Ep48: 'Torrey Pines is a Joke', Dodgy Behaviour from Tour Pros, & Rahm's LIV Team

A feedback pod today and we start by looking at a tweet from golf stats guy Lou Stagner that a wolfpacker sent in, both Nick and Mark enjoy Lou's insights usually, but this time he has made a comment that they both vehemently disagree with regarding the St Andrews Old Course.We discuss the Old Course and why it is special. Mark brings up the 1984 Open Championship, famous for Seve, but tells the story of what happened to Ian Baker-Finch on the last shot of the day as a result of the sprinkler the night before. Speaking of IBF, Paul has written in with a suggestion for Australian golf coverage. Ken replies to wolfpacker Martins comments last weeks about The Players being a possible major, and Ken pretty much gives everyone a whack - Nick, Mark, Golf Australia. Ross has a question about Tour Pro's moving back to amateur status, and Nick and Mark talk through why they would never do it.A question from lefty Matt on his concerns about being fitted for new clubs.David reckons Nick and Mark are being too kind to LIV Golf and believes it is a failure. We discuss some of the players currently re-signing with LIV.Scott has an idea regarding the Australian Masters, and it reminds us that we've not reviewed Royal Sydney yet - if you've played it, we'd love your thoughts.And we finish on a comment from Paul about returning to golf after some tideway, and the difference hybrids have made for him.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 Nov 25min

Big pod today, we start by discussing the great win by the Australian Women in the International Crown in South Korea. Sensational! A wonderful performance.Speaking of fantastic womens golf, Nick was excited to see Yani Tseng back in the winners circle, and what a finish it was. It's been a long time, great to see her back.Mark has a history of, from time to time, teeing off on local councils. And today he has a bee in his bonnet about a local council and what they have done to a suburban Melbourne golf course.Then, we talk yips. Risky territory we realise that. But we chat about the yips, how they occur, how to fix them, and hear some hilarious stories on the way. Mark talks about being a tad yippy at one point and how he fixed it, Nick explains why he moved to putting right-handed and what he had to learn to do, and Mark tells us what he calls 'the greatest yipping story ever'. A bold claim, but to be fair, it's a pretty funny story. Mark raises Peter 'Pom' O'Malley and his flirtation with a bit of yip activity, and wants to confirm whether his memory is correct so he texts Shags, Poms caddy, to ask him for clarification.A fantastic Touch of Class for BMW today featuring Michael Brennan, who won his first PGA tour event at the weekend, however the Touch of Class is not about his performance as such, but something else related.After the turn we launch a massive opportunity for one wolfpacker. We have a spot in the Victorian PGA event coming up in early December to give to one Talk Birdie listener! It's a Pro AM, so you'll be partnered with a Tour Pro and in the same group as last years winner Tim Snow (of FootJoy). To have a shot - send us a pic of you rocking a pair of FootJoy's, your handicap (you need one to play), where you play your golf, and a video of your swing would be fun to see as well. We'll pick 10 finalists, and randomly draw one on the pod in a couple of weeks.If you're in Melbourne you're sorted. If you're interstate, regional or international, we'll fly you to Melbourne and put you up for the time you're here. Send your entry to us either via socials, our website or email it here.Top 5 for Betr is on, what else, the Top 5 'yippers' of all time. Yikes.Nick runs us around the world in what really was quite a massive weekend of golf in the PING Global results.Been a long show today, so a shorter version of feedback for Southern Golf Club - we always love to hear from wolfpackers, keep it coming.And we wrap with a masterclass from Nick, for watchMynumbers, inspired by Yani Tseng on putting the opposite way.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

29 Okt 1h 1min

A bonus pod today with Damien de Bohun, Golf Australia's General Manager - Clubs, Facilities, and Places to Play. Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen have two items on the agenda to discuss with Damien today:Firstly, the new Golf Australia handicap system and how the rollout is going. We've had mixed feedback from wolfpackers. Many love it and think the change is excellent, however some are critical of some of the bugs that have emerged, and importantly we've had a number of listeners who have suggested their scores are not being captured correctly - including wolfpacker Tom who wrote to us, so we want to ask Damien about those things and find out the latest. Mark is also keen to know why the change was necessary, what was wrong with keeping it the way it was?Secondly, there have been developments today on the Moore Park saga in Sydney where NSW Premier Chris Minns and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore appear to be pushing ahead with their plan to cut one of Australia's busiest golf courses in half, moving it from 18 holes to 9 holes. Damien talks about the latest developments and the Golf Australia proposal which he says lays out clearly how they can achieve what the Premier and Lord Mayor are looking for, more parkland, and retain 18-holes at Moore Park. Damien says that given how important Moore Park is, Golf Australia are seeking a meeting with the Premier and Lord Mayor in the coming days and are confident that when the proposal is understood, it should be received favourably.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

28 Okt 13min

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 Okt 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 Okt 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 Okt 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 Okt 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 Okt 1min