Talk Birdie To Me

Final pod of the year, and there is plenty to discuss!Mark opens with some news that he says is good but can't tell us. Confused? We were as well. Mark asks Nick if he thinks Golf Australia have any firm thoughts on the Australian Open moving forward. We discuss what next steps might be. Mark says that if Golf Australia are not preparing for the next Open, the format, date and structure now, there is a risk that next year if nothing is confirmed by June, they will look 'rudderless'.Nick reveals his favourite event to play these days, which he played in at the weekend. He tells us about the tournament and the incredible amount of money that was raised for charity. Nick was impressed with Jack Riewoldt's skills at the weekend, who took part in the event. Mark mentions how Rory McIlroy played Tara Iti last week. Do we value short Par 4's in Australia more than other people?Nick and Mark chat about Tour School from the weekend and some of the results. Mark tells a story when he was in US Tour School and bumped into one of his mentors and what happened next. Nick tells a great story about seeing Tiger Woods for the first time at Q School in 1998 and explains why he was there given he had won the US Masters in 1997! Nick tells us why, at that stage in 1998, his game was not ready for America and explains the work he did to get ready for the US.Nick talks about why he believes in making practise as hard as possible, and why he loved 2-ball / worst ball. Mark issues a challenge for Talk Birdie To Me listeners to play 2 ball / worst ball and let us know how you go, Nick would like you to try it, and aim to break 40. Nick mentions the Player of the Year award, won by Scottie Scheffler; and the Women's Player of the Year a little while back, won by Nelly Korda - he and Mark have a different view on who the women's winner should have been. In the last week there has been a couple of 59's shot, Nick and Mark analyse them using the trademarked Talk Birdie '59 analyser data'.Nicks turn for the Top 5 today, and he counts down his Top 5 most amazing and incredible moments of 2024. It's very good, so much so that Mark brands it the best Top 5 of the year. This week in feedback, we only read one piece of feedback. It's a piece of constructive criticism for the podcast that we will need your input on. Lots to run through in PING Global results of course, Nick takes us around the world. And the masterclass this week is from Mark with zero preparation, that said, it is actually very good!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;The new watchMynumbers app, the most powerful data based golf app in the world, download from the App Store or Google Play;Golf Clearance Outlet, join GCO Live for great member benefits and comps. They're in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and the Sunshine Coast, or online here.Southern Golf Club - Home of the Australian Master of the Amateurs in January 2025, entry is free!Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, send a voicemail here, and see our Masterclass videos on YouTube here.

As we get closer to wrapping the year for Christmas (see what we did there?) another Q&A bonus pod where we run through some questions from the Talk Birdie Wolfpack.Sammy has written in about a young star called Riley, a year 8 fella, who he met at Lonsdale Links. A good reminder for Mark that he needs to play Lonsdale Links.Dan from Brisbane has a rules question from the Australian PGA in Brisbane to do with balls on or adjacent to sprinkler heads.Muttonhead has messaged a joke for Mark. It's awful, unsurprisingly Mark rates it.And we take a call from Wolfpack member Garry from Samoa whose daughter Faith is a gun golfer, the first ever Samoan to win the New Zealand Women's Amateur title in the Waikato no less in 2023, and she is heading back to Melbourne in January to play in the Master of the Amateur Tournament and is after some tips from Nick and Mark on sandbelt play. It's a great chat and we loved hearing from Garry and Faith - she sounds like someone to watch for certain. We're here with the great support of PING, see your local golf shop or professional for a PING club fitting. Just like they have with Nick O'Hern, PING will help you play your best. And the Golf Clearance Outlet, great prices on the best gear. See them instore in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Sunshine Coast, or online here. And watchMynumbers, the powerful data-based golf app in the world - play smarter by using your data. Download from the AppStore or GooglePlay.And don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, and you can see all our Masterclass videos on YouTube here.

It's a big pod today, and we start with Mark telling us about being sacked as a young commentator, who was responsible, and whether he has forgiven that person? (Hint: He hasn't).We discuss Anthony Quayle's very unfortunate 7-shot penalty at the Vic PGA from the weekend, and Nick explains how it happened. Nick and Mark discuss players who copped penalties and still won. Nick brings up one of the best 'even par' performances he's ever seen from the weekend, and Mark tells a story about Peter Thomson and how he had prepared Kingston Heath years ago to have even par as the winning score, but the weather had other ideas.We had a voicemail yesterday from Mark in Hawthorn with a question about national opens and their importance. Marko heard it, and rates the idea, we discuss.Exciting news this week with Karrie Webb being announced as an Honorary Member of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. A wonderful accolade and well deserved, however Mark has noticed an oversight in Australia regarding Karrie's recognition which he brings up.The hotline rings and it's Warren who has a 13-year old young bloke who loves golf, and he'd like to arrange lessons, but is after some advice on how to start.Mark's Top 5 this week is on the Top 5 duffed chips, some very funny stories, and we'd like to hear about any chili dip zones at your club - let us know on socials.Nick's PING global results this week are big, plenty to run through, and Nick has a Q School TV idea which is very good! We discuss the new Trackman centre at Southern Golf Club in Melbourne which is sensational, and opened a fortnight ago. Lots of feedback, heavily weighted again on the format of the Australian Open, and then we call pod listener Lorraine who has a question for Mark about his book, 74,582 tips to simplify golf, and we chat to Lorraine and her Dad Ron who is still playing golf at 93 !!!Nick's masterclass this week is on Scheffler's new putting grip which he is experimenting with.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;The new watchMynumbers app, the most powerful data based golf app in the world, download from the App Store or Google Play;Golf Clearance Outlet, join GCO Live for great member benefits and comps. They're in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and the Sunshine Coast, or online here.Southern Golf Club - Home of the Australian Master of the Amateurs in January 2025, entry is free!Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, send a voicemail here, and see our Masterclass videos on YouTube here.

Bonus pod this week where Nick and Mark run through a few questions from the Talk Birdie Wolfpack.Daniel from Ballina has a comment on the rakes at his course - he loves them, Nick and Mark a little less so.Jeremy wants to know if there is a chance the Australian Masters will ever return, Mark is biased of course given his beloved Huntingdale hosted the event for so long.Patto is about to head to Adelaide with his beautiful wife Mel for a holiday, they'd never been and would like to play some golf while they are there and ask for a few tips.And Rohan has commented on the famous Ben Hogan quote about golf being a game of misses, and we find out what Nick and Marks 'best misses' were.We're here with the great support of PING, see your local golf shop or professional for a PING club fitting. Just like they have with Nick O'Hern, PING will help you play your best. The Golf Clearance Outlet, great prices on the best gear. See them instore in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Sunshine Coast, or online here. watchMynumbers, the powerful data-based golf app in the world - play smarter by using your data. Download from the AppStore or GooglePlay.And Southern Golf Club - hosting the Master of the Amateurs in January - entry is free!Remember to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, and you can see all our Masterclass videos on YouTube here.

Talk Birdie to Me Wolfpack member Damian from Melbourne was at The Australian Open at the weekend, loved it, but saw a moment where he felt Curtis Luck was hard done by and explains to us in a voicemail today. If you want to leave a voicemail - it's easy, head to our website here on your mobile or computer, hit the record button, tell us who you are, where you're from, where you play your golf, and leave your message. Couldn't be easier, you'll be done in 60-seconds!We're here each week with the great support of PING, see your local golf shop or professional for a PING club fitting. Just like they have with Nick O'Hern, PING will help you play your best. And the Golf Clearance Outlet, great prices on the best gear. See them instore in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane or Perth, or online here. And watchMynumbers, the powerful data-based golf app in the world - play smarter by using data. Download from the AppStore or GooglePlay.And don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, and you can see all our Masterclass videos on YouTube here.

What a weekend! The Open was great, with some exceptional golf played. Congratulations to Ryggs Johnston, Jiyai Shin, and Simon Seungmin Lee.We're live from Titleist HQ surrounded by about a million boxes of Pro V1's and the simulator right behind us. We start with the Open and Johnston - his 'classic college swing', how he's come out of nowhere, and Mark asks Nick if he would have won if Kingston Heath had played like a typical sandbelt course. Nick gives his view and rationale. We discuss Lucas Herberts final day which went pear-shaped, with his emotions on full show. The format. Nick and Mark say it simply doesn't work, with Mark saying 'it is now beyond a joke and cannot continue, the format experiment is over'. He has a revised idea on what GA could do, involving piggybacking off LIV Adelaide. Nick is a fan of the idea and Mark gets to work on getting a board member on the pod in the next week or two to discuss it.SMS alert goes off, it's a voicemail from Pete in Gippsland who wants to discuss pace of play at the Open. Nick and Mark are in vigorous agreement with the principal of Pete's comments. Mark reveals he has been unwell over the weekend - self inflicted, so zero sympathy from Nick and Dan. He blames last weeks guest, superstar Michael Peña, for leading him astray at the Kingston Heath bar. Sounds a bit excusey.Last week Mark looked at the Huntingdale redevelopment, and describes Mike Cocking as a genius for how it's shaping up. He has an idea about a golf day there for the Talk Birdie Wolfpack. Play golf, have a feed, couple of speakers, organise gift packs. Some kind of cost to cover it obviously, but let us know if you're keen....if enough are, we'll sus it.Inspired by Ryggs, Nicks Top 5 for Southern Golf Club, are unknown winners in tournaments. He forgets one obvious one. Feedback is focused on the Baker-Finch comments last week, and the Michael Peña pod. It's a busy show so later in the week we'll do a bonus pod with some Wolfpack questions. The hotline rings: Michael from Rich River Golf Club wants to discuss walking the fairways in major tournaments. Plenty of fantastic results from Nick in the PING Globals with, as usual PING players doing well as they so often do.We had an sms from Frank at watchMynumbers who was watching Lucas Herbert practise on Sunday prior to tee-time, and he gave us a fascinating stat on the practise putts. The watchMynumbers Masterclass is on Jiyai Shin, Ash Buhai and Rory McIlroy's backswing.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;The new watchMynumbers app, the most powerful data based golf app in the world, download from the App Store or Google Play;Golf Clearance Outlet, join GCO Live for great member benefits and comps. They're in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and the Sunshine Coast, or online here.Southern Golf Club - Home of the Australian Master of the Amateurs in January 2025, entry is free!Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, send a voicemail here, and see our Masterclass videos on YouTube here.

It's Australian Open week, we're back at Kingston Heath and today we chat with Hollywood royalty, the brilliant actor Michael Peña. This is a real treat.We start with the obvious - finding out why is he in Melbourne. As well as being an extraordinary actor, Michael is a massive golf fan, if you're at the Open this weekend at Kingston Heath, keep an eye out, he'll be there. He plays off a handicap of between 3 and 4, and tells Nick and Mark what his view of the sand belt courses is, and what it has been like playing golf in Melbourne.Michael explains how he got into golf, spoiler alert, it has to do with Jack Lemmon and James Garner, and he tells us about playing golf with his co-star in the movie 'Shooter' Mark Wahlberg in Vancouver.Mark wants to know whether there are similarities between how you execute acting roles and how you improve your golf game - Michael explains why he says there are, and how he goes about both improving his golf game, and preparing for an acting role.Michael has been in a some huge movies and TV shows, including Ant-Man which he tells us that after signing on he tried to get out of, and obviously ended up doing it. He tells us the story of why and what happened. He also explains how, when they were shooting the movie Fury, he and Shia LaBeouf felt when Brad Pitt walked in that they were now bit players and the movie was his. Nick likens it to how golfers felt when Tiger would play a tournament often.Nick wants to know who the best golfer, of the Hollywood actors, is. Michael names one and , slightly awkwardly, Nick knows exactly who this actor is immediately....possibly revealing a bit about his viewing habits. Mark asks Michael about how he masters accents, and he tells a very funny story involving a Nokia phone and an ex-girlfriend!Nick explains what he likes about Michael's golf game, and why he admires his ability on the course. And we wrap with some advice that Michaels late mother gave him about how to choose acting roles, which applies to each of us whatever we do.A great fun bonus pod with one of Hollywood's genuine nice guys, and a brilliant actor.We're here each week with the great support of PING, see your local golf shop or professional for a PING club fitting. Just like they have with Nick O'Hern, PING will help you play your best. And the Golf Clearance Outlet, great prices on the best gear. See them instore in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane or Perth, or online here. And watchMynumbers, the powerful data-based golf app in the world - play smarter by using data. Download from the AppStore or GooglePlay.And don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, and you can see all our Masterclass videos on YouTube here.

What a week, a wonderful Australian PGA, and it's Open week. We're live at Kingston Heath in the leadup to the Open. A slightly longer pod today given we're at Kingston Heath and there is so much to see and discuss, and we also got excited!Mark entered Monday Qualifying, and whilst he wasn't necessarily expecting to make it through he had a lot of fun and he talks us through the scores that the 4 Monday Qualifiers ended up shooting.We discuss Elvis Smylie's brilliant performance in Brisbane. Nick and Mark both loved his performance and loved him winning. We discuss the matching of player and caddy and how important it is. Mark confesses something about Elvis's length that he had under-estimated.Tour Pro Cassie Porter stops by with her caddy, former tour pro Dan Morrison, for a chat. Cassie tells us about getting her card for next year, and how it happened on the final putt, although she didn't realise at the time! She talks about the 'kick in the teeth' that spurred her on to the next level, and whether she will now move to the US or remain Australian based?Nick returns to Elvis and discusses the rules official giving him a bad time warning in Brisbane. Is the party hole in Brisbane in the right place? Nick and Mark discuss. Mark mentions Nelly Korda's comments this week on slow play, and Nick and Mark name 5 things that they would do, were they in charge, to address slow play. After the turn, we're about to do the Top 5 for Southern Golf Club, and Scottish tour pro Richie Ramsay, 4-time winner on the DP World Tour, walks up to say hi so we grab him for a chat. He tell us about his views of Kingston Heath, how he loves the 'element of risk' the course provides. Richie tells us, of his 4 wins, which was the most special and why.Mark heard Ian Baker-Finch on radio this week discussing the joint Male/Female Open approach, making some interesting comments. We play IBF's comments and discuss. Today's Top 5 is from Mark on the best sub-60 rounds in professional golf. And Nick gives us all the results in PING globals. Slightly shorter feedback this week as we've got a full show, but a couple of whacks to hear from the Wolfpack, and then Paul from Brisbane calls the hotline with a question on Tiger from last weeks show. Nicks Masterclass is on using a 3 wood around the green.And we wrap with Nick and Marks predictions for who will win the Open this weekend, men's and women's !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;The new watchMynumbers app, the most powerful data based golf app in the world, download from the App Store or Google Play;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!Greyhound Racing Victoria, the Australian Open this Saturday night !Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, send a voicemail here, and see our Masterclass videos on YouTube here.