Talk Birdie To Me

On todays Monday Mini we have a question from wolfpacker Ben. Now Ben has been working on getting his handicap down, and he is currently down to 14, and trending in the right direction. However, he feels that if he can flight his wedges more effectively he can go lower, so he's asked Nick and Mark for some tips, and of course they're happy to oblige.

Mark talks about the impact of shortening your backswing, how he was taught to do it, and what it did to his game.

Nick discussed why he is an advocate for matching your backswing and your follow through, and he gives some excellent chipping tips.

A short but sweet Monday Mini today with some excellent tips on flighting your wedge shots.

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;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;
• The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;
• And Southern Golf Club.

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

A Friday Feedback show today and Mark, not for the first time, gets lined up.

On todays show we have a message from one person calling Mark 'uneducated', and we have a myriad of wolfpackers criticising Mark over some recent behaviour....we'll get to that through the show.

01:00 Mark is back on the fashion advice path...seriously...

01:30Wolfpacker Alex heard the No Laying Up guys having a crack at Australian Mens golf on a recent episode, he gives his view and asks Nick and Mark for theirs.

02:00 Nick and Mark discuss what solutions might help to grow the performance of the Australian men.

06:00 Dan follows up Marks promise to get Andrew Langford-Jones on the show...Mark needs to do some work on it.

07:00 Wolfpacker Dean on club championship structures and the challenge for him as a FIFO

08:20 Ralphy has written about some of Mike Clayton's design work, which Mark has at times been slightly critical of, Ralphy likes Mike's work and wrote in to say so.

09:00 A message calling Mark uneducated when it comes to the place of Tea Trees on Melbourne golf courses. Mark responds with a surprising level of restraint at being called uneducated....No of course he doesn't !!! He lines up this particularly commenter! Did you seriously think Mark would restrain himself after that?

11:00 Wolfpacker comments on a cracking idea from a golf course in Alabama, that more clubs should adopt.

After the turn.

14:00 Firstly we deal with some appalling behaviour of Mark at Nudgee Golf Club. The reaction from the Wolfpack was (largely) brutal and deservedly so. Details in this ep.

15:00 Anthony with a comment on Nick's idea of the Presidents Cup becoming a mixed event.

16:00 Mark tells a great story about the charity component of the Presidents Cup in years past, specifically how one Tour Pro took advantage of the lack of oversight of what the charities were.

17:00 Discuss Bruce Devlin

19:00 Wolfpacker Mark has a crack at Mark Allen over a classic 59 that he has not put up in lights, and our wolfpacker believes it should be.

20:00 Robert from Melbourne has a wet weather day question for Nick and Mark

After that we need a pickle and a pitcher of beer and a lie down!

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;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;
• The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;
• And Southern Golf Club.

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

Bonus ep today as we catch up with wolfpacker, friend of the show, passionate golfer, and occasionally in his spare time Hollywood superstar Michael Peña, who played in the Dunhill Links Championship last weekend in Scotland....we wanted to find out about the experience, so we gave him a buzz.

02:00 Michael tells us how it felt playing there, and his feeling of 'wow this is where golf started'

04:00 How did he actually get to play? How did the invite come about?

05:00 The perils of those pesky Scottish pot bunkers....

06:00 Michael talks about the etiquette of the amateurs, the rules, around letting the Pros do what they need to do

09:00 Did he learn anything from watching the Pros close up in their 'natural environment'?

10:00 Why he plans to visit Australia and New Zealand annually to play golf

11.00 What courses he played in Melbourne last year when he was there filming 'All Her Fault' with Aussie star Sarah Snook

12.00 And he explains why (spoiler alert) his fantastic character in Landman was killed off after one episode, much to Mark's disappointment!

Great to have Michael on the show again!

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;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;
• The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;
• And Southern Golf Club.

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

Huge show today, plenty to talk about, and a few big issues to dissect.

01:00Mark has an experiment he wants to try to do with his body to see if it helps his game.

03:00The 'greatest putting transformation' Mark has ever seen, he saw it over the weekend, and he explains what he saw, what was done, and the results.

03:30We also find out another gaping hole in Marks music knowledge, with a massive artist he has not heard of. Embarrassing.

10:00Nick talks about the fairytale Tom Kim story, and how the laws in Korea can make it challenging for pro golfers, and he awards Tom Kim our Hostplus 'Plus for Golf' this week.

14:00Nick talks about Adrian Meronk's win, and what it means for his status.

15:00The bubble....Mark felt like every year in the final event at Coolum, he was on there bubble, and explains how he dealt with it.

17:00Nick tells us about the time is entire year was on the line at the DPWT Q School in Spain, and how his wife Alana helped him get over the line.

19:00We discuss LIV, and some of the players decisions pending.

20:00Kooyonga's memo to members regarding LIV Adelaide.

22:00Phil Mickelson in rehab, we want him back and healthy.

24:00Mark played with a mate, journo Jon Ralph at the weekend, who is having some challenges with his wedge game. Mark asks Nick to offer some advice on the show for how Ralphy might sort it.

27:00Marks Touch of Class for BMW goes to the Tassie Amateur Championship

After the turn:

31:00Nick's Top 5 - 'Replies from Pros when the question is asked'. Afterwards, despite the Top 5 nearly going off the rails, Mark reckons it is Nick's best ever!

41:00Feedback for Southern Golf Club....some comments, and hypotheticals, on Scottie Scheffler following his gesture last week in the Presidents Cup.

43:00Jackson Koivun

47:00Shingo being dodgy

49:00Some feedback on Marks Top 5 last week where he listed his golf disappointments

49:30Tom Watson

50:00The Shark - and a question to the Wolfpack from Mark about The Shark.

54:00Guess who has viewed the chat about Marks challenge to Colin Montgomerie?

55:00Adam scott

56:00The Global Results from Nick

1:01:00And we wrap with a great masterclass from Mark for the Golf Clearance Outlet on having your shoulders in the right spot and why it matters.

Phew...big show !

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;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;
• The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;
• And Southern Golf Club.

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

A Monday Mini today where Nick and Mark discuss a question from a Canadian wolfpacker Gavin who has a question around understanding what having your toe up at address does, and how it works.

Great question, we discuss how it works, why you'd do it, and the pros who do in various forms. Gavin also made the point that setup changes can feel counter-intuitive, and Nick and Mark explain how to work through that process as well.

A good fun Monday Mini today, thanks for the question Gav - keep them coming wolfpackers !

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;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;
• The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;
• And Southern Golf Club.

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

A Friday Feedback show today, and there is plenty to get through !

01:00 We start with a question from Jeff about centre shaft putters, and their benefits. Nick and Mark talk about how they work, how it adjusts how you putt.

04:00 John with a comment about playing in the wind that he read from Tom Watson.

05:00 Wolfpacker Mark listened to our recent mini on managing mental and physical fatigue, and reminded us of the great Jack Nicklaus' philosophy and his promise to Barbara when he was on tour.

06:00 How do Pros feel internally when they hit an ordinary shot in a tournament and the crowd are applauding them for what they (the crowd) believe is a decent one?

07:00 Womble wants some clarity about whether they have to play the same ball in their club comp, or if it is just a pro rule.

09:30 The Tiger Club Twirl conversation

After the turn:

10:30 Wolfpacker Brian has a solution to solve slow play, or if not solve it, make it somewhat fun.

13:00 What Tour Pros would be good hecklers?

14:00 Uh Oh, trouble in paradise - wolfpacker Ron accuses Mark Allen of advocating for cheating. Does this require a Dennis Denuto meeting?

16:00 Chris has a great story about walking with Peter Senior during a tournament. If you've not watched (or listened to) our Peter Senior guest pod it's a great watch - see it here on YouTube or search wherever you get your pods, and it will come up.

17:00 Tony from Oklahoma had a corporate day at Southern Hills and took some pics of some wonderful memorabilia in the clubhouse. For YouTube watchers we'll show it, for audio listeners we'll put them on our socials, Nick recalls the event that the pics refer to and tells a story of how this event led into the Presidents Cup selections, placing him right on the edge of selection!

18:00 We discover an horrific lack of musical knowledge from Nick and Mark over a particular song. Disgraceful.

21:00 Mark saw a post from Gary Player this week about unifying golf which he loved, and reads out part of it.

22:00 Regarding the famous Seve vs Chooky chipping contests, someone who witnessed one (he was on Chooky's bag) explains what he saw and the insane thing Seve did.

23:00 Mark tells a story about caddying for José María Cañizares at Royal Melbourne when he was 16, and a WILD story about what happened after José missed the cut.

26:00 And Nick tells a hilarious story about WA Tour Pro Jarrod Moseley.

It's a fun one today, love you to share it around with a golf-loving friend, and have a good weekend !

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;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;
• The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;
• And Southern Golf Club.

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

Mark from Concord in Sydney had a listen to our recent Monday Mini where Nick and Mark were putting together the best player, using different attributes from various players - mental game, short game, driving etc etc....However Mark reckons that we have neglected to include who he says is Australia's best putter, and this pro should have been in that Top 5.

Have a listen to Mark's voicemail, and let us know in the comments if you agree with him or not!

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;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;
• The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;
• And Southern Golf Club.

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

At the start of the show we avert a near disaster when we realise that, despite our soundcheck running fine, sometime between that and the start of the show Mark has banged the mic again loosening it!!! Thankfully we realise only a few seconds in.....phew....

So on with the show....

01:00Presidents Cup chat. Great event, disappointing result on Sunday.

02:00Nick again makes the case for a mixed event

03:00What it is like when you are paired with a megastar player

04:00We look at how the international players performed

06:00Our Hostplus 'Plus for Golf' is the young star from the US Jackson Koivun, what a performance from him.

08:00Nick loved how JT took Jackson under his wing and helped to calm his nerves.

09:00Why does Mark hate the scoring in Presidents Cup? He explains.

10:00And what about the OB fences

11:00Mike Cocking and the OCM team did the redesign of Medinah, it looked great, Mark was texting back and forth with Mike through the tournament and reads out some of what Mike said as he watched it.

12:00We discuss the spectator kicking the ball incident. Mark reckons it was an accident. Nick and Dan reckon it was 100% deliberate.

16:00Our BMW Touch of Class goes to Scottie Scheffler for a very classy act after a moronic act from a member of the crowd. We have a listen to what happened.

18:00We discuss how Geoff Ogilvy might set up Kingston Heath for the Presidents Cup in 2028, how Nick and Mark would set the course up, and the kind of players they'd look for (beyond the automatic qualifiers).

24:00Mark mentions Adam Scott's insane fitness regime.

After the turn

27:00More Pros playing in Amateur tournaments...we look at a ridiculous stat from the weekend

28:00For Betr, Marks Top 5 most disappointing moments in golf....#1 is both awfully disappointing, sad, and yet somewhat hilarious.

33:00Global Results from Nick

34:00We get some inside info on Adare Manor as the Ryder Cup gets close, from a wolfpacker who has a friend working there.

37:00We discover one member of the Talk Birdie team was the back to back winner of the Port Hedland Classic Sand Green competition!

38:00Feedback for Southern Golf Club, plenty to look over.

39:00Scottie Scheffler vs Min Woo Lee.....did Scottie behave badly?

40:00The return pathway for a few LIV players

42:00What does Marc Leishman do?

43:00Grok has let Mark down...should he request a refund?

44:00Couple of Matchplay questions

47:00It is a 12-year anniversary of a particular incident involving one member of the Talk Birdie Team.....we have audio to play to commemorate this auspicious occasion.

51:00And for the Golf Clearance Outlet a great masterclass from Nick O'Hern on handling pressure.

A fun show, appreciate you listening! Any thoughts or questions, feel free to leave a voicemail here.

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;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;
• The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;
• And Southern Golf Club.

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

A quick little 5 or 6 minutes on the Presidents Cup today, what a tournament and whilst the internationals were ahead going into Sunday, it was always going to be tough in the singles. Nick is depressed about the result (and about Fremantle) and Mark is disappointed that the 2028 Presidents Cup at Kingston Heath won't be coming in with the trophy held by the Internationals.

Nick and Mark feel that, on paper, this was the weakest international side however Geoff Ogilvy nearly pulled of the unthinkable in a masterful display of captaincy over Brandt Snedeker.

Plenty to talk about, we barely scratch the surface in this Mini, tomorrows main pod we'll get right under the hood of the Presidents Cup and analyse all the happenings - good and bad.

Happy Tuesday!!!

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;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;
• The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;
• And Southern Golf Club.

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

So much feedback, so many questions, so we thought we'd smack out a quick little extra feedback show today.

It's a themed feedback show today - every question or comment has to do with courses of some kind, except for two, which we included because they were amusing.

01:00Comment from a UK wolfpacker on Lahinch and Royal County Down

02:00A few comments on The Lakes in Sydney, including one from course architect Mike Clayton

05:00A comment from a self-described 'grumpy' member of The Lakes

06:30Mark gives some inside info on Kingston Heath's preparations for the Capital.com Australian Open

07:30Comment from a wolfpacker in Belgium on Royal Zoute

09:00NSW Golf Club feedback

After the turn...

10:00Our first 'non-course' related question today. And it is one for Nick.

13:00Lots of comments on the courses that are closing down - courses in the Ohio, WA, NSW and Victoria. Including one comment that gets Mark well and truly fired up.

16:00Comment about the ranking (or not) of composite courses

18:00Peninsula Kingswood composite course....will it be up there?

19:00And we finish on our second 'non-course' related comment of this show - a Monty comment from a wolfpacker, resulting in Mark making a ridiculous demand for Colin Montgomerie to deliver on if he is to come on the show. If Monty hears this, Nick and Dan do not support Marks demands.

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;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;
• The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;
• And Southern Golf Club.

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