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Ep144: Mark Allen 'A Miracle if Royal Melbourne is Ready', Top 100 Investigation Update, and Why a Scratch Golfer has 'Zero Chance' of Beating a Womens Tour Pro
Hold everything. We start today's pod with an update on Marks investigation into the debacle of the recent Top 100 Golf Course list. The person Mark suspected of being responsible, he has discovered was not, and he names the person who he says is responsible for it. Marks contact has gone to ground, and he is hitting a brick wall, particularly now he is enquiring about this named person.
Mark puts the invite to the Top 100 Course people, that we'd like them to come onto the podcast to discuss the list. Open invite. And to make it easy you can contact us here.
Mark also notes that he played Royal Melbourne this week and says 'It will be a miracle if Royal Melbourne is ready for the Australian Open'. Although the people there are confident it will be, Mark has his doubts having seen the condition of the course currently.
Nick and Mark discuss Aldrich Potgieter's driving, and how much power he has. We have a look at his swing sequence and break it down. Nick and Mark would love to see him play the Australian Open and run through the Royal Melbourne holes and look at the clubs he'd likely use for each hole given his power.
Tour Pro Jenny Shin tweeted this week about the amateur male golfers who think they can beat a women tour pro, could a scratch golfer beat a womens tour pro? Nick and Mark give their comments. Mark suggests that scratch markers could get a place in a tournament to 'embarrass them'.
Padraig Harrington had a moment to forget this week in Colorado in the US Senior Open, we listen to what happened and discuss.
Nick tells a story about being billeted in the US with his wife Alana when he was playing the Nike tour, and inadvertently wreaking havoc on their billets house. A dark side of Mr O'Hern that we've not seen previously is emerging.
We chat about the Irish Open, the Scottish Open, and the leadup to The (British) Open. And the BMW International Open in Munich this week, Nick shares memories of playing the tournament and of experiencing the Autobahn!
Top 5 from Nick today is on the Top 5 power swings in the mens game, and he plays a video of the most powerful hitter he ever saw - a golfer called Kyle Berkshire - who broke the golf channel hitting areas screen net once! Mark decides that we need to get Jordan Bovalina on the pod again to talk about power hitting.
Lots of feedback - heaps of wolfpackers raving about 7 Mile Beach Golf Links, question from Keith on caddies and majors, a suggestion from a wolfpacker about Marks doppelgänger, and a request for a score rating from Dazza.
PING globals from Nick are extensive as usual, lots of results to run through. And this weeks masterclass from Mark is on putting, and how to avoid topping your putts.
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Mini: The Top 5 Criteria for Golf Courses to be Considered Great (According to Nick and Mark)
17:17||Season 3Wolfpacker Ian has written in with his criteria for a golf course to be considered great, and asked what Nick and Mark would regard as key requirements to be considered that. They each list their Top 5, not entirely dissimilar unsurprisingly, but a couple of nuanced differences.A fun summer (or winter in the northern hemisphere) today on Talk Birdie To Me.Mini: Troy from New South Wales. A Great Episode With a Fun Twist and Turn !
16:57||Season 3So this Talk Birdie Mini is quite special, for reasons that we won't explain - you'll need to listen. But it's a fantastic story with a great twist. We won't say anything further - but please have a listen, and enjoy how this one unfolds!Mini: Tournaments That Looked After Players the Best, and Nick Names the Tour Pro with the 'Worst Diet' He Saw
14:57||Season 3Happy New Year to you and yours, we hope the year is wonderful for you and you hit em well all year!We kick it off by seeing how the boys New Years Resolutions, if they make them, are going. Not well as it turns out.Onto the Mini though. Wolfpacker Shane has recently returned from a fantastic golfing trip to New Zealand where he was looked after (along with all the other players) beautifully, which inspired him to ask a question of Nick and Mark. When they were on the tour, what tournament, or course, looked after the pros the best and why?Mark names the tournament that, when he was playing professionally, was the worst. It has improved out of sight now, but back then, it wasn't great according to Mark. Nick names a couple that were always great to him, and others. And tells a story of one course which makes bespoke thickshakes for the Tour Pros, and recounts a story of two Pros having a thickshake competition to see who could consume the most in one sitting....!!!!Which leads to a conversation where Nick is asked to name the Tour Pro who had the worst diet. He names a Tour Pro who had pancakes for breakfast, Mexican for lunch, and KFC for dinner. Yet still managed to play pretty well!Mark names a tournament that he said made him feel very special and was always a lot of fun.And both Nick and Mark agree that Coolum was always a wonderful tournament with a great vibe.Mini: Tour Pro Paul Moloney on getting a 'Seve Masterclass', and Why He Thought 'My Life Was About to End'
18:13||Season 3This is fun. Today we chat with the 1993 Singapore Open Champion and wolfpacker Paul Moloney who has a couple of great stories.He starts with a story about a one on one masterclass essentially that he had with Seve Ballesteros in Paris, and recounts what Seve was practising and aiming to do with his putting. Fascinating insights. And then a story about playing on Madeira Island with Gabriel Hjertstedt and some of the hairier moments in getting onto and off the island which has quite a unique climate, and airport.Mark recounts one of the two most amazing things he has ever seen in golf, once of which involved Gabriel. Nick talks about his experience playing on Madeira Island and why he has no desire to go back.And we finish with Mark giving Paul a belated (by 32-years) thank you for something significant in his career that came about due to Paul.☎️ Voicemail: Tour Pro Scotty Laycock on 'Air Swings'
01:13||Season 3, Ep. 0Scott Laycock is a Tour Pro with plenty of stories and after a recent pod where Nick and Mark spoke about Rory's airswing in The Australian Open, and their experiences with airswings, Scotty left a voicemail about an airswing he had at Victoria Golf Club as a Pro.Feedback: Bill Wants Sandbelt Advice, Kristin is After NSW Golf Club Advice, and a Compliment for Monty !?!?!?!
19:51||Season 3Feedback pod today and we start with a video call from wolfpacker Bill in Florida. Bill is planning a trip to Australia, and is keen to play some courses on the sandbelt - he's after some advice on courses that he can both get onto, and won't break the bank. Mark has a ripping idea that Bill accepts on the spot! He's also curious about when the weather in Melbourne might be most suitable for golf....as any Australian knows, trying to predict Melbourne weather is a little like picking lottery numbers....but Mark has a recommendation nonetheless.Then we have a comment from Brad about watching Peter Senior play recently - which gives us the idea of getting Pete on for a chat. Homework for Mark over the Christmas/New Year Break is to give Pete a call and try and lock him in. We'll keep you updated on how that goes.JD has some feedback on an interaction he had with Colin Montgomerie which is bound to get Mark riled up a little. And it does. Tim has a comment about one of Marks masterclasses and the connection the Jack Nicklaus. David has a question about the golf schedule, and an idea for a new tournament - which is no unlike an idea proposed by Frank Nobilo some time ago.Kristin is visiting Australia soon and has a day booked with family to play NSW - she is keen on any tips Nick and Mark have for the course, they discuss a few of the holes and what Kristin may consider.And we wrap up with a couple of messages about 'golf sayings', one from Stan and one from Martin. And Mark notices Dan is wearing a new pair of FootJoys, rather than one of the older pairs he's been rocking around in for a while....how do they feel? You know they feel good.Mini: Kangaroo Island - "This Course Needed to be World Class"
21:39||Season 3This is fun. Today we chat with Darius Oliver from Planet Golf who, among others, designed Cape Wickham. His current project is very special, a new course on the cliffs at Kangaroo Island in South Australia.We start with Darius talking about what makes Kangaroo Island so special, he says that it gets in your blood and mentions a New York Times comment that it is like 'a zoo without fences' due to the abundance of wildlife on the island.Nick and Mark ask about his philosophy in designing this new course and Darius tells us that it needed to be world class, the best possible course it could be on the land, and that his intent was not to look at Top 100 lists but rather to build 18 interesting holes that are each different and are fun to play for golfers. And he is confident that they have done so.Nick asks Darius will Kangaroo Island surpass Cape Wickham? A fascinating mini today and we cannot wait to see this stunning new course when it's ready to open!Mini: Technology in Golf - Wolfpacker Mike Gives Nick and Mark an Alternate View
12:34||Season 3Another Talk Birdie Mini, as we get thisclose to Christmas, and we chat with Mike from Bundaberg who has a slightly different view from Nick and Mark on technology in golf and how it is being used to manage scores and pros monstering courses.Mike reckons there are ways to do it outside of technology changes, and he puts his case to Nick and Mark to get their thoughts. He also makes an excellent point about when Augusta tried to 'Tiger Proof' the course, which backfired completely.Keep your comments and questions coming, we love them, and have a wonderful Christmas!Mini: PGA Pro Emma Larson on Her Career and Pathway Post Playing Professionally
09:36||Season 3After a question last week about golf pathways, we discovered that Acushnet (who operate Titleist and FootJoy) have 18 PGA Pros working for them in various roles around Australia and New Zealand, and we thought it worthwhile chatting to one about their path and how it came about.And Emma Larson is the perfect person to talk to. Emma works for Acushnet in the Melbourne office, made 11 Australian teams and was at one point ranked #1 in Australia - so she's got some serious chops! Emma drops in to talk to Nick and Mark about her story from gun amateur golfer (our words not hers), to being a Tour Pro, and then retiring on medical advice.Emma explains what happened next with her golf career and pathway, and how she initially considering coaching, and tells us why she gave that up....her reasons were not dissimilar to Nicks!A great chat today with Emma Larson from Acushnet, and she shows a great example of one of the many and varied career pathways that are available to PGA Professionals.