‘Aim Point is Completely Selfish and Needs to be Banned’

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 agreeing with him. There was also a fair bit of feedback on Nick’s most ‘interesting’ hole in ones (or is it holes in one?) and there were a couple that you reckon he missed….one in particular.

Jason wrote in mentioning his fave commentators, and Nick spoke about what it was like having Ian Baker-Finch in the commentary booth during the PGA and the Open. George had a question for Nick about David Puig and Marc Leishman, and Adrian is about to start his PGA traineeship and was keen to hear the boys experiences.

Kristin wants to know whether Mark, in his time in Texas, played Prairie Dunes, and then we get to the comments from last week about the Old Course where wolfpacker Roger was critical of the course. Couple of comments including Roger replying to Nick and Marks observations on his opinion.

And we finish on Aim Point, with a question from wolfpacker Mark….who is keen on Nick and Marks opinions on it. They don’t miss.

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Talk Birdie To Me is hosted by fomer world #16 Nick O’Hern and Tour Pro Mark Allen who played the British Open at Carnoustie.

Welcome to talk birdie to me with former world number 16 Nick O’Harn and tour pro Mark Allen live from Tidlist and FootJoy headquarters and thanks to our great partners host plus the official retirement partner of talk birdie to me. Driving a BMW is like hitting the perfect shot. Smooth controlled and powerful titleist the clear number one ball in golf. Foot Choy, the number one shoe and glove in golf. Better. When the great bet, they bet with better. Ping will help you play your best. And the golf clearance outlet who beat everyone’s prices. Now here’s Nick and Mark. Hello everyone and welcome to a feedback pod for Talk Birdie to me. Uh I’m still here solo, although Dan is obviously here as well. I keep saying that, don’t I? I keep saying that. But Mark, he’s still in Nusa. He’s a couple of margaritas deep. So, this should be a good one. Okay, question. First of all, another Australian Open question. This one comes from Andrew. Guys, the official World Golf Rankings points are a joke. And this week is proof. The winner of the Aussie Open was predicted to earn 20.7 points, but in Bermuda, a 20 person invite only field with no cut. The winner is predicted to earn 30.3 points. Tigers event in Bermuda is a sham compared to the Australian Open. So, it’s more a question about the points. Yeah, points. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I’d love all those players in Tigers event playing in an Australian Open one year. And you’d like to think, Nick, that if they did, then you’d get 30 something points for winning an Australian Open, too. Look, I I understand the feeling behind uh the criticism. Um but I don’t think it’s that out of whack. Uh maybe maybe a hair out of whack, but not not that much out of whack, I don’t think. Yeah, it’s just down to the strength of field. You know, they got number one player in the world. Obviously, we had Rory. Um but the quality of the field there is pretty high. The the thing I don’t like is that amount of points or or it’s more than the Australian Open where there’s only how many players playing? Wasn’t that many, was it? Probably 15 or 20. I don’t even know how many play the event to be honest. And you got a full field here. You’d like to think we’d get more players. 20. Yeah, it is what it is. Question here from Brian regarding the Australian Open. Guys, for televised events such as the Open, are players allowed to have green spotters reporting back to them about how the Greens are rolling and playing? Secondly, Rory’s airswing from the rough on the 14th. Have you guys ever had an air swing? PS. Nick O’Harn, you are a fantastic commentator. Congratulations. Very kind. Yeah, it’s good. Have you had an air? Um, I’ve had st Yeah, stacks. Stacks of them. Too many to count. And And normally in Tree, Normally in Tree, just like Roy. Here’s where he was. Let’s have a look at this swing. Yep. He was going for the ball there. That’s a shot. Even though he was nowhere near making contact. He just collected the branches on the back swing which threw him off and all of a sudden the T tree. Yeah. When when they don’t chop it and you don’t have to chop it in some areas and where Rory was in it, that was fine. Um, yeah, it’s pretty gnarly stuff and and coarse and you’re miss you’re only not far off a miss if if you’re trying to do something special. Um, what was the other one? Do they have green spotters who are reporting back on how they’re rolling or playing? Is that during if you’re playing in the afternoon, I reckon? Yeah. Yeah. During if you dur So, if you’re playing like I used to, Nick, you you and I were very different. I was hitting off at 7:30 a.m. and you hitting off at 1:00 a.m. at 1 p.m. 1 1 1 p.m. So my caddy never had a chance to get out and see what the course was like, but I reckon Wilbur probably went out and had a quick look at some of the holes he thought might have been an issue. Spot on. Yeah, that’s what the caddies do. Generally, if you got an afternoon tea time, they’ll go out in the morning, have a bit of a look, a wander, see how it’s all playing. During a round, it’s your caddy and yourself. You can’t have someone else saying, you know, come along to you as you’re about to play into this third hole saying, hey, don’t hit it over there because everyone’s struggling from over there. That’s not allowed cuz that’s getting advice from an outside source. Yeah. Um now people can offer that randomly, you know, in in the spectators. But that’s not your fault. But if they’re part of your team and you’ve got someone out there doing it, well, that’s um you know, that’s against the rules of golf, my friend. Hey, Nick, did you ever listen to it? Cuz every once in a while I’d have a putt and someone from the crowd would say it doesn’t turn as much as you think, right? And you pretend not to listen, but it’s in your head. I know. And I I used to listen. I used to listen. And then if you know if I read it 6 in right to left, that putt would be a two inch right to left putt from then on. Okay. Or they would just or they’d say, “Fooled you.” Nick, you might have answered before and I missed it. But did you answer as to whether you’ve ever had an air swing? Uh air swing. I cannot remember one in particular, but I have a feeling I might have gone under one. You know when you’re in the real thick rough and the ball’s sitting up and you’re trying to hit a bit of a flop shot. I think I might have gone straight under one once. Just don’t remember it where it was. So technically, was it an air swing? I suppose cuz I went under it and then the ball went down. So now we had a lot of feedback last week about your comments, Mark, about Royal Adelaide and how much you loved it when you played it a week or two ago. Heaps of comments actually. Ren has said, “Spot on. I’d take RA over Kionga or Graange any day and Glenn Elg is a sleeper course. The renovations have already uh sorry have really improved it. Jono, Royal Adelaide deserves every ounce of praise it gets. Truly unique and memorable with unbelievable conditioning. Um, let’s go to the moon is this is a Twitter name here or YouTube name, not one of those joke ones that we got caught out with a while ago. Good. I used to play the Jacobs Creep Open there. Uh, it hasn’t held a top class tournament for quite a while now. Who’s Who was that? Who’s that? Oh, let’s go to the moon. Let’s go to the moon. Let’s go to the moon. I’m trying to think. Who would it be? Let’s go to the moon. Is there somebody name? Well, maybe they were a space cadet. I don’t know. Maybe. Oh, well, look, if you used to play the Jacob’s Creek, he played when you and I played then. Yeah, exactly. I wonder who it was. Okay, that would have been. Anyway, Andrew said, “It’s a real privilege to call Royal Adelaide my home club. Thank you, Mark, for the great endorsement.” Well, they were I I absolutely loved it and um there’s no rec recency bias when I’m speaking now a couple weeks after and I put it as high up on the trees. It’s so like I don’t even want to say it’s a top 10 course in Australia because it’s better than that, you know, but we just have so many good golf courses. It’s hard to say it’s a top five, but gee, it’s knocking on the door of the top five if it’s not in it. Should be in that top 100 in the world, right? Yeah. Well, one it should be. It should be the top 50 in the world, I think. Yeah, there you go. We also had a bunch of comments about your top five memorable or interesting holein ones, Nick. Oh, yes. And there was also I missed a few. I know I did. Yeah. Well, there was also some debate over hole in ones or holes in one, which is again, we’ve done that before. We have. We have. And I can I have no idea. I think I said holes in one. I don’t know. Why do we call them aces? Yeah, that would work. There you go. Thomas, hey guys, keep up the good work. But Nick, you mucked up the top five memorable holein ones. There we go. How could you possibly forget about Jared Lyle’s hole in one at the party hole in Phoenix, which brought a tear to my eye? It’s Jared Lyall. It’s an eight iron out. Dude, that big fella. They don’t have a Hall of Fame partner at number 16, but if they did, Lyall would go in. Yeah, maybe they should. Haven’t been a whole lot of aces. They should have a wall over there with the guys who aced it. Yep. Totally totally messed messed it up. But yeah, I think I may have replied to was it Thomas? Did you say? Yeah, Thomas. Um, I may have replied saying, “Well, I did it on the fly and you know, some things come into my head and some things don’t.” So, my apologies. You should have been in there. Well, you already did tigers on that hole. How many times did you go to that hole? I’m on your side, Nick. Well, I did two at the 12th at Huntingdale, so maybe I could have. Anyway, well, apparently that wasn’t the only one you missed cuz Chris reckons you’ve missed another one. Yeah, I reckon Trovino’s won at the skins game. Well, that’s not what Chris has said. Oh, okay. Chris has said this. Thanks for showing Fuzzy’s hole in one. That was amazing. I would have included Louis Usen’s hole-in-one at Augusta when it hit the other ball. Oh yes. I’ve been here 17 years. I have never seen an afternoon like this. All right. That’s one. It’s the best B totem I’ve ever seen. The nine ball in the corner pocket. It started with Shane Lowry. It continued with Davis Love. There may be more after Louis Hazel. Yeah, that’s the one. And who could forget Jared L’s excitement at his first ace. Okay. Yep. Well, as I say, I should have just made it a top seven. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, all right. A couple of the comments here. Jason Finchy and Faldo, best golf golf commentators ever. Peter Ellis was great, but those two are the goat. My opinion anyway. It’s hard to argue with. What about Nikico? Nikico and Ali. Yeah. Now, we had we had Finchy in um uh a couple of times at the PGA and also the Australian Open. He’s so good in there and he’s so passionate, too. He’s like he’s right into it. He’s, you know, doing all this when we’re doing the flyovers and he’s giving us the thumbs up as we’re speak. It’s so good. He’s such a great guy. It’s interesting you say that, Nick, because you can hear the passion. You know, you and Ellie, you and Ellie when you give when you’re given a chance to talk when when when you’re given a chance to talk, you can hear the passion for Australian golf. And when Finchy was there as well, you can the the the the passion comes through the TV screen when he talks, particularly when he’s here in Australia. So, it’s a big part of commentary. George has got a comment here, and it’s a question for you, Nick. You recently mentioned on the pod that David Puge was old school because of his hunched shoulders at a dress, which I understand. However, at that same event, several commentators mentioned that Mark Leechman was also old school without explaining why. And I don’t understand why that would be. He does not have a big leg drive like Nicholas and others of that era. So, what do you think makes him old school? Well, I I think the way he plays more than anything um where he loves to shape shots, change trajectories. Um it’s it’s he’s more a feel player. I’d say that’s probably what they’re talking about. And and it’s a very much a rhythm based swing. If you look at it, it’s not it’s not a um a high performance coach swing, if you know what I mean. He’s he’s basically it’s all about ball flight. and uses the hands beautifully through the ball and when he syncs it all up it’s just magnificent to watch whereas someone like an Adam Scott you know is very everything’s got to be in the right place very methodical Marco Pingge Marco Ping is another one yeah so um I think that’s probably what what they’re meaning by old school in that sense okay we’ve got a few more questions uh for you guys and uh we’ve also got a question about aim point which we’ll get to after the turn okay Nick loves aim point I do yeah it’s my favorite thing to talk Yeah. Okay. And lines on golf balls. Wow. That’s mind-blowing, man. It feels so solid. That’s as consistent as it gets. Oh my gosh. It’s good, man. hot. I’m glad if they play a different driver cuz I know this one’s the best. It’s the best feeling driver I’ve ever hit. From Titleist and Fjoy headquarters, this is Talk Birdie. We’re here for BMW luxury and comfort for the 19th hole. Post Plus the official retirement partner of talk birdie to me the golf clearance outlet. They beat everyone’s prices. Ping will help you play your best and better ahead of the game. Now for titleist the number one ball in golf and Fjoy the number one shoe and glove in golf. Here’s Nick and Mark. All right we’re back on the 10th T for our feedback pod. Take it away Dan. Okay first of all this one from Adrian. Adrian has said good Nick and Mark. Uh firstly, I want to thank you for such a great podcast that offers great insights for everyone uh from all skill levels. I’m about to start my PGA associate traineeship through the membership pathway program starting in 2026 and I would love to hear what your experiences were through your traineeships and to get some perspective on what makes a great associate. Thank you very much, Adrian. Well, sorry, you go. I was I was going to say I I did I just turned pro. I didn’t I didn’t do it, but I did a thing called a bridging course. And I did that when I was washed up and thought I might have a career in coaching. And I did I coached for a long time. I coached for about 10 years. Uh but the bridging course was interesting cuz um there was a lot of business school in that bridging course as well as some of the practical stuff that you had to do. Um but I think it’s well worth it. I mean, if you um would like a career in golf, I think what the PGA offers these days too is is management. So, it’s not just working in the pro shop. It’s not just being the director of golf, but it’s also learning to manage a facility like, you know, a Royal Adelaide or a Royal Queensland or Lake Karen Up. You know, you can work your way to being uh the manager of one of those top clubs where the real money is in golf these days. Yeah. Yeah. And that’s why they call it the pathway program now as well because there’s different pathways you can uh you can go through. When I did it, which was over 30 something years ago, 35 almost. Jeez, that’s showing my age. Um, it was very different back then. It was more about um how to repair clubs, how to teach, how to teach golfers, how to how to work in a pro shop, basically. And it but there was also the element if you still wanted to play for a living, you you could. Um, which is why I did it. I always wanted to play. I just wasn’t good enough at that stage. And uh thought I’ll I’ll get there eventually. And um but now it’s more for people who, as Mark said, want to maybe work in management or be involved in a golf club, have a career in golf. There’s there’s two types of golf pros. When I say golf pros, there’s a golf professional and there’s a professional golfer. The professional golfer plays for a living. The golf professional is someone you’ll you’ll see running a club or teaching or or whatever that sort of side of things. But it’s a it’s a great way to go. Oh, good luck, Adrian. That sounds like an exciting year for him in Yeah. Kristen has a question for you guys. another strong pod. Now, this she’s talking about the one where you were discussing the top 100 list last week. I agree. The Golf Magazine top 100 list is much better than some others we’ve seen. Mark, did you ever play at Prairie Junes while you were at Texas Tech? No, I didn’t. Apparently, it is a special up there, Prairie Junes. So, there’s a lot of oil money in Love, Texas. And if you’re wondering where it is, if you can remember the little rectangle at the top of the map of Texas, uh that’s where I was. And it was a real oil area, Lik and Amarillo and Midland, Texas. Odessa, Texas. So much oil in in the ground up there. I played a corny oil I played a cornfy tour event at uh in Odessa, Texas or Midland, I think it was. Yeah. It was bone dry and windy. Do you know Do you know what the locals used to call Odessa, Texas? Go on. Slow slow death. Not Odessa, slow death. So, but the oil the oil the oil was a joke. So, I think the perigun some a lot of those oil a lot of the oil money got together and made something pretty special. So, no, I missed it. Um I I left Ling, Texas or Texas Tech in um uh October 31st, 1989. So, a long time ago. Yeah. Okay. Question here from Mark. This is on the comment last week from Roger about the old course being overrated. Yes. Now Marcus said Royal Burkeal and Hoy Lake are by are by far the least interesting courses on the rotor. It’s a detriment to the open that Murfield, Litham, and Carnusi aren’t currently scheduled to host along with Sandwich and Port Rush. They are the best five open venues in my view. Well, it’s an opinion. Um, do you share it? They’re all pretty good. I I I’ve never seen a weak one, Nick. Yeah, exactly. um the best again it’s for me it’s the old course number one uh unfortunately I haven’t played I haven’t played Tbury Murfield or Trune so I can’t really comment on those I love Royal Burke your field staggeringly good the one I didn’t really enjoy which was it’s still an amazing course was Royal St George’s that just had a bit more element of luck to it than the other courses now I know links golf there is an element of luck but this one just seemed to be you could hit the drive down the middle of the fairway at Royal St. George’s and you’re not sure if it’s going to miss left or right. That’s the sort of bounce as you get there. Whereas the other places, you know, okay, I know it’s going to finish somewhere in this region. There was still a bit of an element of luck. Uh I haven’t played Li either, but that looks stunning to me. Um again, it’s like who who do you rate better? Pine Valley, Cyprus, Royal Melbourne Composite, uh the Old Course. It’s up for discussion. Personal opinion. Yeah. Yeah. Nichol Nicholas, you would love Muerfield. I’ve heard it’s so stunning. I was meant to play at one of people to appreciate a golf course. Mufield is one that you’d appreciate. Yeah, I I injured my wrist that year and unfortunately couldn’t play. I’ve always loved Kusti. Played played around there in ‘ 07. Uh you played there in 99, I think. So, um I’d love Kusti as well. All right. So, this comment here, we’ll get to the the Apoint one in a second, but this comment here is uh actually a reply from Roger who uh we Roger from from Roger. Roger. Now, I’m going to set this up by saying I’m going to read a bit of what Roger said. I’m not going to read his whole email cuz it’s quite long, but I’ll read a couple of the key points that he’s made, but I don’t think we worry about responding because otherwise it’s going to be a back and forth for the next bloody 3 months. I’ll respond. Jeez, you you fighting on Twitter and stuff with people is ridiculous. Okay, this is from Roger. That was my quote and I stand by every word. Now, for people who may not recall, Roger was the guy who said the old course is overrated. That’s my quote and I stand by every word. It’s a dreadful course for a major. It’s poor for spectating. It’s not photogenic and has become obsolete from modern golf. Um, if you strip away the history and put it in any other town, it’s no better than any other coastal links in many towns in Scotland. And it’s also one of the courses where you don’t need every club in your bag. I’ve played it a bunch of times where I didn’t have to hit anything longer than a seven iron for an approach shot. That’s what Roger said. We could maybe leave it there, but Mark, I just know that’s not your style. I’ll leave it. Okay, let let Roger out. Okay, see you later, Roger. Well, no, we wanted to give Roger a ride a reply. I think that’s that’s reasonable. Let’s finish on this one. This comes from Greg Mark and Nick. Love the show. I never miss it. Thank you very much, Greg. I’ve got a massive problem with Aim Point. I hate it and I think it needs to be banned. We all go to great lengths to not step on the playing partners’ line, but Aimoint is basically trottling on the next group’s line because of the sheer number of extra footprints there making people go through this Keystone Cops routine. Plus, it looks terrible. They have to get rid of it. What do you think? Well, Mark, you sent a video. I agree with everything he said. Didn’t you send a video of was it Keegan Bradley aim pointing a four or five footer? I was replying to uh uh L Stegner, the stats guy. I was replying to it. Um it’s the most incredibly selfish way to line up three-footers. His aim point. It’s horribly selfish. It looks terrible. You’re stepping all over the three-foot circle around the hole. Just please, USA, RNA, put your heads together and ban this garbage. It’s absolute garbage. Yeah, I think uh straddling the line should be probably uh banned and that would put an end to it, I’d say. Unless you can do it next to it, but then you’re on a slightly different line, so they probably wouldn’t do it. Yeah, you’re still looking at where people are going to play though in the next in the next group. True. Yeah. Yeah. There’s a fair bit happening at the open over the last few days, I saw. Oh, I know. Yeah. Well, Adam does it. Cam does it with Raasmus doing it. I’m not sure. A lot a lot of the players are doing it. Um I’m I’ve never done it myself cuz I read greens just fine. So I think it’s for people who struggle to read greens. Now, you know, I’ve heard some friends who who are all over it and they love it. But is it great for the game? It doesn’t. As Mark says, I don’t think it looks good. It slows plays down. Especially for the people who, you know, again, these people are saying to me, “Well, it doesn’t slow down, you know, how to play because now I can read the putt how I want and I don’t have to take much time.” I’m like, “Well, actually, judging from what I’ve seen, it does look as though you’re taking quite a while.” So, but, you know, that is what it is. So, I’m not a fan. Whether it gets banned or not, that’s not up to me. Well, it sounds like you and Greg and uh you two and Greg are all in vigorous agreement. Indeed. Indeed. All right, boys. That’s the feedback for for this week. Uh Mark, enjoy the rest of the trip in Queens. And you’re back on the back on the weekend. Yeah. Yeah. I’m back. Now, tell me this. Is this the last one or we we doing one more for next week? What are we doing? Yeah, we’re recording next week. We’re back here next week. We’re back next week. You can All right. Well, I need a break at some stage. Yeah. At some stage, Dan. Dan, honestly, you’re whipping Nick and I like we’re some kind of bloody raceh horse. You’re just running us into the ground. Gosh. Really? Okay. We’re going to go there, aren’t we? That’s the kind of That’s the kind of attitude you want to be serving up when you’re sitting in Queensland near a beach and we’re slaving away down here. Mark, have another margarita, mate. Mate, if this was the Melbourne Cup, you’d be You’d have a 12 meeting suspension for the way you’ve been whipping Nick and I. 12 meeting suspension. You know what I’m going to do? Hang on a second, Nick. Here’s what I’m going to do right now. Mark, you ready for this? Hang on. Here we go. See you later. Oh, beautiful. Yeah, I like your style. Thanks, folks. We’ll see you next week. Talk birdie to me with Nickah Hearn and Mark Allen. Live from Tidalist and Fjoy headquarters. Titalist, the number one ball in golf. Footoy, the number one shoe and glove in golf. The golf clearance outlet. They beat everyone’s prices. BMW luxury and comfort for the 19th hole. Better ahead of the game. Ping will help you play your best. And Host Plus, they can help you drive your retirement further. Now that’s a plus. Issued by Host Plus PTY Limited. This is general advice. Consider the PDS and TMD on our website before deciding. Wherever you listen or watch, we’d love you to subscribe and share the pod with a friend. Talk birdie to me’s executive producer is Dan Bradley at Kaizen Media. Sound designed by Daryl Missen at loudzebra.com. And now from Tidlist and Fjoy headquarters, that’s been Talk Birdie to me.