At Talk Birdie To Me, we have all been fans of the Monday Q Twitter page (here) for a long time, it's a ripper, if you're not following it then give yourself an uppercut and do it immediately. The guy who created it is Ryan French, and after Nick and Mark have consistently been referring to the page on the pod, we decided to get Ryan on the show for a yak, and it was a lot of fun.

We started, well at the start. Why did Ryan start the page, and how did it come about. He tells us about his 'wake-up' moment as a college golfer, junior golfer, when he realised how many incredible players there were and that he would't be a pro.

Nick and Mark talk about how they often were Monday Qualifiers and how important it was.

The chat goes in an unexpected direction when Ryan's Basset Hound decides that he would like to be part of the chat, we have a look and he is adorable.

Back to the page. Mark asks Ryan when he realised that he was onto something good, Ryan tells us about the moment in 2018 when he realised this could fly. And it involved an Australian golfer! And he tells us why his kids school day, on one occasion, took a (brief) backseat to the content on the page.

Ryan tells us what he loves so much about the Monday Qualifier stories, moreso in many cases than the big names. He calls golf the 'most democratic sport in the world'.

Mark asks Ryan about an amazing story to do with Mike Miller, a US golfer who played in last years Australian Open. The story of how this came about is fantastic, and Ryan tells the story.

We ask Ryan about ridiculous 4-spot situations he has seen, and he tells a great story about an Australian golfer in Texas called Todd Balkin.

And we wrap up with Ryan's 'Mona Lisa' story, the one that he just loves. It was not what we expected, but it was very funny!.

A great chat with Ryan French, he's a ripper and we hope you enjoy the chat as much as we did. Don't forget to subscribe to Talk Birdie To Me, and of course to follow Monday Q on Twitter!

We do the show 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, they're all over the country;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And the watchMynumbers app: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room, including Trackman.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, send a voicemail here, and see us on YouTube here.

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

We're live from Titleist & FootJoy HQ and we start todays show with a story from Mark about the Australian Open Stonehaven Cup that Peter Lonard won at Moonah Links, and how the Cup was 'lost' for a number of months. Mark is convinced the story is accurate, but Nick and Third Man feel it sounds so unbelievable that we feel that it needs to be checked. So we drop a message to the former Australian golf boss Andrew Langford-Jones to give us a call and confirm or deny. Hopefully he calls before the end of the show.

The Chevron. Nick and Mark describe it as 'mayhem', with the grandstand on the final hole an 'abomination' according to Nick. It resulted in a disaster for Ariya Jutanugarn with her shot ricochetting off the grandstand. Nick watched the whole thing, although the 5-way playoff went for a veeeeeery long time, with slow play an offender again.

Nick raises the TIO ruling not only in the Chevron, but for the Hoygard twins in the PGA teams event in New Orleans. We discuss poor grandstand placement, which happens around the world, and Mark says it has to be better.

Mark raises the LIV ratings from Florida which have been released and were soft. He is keen to have a look at how Mexico's LIV ratings go, given it was up against one of the great Womens PGA events, and what he describes as a pretty ordinary Mens team event in New Orleans, that he found difficult to watch. The world feed comes up (again) and, again, Nick and Mark unimpressed and they play some audio from Trevor Immelman analysing Justin Thomas' swing, illustrating what we are missing out on due to receiving the world feed.

Mark says the Korn Ferry tour cut this was crazy - a 9 under cut and 30 under won the event. Nick discusses the difference between playing the Korn Ferry and the PGA tour when he was playing.

After the turn we get Andrew Langford-Jones on the phone to either confirm or deny the Australian Open Peter Lonard story.

Great Top 5 from Mark, listing the most unique golf holes in the world. Has he missed any?

PING global results from Nick, as always plenty to run through, and lots of feedback from wolfpackers again - including a request from Jarrod which Nick and Mark love, and workshop live on the pod.

And we wrap the show with a masterclass from Nick, inspired by Ariya Jutanugarn in the Chevron, on how to avoid chunking shots around the green.

We do the show 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, they're all over the country;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And the watchMynumbers app: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room, including Trackman.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, send a voicemail here, and see us on YouTube here.

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

The most common question that comes in for Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen at Talk Birdie To Me is along the lines of 'what should I practise', 'how should I structure my practise', 'what tips can you give me to ensure my practise is effective in converting to results on the course'.

So this week when we received this email from Wolfpacker Matt, we thought we'd do a short bonus pod discussing it. Here's Matt's question:

"Hi Nick and Mark!

Huge fan of the show, looking to improve my game and my practising on the range.

Just seeing what you would recommend with structuring my session, how would you suggest I train, what would you suggest I practise.

Thanks guys,

Matt'

A question that, in various forms, we get a lot. So today Nick and Mark discuss the three things to do on the range that will improve your game immediately.

We do the show 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, they're all over the country;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And the watchMynumbers app: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room, including Trackman.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, send a voicemail here, and see us on YouTube here.

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

Welcome to another feedback pod, these are the episode where you control the topics and we read out your questions and feedback (good and bad)!

We start with a chat about Mark's comments last week that the Rory shot on 5 was the greatest shot ever made. Some wolfpackers have a different view - we won't read them out today, but we'll wait until Nick is back in the studio next week (he's in Cathedral for the school holidays) and we will do a bonus pod on 'the greatest shot ever made in golf'. Fun.

Mark has sent in a pic of a 59 shot by Elvis Smylie at Southport on the Gold Coast, and would like Mark Allen to rate it. Mark does, and is brutal.

Sam's home course has fast greens and he struggles when he plays a course with slow greens...and asks for some tips.

Dale has written in with some 'useless information' (his words not ours) and both pieces are very good. One of Dale's points leads to a chat about young gun Jeffrey Guan and how he is going.

Voicemail sound goes off, and it's a question from wolfpacker Fraser who played golf as a kid, went away, is back now and looking for some tips on how to improve.

Laurie from Indonesia has a comment and question about Justin Rose at The Masters.

Phil has a question about Max Homa and which of all his changes recently has had the most influence.

A lovely message from wolfpacker Niall from Ireland who likes the 'bluntness' that Nick and Mark have when discussing issues.

And finally a comment from Wayne who feels that some of the big names in world golf are off their game during the first couple of months of 2025.

Mark asks Nick if he feels, as contracts come to an end, that any LIV players will want to come back to the PGA, and if he feels any big names from the PGA will leave for LIV.

Keep the questions coming, and remember if you want any feedback on your swing, putting, chipping - anything - send us a video and we'll have a look at it on the show.

We do the show from Titleist and FootJoy HQ (except when Nick is in Cathedral) 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, they're all over the country;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And the watchMynumbers app: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room, including Trackman.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, send a voicemail here, and see us on YouTube here.

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

Today, Mark is in studio at Titleist and FootJoy HQ, Nick is at Cathedral in Central Victoria. We start the show with Nick mentioning that his wife Alana has just had her best round ever. He is very proud!

We talk about the RBC Heritage Tournament on Hilton Head. Nick says that Harbourtown, which he played many times, was his favourite course on the PGA Tour and explains why. He also says that it has one of the worst driving ranges on tour. Mark loves the trees, and goes into a tirade about golf course designers, golf course committees, and anyone in general who cuts down beautiful trees and replaces them with inappropriate ones on golf courses. We discuss JT's win, and his comments about asking for Xander Schauffele's help with his putting (here). Leads to a chat about 'home base'. Nick explains what his home base was, Mark talks to his, and we discuss Scottie Schefflers. Nick explains how Cam Smith's mirror works for him.

A voicemail: a wolfpacker heard Nick's Top 5 'unwatchable' players a couple of weeks back, and feels that he missed an obvious one. Mark follows Stats Guru Lou Stagner on Twitter (here) and lists some stats that Lou posted on Rory's Masters performance. Staggering. During the Turn Nick casually drops a massive statement about Tommy Fleetwood, Mark disagrees. We discuss. But there is one thing about Tommy Fleetwood that Nick and Mark agree on which Mark says needs to 'stop immediately'.

A Top 5 (or is it 6?) from Nick, suggested by Wolfpack member Skyla. Top 5 Mulligans. Nick loves it and lists his. Mark tells a story about Tour Pro Scott Hoch at a dinner in Auckland where things took a bad turn when Scott criticised the calamari.

Feedback. Two main themes: Marks comments that Rory made the greatest shot ever on 15 at The Masters, which we'll come back to and do a bonus pod on. And the '4 sackable offences' chat. Feedback was split, most very passionate. We read out some of each. And Mark wants to hear from anyone who was at The Masters, about what it was like being there.

More drama with PING Global results. Mark has gone rogue. This won't end well. And a masterclass from Mark to finish the show on 'starting' your golf swing.

We do the show 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, they're all over the country;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And the watchMynumbers app: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room, including Trackman.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, send a voicemail here, and see us on YouTube here.

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

We're getting plenty of feedback and questions coming in, sometimes we take a bit of time to get to them, but we're trying to work through them all as we can. Today on the pod we start by talking about a photo Nick shared on his instagram page - see it here - it's a great pic of Nick's caddy Wilbur at Augusta waiting for Nick.

Speaking of caddies, Mark was lined up this week by one of his former caddies who felt Mark was being a bit harsh on Rory McIlroy's caddy Harry Diamond, and Mark goes on to tell a story about how he nearly killed his caddy driving to Queensland.

Plenty of feedback on the member/guest fee conversation, some different perspectives. And there is a short, yet brutal, whack for Nick and Mark from a wolfpacker called Dougie who is a Monty fan. And back onto caddies, former tour caddy Eddie Munster also wrote in about Monty.

Nick gives two reasons why The Masters is the worlds greatest golf tournament, and Mark gives some feedback to FootJoy.

We have a video sent in by wolfpacker Martin of his mate Steve who uses a putter, perhaps not exactly how it was intended....but seemingly successfully. The vision confuses Nick and Mark, if you watch it when the YouTube vodcast comes out, you'll see why...it is very unusual.

And Nick and Mark discuss Rory's putting and make the statement that if he can address some putting issues, it is scary how good he will be, Nick describes the potential of Rory as 'domination'.

And we finish with some fantastic news about a member at Lake Karrinyup who has achieved something quite special.

We do the show 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, they're all over the country;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And the watchMynumbers app: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room, including Trackman.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, send a voicemail here, and see us on YouTube here.

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

Today's podcast is all about The Masters and the extraordinary tournament we watched. And of course, we start with Rory who was clearly already an incredible player, but is now a legend.

Mark describes what we saw as 'breathtaking drama', and Nick and Mark just sit and chat about the tournament. We have no runsheet or plan for todays show, aside from to debrief on The Masters and talk about what we all saw in one of the great tournaments, and particularly on the final day, one of golfs great days.

Nick describes what we saw from Rory as 'resilience', and admired how he continually would come back and never give up. Nick and Mark discuss a number of the holes, the shots, the ebb and flow moments. We discuss how Rory would have been feeling at those moments where it didn't go his way, and how he managed to come back every time.

And on Rory's caddy Harry. Mark describes Harry as a 'good caddy', Nick says Rory needs a 'great caddy', and says that with a better caddy, Rory wins by 6 shots. Mark lists what he refers to as Harrys 'sackable offences during The Masters'.

Nick raises the Monday Q Twitter page and how he loved following it during the tournament. He recommends that if you're not following it, get on board!

Rory's shot on the 15th in the final round. Nick calls it the 'sexiest shot in golf'. Mark makes the claim that given the circumstances, the pressure, what was on the line, it was the greatest shot ever hit in golf.

We discuss Justin Rose's performance, which obviously is overshadowed by Rory, however was brilliant. Nick and Mark full of admiration for Justin.

Mark loved the commentary and was so pleased it was the traditional commentators.

We discuss the footage of Rory in the Champions Locker Room for the first time. Beautiful to watch.

Nick asks Mark how Rory will go over the next few tournaments, we discuss what they are and how he is placed.

Nick says the round of the tournament was from Nick Dunlap, and explains why.

A great Top 5 from Mark today, he lists what he feels are the Top 5 Mens Major Tournaments in the history of golf. How does the 2025 Masters rank?

In the PING Global results, Nick says that Rory must now be considered the greatest ever European player. Mark agrees.

Feedback today, as you might expect is all on The Masters.

We do the show 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, they're all over the country;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And the watchMynumbers app: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room, including Trackman.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, send a voicemail here, and see us on YouTube here.

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

Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen have worn FootJoy their entire career, and given we do the pod from FootJoy and Titleist HQ we thought we'd grab the FootJoy Product Manager for Australia & New Zealand, Chris Patterson, to have a chinwag about golf shoes generally, trends, and some of what they've got coming.

We discussed exactly what Chris does at FootJoy, and what he looks for when decided what to range for these markets. Chris talks about current trends in golf shoes, both for 'normal' golfers and Tour Pros. He runs us through some of the current range, and gives a sneak peak at a shoe coming out later in 2025....Nick and Mark are VERY excited for it.

Mark asks what the key differences are between a normal shoe and a golf shoe, and why it is important. Nick asks how golf shoes have changed over the years. Is a shoe fitting beneficial? Clearly for tour pros it makes sense, but what about us normies? Chris talks to that.

Mark is curious as to whether ball speed can be influenced by your golf shows, and Chris tells us about Justin Thomas and Cam Young and what has happened to their ball speed since changing shoes. Extraordinary.

Nick and Mark both love the MyJoy concept and Nick asks what are some of the craziest things Chris has seen?

A fascinating chat with Chris, the FootJoy Product Manager, and a great reminder of why FootJoy are the number one shoe (and glove) in golf.

We do the show 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, they're all over the country;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And the watchMynumbers app: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room, including Trackman.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, send a voicemail here, and see us on YouTube here.

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

Wolfpacker and Tour Pro Scott Laycock left a voicemail after hearing the podcast this week with a great story about Craig Parry. Keep them coming, we always love to receive your voicemails! You can leave one at the link below.

We do the show 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, they're all over the country;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And the watchMynumbers app: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room, including Trackman.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, send a voicemail here, and see us on YouTube here.

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

Fantastic win from Warrnambool's favourite son Marc Leishman in Florida at the weekend, and we begin today's show chatting about the win....Marc becomes the third Aussie to win a tournament in the last couple of weeks, following Min Woo and Steve Allen. Mark loves the 'drive, chip, and putt' competition and thinks there should be more of them prior to tournaments.

We discuss the elephant in the room, will we get the world feed for The Masters. Neither Nick or Mark has been able to get clarity. They're hopeful that we get Jim Nance and the traditional team. We discuss how wonderful Jim Nance is, and how long he has left commentating. Mark raises the LIV commentators. Nick and Mark feel that the LIV commentators get too excited too early in the tournaments.

Nick says the Fedex Cup should be Matchplay, Mark says the 'handicap system reeks of someone who does not understand golf', and wants more matchplay in golf. We've had our Masters preview pod, but we can't help but talk about Augusta again. Mark asks Nick about the creek on 13, Nick explains how he approached it and why, plus which holes suit lefties and which suit righties.

In a prelude to Nicks Top 5 'unwatchable golfers', despite his winning form, Nick and Mark comment that Brian Harman or, as we prefer to call him, Ricky, is a great putter with great power, but an 'unwatchable golfer'.

Following some anonymous feedback to Mark, we discuss the prices clubs charge at members courses, specifically guest fees. What is causing it, is it too much? Mark would you like you to send in what your clubs member/guest fee structure is. Whilst we're talking complaints. Mark reckons Nick and Third Man have been taking advantage of his generosity, and he has a crack at both of them on the pod. Harsh.

Plenty of feedback, lots on the aim point comments from last week, including a couple of whacks - and one wolfpacker calls Nick and Mark 'a couple of old grandpas'. Clearly they're wrong, neither have grandchildren. And wolfpacker Tom from California has sent in his swing for Nick and Mark to review.

PING global. Big news. After last weeks excellent trumpet playing by Anthony from Woodlands, our lawyer Denis Denutto has reviewed the legalities around Timmy Trumpet. We may end up in court. So Nick has found a new, legal PING global results intro which he plays. Oh, and gives heaps of results. No masterclass this week, but thanks to Frank and the team at watchMynumbers it returns next week.

We do the show 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, they're all over the country;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And the watchMynumbers app: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room, including Trackman.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, send a voicemail here, and see us on YouTube here.

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