Talk Birdie To Me

Nick O'Hern & Mark Allen | Kaizen Media

Tour Pro's Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen talk golf every week on Talk Birdie To Me. The latest news, issues, and stories from Australia and Worldwide. As two golfers who played at the highest level, they tell it like it is, and take you behind the scenes to get an inside look into the world of golf.

Nick O’Hern reached #16 in the world rankings and is the only player ever to beat Tiger Woods twice in matchplay. Mark Allen is a former Touring Pro of 15 years - played a British Open at Carnoustie, and in his career has hit 12 hole in ones.....you can see the video of one of them here.

Together, they host Talk Birdie To Me each week from Titleist and FootJoy Headquarters. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or watch on YouTube.

A huge thanks to our Talk Birdie To Me partners:

Hostplus - the official retirement partner of Talk Birdie To Me;
BMW - luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;
Titleist - the #1 ball in golf;
FootJoy - the #1 shoe and ball in golf;
The Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;
Betr, ahead of the game
Find My Player - track any player on any tour in seconds.
And Southern Golf Club.

Follow, subscribe and listen or watch Talk Birdie To Me here: https://linktr.ee/TalkBirdieToMe

Executive Producer: Kaizen Media.

Sound Design: Loud Zebra.

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20 episodes
Updated Tuesday

Episodes20

Newest first

Tuesday · 57 min
Ep216: Our Top 5 Golf Swing List is Critiqued by you...who did we miss? And Mark: 'What Company Would Possibly Invest in LIV?'
Slightly different episode today as Nick is in New Zealand on holidays for a week or so with the family, so it sounds a tad different to usual, but plenty to discuss as always! 01:00Nick is in Millbrook, near Queenstown in New Zealand and gives us a snapshot of what he's doing and how it looks (hint: it is beautiful!) 02:00Royal Lytham hosted the WOmens Open, and Shiho Kuwaiti had a stunning playoff win to claim the title. Nick talks about what he loves about Royal Lytham, what a course. 04:00On the Open, more specifically Mens and Womens majors, Nick feels they're too close together and explains why. Mark has a different view. 05:00Yesterday we confirmed in a bonus news pod that Rory McIlroy would be staying in Australia after the AO to play the Cathedal Invitational, Nick is likely to play the tournament as well....can he take Rory? 06:00Massive news on golf architects OCM - they have been appointed to redo one of the worlds greatest golf courses. Mark reveals the news that he has heard from a member at the actual club. 08:00We discuss Cypress Point. Mark calls it a 'sacred place', Nick says arguably the best parcel of land that a golf course is on anywhere in the world. They discuss their experiences playing the course, and what they'd love to see improved. 12:00Nick talks about playing Cypress with surfer Kelly Slater. 14:00Plenty of LIV news. We discuss their search for sponsorships, and Mark is doubtful that the eyeballs will be enough for the money they want given LIV 'only worked in 2 or 3 markets'. 20:00LIV's player payments are reportedly unpaid, which does not bode well 22:00Nick awards our BMW Touch of Class to Donald Trump for his 'humility' in 'winning' the Club Championship at Bedminster. If you missed his comments, Nick reads them out. And for clarity, we are being sarcastic over 1) him winning and 2) him showing any humility. 23.30Mark awards our Hostplus Plus for Golf to Nelly Korda for her gift to a young fan in the UK, a real plus for golf from a superstar. 25:00We discuss the winner of the Rocket Classic in Michigan, Michael rocket classic winner Michael Thorbjornsen, a very talented young pro who we love. 27:00Nick found some great stats this week - average numbers from PGA Tour Pros, they make for sobering reading for aspiring pros, and Mark points out a couple of stats that if you are aspiring, or know someone who is, to turn pro that you need to be all over. After the turn: 34:00Our Top 5 for Betr, Mark lists the Top 5 golf course renovations at clubs he has seen, and why. He also defines great renovations in a slightly ususual way.... 37:00Okay - during the Turn we saw some breaking news from our mates at Flushing It Golf about LIV, specifically that they have given a number of employees and contractors notice that their employment will end in September. We discuss this evolving story which will develop further over the coming days. 39:00Nick runs through the Global results highlights. 42:30Feedback for Southern Golf Club....phew okay....last weeks Top 5 swings got a mountain of feedback, and we run through some of the names you said should be there. One was mentioned above all others. Do Nick and Mark double down on their list or do they amend the 'indisputable' list, rendering the name completely ironic? 50:00 Few more bits of feedback on Lucas Glover's spikes video, Cam Smiths 9 birdies in a row, and we discuss if we can claim South Korea's Jenny Shin as an Aussie? 53.00And we wrap on a masterclass for the Golf Clearance Outlet from Nick live from Queenstown where he discusses Michael Thorbjornsen's 10-finger grip. Note: audio on the masterclass is a touch dodgy this week, it's listenable, but not as good as we'd like - apologies. Big show today !!! 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; 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.
Tuesday · 5 min
CONFIRMED: Rory McIlroy to play Cathedral Invitational in Victoria
There have been rumours for a week or so, but today Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen can confirm that Rory McIlroy has been confirmed to play the Cathedral Invitational in December following The Australian Open. It's big news and very exciting. Nick explains to Mark how it came about and the role Adam Scott played in getting Rory to come on this bonus Talk Birdie To Me pod today. 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; 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.
Sunday · 18 min
Monday Mini: Nick and Mark design their 'Perfect Golf Course'.
A Monday Mini today, and it is inspired by a comment from a wolfpacker who listened to our recent Graham Marsh episode, where Swampy talked about his career - including significant work designing golf courses. They suggested Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen should design a golf course....and we thought, okay, if Nick and Mark were to design a course what elements would they make sure were there, what style of course would it be, what would they build? So we asked. What are the must have elements? What par would the course be, and would it be different in tournament golf (of course). We pick the mix of par 3's, 4's, 5's. Are there any holes at other courses that they might take inspiration from? And a sideline where we chat about the time when Metropolitan Golf Course hosted the World Matchplay, Mark tells a couple of stories. Nick muses over whether the opening hole should be a 'warm handshake' or a 'kick in the teeth'. Mark is a fan of having a quirk on the course, he names a couple of quirks that he likes. He also would like plaques around the course, so it is 'dripping with history'. We discuss the style of clubhouse we'd build, and some of the elements that would be included in the clubhouse. Would there be a driving range? Mark is keen on having a Team Matchplay comp at the course. Nick is keen for the final hole to be a risk/reward hole. Mark agrees, as long as it is not a big green. So there it is. In about 15 minutes, Nick and Mark have designed a cracking golf course (and club house). Now we just need to find $100 million or so and we can build it ! Let us know if you reckon we've missed anything that should be included in the course, or if you disagree with any of the inclusions. 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; 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.
July 30 · 28 min
Friday Feedback: World Thank a PGA Pro Day, Putting, Pre-Shot Routines, and Mark Reveals a Fun 'Golf' Fact about Footy Star Matty Lloyd
Can't believe it's friday already, yet here we are....and another Friday Feedback pod, a big one today. We start by chatting about the inaugural 'World Thank a PGA Pro Day', which is today! 01:00We talk about World Thank a PGA Pro Day, what it's all about and what it is designed to achieve. 01:30Mark names the Pro he'd like to thank and explains why this person has had such an impact on him, and what they did for him 04:00Nick names his Pro that he'd like to thank, and similarly outlines the reasons why. We'd love to hear your stories - who is the PGA Pro you'd like to thank and why? 05:30Onto the feedback - we start with a comment from Robert in Canada about Moe Norman and Calvin Peete. 06:30A question from (another) Robert in the United States about Aaron Rai's putting. It's an excellent question, and Nick and Mark discuss at length. 10:00Robert Allenby's putting. 11:00A question about pre-shot routines. Nick and Mark discuss why they're important and how to develop yours. 14:00Mark explains what footballers could learn from pro golfers. 17:30 Speaking of footballers.....what is Essendon AFL star Matty Lloyd's connection to golf and how did it influence his footy career? Mark explains. After the turn: 19:30We announce the second (of eight) people to go in the draw to win a trip to The Cliffs at Kangaroo Island! If you haven't entered, hop to it, the details here. 22:00Mathew from Port Kembla Golf Club in beautiful Wollongong on a slow play rule that has been implemented at the club. Do Nick and Mark rate the rule or not? 23:00 Justin played, as did Mark, the Shell Schoolboys event when hue was 14. He loved it, his parents loved it more. 24:30 We run through 3 or 4 of the pick in our Monty caption contest - at least the ones that were clean enough to read out - and Nick and Mark (okay Mark) pick a winner of $250 to spend at the Golf Clearance Outlet. 27:00And we finish with a request from Jason for Nick and Mark to do something on a future show. That's our Friday Feedback show, have a ripper weekend! 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; 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.
July 29 · 14 min
Mini: The Talk Birdie To Me 'Can't Be Beaten' Top 5 Golf Swings of All Time!!'
A couple of weeks ago we had a voicemail from Tim on the Gold Coast asking Nick and Mark to list their Top 5 greatest golf swings ever, Tim suggested that on his list Vijay Singh and Fred Couples would be a lock. Do Nick and Mark agree with Tim on that? Do they agree with each other! On today's Mini, Nick and Mark construct in real time their absolute, rock-solid, Top 5 Greatest Swings of All Time - using the criteria of fundamentals and rhythm as their reference points. It would be fair to see this list evolves through the episode a number of times, both in content and order. And there is one legendary golfer Mark wants to put on the list who Nick vetoes! We'd love your thoughts in the comments. Have Nick and Mark got it right? Are they off the mark? Is there an obvious name they've missed? Love your input when you've had a listen to our Talk Birdie To Me Mini today. 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; 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.
July 27 · 1 hr 3 min
Ep215: Lucas Herbert Wins LIV with a 30-Under tournament! And we discuss an emerging star who 'could be the greatest golfer of all time'.
Another big episode today, what a win from Lucas Herbert, that was quite the performance - 10 under in the last round, 11 under in the first round, to finish 30 under!!! 01:00We chat about Lucas' performance, and Team Ripper's win. 02:00Not a bad payday for Travis Smythe. 03:00LIV's payments, are they being made, and what are the changes proposed by the LIV CEO - particularly with the teams event looking doubtful. 04:00Elvis Smylie - we'll try to get him on, he's our guy and he may have some insights into LIV. Mark asks Nick should he play a few more DPWT events? 05:30Mark gives Nick a new (hypothetical) job as life coach/manager for Lucas Herbert and wants Nick to outline next steps for Lucas. 07:00Should the PGA allow the LIV players to play the Challenger Tour? 09:00Should Lucas go to the DPWT or Challenger Tour? 10.30Where should Lucas be ranked all things considered. He is 69th at the moment, but where should he be? 11.30Mark and Nick talk about the emergence at the weekend of Jackson Koivun, his history, and his win at the 3M in only his 3rd professional start. We look at his performance, and his swing, which is brutal. 16:00Nick and Mark call it a 'young mans' swing, and Nick does not believe he will be able to have this swing in 10-years time. 18:00Mark says that his spine is supple at the moment and can allow a swing like this, but it can't stay that way. 19:00However, Jackson Koivun is our Hostplus plus for golf this week....he does appear to be a very special player. 20:00Mark talks about Jackson's putting, and Nick has heard a few things about his mental strength and his confidence. 23:00Mark awards his BMW Touch of Class to Mark Mark Calcavecchia, Cam Percy and Richard Green collectively and explains why. 24:30Prior to the turn, Mark springs an idea on Nick and Dan without warning. He went to a fancy dinner last week, and had some feedback on his recent 'watchlist' of players he has a question mark over. He decides to have a running watchlist on the show. After the turn: 30:00The first ever World Thank a PGA Pro Day is coming up this friday, we chat about it and on Friday Nick and Mark will name the PGA Pro they'd like to thank. 31:00Nicks Top 5 for Betr - the young golfers who were touted as the 'next big things', however to some degree or another it didn't quite eventuate. 38:00For Southern Golf Club, plenty of feedback to run through.... 39:00We start with Bryson, there was so much reaction to Marks comments about Bryson last week, we don't read any out, but there were a mountain of comments. 40:00There was plenty on our Graham Marsh chat, and universally positive as you'd expect. 43:00A question as to why we didn't discuss Scottie Scheffler's TIO relief at Royal Birkdale last week. 46:00Some feedback on Marks Top latecomers to golf. 48:00Nick takes us around the world in the Global Result highlights 49:30This is fun...Mark has a 59 to rate. This time Michael Kim's 59 from the 3M in Minnesota. 55:00And we wrap with a masterclass from Mark for the Golf Clearance Outlet, he has noticed Jackson Koivun doing something unusual with his practise swings on short putts, and talks through it. Phew...another big show ! 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; 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.
July 26 · 12 min
Monday Mini: What Age is it okay for Kids to have Golf Lessons? Nick outlines the '4 ways to learn to play golf'.
A Monday Mini today following an email we received from Trigger. So, here's the scenario. Trigger's young fella is 6-years old, and loves his golf. At the moment he's just playing for fun, which is perfect. Trigger is wondering, and would like Nick and Mark's view, what is the right age to get his son some lessons or is it best to let him just keep playing for fun for now. Nick and Mark have some thoughts and chat through them, and give a couple of tips. We then talk about Nick and Marks first lessons, how old were they, who were the lessons from. Mark talks about what he learned from watching one guy at his club when he was a kid. Nick discusses the 'four ways' of learning to play golf, and explains how he rebuilt his swing using one of the techniques - which was coincidentally the same technique that Jack Nicklaus used. Mark tells a story, which he is unsure is true and asks if anyone can confirm or otherwise, about a golfer who went to prison for 15-years and rebuilt his swing successfully while in prison. And you may recall we offered a prize last week if anyone could provide video footage of Boo Weekley in the boxing ring with an orangutan....nobody was able to, but Pete did message us saying that whilst to his knowledge no footage exists, there was a chat on a US podcast where Boo talked about it. We play a clip on todays show - you can watch the full episode of that chat with Boo on the Dale Earnhardt Jnr podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBRgQo42t44 Happy Monday ! 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; 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.
July 25 · 1 min
☎️ Voicemail: Anthony from Victoria: 'Bryson has a Responsibility to Golf'
Plenty of conversations over the last week or so on Bryson's actions at The Open Championship, and various different perspectives. Anthony from Victoria has a different angle on it, and left Nick and Mark a voicemail with his thoughts. 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; 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.
July 23 · 29 min
Friday Feedback: Monty, Slow Play, A Whack for Mark, Caddy Chat, and our first 'The Cliffs at Kangaroo Island' finalist announced!
A Friday Feedback pod today, with plenty on the agenda to run through, including announcing the first person in the draw (there will be 8 ultimately in the draw) to win a trip for two to play The Cliffs at Kangaroo Island with Mark Allen and course designer Darius Oliver! But first, to your comments and questions: 01:00We had a lot of comments about Montys comments on slow play, and plenty of people sent the link to us. And many were interested that Mark and Monty might be in agreement on something. Nick and Mark delve into one of their favourite topics about things that should be banned, or enforced, in professional golf that would assist with dealing with slow play. 03:00Mark and Nick discuss how a fast player like Ryan Fox would feel about being partnered with a slow player like Keegan Bradley. 04:00Could a shot clock work in golf? 05:00More feedback on Monty's comments 06:00A few bits of feedback on Marks Tommy Fleetwood's comments from last week, including a MASSIVE whack for a certain Mr Allen. 09:00Mark outlines why he believes Tommy absolutely wants a major, and relates it on a different level to his career. 10:30Comment on Sir Nick Faldo's comments about tees from last week After the turn: 14:00Kangaroo Island first winner 16:00Wolfpacker suggests a specific grip for driving and is interested in Nick and Marks thoughts 18:00Mark tells a great story about a Tour Pro, and names him, who won a tournament and was drunk every single day of the competition 19:00Carl saw something during The Open Championship that Lucas Herberts caddy was doing which he is curious about 20:00Chat about Lucas Herberts caddy, and caddies more broadly and how hard they work 22:00Slow play - specifically to do with the flag 23:00A wolfpacker mentions that they play better on courses that they don't know - Nick and Mark discuss their experiences on new courses 24:00Question about hole in one's - could be controversial..... 26:00Nick talks about one of his hole in one's in the Singapore Open 26:30Dan springs an idea on Nick.....need your feedback on this idea.....! Happy friday, have a great weekend, hit em well ! 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; 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.
July 22 · 38 min
Guest Show: Australian Golfing Legend Graham Marsh
Graham Marsh is, by any measure, one of our greatest ever golfers. In his career he won 70 events, including winning on the US Tour, winning 10 times in Europe, 20 times in Japan, and beating Raymond Floyd to win the World Matchplay Championship. Mark describes him as our most under-rated golfer ever, and it's hard to argue. Today, for Hostplus, we chat to Graham about his wonderful life in golf. 01:30He tells us how it started, how he got into golf. 03:00The advice his Mum gave him, and why he qualified as a school teacher before he could pursue professional golf 04:00Mark asks Graham if he recalls the moment that he decided he wanted to be a professional golfer 06:00Graham talks about playing internationally, and the one country that was tougher than anywhere. 07:00The leaders and mentors who helped him, and other younger players, at the time he was coming through 08:00Why going to Japan was a great move 10:00Coming 3rd in his first tournament 12:00Graham talks about the need for a 'sense of adventure' 13:00 Mark recalls watching Graham win at Huntingdale as a kid, and his Dad telling him to watch how still he kept his head. Graham talks about that. 14:00 He tells Nick and Mark the 'worst lesson' that golfers were taught back in the day. 16:00Graham won the Scottish Open, it's a great story, he talks us through in detail how he came back from 5 shots down to win the tournament. 20:00On beating Raymond Floyd in the World Matchplay Championship After the turn 23:00Nick recalls with great fondness as a youngster, his time in the Graham Marsh junior golf academy in Western Australia. Graham talks about how the academy came about, and the rules he put in place to ensure it delivered outcomes. 25:00Graham has had a wildly successful golf course design career, what was the first course or hole he ever designed? It will surprise you! 28:00 The favourite course that he ever designed and why. 31.00Graham was consistently a strong performer in British Opens, Mark asks why that was the case, why did he perform so well there? 33:00 One of the things that he admired about the games of Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros. 33.30 He talks about his mentor in golf course design. 34:00 And for Hostplus, what is next for him? What is the focus for his life these days, and how does the next period of life look? 35:30 Graham tells us why he enjoyed playing Pro Ams, and how often he plays these days A fantastic guest pod today for Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official superannuation partner, with an Australian golfing legend: Graham Marsh. 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; 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.
July 21 · 58 min
Ep214: Ryan Fox's Massive Win, Cam John: a Wonderful First Major, and Mark Allen says: 'Bryson is a Wanker', and explains why.
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 on the final day. 07:00 One thing (of a few) that annoyed Mark about The Open tournament. 09:00 Mark was disappointed, for Lucas, that he couldn't hang on to finish Top 5 given what it would have meant for him in the US. 09:30 LIV not looking good atm, and Mark reckons Lucas' is so talented that he should be playing with the top golf talent, Nick says that will l; have to happen via the DP World Tour. 11.00 Mark loves Sam Burns game and thought that he had the tournament won, he reckons Burns is not the best player on tour not to win a major - and has overtaken Tommy Fleetwood for that title. 12.00 Nick talks about Foxy's phone call home after the win. Very funny. 13.00 Nick explains to Mark that Foxy has been copping flak for withdrawing from the 3M open this week, was it the right call? Nick and Mark discuss. Mark says that with The Open Championship next year at St Andrews, a course Foxy has won at before and that suits his game, next year will be very interesting. 14.00 Cameron John, what a performance in his first major, and Mark awards him our Hostplus 'Plus for Golf' this week....Mark would love to get him on the show, homework for Nick to arrange as he has a contact. 16.00 Okay, onto Day 2. Bryson. Nick and Mark comment that Bryson knew exactly where to stomp to help his situation, we discuss the scenario and what happened. Mark said Bryson knew what he was doing and would have known it was in violation, Nick is a bit more reserved and believes Bryson was very careless. 18.00 Mark says that, in part, the officials are in part to blame for what Bryson did given they have been tolerating it. 20.00 Nick talks about the reactions from other pros to what happened. 22.00 Mark was unimpressed by Bryson's reaction to what happened, the threats he made, the display he put on, and says that Bryson is a massive wanker for this kind of behaviour, and awards the BMW Touch of Class to the R&A for standing up to him and holding firm on their decision. 24.00 Mark asks Nick if Rory would have said what he did about Bryson if he was in contention. 25.30 Brysons subtle dig at Sir Nick Faldo over his golf strategy comments 27.00 The commentary team - Nick and Mark loved it, and explain what they loved about it 28:00And notwithstanding Marks touch of class, a wolfpacker has a different idea After the turn: 32:00 Marks Top 5 for Betr: golfers who came late to the game and achieved great things. Foxy at #5. 35:00 Nick and Mark talk about their age when they first picked up a golf club. 37.00 Dan has a bone to pick with Mark over something from last weeks show. 38.00 Nick runs through highlights from the global results 40:00 Some exciting news from Mark on Claude Harmon, and we reveal that tomorrow we'll chat to the legendary Graham Marsh on the show! 42:30 Nick has a ripping Foxy stat. 44:00 Feedback for Southern Golf Club, heavily weighted towards Ryan Fox and The Open Championship. The results, pace of play. 48:00 Feedback on Bryson being 'a target', and the results of our Twitter poll on Brysons 2-shot penalty. 51:00 Questions about watering Open courses, and a comment on the changes to Royal Birkdale. 53:00 A question about the draw on day 2 of majors, and why it isn't in lowest score order, like day 3 and 4 are. 55.30And for the Golf Clearance Outlet Nick O'Hern has a Ryan Fox inspired masterclass today on how to play Fairway Bunkers. Massive show ! 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; 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.
July 20 · 11 min
Monday (ahem Tuesday) Mini: Which Pros swing would Nick and Mark choose to have for the rest of their life (forsaking all others!)
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 rest of his life. Today, a twist. Nick and Mark need to select a current, and a former, players golf swing that they can have, and only have that swing, for the rest of their life. It's a fascinating chat as they work through the options, the pros, the cons, live on the show before each settling on the two players that they each would select. And whilst Monty doesn't get a Guernsey for either Nick or Mark, he does get a (sort of) honourable mention from Nick - which reminds Dan of a pic sent in from wolfpacker Tim of Monty playing Tiger and the shot that Tim has given us is Monty in a, might we say, less flattering moment. We decide to run a caption contest - $250 to spend at the Golf Clearance Outlet for the caption that we rate the most amusing. We'll give it a week or so, and reveal the winner next week on one of the shows. The pic is on socials - comment on the post on either Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and you'll be in the draw. Fun stuff. Thanks for listening to our Monday, ahem, Tuesday Mini today! 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; 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.
July 18 · 1 min
☎️ Voicemail: Tim from the Gold Coast. Greatest Swing Ever !
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. 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; 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.
July 16 · 1 min
☎️ Voicemail: Fehan from the Peninsula on The Open Championship Commentary
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. 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; 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.
July 16 · 25 min
Friday Feedback: Has Sir Nick Faldo 'Cracked the Code' re: Distance? Aussie (Male) Golfers Under-Performing, and Different Balls for Different Moments
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 on a Tour Pro who we missed in our recent Top 5 players who were (or are) cheered against. 04:00 Tim asks Nick and Mark if pros were allowed to use different balls for different clubs and shots in tournaments would they? Nick and Mark run through the various scenarios and the ball, or kind of ball, they'd have used were they able to change it up. 05.30 Drew on Aussie golfers underperforming, and makes some big calls on a few big names. Michael says something similar and asks who the next batch of golfers coming through here. Nick and Mark give their thoughts, and agree that our male golfers are generally underperforming, whilst the women are flying. Mark believes going to Europe would be helpful, and that covid did not help. 08.00 We talk about the need for young pros, or aspiring pros, to have a sense of adventure if they are going to make it in golf. 09:00 Nick talks through some of the young Aussie pros he rates as having potential. 10.30 Mark discusses why limiting the number of limit of Pro Ams that you play in, as a young pro, is important. 11.00 A question for Nick, a hypothetical (or is it) on a 'wine-based bet' on his performance of certain shots. After the turn: 13.00 Andrew had a session with Nick a few months ago, and wrote in with the improvement (or otherwise) in his game, and he also saw comments this week from Sir Nick Faldo about reducing distance and is interested to hear Nick and Mark's thoughts on Faldo's comments. 15:00 We discuss how shorter tees might work. 17.00 Robert has written on a way has heard that some pros keep balls warm during winter. Nick and Mark discuss (legal) ways of keeping your golf balls warm. 19.00 Al has a question about the Womens Opens' and where they are played. 20.30 And we finish on a fun comment from Steve in France. A cracking Friday Feedback pod leading into a massive weekend of watching the Open Championship , and then figuring out how on earth we'll manage flicking back and forth between the final stages of The Open and the Argentina v Spain World Cup final ..... eeek !!! 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; 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.
July 15 · 17 min
Win a Money Can't Buy Experience at The Cliffs at Kangaroo Island !!!
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: Flights to Kangaroo Island from a major Australian or New Zealand airport for you and a friend. One nights accom in a Deluxe 2 bedroom villa at the Seafront Holiday Park in Penneshaw including breakfast. Dinner and Drinks at the Penneshaw Pub 18 holes for you and a friend with Mark Allen and Darius Oliver, renowned course architect and designer of The Cliffs Kangaroo Island (and Cape Wickham!) Lunch included Titleist and FootJoy gift pack Details on how to enter in a sec. Today we chat with Darius Oliver about The Cliffs at Kangaroo Island, he tells Nick and Mark how the course is coming along, if he's making any last minute adjustments, and whether he is excited, apprehensive, nervous - all of the above - about the official opening later this year. It's a stunning site, but one not without some water challenges, he explains the approach to water for the various parts of the course. Darius outlines the 3 highlight holes of the course for him, although he notes that because every hole is so different this will be different for everyone....but he does say that he wants everyone to fall in love with the things that he is in love with about the island and the course. It's very exciting, and The Cliffs at Kangaroo Island looks like being a very special golf course. So thanks to The Cliffs at Kangaroo Island, FootJoy and Titleist, how can you win this fantastic Money Can't Buy Experience? Send us a pic of a golfing moment that is special to you and why, could be a golfing experience, a golf trip with friends, anything, just something memorable to you. Each week, for 8-weeks, we'll choose one pic we like to go in the draw. This will mean there are 8 people in the draw which we'll do early September, and the trip is late November, you'll need to be available on November 20/21. Here's the link to enter: https://tr.ee/OAXE2M Good luck ! 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; 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.
July 14 · 58 min
Ep213: The Evian, The Open Championship. Why does Mark say 'Tommy Fleetwood is Talking Crap' and 'Augusta should be Ashamed of Themselves'? Sheez.
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 Evian, Nick watched plenty and tells us what happened - particularly the final day. Nick says that whilst it is not a great course, it consistently produces exciting finishes. The Aussie women had an ordinary tournament, the majority missing the cut. 08:00 Royal Birkdale. We discuss some of the great finishes and performances over the years, Nick describes 2008 as the toughest course for an open he ever played. Mark talks more about Greg Norman that year, considering he was retired, it was extraordinary. And we trace back some of the notable moments, including being introduced (and how!) to Justin Rose in 98. 13:00 Mark has an idea for The Open Championship which would pay respect to history, and reckons it needs to happen. 15.30 Similarly, Nick suggests an idea for The Australian Open at Kingston Heath later this year. 17.00 Nicks plus for golf for Hostplus is the Open's last chance spot, which was won by Joe Dean with his fiancee on the bag, a great story! 19.00 Some changes to Royal Birkdale this year, Mark chats about some of the changes they've made to the course. 20.00 Our BMW Touch of Class come from Mark this week, and he awards it to Tommy Fleetwood, we hear the audio 23:30 We run the ruler over the Australians in The Open Championship. 24.30 Cam Smiths' swing changes, the new Claude Harmon swing. It looks good, Nick and Mark are impressed 27.30 Nick explains when, as a pro, he adjusted his swing under a new coach 28.30 We chat about Min Woo Lees chances, Jason Day's lack of form, Adam Scott could be a chance, Cam John, Lucas Herbert's stinger capability, Travis Smythe. 30.00 Three kiwis playing: Ryan Fox, Daniel Hillier,and Kazuma Kobori - Nick likes Kazuma this week and explains why. 30.30 Nick and Mark give their tips for who will win, and their dark horses. After the turn 33.00 Reminder of our Talk Birdie Betr multi which you can see here. 13 bucks for Matt Fitzpatrick Top 10, Bryson to miss the cut, and a non-US winner. 34.00 A fun Top 5 from Nick - his Top 5 golf plaques around the world, in honour of the Grace Kim plaque at The Evian. 36.00 Mark tells the story about nearly being killed by Tiger Woods driving the green in Thailand. 37.00 Back to the top 5 - Mark is seemingly unimpressed by Nicks number 1 40.00 Mark has seen a trailer on Netflix for a new golf movie that he reckons looks good, he's forgotten the name, he'll get back to us later in the show 40.30 feedback on our unusual swings Top 5, our chat around Michael Hollick's DPWT win as a 39 year old amateur from an unexpected source, and a question from Matt about the Scottish Open 43:00 Nick and Mark discuss moving the Scottish Open to different courses. 44.00 Feedback on Paddy Harrington from last week, Anton has a great story about Grace Kim from The Evian 45:00 Craig asked about Minjee's form. 46:00 Malcolm enjoyed the pod with wolfpacker Nigel earlier this week, Nigel has the yips, we'll check in with him in a month or two. 47.00 Nick runs through the results from, around the world in the global highlights. 49.00 Hold the phone.....Nick says something positive about the world feed! 50.30 We offer a reward for anyone who can provide video of Boo Weekley fighting an orangutan. If you've got any...we want it! 51.30 And we want to hunt down the footage from Channel 7 of Jack Newton's cross after the Scottish Open in the 90s 53.00 For the Golf Clearance Outlet, Marks masterclass is on keeping your putter low - inspired by Jordan Speith. A fun pod today!! 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; 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.
July 14 · 24 min
The Open Championship Preview: The Potential Winners, The Leading Aussie, and the Player Nick says is 'Brutal' to watch.
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 Mark says he is the best player to not win a major, so it could be a good weekend for him. Nick notes that Min Woo's iron play is looking much better, and his short game is on point. Mark says this course suits Min Woo, and he is one of the best stinger players he's ever seen, and he deserves to be considered the leading Australian in the field. Mark talks about how this course has seen plenty of great putters win, seems to suit them. Nick isn't looking forward to seeing Tom Kim play, describing him as 'brutal' to watch (in reference to his pace). Scheffler is #5 in the power rankings, and Mark feels he knows why that is the case. Nick's 'concern' about Scottie this week is his putting. Rory #4 in the power rankings, Nick saw a funny piece of footage featuring Rory this week which we have a listen to. Matt Fitzpatrick...he is red hot, both Nick and Mark are huge fans and reckon he's set for a big weekend. Mark cannot understand why Morikawa is #2 in the power rankings for The Open, Nick can and explains why. Nick goes on to explain the strategy for playing this course. With the tournament finishing at a similar time to the World Cup Final, Nick tells Mark that there is a contingency to adjust tee times if England are in the final to avoid the situation of empty stands, or cheering from the stands as people keep an eye on the World Cup. And before the turn we discuss some of the fun, new markets Betr have on the tournament, there are some crackers if you want to whack 5 bucks on a couple. And what will our Talk Birdie Betr multi be? We kick it around before the turn, and decide after. We text Hummer live, and get the odds back in record time. You can open a Betr account at their website here, or on the app, and you'll find out multi on the Betr Specials section. Enjoy The Open !!! 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; 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.
July 12 · 19 min
Monday Mini: Got the Driving Yips? Can We Fix It??? We'll Give it a Shot.
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 as 1.5, but at the moment his driving is killing his game, and he doesn't know how to fix it. That's where Nick and Mark come in. Plenty of fact finding questions and conversation to try and nail down the issue and the options. Nigel is very open about what he's doing poorly at the moment, so that's handy. We give him a few things to go away and work on, and Nick and Mark want to have a 'part 2' chat in a few weeks where we look at some video of Nige which he has homework to get to us. Mark makes the slightly bold claim that if he and Nick can fix Nigel's driving yips, we'll be national heroes....Nick wants a statue. Possibly a statue of Nick and Mark outside 13th Beach Golf Club eating a duck spring roll would be on point. A fun Monday (well maybe not for Nigel) but if you're having any yip type issues there might be a couple of tips you pick up. 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; 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.
July 9 · 25 min
Friday Feedback: 'Golf is not about the quality of your good shots, but the quality of your bad ones'
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 to Marks frustration) 05:00 Mark notes that in the US it can be quite different, mulligans and gimmes are almost negotiated for. 05:50 Last week Mark talked about 'airspace' on a particular hole being out of bounds, we get a message from Ray in the UK who had the same thing at his club 07:00 An idea from Mission Hills on how to manage gimmes 07:30 Ian has a comment and question about YouTube golf tips, he may have misunderstood a recent conversation on the show, but that's okay, we have a chat about it. 10.30 Are bunkers still hazards, or are they too well groomed? 11:30 Radar - A fun story about the great man. After the turn: 14.00 A few messages and stories about the recent passing of Metropolitan (Melbourne) golf legend Brian Twite 17:00 Can golf instructors destroy a swing? 20:00 A story from Graeme about the Dunvegan 22:00 Nick tells the story of how Jack Newton helped him win the PGA Championship at Coolum 23:00 And into a story about Payne Stewart at Coolum And unfortunately the show ends on a low note with Dan cracking an appalling joke. A possible suspension for him from next weeks show is being considered by the Talk Birdie Team. 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; 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.