A Talk Birdie Mini today where we have a question from Wolfpacker Dermie for Nick O'Hern. Dermie was a little tacker and went to the 2005 Australian Masters at Huntingdale, and remembers following the grouping with Bubba Watson and Nick O'Hern - and being amazed at some of the golf he witnessed. Dermie wants to know, from Nick's perspective, what it was like playing with Bubba.

Nick talks about that tournament and some of the shots he saw Bubba hit close up, he also talks about shots he watched Bubba hit at Memorial, and some of his idiosyncrasies - of which he had many.

Nick also reveals the very famous golfer whose house Bubba bought! And he tells Mark Allen why he was surprised that Bubba won two US Masters.

Some great stories, and a lot of fun on todays Mini!

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

• Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partner
• 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 Southern Golf Club.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feedback pod today and we start with a video that a wolfpacker has sent in of their swing - Ian from Lancashire has sent a short video through to Nick and Mark and you will not believe the course that he filmed it on!!! Nick and Mark (and Dan!) are veeeeery jealous. Even though it's analysis of a video, if you're listening, the feedback will still make sense. We give Ian 3 things to take away and work on.

Whilst in the northern hemisphere we head over to Portugal where wolfpacker Laubie is comparing Melbourne's sandbelt courses to the Portugal courses...Nick has played plenty in both areas, does he agree?

Rob feels that 14 clubs in the bag is too few and would like a 15th. Nick and Mark discuss. Then back to to UK where Craig has a question about playing in Bermuda.

Lee is new to golf and wants the boys to drop in and check out his club, Alex heard us discussing great comebacks a couple of weeks ago and feels that an obvious one was missed....it's pretty impressive....and Geoff has a different sort of comeback to mention, and has a question about a possible bazillion dollar deal for Scottie Scheffler to endorse Brosnan Taipans (now that's a flashback!).

Nick and Mark reminisce about the first clubs they ever had. Good times.

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

• Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partner
• 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 Southern Golf Club.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recently Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen listed the official Talk Birdie To Me Top 20 list, and the feedback has been off the charts...some of you thought it was spot on, some thought it was off the mark, some felt it was good, but needed 1 or 2 position tweaks. Thanks for all your feedback and keep it coming. Today, we have a look at a random selection of comments from a few wolfpackers.

• We hear thoughts on The Grange, that it should have been in the list. Also Royal Canberra.
• Some thought Metropolitan was too high, others thought PK South was too high, and another was pleased PK South was recognised.
• Commentator Paul Gow says that NSW is incredible and is in his Top 3, possibly #1 for him.
• One wolfpacker says that Kingston Heath was too low, we had it at #2, Mark and Nick give their view on that comment.
• We heard from someone who played the new Huntingdale a couple of weeks ago and has it as their #3 in the country now.
• Phil wants Nick and Mark to commit to play NSW, Royal Sydney, 7 Mile Beach, Kangaroo Island, basically all the contenders, before redoing the list in 12-months. They agree.
• A comment about The Australian and how some are not a fan. Mark disagrees and explains why.
• We had a number of comments about Bonville, so we find out where the guys would rank it and why. Nick hasn't played it, and Mark doesn't have it in his Top 20, however he said it makes the Top 3 for one particular category!

And we wrap the pod by discussing great golf trips, of which there are plenty, and we decide to dedicate an upcoming podcast to exploring the great golf trips available.

If you haven't listened to our Top 20 lists - two pods, 1-10 and 11-20, you can find them in the feed here, just click on your preferred platform: https://linktr.ee/TalkBirdieToMe

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

• Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partner
• 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 Southern Golf Club.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Always an exciting week, it is Players Championship week, and today Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen are previewing the tournament.

We all love the week, Mark refers to it as 'the fifth major' and he's like a kid in a candy story. Nick tells us about playing the tournament , which he has done multiple times, and how it plays, how you feel as a player - and he explained how his feelings coming into the 17th island hole were quite different from day to day and why. Mark has not played a tournament there, but he has played the course and says that it was something quite special.

Given he knows the course so well, Nick talks us through the kind of player he feels will win this tournament. We look at the power rankings, which seem a touch odd this week, but nonetheless we kick them around. Nick and Mark give their tips, their dark horses, and give thoughts on the Australians in the field.

After the turn, we construct a market for Hummer at Betr to have a Talk Birdie Multi on....we've given him no notice so during the record of the show he confirmed the multi, but needs some time to frame the odds....it will be good, but probably a little shorter than usual as this one seems a likely win (to the extent you can think that). Download the Betr app or visit the website and look at Betr specials for our multi....by the time this episode is live the odds will be there...jump on board and remember to gamble responsibly!

We wrap the show with a very dodgy story from Mark about his caddy many years ago regarding a bet on Mark....it would be illegal today, and rightly so, but it's a funny story.

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

• Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partner
• 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 Southern Golf Club.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Phew this is a big show today, plenty of stuff that has happened, and plenty that is about to.

We start with the Bay Hill tournament, a course that Nick has played many times and isn't fond of, he explains to Mark how differently the golf ball plays on Florida courses and why. We discuss Akshay Bhatia's brilliant shot on the par 5 16th hole, did he plan it that way? Doesn't matter....amazing. Mark was amazed about Rory's shot over the gallery, the footage is on the YouTube version of the show, it is wild.

But back to Akshay. We have to discuss his putting. Is he anchoring? Nick says it looks like he may be but he'd give him the benefit of the doubt, Mark says he absolutely is. But Mark doesn't blame Akshay, he holds responsibility elsewhere, and explains who and why.

We grab a broomstick putter at Titleist HQ and Nick shows us illegal and legal usage, and some of the nuances.

Speaking of bending the rules. Travis Smyth. Did he improve his lie in Auckland at one point? A wolfpacker sent us in some vision from Kayo and we have a look, Nick and Mark give their views.

Nick tells a story about the time he refused to sign the card of a pro he was playing with in a tournament.

The BMW Touch of Class, Nick awards it to the Australian Women's Open, or particularly Kooyong, one of his favourite courses and he is excited to see it this weekend. Fingers crossed one of the incredible Aussie women get up for the win!

Mark's 'That's a Plus' for Hostplus goes to Luke Donald, announced as European Ryder Cup captain again, obviously he was always going to be, but Nick and Mark both say he should remain captain for a little while yet, he's that impressive. Who will be the US captain? Nick and Mark give their preference, it's an obvious one.

We discuss the LIV Clutch player of the year demonstrating his clutchability (it's a real word, look it up), and how it is a shame he won't play Ryder Cup.

After the Turn, for Betr Nick lists the Top 5 rules that players take advantage of, the grey areas.

For Southern Golf Club, plenty of feedback - this week focused on Marks criticism of the NZ Open's ProAm structure, and our bonus video ep on Huntingdale's redevelopment. Plus a bit of feedback on something from last weeks show from a English LIV player.

Nick runs through all the results in the PING globals, and there are heaps!

And we wrap with a masterclass from Mark, for the Golf Clearance Outlet, on how experimenting with your backswing length can give you greater distance control.

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

• Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partner
• 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 Southern Golf Club.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Talk Birdie Mini today where Nick and Mark consider an excellent question from wolfpacker Andrew, who has essentially asked if Tour Pros damage their game and their creativity through a continual search for the perfect swing. There are of course many examples over the years of players changing their swings and it working out beautifully and, in some cases, not working out.

Nick and Mark feel is different for the men and women players at the moment and explain why, and they talk about the role flexibility plays and the Tour Pro who Mark says is a 'flexibility freak'. We discuss which players on tour have the highest performance looking swings at the moment, and who is a touch more home made.

And we talk about Ian Baker-Finch and when he spoke to us recently about addressing his swing challenges during his career - Nick played with him a couple of weeks again and said that whilst Finchy is still working on his swing, he was hitting them beautifully!

A fun little mini today, thanks Andrew for the question!

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

• Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partner
• 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 Southern Golf Club.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Great voicemail from wolfpacker Andrew in Perth about a recent experience on his local driving range, and how he has played a significant role* in a Tour Pro winning a tournament. Great message, love it Andrew!

*role may be slightly overstated.

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

• Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partner
• 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 Southern Golf Club.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feedback pod today and some great questions and comments from you.

We start with with feedback for you, the wolfpackers, listenership and viewership to Talk Birdie To Me increases each month, and our February numbers were (again) a new high with over 56,000 audio downloads and over a quarter of a million views on YouTube. We know you've got plenty of ways you can spend your time, and we appreciate very much that you carve out some of that to spend with us, so thank you!

Okay onto the show. Daniel from Holland reckons Nick and Mark have gotten their Top 20 list out of whack and feels that the National Moonah course should be ranked higher, and explains why. Last week Nick outlined the Top 5 hardest 3 final holes in world golf - Roger reckons he missed one, do Nick and Mark agree? And Falco has a smokey to add, from one of the Melbourne sandbelt courses.

JD has a huge prediction for 2026 for Jeeno Thitikul - Mark thinks it's a chance, Nick says it isn't. We then discuss how many majors in 2026 would be considered a 'success' by Scottie Scheffler.

Message from Scott on the Ritchie Smith interview from a few weeks back - if you missed it, worth going back to, it was great. Callen enjoyed Marks masterclass on bunker play and recalled some advice Mark once gave him on a golf day! Sven loved the swing critique of 9-year old Sophie recently, and shares a story of how much his daughter enjoys beating him on the course.

A wolfpacker has done an extensive trial (300 balls!!!) with a stimp meter and shares the results with us.

Lots of feedback on sandbaggers. Humble hates the handicap system and says it is fundamentally flawed, Aussie talks about his inconsistency, Syd reckons his club has sandbaggers that emerge at a specific time of the year.

And we wrap with Nick and Mark telling us where their handicaps are at the moment. We leave Dan's out of the discussion, his is a very long way behind Nick and Marks but improving (painfully slowly).

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

• Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partner
• 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 Southern Golf Club.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We start off this week with Mark delivering on his promise to Nick to buy him a gift from Temu....does it work or is it underwhelming? We find out. But then onto far more important things like Hannah Green's win in Singapore. A great performance, Nick and Mark discuss how she played, her swing, and her hubby on the bag! Big year on the way for Hannah.

Nick tells us about how he managed to get his green card when he moved to the US. It wasn't looking good for a while, until he rolled out something pretty special....he tells the story.

The New Zealand Open was at the weekend and the boy from windy Wellington, Daniel Hillier played beautifully. Mark says that he loves how Daniel plays, and he has only scratched the surface of what he can do. Although Daniel did have one thing that annoyed Mark, and he fixed that at the weekend....Mark explains the thing that bugged him.

Then...buckle yourself in....Mark absolutely rinses the New Zealand Open saying that a few things he saw 'made him sad'.

For BMW, Nick's Touch of Class this week is Shane Lowry. He led by plenty and then had a meltdown at the Cognizant Classic, that wasn't the Touch of Class, but something else Shane did was....Nick plays the audio.

And Marks 'That's a Plus' for Hostplus is young 17-year old golfer Amelia Harris who played in the NSW Open in Wollongong (finishing 8th!), and then did something unexpected and impressive the following day.

After the turn, we discuss shanks in tournament golf, one particular one from a few years ago from a superstar comes to mind. And then, for Betr, Marks Top 5 is the 5 'supposed' reasons for hitting a shank. In the middle he is reminded of a shank he hit in a tournament when he was paired with Lee Westwood....it's a wild story.....

Lots of golf from the weekend, and Nick takes us all over the world in the PING global results. For Southern Golf Club, plenty of feedback - questions and comments on Austen Truslow's chipping, Pros doing maths along with their caddy, a gentle whack for Nick over Tour Pro Jamie Donaldson, and a wolfpacker who saw Mark playing recently at PK North and thought he might have a future in this crazy game. And we finish with a wolfpacker question about golf shoes, we get the inside word from the FootJoy boss Snowy.

And for the Golf Clearance Outlet, Nick's Masterclass today is on hitting fairway woods.

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

• Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partner
• 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 Southern Golf Club.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A couple of weeks ago, after ripping some of the Top 100 course lists apart for some dubious selections, Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen decided to do their own list, and ranked their Top 10 Australian Courses, you can find it in the feed if you've not heard it. However, the Top 10 courses were:

1 Royal Melbourne West

2 Kingston Heath

3 Victoria

4 Peninsula Kingswood North

5 NSW

6 Royal Adelaide

7 Barnbougle Dunes

8 Cape Wickham

9 Peninsula Kingswood South

10 Royal Melbourne East

So today, we move on to 11-20....which will be tricky, and perhaps a tad controversial. If you think in the 11-20 (or the 1-10) Nick and Mark have missed a course, or gotten a ranking badly out of whack, let us know - the only rule is if you want to put a course in, you've got to tell us which you would remove.

And a caveat, we have not considered Seven Mile Beach, Huntingdale, Royal Sydney or Long Island as they are too new and we feel need time to settle in.

Let the debate begin !!!

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

• Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partner
• 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 Southern Golf Club.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.