Talk Birdie To Me

What a weekend of golf!!! And Ryan Fox...so good, but a great performance by a number of Australians and Kiwis. We'll chat about that, and all the controversy today on the show.

01:00 Ryan Fox, what a star. Wonderful win by the big fella. Mark talks about what he felt were Foxy's most important 2 holes and why. Nick says in majors, bogey's don't hurt too much, but doubles kill you. And Mark talks about the momentum Foxy had, and Nick loved the iron shot he hit on 17.

06:00 We discuss Foxy's comments about his nerves...

Welcome to our Monday Mini, this week on Tuesday. Why? Truth be told, we were too busy watching the golf, and watching the World Cup Final to do the show....and we knew that you, frankly, with the Open Championship on and the Argentina v Spain final, had better things to do than listen to us knuckleheads.

But, even being a day late, it's a ripper.

Mark Allen famously uses, as a criteria to judge great golf courses, the yardstick of whether he'd be happy to play the course every day for the...

Nick and Mark chime in on this voicemail question from Tim on the Gold Coast, and want your input into the question Tim has asked about the greatest swings ever. Have a listen, and let us know on socials and comments any suggestions you have.

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Fehan from the Peninsula in Victoria has just finished watching day one of The Open Championship and had some thoughts on the commentary that he heard, and left a voicemail for us. Let us know in the comments if you reckon Fehan has nailed it, or you have a different perspective.

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Plenty of comments and questions from you this week for Nick and Mark to discuss on our Friday Feedback pod. But we start with touching on our exciting new competition where you can win a trip for you and a friend to The Cliffs at Kangaroo Island to play 18 holes with Mark Allen and course architect Darius Oliver - the course is not even open yet, and you might get to play it! You can find out how to enter here: https://tr.ee/OAXE2M

Onto the show:

03:00 A suggestion from Rich...

Well this is a bit exciting. A massive competition exclusively for Talk Birdie To Me listeners and viewers.

We are giving one person, and a friend, the opportunity to win a Money Can't Buy Experience at The Cliffs at Kangaroo Island to play 18 holes with Darius Oliver - who designed the course - and Talk Birdie's own Mark Allen. The course is yet to open so this really is special. Inclusions in the prize are:

Massive show today, what a week, it is Open Championship week and whilst we previewed the tournament yesterday, we chat more about it today.

We start with Mark talking about the new FootJoy Legends Series, Harris Tweed Collaboration - with Mark deciding at some point to do a masterclass on how to keep your FootJoys' clean....don't worry, he'll forget about it and we won't remind him. We love FootJoy, but a masterclass on keeping them clean doesn't seem riveting....

Onto the show:

04:00 Haeran Ryu: a great win at The...

The Open Championship is here! What a tournament, what a history. And today Nick and Mark preview The Open.

Mark asks Nick about when he played in The Open Championship in 2008 and Greg Norman led at 54 holes, tied for the lead with 8 holes to play ...and he was retired and spending his time playing tennis !!

As usual we have a look at the power rankings, and we start with a convo about Tommy Fleetwood - this is his home course, and Nick says there is nothing like local knowledge of a course, and...

Today we've got a guest wolfpacker on our Talk Birdie To Me Monday Mini - Nigel from 13th Beach Golf Club in Victoria who is having some pretty serious, and long-term issues with his driving. But before we get into that, the more pressing issue is whether he can give us an update on the duck spring roll debacle at 13th Beach, where they were serving duck spring rolls in 3's rather than 2's or 4's. Crazy talk.

But then, onto the serious stuff. Nige is a good player, he has gotten down to as low...

It's Friday and that means a Friday Feedback pod. Plenty of great comments and questions for Nick and Mark to discuss today.

01:00 Following our conversation a couple of weeks ago about women golfers who were (or are) absolute flushers, there's a couple of suggestions on golfers we missed.

03:00 Nick and Mark discuss the importance of not focusing so much on the quality of your good shots, but the quality of your bad shots....they explain.

04:00 Our discussion about local rules really has sparked some comments, and yes gimmes come up again (much...

Sheez it's a big episode today, we didn't think it necessarily was going to be, but it's ended up being a long one with plenty of good conversation.

01:00 We start with the BMW international on the DP World Tour, won by a 39-year old rookie no less! Nick knows a bit about him and gives some background. Mark talks about how impressive it is, and how for many pros continuing to play beyond a certain point (if you're not making the big bucks) is a huge risk, he tells us how that drive his retirement. And...

Monday Mini today where we look at a comment, and then a question, from wolfpacker Darren.

Darren has an observation, specifically for Mark, about the 'gimme' conversation of recent weeks. Suffice to say that Darren has a different view to Mark, and it is causing trouble for Mark at his club.

After the fun and games of watching Mark squirm, we move onto the question Darren has for Nick and Mark - which is on how long should you use a golf ball prior to replacing it. Is it different in social v...

Tour Pro Scotty Laycock is always good for a story, and he recently re-listened to the pod where Nick and Mark discussed the ANWA when Asterisk Talley self-combusted after a poor decision in a bunker (we've all been there!). Scotty tells a similar (ish) story, and about The Australian Bear vs The Golden Bear, in this voicemail.

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A Friday Feedback pod today, plenty of comments and questions from you.....hopefully a bit more sedate after the drama of yesterday's Mean Tweets episode....brutal....

00:00:00 We have an update on the discussion on the 'rake and replace' local rule from last weeks show.

00:05:00 Couple of comments on the chat last week about the 2009 Australian Open when Mark was absolutely crueled by official Trevor Herden, and a fun story about Tommy Fleetwood from wolfpacker Pete.

00:06:00 Kal from Winnipeg has written in with an observation about the ultimate 'slow play' partnering of Tour...

Hard to believe, but sometimes we get negative, or as we call it, constructive criticism of the show and of us. We occasionally read these out during the feedback section, but today, we thought we'd pull a bunch together and do a bonus mini episode where Nick and Mark read out your 'Mean Tweets' - nothing is off limits, and Nick and Mark are seeing this feedback for the first time as they read it out live on the pod.

Ouch.....

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We start todays show talking about the Travellers and the excitement of the playoff between Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler, it was a fantastic finish, Nick was glued to it and was impressed by the crowds who turned up for the playoff that morning. We go with an early Touch of Class.

3:00 Touch of Class for BMW goes to Viktor for the viking tribute with the crowd, it was a ripper.

4:00 We can't ignore the Phil Mickelson news that has been coming out over the last few days, and Nick and Mark discuss. We'll...

On today's Monday Mini Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen put Australian Tour Pros under the spotlight, the men specifically as the women are killing it. But following a week where no Australian made the cut in the US Open for the first time since somewhere around the 1950's, is there a problem? Certainly you, wolfpackers, seem to think there may be given the volume of correspondence we received following the cut on Friday.

Is there a problem, what is it, and what are some of the ways we could address it? Nick makes an observation about...

Friday Feedback pod today, and it's got an Australian Open flavour, with plenty of comments on the news that the 2027 tournament will be held at Peninsula Kingswood.

First up is Tracey, who simply wanted to say how pleased she was that the AO would be played at her home course, and why wouldn't you be! Mark makes the observation that he things PK has the most impressive 'drive in' in Australia, and that the emerald colour of the course is spectacular at the moment. Nick and Mark discuss when courses go into dormancy.

...

Greg watched the US Open at the weekend and was particularly frustrated with something that he watched occurring, which he feels is becoming increasingly common. He left a voicemail with his concerns - let us know in the comments if you agree with Greg, or have a different view.

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We've all come in a bit bleary eyed after four early starts in a row getting up for the US Open, but we thoroughly enjoyed it, as you no doubt did as well. There was plenty to like, and a few average things as well. We chat about it all on this weeks main pod episode.

1:00We start with the US Open of course, Mark was underwhelmed by Shinnecock Hills, the weather did play a role, we discuss the impact on the early and late players, and how it can work for you or against you...

A Monday Mini today and wolfpacker Will in Sydney has sent a short video in, which we talk through on the pod for audio listeners, showing something that was within the rules of golf many years ago, yet now is not. Will reckons it should be made legal again. Nick and Mark discuss.

And then we talk about some great rule changes over the years and, perhaps more importantly, some of the rule changes that should be made!

It's a quick listen, less than 10-minutes for our Talk Birdie To Me Monday Mini...

Love this voicemail from Travis on the Gold Coast, his 12-year old daughter is learning the game and Travis wanted to a shout out to his local Club Pro at Coolangatta/Tweed, Jay Borra who he raves about. A fantastic testament to the great work PGA Pros do to help grow the game!

We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:

Friday Feedback pod today, and it's good fun as usual. Some ripping questions and comments from you for Nick and Mark to discuss.

1:00 John from Mandalay Golf Club, north of Melbourne, who outlines a local rule at his club which he rates, and is keen on Nick and Marks thoughts on it.

4:00 Andrew from the UK is a righty, who feels he should try putting lefty, and asks Nick about it - plus a question for the boys about dealing with the heeby jeebies.

7:00 Matthew from the US who has an idea...

It's US Open week and it's a big one, particularly for Adam Scott who plays his 100th consecutive major....extraordinary. Nick and Mark discuss this wonderful achievement, and share some insights into how Scotty approaches his game.

Shinnecock Hills is a 'brutal' course, and requires some careful course strategy...even then the weather can play a role and throw plans out the window. Nick and Mark chat about what might happen. We run through the power rankings, and look at who can win and why, and who probably can't. And we frame a multi with our...

What a week. After the excitement yesterday of the PK news, and the co-sanctioning with the PGAT (along with the DPWT), and what that could mean, we've got plenty to run through.

And given that, we thought we'd kick off the show by chatting to Tour Pro, and Peninsula Kingswood royalty, Marcus Fraser about how it came about and whether the excitement levels are off the chart. Marcus reveals that there has been offers before for events at PK, but the board decided to wait for the right event, and that has paid off. Whilst the...

A 'Big News' Pod today with Golf Australia boss James Sutherland announcing some very exciting news relating the 2027 Australian Open, which will be held at Peninsula Kingswood on Melbourne's sandbelt. That wasn't the only news he revealed, it was a big day, and James joined Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen to discuss the announcement.

Nick and Mark ask about the rationale behind PK being played (at the AO) as a composite course, which James talks to, and describes the course as 'a hidden gem', he also reveals that for a long time now Golf Australia have...

It's US Open week for the Men and today's Monday Mini couldn't come at a better time.....more on that in a sec...

But first a couple of winners from our recent Talk Birdie To Me research study....drumroll....

Congrats to David Lindsay from Adelaide who has won 300 bucks to spend on a new pair of FootJoy's, and Simon Tagg from Sydney who has scored $300 to spend at the Golf Clearance Outlet! Well done fellas, and thanks for everyone who took part in our questionnaire, plenty of good things to take out of...

Voicemail from Daff in Brisbane who is a new wolfpacker, and left a message for Nick and Mark saying that a few tips have helped his game out....although we're not entirely sure that a pre-Monthly Bundy & Coke was one of the tips, but it seemed to work for Daff !

We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:

Friday Feedback pod today where you decide where the content on the pod goes. And we start with an excellent question for Nick and Mark from wolfpacker Robert.

01:00 Robert wants to know how Nick and Mark manage the 'the feel of their swing' and when do they lose conscious sight of the ball. A great chat about what Nick and Mark do, and what some of the greats do

06:00 Johnny with a golf cart story from his club.

07:00 John on how he and his golfing buddy use their cart, Mark reveals his...

Another busy pod this week, particularly considering some big tournaments over the weekend! Snapshot of the show below, with rough times of when we talked about the various issues:

1:00We talk Nelly Korda's huge win, that final putNellys win, chat about the win, that final putt in particular, which was thisclose to missing. Nick noticed something about her caddy that he found strange, and mentions to Mark. We look at Nelly's stats, her putting results must have been a record for her, they were exceptional, and Nick discusses an unusual thing Nelly did mid-tournament. We discuss...

We've been getting plenty of feedback and questions lately, so we thought we'd do a bonus feedback pod for a bit of fun.

And we start with wolfpacker Dave coming out of the blocks hot with a whack for Nick and Mark over their comments a week or two ago about what a 14-handicapper would shoot at Augusta.

Todd from the UK asks whether any region in the world has more quality golf courses in a concentrated area than Melbourne, Nick and Mark can only think of one possible contender.

...

A Monday Mini today from a wolfpacker with an unpronounceable name (or is it...), however the comment / question that this person has for Nick and Mark is about the merits of adding a 5th Mens Major, but theming it as a retro major.....everything as it was 30-40 years ago. Nick and Mark discuss how it might look, the gear, the equipment, the rules, the clothing....it's a fun chat. It will never happen, but it's a fun hypothesis to explore.

Nick says that, in the event it were to happen, it would lengthen the gap...

Owen from Axedale in regional Victoria was listening to Nick and Mark talking about 'Shambrose' last week, and called in to explain what they do at his club....sounds like a fun way to do it! Have a listen to Owen's voicemail.

We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:

Friday Feedback today, and for some reason they always seem a touch looser than the usual pods, tis the nature of a friday....

We start with a message from Teddy in Thailand, we did a mini last week on Teddy's grip issues, and he writes in with some more info, and Mark received an email from Ben Jackson the honcho of a grip company with some info on their Thai distributor - who happens to be based where Teddy lives! What are the odds!

We start with some feedback on Marks outrageous behaviour...

Well this is very special. Dottie Pepper is a legend in the golfing world, a wonderful player with a stellar record, and a groundbreaking commentator and today for Hostplus, we're hosting Dottie on Talk Birdie To Me.

We start with Nick and Mark asking Dottie to tell us how she got into golf as a youngster, and her story about how it started, given her Dad's background as a Pro Baseball Player is fantastic. Her setup at home was pretty helpful!

Nick asks her about being the leading player on her high school...

This week is US Open week for the women, and there are a bunch of Aussies playing, a couple with a real shot, we discuss who might be able to win. Nick is veeeery confident about one particular golfer given the nature of the Riviera course, and how it may suit them. Nick gives Mark an impromptu pop quiz on how many Australians, and who they are, have won at Riviera, and we talk about how the course is set up.

Nick and Mark discuss the 10th hole, one of Nicks faves, which leads to a...

Monday today, and that means a Talk Birdie Monday Mini.....before we get into it, Mark decides to give an update on some other thing he's bought on Temu. At this point, Nick and Dan reckon he's on the take and there is some cash for comments going on, that Mark is conveniently cutting Nick and Dan out of. We'll get our lawyer Denis Denuto to look into it, but that's a story for another time.

Technology.....it's an ongoing issue and everyone has an opinion. Today we hear a few, and discuss.

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Firstly apologies. It's a Friday Feedback pod, which is derailed slightly by a new 'hobby' Mark has discovered....which delays the start of the show by a minute or so.

But....once we get back on track, there's plenty of great stuff to discuss. Daz wa watching Alex Smalley and feels he is giving off Nick O'Hern vibes in how he plays, his demeanour. Mark can see that. Speaking of lookalikes, Mark is horrified by Tour Pro Jackson Suber who has modelled his look, his game, and his mannerisms on Keegan Bradley.....of all the players...

On this bonus Talk Birdie Mini, we received a voicemail from Teddy in Thailand, and he has arthritis in his index finger - never ideal for a golf grip. Teddy is after some thoughts from Nick and Mark on options that may help - and whether you're in Teddy's position or not, the grip conversation and advice is a fascinating listen.

We discuss the various grip options, the Greg Norman grip, the 10-finger grip, the interlock, and chat about the best kind of gloves that may help Teddy.

Some time ago Mark watched...