🏌🏿‍♂️Bonus: Flinders Golf Club - A Historic Treasure; and Flinders links with Royal Melbourne and Peter Thomson.

This is a fascinating bonus pod, we're at Flinders Golf Club overlooking the water, the waves, and of course the stunning golf course. And today we're going to learn about the course, it's history, some of the quirks of the course.

We start by chatting with Andrew Kirby, who talks us through why he loves Flinders and why the course is so special. He says the views are better than Pebble Beach. There are also deep links between Flinders and Royal Melbourne, which we hear all about.

Nick likens the view to the Monterey Peninsula, saying you could almost be there. Nick asks Andrew about the legendary Peter Thomson's history with Flinders, and Andrew explains the origins of that.

Mark then brings up the trees. Of course he does. The beautiful Cypress trees. They may be imported, but they're now part of the fabric and they serve a very practical purpose at Flinders, which we hear about.

Nick says Flinders has a great collection of Par 3's, and that the 12th hole - called Aunt Sally - is a particularly tough one. The names of the holes are full of character, and Andrew tells us about a plan, years ago, to remove a couple of the holes and the protests that occurred at the time. One of the holes is called the 'Coffin Hole', and we find out how that name came about.

After the turn we chat to club captain Phil Hurley about the course renovation and the thoughts behind that, and how important it is to retain the magic of the course. Phil says that it has proven to be extremely hard to break par at Flinders, and that few do. We then chat to Life Member Ray Smith, who appears to have forgiven Nick O'Hern for trying to steal his carpark, Ray has been a member since he was a little tacker and tells about why he loves the course so much.

It's a fascinating pod, and a great history lesson of this fantastic course that, as Mark Allen says, helped him, and countless others, fall in love with golf.

• PING will help you play your best, like they have for Nick O'Hern. See your local golf shop or professional for a PING club fitting;
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• Golf Clearance Outlet, join GCO Live for great member benefits and comps. They're in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and the Sunshine Coast, or online here.
• Southern Golf Club - Home of the Australian Master of the Amateurs in January 2025, entry is free!
• Flinders Golf Club, a historical treasure!

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