Talk Birdie To Me

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 course will play as a composite, he is yet to have a decent look at the routing, however he said the excitement around the club is huge. For Hostplus, the AO at PK is our plus for golf this week.

Mark questions why the even need the composite approach, which he and Nick discuss.

This weeks BMW Touch of Class is easy. Last week, just after we recorded the pod, we heard the news that the legendary Brian Twite from Metropolitan had passed away only 2 months shy of turning 100. Mark tells a great story about getting in trouble from Brian when he (Mark) was a mischievous kid doing what mischievous kids do, and being chased by Brian on a motorbike on a golf course!

Mark read this week that LIV are saying that they have a number of Australian sponsors who are interested, and Mark asks Nick - where have they been for the last decade ? On LIV, with rumours (unsubstantiated) of money not forthcoming to wrap up the season, what could that mean were it to occur. Mark read this week about the details of Jon Rahm's LIV deal, the numbers are mind-blowing, and Nick describes them as 'silly'.

Nick and Mark discuss how it is disappointing that the prizemoney in Australia today, is pretty much what it was 30-years ago.

It is US Open week, we touch on it briefly today - not because we're not excited but because we'll do a preview pod over the next day or two and get into some real detail about the tournament. We do discuss Shinnecock, and some of the adjustments to the course - particularly the widening. Nick describes this course as 'brutal'.

After the turn, as if he needed another reason, Mark has found one to criticise the world feed over. Nick reckons Charlie Woods may well be on the bag in the US Open, that would be interesting.

Nicks Top 5 this week for Betr, and he lists his Top 5 memorable moments from Australasian players, one player makes two entries!

For Southern Golf Club, into feedback:

Ron has a fun fact about Nelly Korda's win a week or so back, Ken and John each have some feedback on Marks 'Swatters' Top 5 from last week, we hear some great stories about Sandy Lyle. Lots of feedback on our video from The Furrows last week - see it here - Gards, Angela, and Pete loved it, Wolfpacker Mark has a question for our Mark about his putter, and Ali Whittaker, commentator extraordinaire, enjoyed Nick showing different shots for how different people play. And on The Furrows video, a whack from Soph for one team member who gets a little defensive over it.

The overwhelming feedback was that you want more of that sort of stuff, so we think one a month might be good....let us know in the comments if you reckon that would be worthwhile (or not).

Message, and a request, from Simon over the international feed, and Mark goes rogue and lays the blame for the international feed's very existence at the feet of one person. He names the person who he blames, and explains why he believes that said person is responsible. Ouch.

Few more bits of feedback, Darren on the 3-club challenge, Dodgy on the 7-club tournament idea, and Stephen has what is essentially a crack at Nick O'Hern...!

PING Globals from Nick, not a hugely busy week in golf, but a few things going on around the world. Mark read a tweet from Ryan at Monday Q on 'Why Cuts Matter' which he discusses, and Nick and Mark discuss the strategy behind attempting to qualify for a major.

And for the Golf Clearance Outlet, Marks masterclass is on 'finishing balanced'.
We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:

Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partner
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;
The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;
And Southern Golf Club.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 'harboured a desire to have our national open at Peninsula Kingswood'.

Nick is curious as to what, if anything, this means for the North Adelaide deal and puts that to James. Mark asks about the move to co-sanction now not only with the DPWT, but now with the PGA World Tour

mark wants to know about the co-sanctioning with the not only the DPWT, but the PGAT. And he asks what this means for prizemoney. James says that we now have certainty of where the national open will be played for the next 7-years, and in 2027 we'll see a 'significant boost to prizemoney'. He goes on to say that Golf Australia have the highest of aspirations for the open, and the intent is for it to be one of the Top 10 Golf events in the world.

A busy day for James, he is being chased by plenty of people, but we managed to keep him for a few more minutes to put a couple of wolfpacker questions to him. Craig asks if the LIV factor played a role in the PGAT getting involved, and will their involvement remain if LIV collapses. Evan wants the Masters to return and asks James if there is a chance that can happen.

A big day for Australian golf, and great to hear the news from the guy who did the deal.
We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:

Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partner
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;
The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;
And Southern Golf Club.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 it, and plenty for us to improve....we appreciate you taking the time.

Now, onto the Monday Mini. Wolfpacker Craig has written in saying that this week is the anniversary of one of his all time fave golfing memories....the 2006 US Open, Nick O'Hern stalking the field and shooting the lights out on the Sunday, Phil Mickelson melting down, Colin Montgomerie falling away on the final day, and Geoff Ogilvy coming home with the chocolates. Just an incredible tournament to watch where scoring low was at a premium that weekend.

Nick talks us through the first 3-days, and then in detail what happened on the sunday, saying that the course was 'brutally tough', and that there was carnage happening everywhere. He talks through where it went wrong for Monty, and for Mickelson. And then we look at some of Nick's figures. He finished T6, which is impressive by any standard, however whilst he has very fond memories he does recall that as his one chance to win a major, which he let get away.

A fantastic Monday Mini with some wonderful memories of 2006.

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

Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partner
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;
The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;
And Southern Golf Club.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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:

Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partner
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;
The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;
And Southern Golf Club.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 cart plan for when he gets older, and Nick tells a very funny story about his cart experience at Cathedral at the weekend.
08:00 Another John, who lets us know about his club's twice annual 3-club event. Nick and Mark discuss what their 3 clubs would be.
10:00 Beckom has an issue with golf associations and PGA's around the world not enforcing behaviour and etiquette from Tour Pros.

After the turn, last week Mark asked people to nominate some of the YouTube golf instructional channels they watch and enjoy, and we had a bunch.

12.00 We had input from Carl, David, Seve and Ian....plus Mark listed a couple he likes.
17.00 Nick reveals a bizarre fact about his Dad....one that will blow your mind, two actually, one to do with eggs, the other to do with baseball. They're both impressive, the egg one is wild.
19:00 Another YouTube comment from Jeff, who went recently to the Titleist Performance Institute to get tested....he has sent in a short clip of his swing for Nick and Mark to review.
20:00 Message from Craig on Monty, leading to Mark telling a story about when Monty went to Houston for college and how his golfing ability was considered pretty ordinary at that time, Nick jumps on with an extraordinary story about Monty nearly not pursuing golf as a career, until one fortuitous moment.

And we end the pod with Mark putting our podcast license at risk....
We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:

Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partner
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;
The Find My Player app - follow every player on every tour;
And Southern Golf Club.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.