Talk Birdie To Me

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.