After yesterday's big bonus pod with Golf Australia CEO James Sutherland, today is the normal pod - 24 hours later than usual, but hopefully you enjoyed the chat with James. If you haven't heard it, have a listen.

Plenty on today's show. Nick has just come back from playing Long Island in zero degree temperatures, thankfully he has a shiny new clothing sponsor to keep him warm. Cutter and Buck if you must know. Mark raises golf course renovations, specifically why they do them so slowly (ie: 9 holes at a time). We've got a poll up on twitter here, love your thoughts.

Mark also names the worst golf coach he ever had. And then, without any sense of irony, goes on to outline a fantastic tip that this coach gave him. And Nick admits to something that he did on a golf course that he has never told anyone.

Nick and Mark discuss yesterday's bonus pod with James Sutherland and how much they enjoyed it, they are particularly pleased that James seems to be aiming high and thinking big.....two words resonated with them: 'Rolex Series'. We can dream.

Marks turn for the Top 5 this week and what initially felt like a filler Top 5 that he'd given zero thought to actually turned out to be pretty good.

Nick has a great fun fact on the legendary Bernhard Langer, and runs through some great results in the PING global results - not the least of which was a fantastic #2 finish from David Micheluzzi on the DP World Tour.

Some fantastic feedback including more comments on our bonus pod a couple of weeks ago with Jonathan Yarwood - and a mate of Nicks took up the invite to get some advice from Jonathan via Skillest with brilliant results.

And a great masterclass from Nick, requested by Talk Birdie listener Peter Riley on hitting out of the long rough.

And finally an apology. Into the turn today Mark, for reasons best known to himself, decided to tell a joke. It was awful. We're embarrassed. We considered not airing it, but he insisted. And that means you need to hear it, for which we cannot apologise enough. The only thing that will prevent a reoccurrence is a reality check via feedback, so let us know on socials, leave a voicemail, whatever you prefer.....but our heartfelt apologies for this misstep.

A big thanks to our Talk Birdie partners, who we hope will forgive Marks joke:

• PING, they'll help you play your best, you can see your local golf shop or professional for a PING club fitting;
• the new watchMynumbers app, the most powerful data based golf app in the world, download from the App Store ;
• and the Golf Clearance Outlet, great prices on the best gear. See them in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane or Perth, or online here.

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We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:

• Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;
• FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;
• PING will help you play your best. See your local golf shop or professional for a PING club fitting;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, visit them online here to find your nearest store.
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And watchMynumbers: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room.

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