across Sendo playing the Troppo Tour in North Queensland, and Sendo recalls a hilarious story about Nicks car broken down an hour of Mt Isa on the highway....it's a ripper. But from playing the slightly less curated courses of the Troppo Tour to some of the best courses in the world, Sendo talks about making the adjustment from the Bermuda greens of Queensland to the Sandbelt courses in Melbourne, and what he had to learn very quickly,

Sendo is well known for his extraordinary ball flight, both Nick and Mark have admired it for a hundred years, and the boys ask him if it was a learned talent or if it came naturally, Sendo talks us through that.

He talks about going to Europe, how he did it and why, and explains why without his European experience he would not have survived in the US.

Mark has heard a story about Sendo and Tiger Woods....and is keen to go to the source and find out if it's true.....Sendo confirms that yes it is !

After the turn, we discuss his Parkinson's diagnosis. How did he first find out, what were the indications there might be an issue. Sendo explains what he did about it, and how manages it to stay as healthy as he can. He talks about how he handles his nerves when he is playing, and the tremors. Nick is curious to know if the tremors affect his putting in particular. Sendo reveals the area of his game that Parkinson's impacts the most, and how he handles that.

And we finish by finding out, what's next for him, what comes after golf?

A fantastic guest episode today with John Senden, one of golfs great gentlemen.

If you're impacted, either personally, as a carer, or as a friend or family member, by Parkinson's Disease, the best source of information is at the Parkinson's Australia Info Hub here:

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