Golf podcasts

Ivefoundgod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120418492#Comment_120418492

I'm biased here as I do like Scotty camerons but just on the point about no room for error, wouldn't agree with that characterisation at all. They have blades and mallets, if you struggle to putt with a blade putter you will struggle with a scotty cameron blade but that isn't anything to do with the brand. For the blade style they are every bit as forgiving as an Odyssey White Hot 1 or Ping Anser. To me the feel of a scotty is very hard to match, toulon design is very nice too though, haven't tried an Evnroll or PLD. Scotty position themselves as a premium product so their prices reflect that, no different to Toulon Design Odysseys or more recently Pings PLD range, Scotty Camerons have very strong resale value by comparison to the others. They are all pricey but I think their build quality and premium feel reflects that. Ultimately if you want a milled face putter you really only have those 3 brands producing them unless you take a chance on the Mizuno/Wilson putters.

For me the biggest outlier in putter pricing is Odyssey. Their white hot putters are around €300 now and their other ranges are closer to €400 which is crazy overpriced in my view. Considering how quickly those clubs lose their value compared to the premium offerings it makes them very unattractive to me as an option.

Ivefoundgod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120415037#Comment_120415037

On the podcast topic, i gave the Ball rollback pod a go as my first entry to this podcast. It was horrific, about as uninformed, factually incorrect a discussion i've heard on the subject. I turned it off after 11 minutes when one of them said that the pros would figure out how to hit the new ball as far as they currently do. Might go back and try some of the 'breaking par/regular club golf' stuff but I certainly wouldn't be interested in hearing their views on pro golf based on this.

Mantis Toboggan

Podcasts I'd regularly listen to,

Hack it out golf

Golf weekly

Sky sports golf

Irish golfer

Rick Shiels golf

FixdePitchmark

You kinda get trapped and it becomes habitual to listen to certain ones...In general your just listening to people giving their opinion off the top of their head ...at times , little or no research or engagement with experts...

It's entertainment..but your getting to a point ...some podcaster and You tube dudes, think they are actually journalists...but they are not.

I've no problem and enjoy a bit of entertainment...but the lines are becoming a bit blured when people are giving serious opinions about something they have not even read or researched. And to make that worse , they are influencing (whilst a massive corporation behind many of them)

You'd get way more informative solid data here based on someone who actually knows topic..and is not biased or bought...

OEP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120419454#Comment_120419454

That's why I love Golf Weekly - you have very good journalists and broadcasters involved, as well as a former pro.

FixdePitchmark

Maybe people will realise ...free stuff only gets you so far..the journalistic model is broken...

CSWS101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120419778#Comment_120419778

The former pro talks the biggest load of nonsense out of all of them bar Davenport

FixdePitchmark

I know - I've just posted about maybe if you pay , you might get quality. But do you have to pay for GolfWeekly - and is it worth it ?

DellyBelly

Golfweekly is about a 5iver a month...must say I really enjoy it.

Ivefoundgod

I keep meaning to try Golf Weekly. Have no issue paying for good content, have patreon subs to a few pods and support NLU via the nest. My main golf podcasts are Shotgun Start and NLU. Shotgun Start took me a while to get into (Andys voice was tough) but its probably my favourite when it comes to looking at back at pro events. Funny, not too serious but also usually good for some insider tidbits too. NLU recap pods are fine but it does depend on the guests IMO. They are much better at 'proper' coverage if that makes sense, the pod on the ball rollback for example was well done but they do good LPGA coverage and interviews with pros too. The Fried Egg is excellent too but can be a bit technical and is golf architecture centric, would rarely miss an episode though and they have some great guests too like Tom Doak.

I've tried most of the irish pods but find they're poor when covering pro golf, much more useful for 'irish' centric content IMO.

golfer79

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120422260#Comment_120422260

You and I are kindred spirits. I could have written all of that myself. Shotgun Start my go-to pod. Also listen to Fried Egg and NLU. Some of the NLU ones go on way too long however. Also enjoy McKellar Golf. Lost all interest in Golf Weekly a few years back. Great time for Joe but not so much the rest of them.

OEP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120420876#Comment_120420876

I think it is anyway - for a 5er a month. They regularly have Gary Murphy on too, who is great. They could do with getting some more guests - for some reason they can't get Rory, haven't been able to get Seamus Power in quite a while and Shane Lowry hasn't been on in over a year either. They must have p*ssed off someone!

I listen to NLU too and really like it, and it's very different to Golf Weekly. Where Golf Weekly is better is you have professional journalists doing the interviewing - the difference between Joe or Nathan interviewing vs Soly is night and day. I also like the unique perspective of Peter and Gary - they're not managing a brand or image so can say what they like, and for me the insight from "journeyman" type players is always interesting as we don't often get that. You usually only hear from the most successful people.

blue note

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120419018#Comment_120419018

I haven't listened to the ball rollback one, but I enjoyed the WHS one. It's not that I felt they had an extensive understanding of the system and how it was working, but they spoke a lot about course ratings which is one of the big factors on the new system that I think is a problem and that doesn't get discussed much. But one of my friends moved from a very easy ranked course to a hard one because he couldn't maintain his handicap on the easy course and lost out on qualifying for the big amateur championships for a season. On the easy course his best rounds needed to average something like 5 under to have the same handicap as level par on the harder course and he said it was virtually impossible. The guy who dropped 10 shots or so in 6 months said the same - he wanted to get his handicap down so played a load of rounds in the heritage and it tumbled. I'll certainly give them another listen on a couple of podcasts.

blue note

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120419454#Comment_120419454

The more you know about something the more you realise that the people you'd have thought were experts are nothing of the sort. I watch some of the rugby matches with my brother in law who's a high level rugby referee. Some of the punditry drives him crazy because they don't always seem to even know the rules. The forward pass one being the best example - my understanding of it was that it's thrown from point A to point B and point B can't be further up the pitch than point A. I saw this broken all the time and could not for the life of me understand why it's ignored so often. The actual rule is that the ball has to be thrown in a backward motion, so the throw is all that matters. If the ball goes forward because of wind or the throwers forward momentum that's irrelevant. So when they pause the replay and draw the line across the screen he puts his head in his hands. As for hurling I'd have some knowledge although an awful lot less than the pundits. But nonetheless, some of what you hear them say is so wrong. I heard all about Waterford under Derek McGrath not being able to score / make chances. We were averaging the highest scoring tallies in the country at the time and scoring more goals than anyone. Honestly, I sometimes wondered if these lads were actually watching the games.

We definitely have to take sports punditry with a massive pinch of salt. And journalism in general - it has changed massively in the last 10-15 years and for the worse. Everything has to be online and instant. I know a few journalists from my college days and if something happens it has to be on your site in 10 minutes. There's no time to verify, research, proof read, etc. An hour later you might have a semi decent article on it, but back in the days of newspapers you'd have a day or half day to get this story, whereas now it's an hour. And you had lots of Sunday papers where you'd have a week to research and write a story, so it would be a comprehensive well researched article. The demand for that has fallen through the floor. And the willingness to pay for it is tiny. Anyway, I'm rambling, this has nothing to do with golf so I'll shut up.

Ivefoundgod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120422728#Comment_120422728

I actually listened to that WHS one this morning and it was much better. Agreed with a lot of their points on it but not sure how realistic their suggestions were. I started listening to another episode where one of them got new clubs but one of them was banging or tapping on something in the background which made it unlistenable for me, shame as it sounded like an interesting conversation. I'll keep them on podcast app anyway and dip in when i have some spare time.

fullstop

Usually only NLU for me. Used to listen to Golf Weekly too but I wouldn’t in a million years pay to listen to Peter Laurie or Fionn Davenport 😂

Haven’t seen it mentioned but The Pepper Pod with Eddie Pepperell and Andrew Cotter during lockdown was fantastic.

GolfPar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120427716#Comment_120427716

I gave up on Golf Weekly when I had to pay for Fionn Davenport to tell us every week how many people in the US were watching the previous weeks tournament. He's a travel journalist who offers nothing to the listener interested in Golf.

blue note

The Hack It Out break 80 series is really dredging for topics, but I still find it interesting. They were talking the other day about how amateurs fare from 250 yards away on the fairway when they take it on vs when they "play safe". For a 5 handicapper, they're more likely to bogey the hole (or worse) when they play safe. Now we can scrutinise the figures, I'm sure there's more to it than the surface stat. When people decide to go for it or not they'll consider what danger there is around the green. So those times they go for it it's likely to be an easier hole ultimately. However, it does emphasise to me the misunderstanding people seem to have when they talk about playing safe. There always seems to be this assumption that when you lay up you are taking the danger out of it. Whereas in one way you're bringing the danger of another shot into the mix! You could completely mishit it or just leave yourself in completely the wrong spot for an approach. That was a stat for a 5 handicapper, a higher handicapper would obviously not be as strong going for a green from 250 yards. But they also wouldn't be as reliable laying up! As a rule of thumb for me, regardless of your handicap if there's minimal danger in hitting it as far down as you can, I think that's the best play. If the worst you'll be in is a greenside bunker, go for it. If it's a lake, don't be a fool!

Another stat I liked was where a 5/15 handicapper (sorry, I can't remember which) becomes more likely to 3 putt than 1 putt. This was 15 feet. I was happy to hear this as I suspected it was around this distance, but always felt a little bit like a chicken for being more concerned about my second putt on this distance than my first. But now I think it makes sense!