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Talk Birdie To Me
Ep185: The 'Bubble': the Pain, the Emotion, the Joy. And Why Did Iconic Pro Ossie Moore have a Crack at Nick O'Hern?
Huge pod today, for a number of reasons. Firstly we welcome Hostplus as a major partner, Hostplus have been a huge supporter of golf for a number of years, and we're excited to be partnering with them at Talk Birdie To Me.
Secondly we have a very special guest on the masterclass with Nick O'Hern today, he has a legend of Australian golf giving a putting masterclass later in the show. You don't want to miss it.
But the drama....the stories....the emotions...of the final US Tour Event and those players on the bubble. It was a rollercoaster over the weekend. Nick and Mark watched plenty of it and discuss today, and we have a listen to one Tour Pro who has lost his card as of the weekend. It's a difficult listen as the emotions run over.
And in exciting news, the idea Nick and Mark floated a few months ago of a show focused on the cutline actually eventuated! With the PGA cutline show starting last week. Only one downside, they didn't take our suggestion of getting Monday Q's Ryan French to host it....but maybe that will come. The shortened cutline is hugely significant to players, and we chat about that.
A number of movements in and out of LIV this past week, which we look over, including the Laurie Canter story.
The Australian PGA in Brisbane this week, later in the week we'll have a chat to Golf Australia boss Gavin Kirkman who is at the event and get the inside word on it, and we're giving some thought to a Betr multi to sort....that will be in the next 24-hours....we'll try and rinse Hummer at Betr. Nick and Mark are excited for the tournament, Mark is pumped about the number of DPWT and LIV players who've travelled, it will be a ripper weekend. Can Elvis Smylie defend the title?
Nick and Mark discuss Metropolitan in Melbourne and how the course is settling in - Nick has many fond memories of Metro, and one bad one....which he explains.
For BMW Mark's turn for a Touch of Class this week, after being briefly hijacked by Dan, and Mark has an unusual recipient of the Touch of Class award.
After the turn we toy around with a new segment we've loosely called 'Good for Golf', which is essentially something that has happened, or should happen, which would be a 'plus' for golf. Hostplus are good for golf, and have supported the sport for years, so it's a natural fit. Mark has a great suggestion.
Ping Globals from Nick, it might be getting to the end of the year, but gosh there's been some great golf played. And the Betr Top 5 from Mark is his Top 5 fave Queensland golfers who never won a major. Nick tells a hilarious story about Ossie Moore during Marks Top 5.
For Southern Golf Club, plenty of feedback - iron covers (again), Aaron Rai (again), Tech in golf, broomstick putters, some feedback on last weeks course record with GUR, and we touch on the 'Dixon' incident on last weeks podcast.....
And then, for watchMynumbers, Nick O'Hern's masterclass. Today it is on putting, and he has enlisted the master - Ian Baker-Finch - to give us a masterclass on putting. It's great to listen to, and you should also watch the video on YouTube here.
We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:
- 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 watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club.
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Mini: The Top 5 Criteria for Golf Courses to be Considered Great (According to Nick and Mark)
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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.