Tour Pro Scotty Laycock is a regular voicemailer and always has great stories from his time on the tour, after hearing Nick and Mark talking about Aaron Pike, a Northern Territory (originally) tour pro, he left a voicemail with a fun story about Northern Territory Tour Pro Unho Park & Indian Tour Pro Jeev Milkha Singh swapping drivers on the range.

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

• Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;
• FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;
• PING will help you play your best. See your local golf shop or professional for a PING club fitting;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, visit them online here to find your nearest store.
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And watchMynumbers: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room.

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A feedback pod today, and we look at a few comments from you in response to Marks statement last week that he feels Royal Melbourne will need a small miracle to be ready for The Australian Open. He has heard some further information that is concerning, and unhelpfully says this on the pod, but refuses to divulge what that information is, leaving Nick, Dan and the wolfpackers all hanging. Poor form from Mr Allen and he should know better.

That said, Harry has messaged in saying he has seen Royal Melbourne recently and agrees with Mark that it will be difficult to be ready in time. Thomas said Mark is being dramatic saying there is plenty of time, and 3-months of that time is peak growing season being Australia's spring. Sammy gives Mark a whack saying he's not a greenkeeper so what would he know. Ouch.

Fun message from wolfpacker 'schooled golfer' on an experience he had with Wayne 'Radar' Riley a number of years ago, and leads to a rakepod chat.

Ian doesn't like the term 'metalwoods' and offers an alternative. Do Nick and Mark agree?

And after the turn we chat with Steve from Melbourne. Steve's objective is to play the the Victorian Senior Amateur event in 2026 as a tribute to his mate who always wanted to but is now unable to. Steve needs to be a 5-handicapper or better to qualify, and he's presently a 7.1, so is after some tips on how to get under 5.

Keep the feedback coming, we appreciate you sending it in and listening, or viewing, the pod. If you haven't subscribed or given us a review, that would be great!

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

• Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;
• FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;
• PING will help you play your best. See your local golf shop or professional for a PING club fitting;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, visit them online here to find your nearest store.
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And watchMynumbers: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a great time of the golfing year, the Scottish Open this week, and The Open Championship next week. And the Evian is on this week as well, Nick and Mark discuss the course (which they both dislike) and ask does anyone actually like the course?

We chat about Links Golf in the UK. Nick and Mark love the UK's links courses, particularly the smaller ones that are lesser known, they discuss what they like about them, one of the things is what they call the 'honest bounce' you get on UK Links courses. Mark recommends that you have some smaller UK Links courses on your bucket list.

Nick talks about why he had two putters when he played The Open Championship, and how the sound of the crowds in the UK are different to anywhere.

Nick talks about 'zone days' and how he and his caddy adjusted how they worked together when he was 'in the zone'.

We discuss The Open Championship's 'Last Chance Qualifier' at Royal Birkdale in 2026. A fantastic idea.

Nick is excited as the winner of the John Deere Classic in Illinois, Brian Campbell, was the shortest hitter in the field.

Aussie golfer Jeff Guan, after a dreadful accident on the golf course, is planning for his comeback event in Darwin. We discuss the challenges he'll be dealing with, but obviously wish him all the best as he takes this next step.

Our mates at Golfies have a fun comp starting on July 10 for The Open Championship. Use the codeword Bryson, get 50% off, and if Bryson wins The Open - you get a full refund! And you are still in with a red hot shot to win the 25 grand Thailand trip if you win 8 matches. Deets here (Bryson comp starts on the 11th).

Update on the Top100 list, one of the honchos at the list has agreed to come on Talk Birdie To Me next week to discuss the list, and how they reached the decisions they did.

Top 5 from Mark, inspired by Jeff Guan, the Top 5 comebacks from injury in golf. Nick has the PING globals and there has been plenty of action to run through - including a ripping performance from Nicks mate, tour pro Austin Truslow who was on the pod a couple of weeks ago. And we have a new entry into Nicks Top 5 womens swings, which is fast becoming a Top 20, which comes from kiwi tour pro Amelia Garvey.

Lots of feedback, three key themes this week: the hardest first hole in golf, and Mark asked for wolfpacker suggestions on the best holes for 'first tee banter and heckling', one of the suggestions for hardest first hole was also where Mark got his first ace! Feedback also on the discussion about whether a male scratch golfer would beat an LPGA Tour Pro, and plenty of comments on young Jasper from last week - if you haven't seen his swing, he is a 9-year old single handicapper, watch him here.

And a great masterclass, which is less masterclass and more recommendation this week, from Nick on 7-Woods.

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

• Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;
• FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;
• PING will help you play your best. See your local golf shop or professional for a PING club fitting;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, visit them online here to find your nearest store.
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And watchMynumbers: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bonus pod today with only two things on the runsheet.

Before we get to that, Nicks been hitting balls, giving his new blades a workout at Long Island, Mark was at the range and has suffered the ignominy of both putting his back out using his 7 iron, and his son getting better club head speed than Mark. Awkward.

But to item number one on the runsheet. An email from wolfpacker Alistair, who met Nick recently at Cathedral, has asked the boys if there was one hole anywhere in the world that they would like to redo, which would instantly improve the 18-hole experience on that course, what hole would it be? Alistair's question came from a chat with a couple of his mates where they were suggesting that the 5th at Cathedral wasn't a great hole, nor the 10th at Yarra Yarra.

Mark goes to Pebble Beach and discusses a hole there that he thinks they got wrong.

Nick goes to Riviera, and talks through a hole there that he'd fix if he could.

Leads to a chat about plaques on holes with player quotes, Nick and Mark can only think of a couple, we'd love your input if you can think of any?

After the turn we move to item number two - a spot from Australian Golf Digest which gave a view of plane seats with a 3x3 seating structure, and two tour pros in each row - asking people to nominate the seat they'd choose and why. It was a great question, see the image here. Nick and Mark discuss where they might sit and why. During the chat Mark tells a story about how Tiger Woods handles business idea pitches that people have for him, and Nick tells a great story about his caddy Wilbur being upgraded on a flight from Dubai to Perth and what Wilbur did on the flight ..... !

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

• Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;
• FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;
• PING will help you play your best. See your local golf shop or professional for a PING club fitting;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, visit them online here to find your nearest store.
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And watchMynumbers: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Farah is married to Ray Mak who gets regularly mentioned on the pod, and Ray played a round with Nick O'Hern a few days ago....did it go well for Ray???

Farah left a voicemail and explained what happened....it doesn't sound pretty (for Ray).

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

• Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;
• FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;
• PING will help you play your best. See your local golf shop or professional for a PING club fitting;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, visit them online here to find your nearest store.
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And watchMynumbers: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A fun feedback pod today, with a few comments and questions, and after the turn a special guest - a 9-year old golfer with a handicap of 7.8 !!!!!

Before we get to our chat with Jasper, we hear from the Wolfpack.

Mick loves the stories about Texas Tech from Mark, and asks if there are any about the 'Liver King'. We don't know who that is, unless it is referring to Mark's drinking when he was at Texas Tech, which is probably accurate.

Marty got a fitting from Matt Austin at PING, and has subscribed to the watchMynumbers app, after an injury earlier in the year he's ready to smash out the back half and get his golf back to where it was.

Robert is a new wolfpacker, and watches on YouTube, particularly enjoys the tips from Nick and Mark in the masterclasses.

Ben has a question on clubhouses, what are some of Nick and Mark's favourites around the world that they've experienced. Fun chat about some of the great ones, and a couple of places who could do with building one!

Rob wants to know why the PGA is dominated by US players, but the LPGA is dominated more by some of the Asian players, and he has a question about Melbourne's sandbelt.

After the turn we meet 9-year old Jasper, who is an accomplished golfer already with a handicap of 7.8. Only last week he qualified for the Victorian Boys Under 12 team, and is regularly beating players over twice his age. We asked him to bring his clubs in and Nick and Mark see what he's got in the tank.

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

• Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;
• FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;
• PING will help you play your best. See your local golf shop or professional for a PING club fitting;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, visit them online here to find your nearest store.
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And watchMynumbers: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hold everything. We start today's pod with an update on Marks investigation into the debacle of the recent Top 100 Golf Course list. The person Mark suspected of being responsible, he has discovered was not, and he names the person who he says is responsible for it. Marks contact has gone to ground, and he is hitting a brick wall, particularly now he is enquiring about this named person.

Mark puts the invite to the Top 100 Course people, that we'd like them to come onto the podcast to discuss the list. Open invite. And to make it easy you can contact us here.

Mark also notes that he played Royal Melbourne this week and says 'It will be a miracle if Royal Melbourne is ready for the Australian Open'. Although the people there are confident it will be, Mark has his doubts having seen the condition of the course currently.

Nick and Mark discuss Aldrich Potgieter's driving, and how much power he has. We have a look at his swing sequence and break it down. Nick and Mark would love to see him play the Australian Open and run through the Royal Melbourne holes and look at the clubs he'd likely use for each hole given his power.

Tour Pro Jenny Shin tweeted this week about the amateur male golfers who think they can beat a women tour pro, could a scratch golfer beat a womens tour pro? Nick and Mark give their comments. Mark suggests that scratch markers could get a place in a tournament to 'embarrass them'.

Padraig Harrington had a moment to forget this week in Colorado in the US Senior Open, we listen to what happened and discuss.

Nick tells a story about being billeted in the US with his wife Alana when he was playing the Nike tour, and inadvertently wreaking havoc on their billets house. A dark side of Mr O'Hern that we've not seen previously is emerging.

We chat about the Irish Open, the Scottish Open, and the leadup to The (British) Open. And the BMW International Open in Munich this week, Nick shares memories of playing the tournament and of experiencing the Autobahn!

Top 5 from Nick today is on the Top 5 power swings in the mens game, and he plays a video of the most powerful hitter he ever saw - a golfer called Kyle Berkshire - who broke the golf channel hitting areas screen net once! Mark decides that we need to get Jordan Bovalina on the pod again to talk about power hitting.

Lots of feedback - heaps of wolfpackers raving about 7 Mile Beach Golf Links, question from Keith on caddies and majors, a suggestion from a wolfpacker about Marks doppelgänger, and a request for a score rating from Dazza.

PING globals from Nick are extensive as usual, lots of results to run through. And this weeks masterclass from Mark is on putting, and how to avoid topping your putts.

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

• Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;
• FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;
• PING will help you play your best. See your local golf shop or professional for a PING club fitting;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, visit them online here to find your nearest store.
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And watchMynumbers: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A feedback pod today, lots of great comments and questions, and plenty of fun.

We start with Tim from Sydney who has sent in two pics for us, one of a number plate on a car at Royal Sydney relevant to the podcast, and one of him and his Dad which is a ripper. How good are Father/Son days at golf clubs, or Mum/Daughters, or Parent/Child...so good. Tim also has a question on how pros select tournaments to play in, and Nick explains the ones he never missed and why.

Mark from Royal Mt Isa messaged us about their Open Championship which is on as we speak. Nick recalls playing Mt Isa on the Troppo tour and said it had the best greens in Queensland. He remembers watching Kieren Perkins win gold in the Olympics whilst in Mt Isa, Mark recalls where he watched it - at Auckland Airport after missing a cut!

Question from Matt on being relaxed in practise, but tensing up in competition....how to deal with it.

Steven has a question about Marks bunker play ranking.

A comment from Adam on Kiwi tour pro Ryan Fox.

Jake has a question about shotgun starts and whether they disadvantage some players based on starting with an easier, or harder, hole. Leads to a chat about the Top 5 most difficult first holes in Australia, Nick and Mark come up with 4 and they need your help with the fifth.....250 bucks to spend at Golf Clearance Outlet for the best suggestion. Let us know on socials, or email.

Dave has a question on Aaron Baddeley

David saw something on Apple TV's Stick and pointed it out for us.

We have an email from Valerie with a funny video, turns out Valerie is not only a wolfpacker but veeeery close to someone on the podcast.

And Brad messaged us from the mighty Red Cliffs Golf Club in Mildura, pumping up the team, the vibe and the course there.

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

• Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;
• FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;
• PING will help you play your best. See your local golf shop or professional for a PING club fitting;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, visit them online here to find your nearest store.
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia.
• And watchMynumbers: download from the App Store or Google Play, and Southern Golf Club: with their brand new Simulator Room.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.