Talk Birdie To Me

This is fun. Today we chat with Darius Oliver from Planet Golf who, among others, designed Cape Wickham. His current project is very special, a new course on the cliffs at Kangaroo Island in South Australia. We start with Darius talking about what makes Kangaroo Island so special, he says that it gets in your blood and mentions a New York Times comment that it is like 'a zoo without fences' due to...

Another Talk Birdie Mini, as we get thisclose to Christmas, and we chat with Mike from Bundaberg who has a slightly different view from Nick and Mark on technology in golf and how it is being used to manage scores and pros monstering courses. Mike reckons there are ways to do it outside of technology changes, and he puts his case to Nick and Mark to get their thoughts. He also makes an excellent p...

After a question last week about golf pathways, we discovered that Acushnet (who operate Titleist and FootJoy) have 18 PGA Pros working for them in various roles around Australia and New Zealand, and we thought it worthwhile chatting to one about their path and how it came about. And Emma Larson is the perfect person to talk to. Emma works for Acushnet in the Melbourne office, made 11 Australian t...

There's been plenty of controversy around the proposed changes to the Moore Park golf course in Sydney, and in our view there is no valid argument to reduce the golf course. The facts don't stack up. Today on a Talk Birdie Mini we have some feedback from wolfpackers on the plan, and Nick and Mark give their view. Neither Nick or Mark have played the course a lot, however they know the area well, a...

Feedback pod today with some great questions for Nick and Mark. Dan has a question about whether Kingston Heath can handle big crowds for next years Australian Open. Nick and Mark discuss that, and how the course will prepare for the big hitters, will the course be changed to accommodate them? Keith has written it to mention that Bill Dunk, who Dunk's Island at Royal Melbourne is named after, rece...

Mark has come in excited today. After lending a mate a driver 35 years ago, it was returned this week! He's stoked....but 35-years, sheez....can anyone from the Wolfpack beat that timeframe for a bit of golf gear loaned out and returned? He was also given a ball that he autographed many years ago and brings it in to show us. And then onto the pod. Both Nick and Mark have been hearing from people c...

A fun mini today, Pat from Nashville has sent a couple of videos of his swing through for Nick and Mark to review. If you're listening, obviously you won't see the videos however we talk through what we're seeing in detail so you will definitely get the idea and the tips and comments will make sense. Nick and Mark are very impressed with Pat's swing, he's self-taught aside from a few lessons from...

Feedback pod today with some ripper questions and comments from the Wolfpack. We start with a comment about the OWGR points and the discrepancy between The Australian Open and Tiger's Bahamas event. Then Brian has a question for Nick and Mark about 'green spotting' during tournaments. Last week Mark raved about Royal Adelaide, and there was plenty of feedback on those comments - the vast majority...

What a weekend......The Australian Open was sensational, and we are going to spend the next hour reliving it. Mark is in Queensland with the family, Nick and Dan at Titleist and FootJoy HQ in Melbourne, so the show sounds a tad different today. Onto the AO. Nick and Mark loved it. The Australian Open is back, and it was an event that everyone involved, and golf fans broadly, should be very proud o...

A very exciting episode today, we are hosting the legendary Ian Baker-Finch, Australian golfing superstar, former CBS commentator in the US, and the Chair of the PGA of Australia. This is a wide-ranging and open chat with Nick and Mark, starting with Mark asking Finchy about winning the NSW Open by 13 shots in 1984 !! How did it come about that he played it so much better than anyone else? Finchy...

The Australian Open starts tomorrow, and today Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen are live from Royal Melbourne. We start with a special guest - Tour Pro Elvis Smylie has dropped him and Nick, has just come from a weather briefing and runs through for Elvis what they've just found out about tomorrow's weather. Warm and Windy......the warmth was expected, the wind was not. We ask Elvis how he's planning to...

It's Australian Open week, and we're excited...but...we start by chatting about the BMW Australian PGA at Royal Queensland. Fantastic win by David Puig, and an exciting tournament to watch. Mark asks Nick how the LIV / DPWT arrangements work and how Puig will manage his schedule now. Both Nick and Mark raved about how Puig constructed his tournament. Without any notice for Nick to take cover, Mark...

The BMW Australian PGA last weekend was excellent, and this week our attention turns to The Australian Open at Royal Melbourne. We start with a chat about the weather, it has been very wet in Melbourne, although the forecast for the day prior to the Open is for a hot and dry day, nonetheless the course has had plenty of moisture, what does that mean for it? Nick and Mark discuss. We run through so...

Today on a Talk Birdie Feedback pod, we have some comments from wolfpackers about Nick and Marks discussion a week or so ago in which Mark said that Brooks Koepka would not get back to top form unless he returns to the PGA tour. Some had a different view, and felt there was context around his form over the last couple of years that was relevant. Nick comments that for some players (Bryson) LIV fee...

A Talk Birdie Mini today, no time for a longer pod as Nick is commentating at the BMW Australian PGA and Mark is glued to the TV watching it....but we can sneak a mini in! Today, after Mark saw a tweet from a guy called 'Rick Golf' (Twitter page here ) on how golf carts have 'destroyed' US Golf, he wanted to discuss carts with Nick. Both Nick and Mark are 'walkers' although Mark doesn't mind using...

The BMW Australian PGA starts today at Royal Queensland and we sat down with the Australian PGA CEO Gavin Kirkman for a chat about the tournament and what he is working on currently to grow golf. We had to start with an update. Brisbane has been hit by some quite severe storms last week, and as recently as Monday this week, was the course damaged, and have the storms caused any issues with, or cha...

It's a massive fortnight in Australian golf, the BMW Australian PGA starts in a day at Royal Queensland, and next week the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne. What a time to be a golf lover! Today Nick and Mark run through the field for Brisbane, and it's impressive. Some wonderful Australian players of course, but the international field is very strong. We run through a few of the players who cou...

Huge pod today, for a number of reasons. Firstly we welcome Hostplus as a major partner, Hostplus have been a huge supporter of golf for a number of years, and we're excited to be partnering with them at Talk Birdie To Me. Secondly we have a very special guest on the masterclass with Nick O'Hern today, he has a legend of Australian golf giving a putting masterclass later in the show. You don't wan...

A Talk Birdie Mini today, and we have a question from Matthew in Nebraska who asks for Nick and Marks thoughts on what he calls 'a rather uncompetitive year' for Brooks Koepka. Nick has been surprised, saying that he felt the LIVG structure and style would have suited Brooks, however it seems to not have. Mark says that his swing, his putting, everything else is still the same - aside from the sco...

It's a Saturday morning (in Australia for international wolfpackers) and we're live from the Golf Clearance Outlet's brand spanking new store in Mornington, Victoria. The Australian Open is now a fortnight away, and to see how Royal Melbourne is shaping up both Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen played it this week, and compare notes on how it looks and how it plays. Mark said a few months ago that it wou...

Okay....so some context here. Last week Mark Allen's Top 5 was, shall we say, slightly controversial. He listed the Top 5 (which became a Top 20) things that Pro Golfers laugh at Amateurs for doing. Some of the Wolfpack loved it, some didn't....and were not backwards about expressing their view on the list. So today, in the first half of the pod, we read out some of the feedback we received....the...

Nick and Mark have come in with plenty to discuss, they both watched a heap of golf over the weekend and have seen some great performances that they want to discuss. The one-handed putting of Adam Schenk a highlight, and we discuss one-handed putting. Nick has been reading about a new technique called 'heads up putting' that he explains to Mark. Young pro Max Charles performed well at the weekend...

An interesting Talk Birdie Mini today. Wolfpacker Mike has reached out, he's currently a 12.4 handicapper and plays 2-3 times a week. However, in February he is having his first baby and his expectation is that is golfing will come down to once a fortnight....with a new baby that might be a tad optimistic, but fingers crossed Mike! His question is this....for new parents, are there some tips and t...

Wolfpacker Mick from Bedford in the UK watched this weeks Talk Birdie To Me, and took umbrage at something Mark said. Mick left a voicemail explaining what that was, and giving Mark a clip around the ears. 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 i...

Feedback pod today and we start with a comment from Jeff who watched the Abu Dhabi tournament at the weekend and found some of Wayne 'Radar' Riley's commentary on Aaron Rai amusing. We chat about Radar and how much Nick and Mark love him. Peter has a comment about players on the Champions Tour using carts. He doesn't like it. What's Nick and Mark's view? Clinton is keen about what caddies get paid...