TPN :: The Golf Show

The Golf Show #005 — Tom Olsavsky & TaylorMade Golf

August 2nd, 2005

The Golf Show #005 (MP3 - 18MB - 45min)

This week on The Golf Show my special guest is Tom Olsavsky, director of product creation with TaylorMade Golf. Tom was in Australia recently to launch the new range of TayorMade fairway woods and hybrids with moveable weight technology as well their new range of Rossa putters. I caught up with him for a chat about TaylorMade’s products and what are the next big developments in golf technology. Also we look back on the Open Championship and the last fortnight’s tournament results and play the 18th hole at Brown Deer Park Golf Club in Milwaukee.

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Calling all golf nuts!

July 28th, 2005

Are you passionate about golf.

Are you a golf journalist, writer, photographer.

Are you a golf administrator, tournament organiser, player manager.

Are you a top amateur, club professional, touring professional.

Are you just in love with the game of golf.

If the answer to one or all of the above questions is yes, then the I want to hear form you.

I am looking for regular contributors to The Golf Show.

If you believe you have something to offer the show drop me a line at thepodcastgolfshow@yahoo.com.au or you can get me on Skype—dtnash1975

I want to hear from you!

May your golf be great golf!

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Tiger Woods wins The Open Championship

July 19th, 2005

Awesome. That is the only way to describe Tiger Woods’ performance at The Open Championship. It was fitting to see Tiger win in and reach double figures in Nicklaus’ final major. I would be surprised if Tiger is able to match Nicklaus all-time record in the majors but it all gives us something to look forward to in the next few years, as he chases 18 majors.

One of the things that surfaced again at this year’s Open was the great technology debate. When is this going to end? The R and A and the USGA really need to act on this otherwise in ten years many of the great courses are going to be obsolete. According to Douglas Lowe, a golf columnist with the Scotland Herald Tiger Woods averaged 342 yards from the tee in the last round of the Open, while both Tim Clark and Miguel Angel Himinez drove the ball over over 380 yards at stages. Admittedly links golf is going to see shots run along way down the fairway but 380 yards — I think not? Can you imagine the Open Championship on the Old Course in 2020. They will be playing the championship with a some mid irons, four wedges and a putter. Hang on… that will be like the old days when Tom Morris and Willie Park carried a few clubs to win the championship!

But back to Tiger. It was unvbelievable watching him in the first round. One of the things about living in the Southern Hemisphere is that you don’t often get to follow Woods in the majors. We do get to watch him but when I say follow I mean watch every shot he hits in the round and watch him walk down the fairway and get a feel for the aura he posseses on the golf course. You can sometimes take for granted how good he is.

But thanks to Fox Sports and the BBC coverage, we were privvy to this during the first round and it was great to sit back at 7.30pm and watch his entire round on the first day as it was happening. After watching his opening round, let alone his play over the remainder of the championship I don’t think I will ever do this again. He is the best player in the world by the length of the road hole at St Andrews and his record clearly indicates this. His performances in the majors this year clearly illustrate this and those who he is leaving in his wake like Els, Singh and Mickelson must be scratching their heads wondering how they can consistently beat Woods.

I don’t think they can. But I still don’t think he will beat Nicklaus’ record. Why? Because he will be a victim of his own success and inspiration. As I write this, around the world, thousands of Woods wannabes will be on the range hoping that they will be the next Tiger. And one of those kid with stars in his eyes, whose hero is Tiger and wants to emulate his feats in professional golf, probably will.

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The Golf Show #004 — British Open Preview

July 14th, 2005

The Golf Show #004 (MP3 - 20.7MB - 58min)

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This week on The Golf Show we preview the biggest tournament in golf—The Open Championship at St Andrews. I am joined by former golf writer with The Age and monthly columnist with Australian Golf Magazine Brendan Moloney. We discuss who'’ll take home the Claret Jug, changes to the Old Course, look back on the career of the great Jack Nicklaus plus there’s all the regulars like Golfing the Globe and Hack of the Week.

0-1: Intro
2-4: Welcome Brendan Moloney
4-5.30 Discuss various aspects of the British Open and past winners
5.30- 7.45 Golfing the Globe
7.45-14.00 Victorian Sand Green Championships: Brendan talks about the event
14.00-18.50 Scottish Open Review
18.50-19.33 British Open Preview
19.33-25.00 Farewell Jack Nicklaus
25.00-33.oo Course changes at St Andrews for 2005 and how technology is making some of the best courses obsolete.
33.05-34 Pairings to watch in opening two rounds
34.05-40 TV Coverage
40.00-44.30 British Open Betting
44.30-49.30 Who will win the 2005 Open Championship
49.31 Hack of The Week
55.00 Brief golf news. May your golf be great golf.

Coming up in the next few weeks will be Tom Olsavsky. Taylormade’s Director of Product marketing and Tour Engineering who will talk TaylorMade’s new range of hybrids and fairway woods plus what the future holds in golf club design. Keep visiting the site for regular updates.

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Michelle Wie misses the cut

July 9th, 2005

Fifteen year old prodigy Michelle Wie missed the cut at the John Deere Classic on the PGA Tour. Wie looked like she may qualify for the weekend when she turned at 4-under par during the second round, however she faded over the final nine holes to finish at 1-under and miss the cut by two shots.

While it is great for the profile of a golf tournament, the sponsors, the media and Wie herself, on this week’s show we will discuss whether or not it is such a big deal to have a women playing on the tour. Is it the right way to go in the future?

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David Diaz ebay auction – caddy at The Open Campionship

July 6th, 2005

I am taking a break from podcasting this week but fear not golf fans as I am spending my time preparing for our bumper British Open preview show next week as well as setting up my podcast rig at home (I think that’s what they call it :-)) to bring you a better and truly global golf show.

But there is plenty happening in the lead up to the British Open including one of the great stories of this year’s championship that is currently taking place as I write. Australian touring professional David Diaz is auctioning off a chance to caddie for him at this year’s tournament. According to a report on Melbourne radio station SEN this morning, Diaz’s caddy failed to obtain a passport to travel to Scotland and Diaz was left caddie-less, so has decided to auction off the chance to caddie for him at the tournament on ebay. Here are the details from ebay:

“Once in a Lifetime Opportunity to Caddy at The British Open Golf at St Andrews !!
This is a genuine offer from David Diaz, Australian Touring Professional to make available the opportunity for a keen golfer to act as his caddy throughout the week of the British Open Golf Tournament at St Andrews in Scotland.

The candidate must be an experienced low handicap (single figure) golfer, physically fit enough to carry David’s bag for 5 or six days of golf as required through the practice round and any preliminary round, and must be prepared to work with David on course under the player’s direction.

The candidate will be required to meet their own costs of travel to St Andrews and accommodation at the Open, in addition to the fee that will be payable to the player as a result of this auction.

Should David make the cut and play through the four days of the Tournament itself, the Caddy will be paid a success fee based on the usual scale of :

10% of prize money for a win,

7% for a top ten finish, or

5% of winnings for a lower placed finish.

This could conceivably return a substantial profit to the successful bidder if the golfer does well in the Tournament, but this opportunity is priceless in terms of the experience, the chance to walk the fairways of St Andrews with the players, see and meet some of the world’s best players, and to participate in what is widely accepted as THE Major !!

All bidder questions will be answered within 24 hours, and the payment of the winning bid will be required within 48 hours of end of auction by Bank Transfer or an alternative agreed mechanism.

David Diaz is happy to discuss the opportunity directly with bidders as the auction proceeds.

International bidders are of course welcome but all bidders with less than a positive Ebay Rating of 10 must contact us before bidding to establish their credentials or their bids will be cancelled.

This opportunity must close within 5 days in order that travel and other arrangements can be organized.

Please bid with confidence. This is a genuine opportunity offered through Torny’s Golf Shop on Ebay.

Any enquiries can be initially directed to sales@tornysgolfshop.com.au

Good luck bidding !! ”

Well I tell you what if I had a spare 10K sitting in my bank account I would be booking my flight to Edinburgh now but I don’t so I will have to wait a little longer to see my dream of caddie-ing in a pro tournament (trust me folk’s I will never make it as a player!).

The outcome of this auction will be interesting for a number of reasons:
a) What price will some punter be prepared to pay to caddie for Diaz?
b) How he will perform with a complete stranger carrying his bag?
c) How the media will react to this bizarre yet thrilling initiative?
d) Will this start a run of professionals auctioning for a caddie in a bid to increase their income?

An interesting point is this. Say you are a young touring professional who managed to qualify for a major championship but have had an otherwise shocking year and look like losing your card on your tour. You could auction off your bag for the major championship to ensure further financial security if you do in fact lose your card.

Anyway it will be interesting to see how it all works out for Diaz and I am going to try my hardest to get him on The Golf Show when his Open campaign is complete. Let’s hope he has big week at St. Andrews, if nothing else for the sake of seeing his caddie get value for money.

We’ll take a look at the result of the auction next week on The Golf Show as well as preview the world’s greatest golf tournament. My special guest will be Brendan Moloney, former golf writer with The Age newspaper in Melbourne and regular columnist with Australian GOLF Magazine. So make sure you download the show.

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The Golf Show #003

July 2nd, 2005

The Golf Show#003 (MP3 - 13.5MB - 38min)

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My guest on this week is Kim Baker, a Victorian-based photographer, who is currently putting together a book on the great golf courses on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. The book is titled ‘Golf Courses of the Mornington Peninsula’ and is set for realease later in the year. For more information check out www.enp.com.au. I discussed the book with Kim as well as his history in golf photography.

0-1 min: Intro
2-17 min: Interview with Kim Baker, co-author of the book ‘Golf Courses of the Mornington Peninsula’
17 min: Details on when, where, how you can get ‘Golf Courses of the Mornington Peninsula’
18 min: Golfing the Globe: All the tournament results from the week in golf.
24.45 min: Hack of the Week
28.50 min: News briefs from the week
33.43min: Charity Golf Day - www.sidsqldgolf.com.au
35min: Farewell - May your golf be great golf!

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Golf Podcasts

June 28th, 2005

If anyone knows of any other golf podcasts, golf radio or golf audio shows floating around on the net can you please drop me a line with the link to those sites.

I’m always interested to see what other people in the golf industry are talking about.

My guest on the next edition of The Golf Show will be Kim Baker. Kim is a expert in the field of golf photography and is currently on location on Melbourne’s famous Mornington Peninsula where he is putting together a book on the region.

I will be catching up with Kim on Friday so hopefully the show will be up sometime over the coming weekend.

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Win golf prizes

June 27th, 2005

The competition for this week is still to be won. To hear the question for this week you will have to listen into the show. Up for grabs is a Golo golf game and a golf performance diary. You can enter from anywhere in the world. I will send you the prize no matter where you are in the world.

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Birdie by name, birdie by nature

June 27th, 2005

Have not had a chance to watch the final round of the Women’s US Open but from media reports it was a spectacular finish to a great tournament.

American amateurs Brittany Lang and Morgan Pressel threatened to steal the show from the professionals, until South Korea’s Birdie Kim holed a greenside bunker shot on the 72nd-hole for a birdie three and a two-shot victory. It was the first birdie on the 18th hole at Cherry Hills for the weekend. Pressel— who was playing behind Kim — and Lang— who had posted what looked like a winning score almost an hour earlier looked on as Kim played the tournament winning shot.

In what was a weekend of flourishing finishes, Padraig Harrington closed out the Barclay’s Classic with a 65-foot eagle putt to steal a two-shot victory from Jim Furyk. A playoff looked likely as the pair strode down the 18th hole at Westchester CC locked at eight-under par before Harrington’s unlikely eagle.

And spare a thought for poor old Jean Van de Velde who once again stole defeat from the jaws of victory when he bogeyed the 72nd hole then lost a playoff to countrymen Jean-Francois Remesy at the Open de France.

In Asia, it was a big weekend for Australia with Terry Pilkadaris recording a win at the Brunei Open and Chris Campbell winning the Mizuno Open, which guarantees him a start in the British Open at St. Andrews in July.

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