A Touch of Class
Hosted by Will Griffith, the show dives into the stories, journeys, and characters that make Irish golf what it is. No scripts, just honest conversations, detours worth taking, and the people who shape the game.
Each episode features players, coaches, caddies, amateurs, pros, and the personalities who give Irish golf its character. From Irish amateur golf and the Irish Amateur Championship to life on tour, coaching, player development, and the game behind the game, we bring you closer to the people and moments that matter.
The podcast also shines a light on Ireland’s great inter-club traditions — Senior Cup, Barton Shield, Jimmy Bruen, Pierce Purcell, and the All-Ireland club champions who have shaped the competitive landscape of Irish golf.
If you love Irish golf, great stories, and the feeling of going for a wander and seeing where you end up, this is your podcast.
A Touch of Class
The Unfiltered Madness and Mindfulness of Modern Golf (The Creative Sigma)
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In this episode of A Touch of Class, Will Griffith sits down with one of the fastest‑rising and most entertaining voices in Irish golf culture - Fintan Phelan, famously known as The Creative Sigma on Instagram. The creator has built a massive following over the last number of months by delivering a raw, funny, and refreshingly honest perspective on what it's really like to navigate the game.
Our conversation dives straight into the origin story of his channel, exploring how he channeled his unique creative energy to grow an engaged audience of local golfers. From there, we take a classic detour through the fairways of Castlebar Golf Club, sharing laughs and stories about the regional tracks that shape the local scene.
Fintan also opens up about his relaxed approach to helping everyday players fix their swings on camera, the deep obsession we all share with chasing game improvement, and the fine line between true mindfulness and total madness on the golf course. From gear breakdowns to equipment and golf ball deep-dives, we look at the game with total honesty.
A creator with an infectious personality and a brilliantly raw perspective, Fintan is bringing a breath of fresh air to the Irish golf community.
Topics Covered:
- The Origin Story of The Creative Sigma & Instagram Growth
- A Tour Around the Fairways of Castlebar Golf Club
- Finding the Balance: Mindfulness vs. Madness on the Course
- Fixing Swings & Navigating Game Obsession
- A Deep-Dive Into Golf Equipment, Gear, & Balls
At the end of the chat, we ask for your feedback! Do you want a Part 2 with Fintan? Drop a comment or a review where you are listening and let us know what topics we should tackle next!
Follow us on Instagram @atocpod and follow our YouTube channel @PARfectlyclassy
And I was on the way to India and I was like, what am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? And I f I fell asleep and I said I woke up and buying a boogie. And then I fucking said I'm buying a bogie and I made a phone call and bought a boogie when I was in India.
SPEAKER_00Hello and welcome to A Touch of Class. This is the podcast where we go for a wander and see what we can find. No scripts, just good stories, good people, and the odd detour that usually ends up better than the plan. I'm Will Griffith, and around here we like to get a little bit lost because you never know what you're gonna find. Tonight I'm joined by a man whose creativity has built one of the most distinctive corners of Irish Instagram. Finton Feeling, better known as the Creative Sigma. He's carved out a space where design, storytelling, and personality collide, and he's done it with a style that's unmistakably his. From building a loyal community to shaping a visual identity, people instantly recognize he's become one of the most interesting creative voices online. But before we dive in, do me one small favor. Hit follow on Instagram at ATOC Pod. It genuinely helps the show grow and keeps you in the loop for future episodes. Right, let's get lost. Here's Finton feeling the creative sigma. How are you, my man? This is the first time I've gone. I feel like I'm live on air. I people can actually see my beautiful face. How are you?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, I'm very good. And uh thank you very much for having me on uh your podcast. Uh fantastic. Um I uh I love your stuff and uh I love your voice, by the way. It's uh you know, it's um I listened to you talking to the guys when the guys won the Pierce Purcell, uh Shane Rice and um John Kelly and John Kelly the barber, yeah. So you did a great episode uh with those on you know how they put the team together. Believe it or not, they tried to get me on that team when I was on the uh on the way down. So I played Pierce Purcell the year previously, you know, because uh my handicap had been inflated, and you know, we might touch on that later, but like I held on to my handicap to stay off 11. And uh you know, I was gonna be on their team, but I decided I was gonna keep my uh uh my handicap on the way down. But uh I'm delighted to be here, I'm delighted to have a chat with you. Uh and uh, you know, I had my first flavor of podcasting or been on a podcast with um with Adam Clark, and uh, you know, it was uh I really enjoyed it. It was uh it was nerve-wracking, and it's like I'm talking live again here, you know. It's uh it's a different medium for me, you know, because the what I'm doing on Instagram is in front of my phone, you know, and I've you know I've got my little my little mic and I can have a couple of takes and you know and just say what's on my mind. So uh but it's um yeah, it's great. I'm uh I'm enjoying it. And uh I'm I'm amazed that people uh you know that I've got uh so many followers so quickly, you know. I wasn't what I expected at all because I wasn't really on social media well until um until my after my sister died. I said, just you know, to keep my mind off some of the grief, I said I'll have a bit of crack with this. And uh, you know, that's kind of where it all uh kicked off from, you know. So um yeah, it's uh it's going so far so good anyway. So again, thanks million for having me on.
SPEAKER_00You're very welcome. First of all, I just want to say very sorry for the loss of your sister. Um you had mentioned that to me before. I'm sure that was very, very difficult, and you were telling me how you know who cares what happens now? When you think about someone who's passed away and is not here anymore, it's like fuck it all.
SPEAKER_02I don't know. I I don't know if you feel the same way, but like I'm 43 now, and the same fears and stuff that I would have had in my twenties about what people think, or you know, am I making a fool of myself online? And you know, all of that kind of paled out into insignificance when uh I saw Suzanne um you know get sick initially and then get very sick and then you know get sick and and and die and that and uh it really and you know you you hear people say all the time, Will, you know, oh it gives you perspective on life and it's all that bullshit. But it it it does inside what happened with me, um, you know, I I I do know I have firsthand experience to say that uh people don't think about you know what people think of them uh you know in their last days, and you know, all the fears that you might have of why didn't I go for it or why didn't I do what I what I said I would do, you know, um that's very true. And I had those kind of conversations with my sister Suzanne. So, you know, I I feel right now, you know, if if if you if you see me on a video and you think, oh, this guy's nuts, or this guy's crazy, or what's he saying, or this, that, and the other, I'm doing it because it's on my mind and it's what I want to say, and uh I um and I enjoyed it, but I I don't have any fear now of you know of what people uh might think or talk about me behind a closed door or anything like that. That's gone. So and that's probably why I'm enjoying it and why the content is maybe a little bit more uh refreshing and maybe a little bit on the edge because um where as in the past I would have held back, whereas now I'm just gonna say it as it is if I can, without without insulting people, I hope. But uh, you know, that's kind of where it has come from. So when I'm imitating it is, yeah, it's different. And you know, I never expected. I work in um I work in a regulated industry where you're you know you need to watch what you say, you know, and you know, we all wear masks, and you know, so I came out, I I came out and told everybody, um, you know, if it was like a gay person coming out of the closet, it was like them jumping out at a pink Leotard. I never told anybody I was an alcoholic, but then all of a sudden I go on a podcast and I held the whole world, you know, it was just like it was just it was like as if I just let go of it all, but it's it has nothing to do like what I'm doing now, it's some of it has to do with recovery, but a lot of it has to do with a kind of an authentic uh approach to you know how I feel about the game of golf, what it's done for me, and kind of who I am, and um, you know, for other people in their 40s that you know might be able to relate to me, you know, and that's fantastic. If I can have that and have a bit of crack, you know, along the way, that's um that's the whole purpose of it. I'm not doing this to make money, I'm not doing it, you know. I just want to have a bit of fun and engage with an audience and uh see where it brings me, you know.
SPEAKER_00So the thousand euro that you told me had to pay to be on this is well, it's gone, is it? Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, I can donate that to charity now, can I?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00And come here, tell us this. I want to ask you the creative sigma. Come here, explain that to me. I'm sure I'm not the first person to ask you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00What where did that come from?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'll I'll tell you where it came from. So I work in um engineering on that, and mainly in variation, in trying to deal with variation in machines and variation in product. And uh, you know, if you make a device, a medical device, or something like that, um, you need to make something that's easy enough to make, that's can absorb variation. Like, and you also need machines that can keep variation down. So I be a bit of an expert in variation. So when I look at the golfing machine, when I look at somebody on their golf swing, you know, I try and reduce I'm looking at it from the perspective of reducing variation. I want to look at your grip, I want to see your stance, I want to see the moving parts, I want to see all those things, and that's where the sigma sigma is uh is the great letter, you know, for for variation. And then after that, then I want to um I want to creatively look at that. So I'm kind of a creative kind of person, so I would try anything to to to reduce variation, and you know, and I'm a creative, I'm a I'm a creative enough kind of person, and I get up the drink, and I kind of you know, I instead of drinking, I try and be creative, whether it be painting or doing you know stuff on Instagram or playing music or that. So that's where the creative sigma uh comes from, creativity and trying to reduce variation. And uh, you know, I was just that's that's you know, I I could I couldn't think of anything, and it was just that was on my mind, and that's what I call myself, yeah. So that's where it comes from.
SPEAKER_00But sure, like that's the the best ideas come from madness. I mean, like I was literally walking around a golf course for a few years shouting at people, a touch of glass, baby, a touch of glass. Because I love that Litorino scene, like you know, from the the the other.
SPEAKER_02Wouldn't I tell you? Wouldn't I tell you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so like when I came to doing a podcast, I said, Well, it can't be anything else. And I was actually just very surprised there was no other podcast called a touch of class. So, I mean, for me, it was just pure look and timing and everything. So, the creative sigma, I mean, if that's what's in your head, like that's class for you, it'll always be yours.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, exactly. And you know, at the end of the day, it's meaningless, you know. But it's I also like I'd like to build a kind of a brand around the creative sigma. It's not just golfing, it's fishing, it's creativity, it's cooking, it's all those photography. There's there's an awful lot in it. And uh, what I what I'd like is like Will, somebody might meet you on the street and they might not know anything about you, but if you just scratch a little bit below the surface, there's a guy that's mad into golf, that's probably a very good golfer and very good at loads of other things, and creative uh uh creatively, and with AI and all the different shit that's coming our way, the organic, innate uh creativity that's in you is you know that's immune from from AI, all that kind of stuff. So, and I think that's what makes us organic and not robotic, is our our our our way to be innovative and creative. And and if you bring that into the game of golf, when you play a Lynx golf course and you're playing creatively and you're playing golf as a game, not as a robot, not as one of these fucking driver wedge guys, you know, you're playing chip and run and you're playing all these different shots, you know, it's it's it's a great buzz, you know what I mean? So that's kind of you know another part of it.
SPEAKER_00I'm the driver wedge guy. I hit it so big off the T that I mean it's just purely it's it's what wedge is it? Is it like a half a wedge, a three-quarter wedge? It's never a full wedge, like you know, it's always within 100 yards. I mean, it's always it's just it's it's terribly boring being as good as I am.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, eight degree driver, come on, baby draw.
SPEAKER_00And it's funny, yeah. Here, what's the story with the baby draw and the and the and the fade and all that kind of stuff? I'm listening to all your stuff and I'm going, I don't know which is the right one to be doing. I shouldn't am I to tell you now I have a little bit of a baby fade, or do I have a two-yard draw? I don't know.
SPEAKER_02So when I was growing up, well, it was always about a baby draw, like and the best players hit the ball from the inside with a timber club, persimmon club, and you were able to turn your hands over and you were able to hit this beautiful baby draw, and you had to do it with the ballata to get any distance. And there was a real, real skill to doing that. There really, really was. Now and people will be people fucking hate me for saying this, but you can get away with really hitting a slice uh and play a kind of a fade or a or a banana shot because the ball in the club will will help you out. And I'm always slagging people off, saying that like you know, you know, that uh you're not a golfer if you hit a if you hit a slice, and it really pisses people off. And it's kind of like trolling, it's kind of like you know, then you hear always the same shit, then it comes back, like you know, what about you know Scotty Shefford, Jack Nicholas, you know, Ben Holy, Lee Trevino Lee Trevino, all these guys hit a fade, but the fades they hit were you know, well, except for Lee Trevino, they like the the Hogan fade was almost a draw with a fade. He hit it from the inside, and it was very, very unique shape, and then it it just there was a bit a fade in the last maybe yard. So that to me is pure class, you know. So I anyway, I'm only taking the piss really when I'm talking about like uh you know, uh, I'm only kind of trolling people when I'm talking about uh fading the ball. I love that though.
SPEAKER_00I love that. My friends when I was in school, my friend well, school outside of school, my friends used to call me the argument because I just used to argue for the point of acting. Like, I mean, I just I'd set an argument off and I'd just sit back and I'd watch it and just let everyone go to go to school on it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you know, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, I feel the same way. I've seen this the same way I will when I'm talking about um you know hitting a draw. But anyway, I I give people kind of lessons in golf. Like I'm not a pro or anything, but I you know, if if people come in the very uh and they're fucking all over the place and they want me to look at their variation and how to reduce their variation. They're in engineering terms, you look for the main effects, and the main effects would be if you were to look at three factors that would affect the golf swing, usually it's the same, it's the same things that are the culprits. It's um it's the grip and the stance that would affect the swing play, uh the swing path, and that you know affects where the ball's gonna go. And that's you know, again, it's just like about variation and that kind of stuff. So I had these had two guys come down from Boyle for a lesson there uh yesterday, and uh they were both hitting, as I as I call it, slappy ass fades. And when when they left, they were both hitting a draw. I closed their stance and you know, strengthened their grips slightly and got them hitting the ball from the inside. And I just find that if you if you if you do that with people like that, I think they'll enjoy the game a little bit more. It it becomes an easier game when you when you when you move the ball in that direction, you know.
SPEAKER_00There are some like I mean I would see people I play golf with and I can never see what's wrong in my own game. Yes, we can't, we can never tell what's going on in our own game. Exactly. We can be out by an inch or we could be out by a mile. But if you see someone else, like there's a few people I've seen who are like completely contradicting themselves between what way their feet are aiming and what way their shoulders are aiming, and you're looking at them going, Well, you your body should be talking to each other. Your your your shoulders and your bot and your feet should be talking to each other, yeah. They're communicating, yeah. And it's so easy to see it with someone else.
SPEAKER_02It is, it is, it is, it is at a certain level.
SPEAKER_00Like I would never turn around to someone who's a scratch golfer and tell them, Oh my god, your foot is out by an inch, you know. Whereas I could tell someone who's a 25 handicapper and say, if you got your feet and opened up a little bit and matched your shoulders, you'd be able to get through the bloody ball.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and and you know, for me, you know, when I was uh given that lesson yesterday, I had the guys um with golf balls and teaching them how to throw the ball. And you know, when you bring a ball back to throw it, you step forward and you do a step drill, you know, if if you get the sequence right and you don't overthink it, and you use your natural athleticism, you you you can get away from all of the you know the the small things that make you uncomfortable and get people actually hitting the ball. And you know, once the sequence is right and you get people hitting the actual golf ball and and and being comfortable hitting it, then it's it's further down the road that you try and straighten it out. Just get them hitting it and hitting it hard, and who gives a shit where it goes? So long as they can hit it and hit it fairly hard and swing through it. It doesn't matter a shit where the ball goes, they can they can learn that later, you know, in the beginning, because you know you really want to you don't you don't want to give up your natural athleticism uh to hit it straight. You should straighten out later, swing and hit it hard early, and straighten it out, you know, further down the road. And that's what I was telling these guys, you know, just you know, just fucking let it rip and uh you know stand up with the right grip and right sequence and hit it as hard as you possibly can. And if you hit a few fresh airs, what about you'll eventually start hitting it okay and uh take it from there, and they were great, they were two great lads, you know. I really enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_00I was speaking of like gripping and ripping it. There was I was playing yesterday and I play in St. Helens down in Wexford and it's lovely, and it's very, very brown and burnt at the moment, except for the greens, but there were 10th T, there was longest drive on the 10th, you know, and I would be the person I would be inclined to think that I'm can hit it fairly far and I would have a chance. Yeah, and I was wearing runners, so my it's actually got too hard underneath to actually wear golf shoes. I I feel at the moment, yeah. Um so I'm actually wearing runners, but I have a habit of slipping on my right foot. Um I used to be caught, my someone called me the bull once upon a time. My right slips, my right foot slips out, but I went for the big one, I went for it like a I went for it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00As the club came through, I actually hit the ball and my right foot slipped from underneath me. My whole body came through. I went up and I went up and did a pirouette in the air and fell. I mean, I was literally two foot off the ground and fell from my hearts. And there was and the worst part about it was right at the clubhouse because that's where you tee off in the tent. So there were people sitting around and having coffees and holler out somebody, yeah, yeah, yeah. And they were all looking around thinking I'd had a heart attack. Um, and I had to get up, and oh my god, the pain in my arse was something unreal.
SPEAKER_02It's an awful, awful sore when you fall on your arse, man, especially on hard ground.
SPEAKER_00Oh man, it was just it was so and the shock of it all. And like but see this thing, I felt like I hit it well, but I said to the lads I was playing with this, where did the ball go? And they went, We thought you were dead. And I was like, Oh, for the love of gods, I had to hit a provision, lots of tea.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, so listen, I wanted to get you on, right? Because obviously you're uh you know, you're cock of the walk at the moment on on Instagram and all that kind of stuff, you know, you're the main man around. Well, I mean, it was it's great to it's great to have a chat with you and to kind of pick your brains about a few things and have a bit of a chat and a bit of crack, like you know. Uh you know, I wanted to ask your opinion on a couple of things, like you know, so you play golf, you're down in Castle Bar. Obviously, as you as you mentioned, you were watching the lads. Okay, first and foremost, what do you now you might be getting into trouble here, but what do you think about the changes in Castle Bar? Well, you know, Castle Bar changed from a golf, you know, from the ninth hole was the 18th hole, we finished on the 18th, what used to be the eighth, which is now the ninth, right? Isn't that correct?
SPEAKER_02Yes, correct.
SPEAKER_00And it it was there was a couple of fantastic golf holes on it. Like I think the 17th he played up, it was a monster up. It was, yeah, yeah, yeah. You're dead right.
SPEAKER_02You're dead.
SPEAKER_00And then he came back down 18. What do you think of the new golf course? The changes, like, are you ha are you happy as a member that the changes are are good?
SPEAKER_02Well, like the changes, you know, uh help the golf course uh financially, you know. So that was one of the the pros uh from the change, obviously. So that was that was a good thing, but purely from a golfing contest uh context, it made the golf course a lot easier. The front line was very, very difficult in the old course, and it was longer. We don't have as much land, so we've got a couple of very weak holes um on the front line as a result of the change. So as a result of that, that had to you know make the rough a lot longer, and it's it's it they toughened it up a lot, but the um the standard scratch on the course is all wrong. The the rating, so that again, if you want to get your handicapped down, it's very, very difficult. So, but purely from a golfing perspective, I think that we lost a couple of great holes. We lost the old 12th, which is a part three, which was one of the best power threes around. They had an unbelievable green, you know, from a from the perspective of where you could put the pin and all that kind of stuff. We lost that on the front line. You know, from the fourth hole onwards was very difficult. Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine on the old front line were as hard holes as you'd get anywhere, you know. So we did we we lost that, but it's a good test. Uh Castlebar Golf Club is a very good test, and you know, when it's set up you know, where you the greens are are firm and the you know um the rough is high, it's it's a good test teeth green. Because if you don't if if you're not accurate and if you if you short side yourself, you could block a very big number. So I personally find it more difficult to score in Castle Bar than I would in Westboard or Ballon Robe or any of these courses. So if you were to pay it against other courses in our locality, it kind of stands out on its own because it's not trying to be a ballon robe, it's not trying to be a Westport, it's a different challenge. You know, you're hitting irons off some T's to be able to put yourself in good position, and you know, your your your second shot needs to be either on the green or on a side of the green, or else you're not getting up and down. On you know, on other courses like you know, ball and robe and portoman and all these other courses, you can miss the you can miss it any which any side you like, and you're going to be getting up and down. You can blast it off the T as hard as you want, and you're not going to be out of position. You don't have that luxury um in Castle Bar. So to answer your question, yeah, I prefer the old course, but I think they did the best they could with the land that was left after you know the the road came through it. So I'm not I I wouldn't um I wouldn't be one to say that they uh made a horse's arse of it now or anything, but you know, they did the best they could. I would have liked if they could have in some way kept the old 12th part three. Uh I'm disappointed with that. But other than that, I think it's I think it's I think it's I think it's great. I think it's it's a great challenge. And you know, uh the Greenkeeped staff have done a mighty job on the T's and the and the and the greens and in the um in the overall look of the course. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00I think it's great. I went down, I played, I played John uh Kelly and uh Shane Rice in a match last year. I went down to Westport for the close and I did a bit of a trip around the place and played Ballon Rose and played Castle Bar, yeah, yeah, yeah. All of them. Um unfortunately, uh Drycy and Kelly they beat us on the 18th. I was playing with my good friend Niall Quinn from Westport, and uh very good they brought us to the 18th, and then they unfortunately didn't let us win. I thought red haired Niall Quinn. Red haired Niall Quinn, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I grew up at Niall.
SPEAKER_00Did you? Niall and myself went to college in Castlebar.
SPEAKER_02Oh, very good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Great stuff. Yeah, I know Nile.
SPEAKER_00Good guy, good guy. So never gonna Westport, I'll always get a say hello to Nile and uh hopefully get a game, uh free game of golf out of them. Sorry, Nile. But yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, come on. Just in case you're listening, Niall, you know. Um but yeah, no, I love it. I love the course. I love the course. I I there was a couple of great holes on it. I mean, there's some tough golf holes. You know, the 18th finishing on a part three is quirky. It's the same as starting in a part three. I mean, yeah, it's it's not easy, but it's not hard either. You know, it's kind of like especially it's only kind of like a flick of a wedge or a nine iron. But if the game was on the line, all of a sudden that becomes a harder shot.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. And depending on the wind as well, it can be a difficult and if you hit it short and if you short side yourself, and you know, you can really make a shot of that hole. You know, you really can because if you if the pin is back left and you're front right, you know, the put is just it's got it's about three or four breaks, you know. And when when it's set up fast, it's it's it's difficult. Um it's uh the best thing I ever did in golf, I did on that hole. I chipped into the hole in the Jack O'Sullivan when uh w when the pin was um just over the bunker and I short-sided myself left. So like there's a lot of do or die on that hole. You're dead right. It might be only a flick of a wedge, but if you if you decide to hit a wedge and you don't catch all of it, you know, you're gonna be short, and then you're making bogey. So then you might decide I'm gonna take a little bit more club and you know, play it, you know, a half a shot with wind, and you know, so there's a lot of considerations. You're you're you're right, it's quirky, it's not the you know, and you know, doubt can get into your head and that kind of stuff. So, you know, I've seen captain's prizes lost on that hole uh badly, you know.
SPEAKER_00So I'd I think I'd prefer it as a finishing hole if I was in the mix for the captain's prize than trying to play the old 18th, which is the ninth, because if they put that flag over on the left-hand side on the top of the slope, I mean it's game over. You have to play out to the right hand side. I mean, that's the thing about golf, good golf courses, is that uh, you know, put a bit of water somewhere, put a flag on the top of a hill. You know, I was only talking to someone who played in the in an Irish competition there, and they said there was a hundred, there must have been a hundred balls in the water by that hole. Um just because they put the flag on the left hand side. So, I mean, that's I would much prefer it to be kind of playing to the part three. Uh, but I mean I I enjoyed I enjoyed the course, I enjoyed the company. The two lads are great, crack, and I mean I would have no issues going back to Castlebar and playing it again. Wink wink, nudge nudge, give us a shout, I'll be I'll be I'll be down in a shot.
SPEAKER_02Exactly exactly. But I'll tell you what makes a big difference, uh Will is that if you had a uh a friend or a caddy or somebody that would show you that um believe it or not, um you know if you can play with your wedges cut spin or hook spin on some of your pitches, it makes a massive difference for like we say on the 18th there, if you hit it, if you if you have a fairly decent wedge and you hit cut spin into it, it'll stop the ball from going uh down into down into the water on the left. Just a few little kind of things like that would really you know make a massive difference to these like seemingly impossible shots on those greens, you know. So um, but you're right, yeah, it's a real challenge. I love that. That's that to me is like uh makes golf, you know. Although the course everybody keeps saying a golf course is shite if it's not long enough, but that's not the case. You know, it's can you score on it? Well, what kind of a score can you get on it? Uh you know, that's the that's the that's it at the end of the day, you know. And um, you know, Casabar is short, it is, but it's it's difficult.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, that's short. I mean, like I went around there and knocked driver around the place. I mean, I didn't find it very, very short.
SPEAKER_02I mean, in some time, it would be, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Okay, maybe I hit driver in places where maybe I shouldn't. Like, I mean, there was one of the holes that I think you're probably gonna turn around and say it was a layup. I think the lads laid up, but I I hit it over the water. It's what the par four eight, is this the beautiful up? Yeah, yes, the old 17th green, is it or the back of the 17th?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, you're dead on, you're dead on, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So like it's the eighth. Yeah, so I hit it over the water rather than laying up short.
SPEAKER_02Whoa, yeah, come on. Yeah, but that's uh you know, there's you don't really uh get much reward for going over the water there because there's a bunker to the right. If you go in that, you've got a long bunker shot. The water's in play and all that shit there. If you hook it, all the other shit on the left is in play, but if you hit a four-arm down the middle, uh you're only hitting wedge in. However, like which I've done a hundred times, I've fucking hit a four-arm into the water. So yeah, do you know what I mean? So it's yeah, it's a tricky asshole. It's like it's it's index four or something. So like yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00It's a good good golf goal. Good golf go.
SPEAKER_02It is, yeah. And then another thing is that if you it's it's on an elevated green. So if you don't if you if you go over the back on that green, you're in the kind of shit, like it's really heavy, and you have to lob it up onto the green, and you could fluff it, or you know, so if you if you're out of position on that hole, you can clock up a double or a triple bogey very easy. I've done it twice this year.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well sure. Listen, we're all great on when we're talking about it. It's when you put the clubs in our hand that we all start making the mistakes.
SPEAKER_02Put a stroke play card in your hand in Casabar, and then you'll understand that you know you might do well with a with a with a stable for card because you can be that little bit more aggressive. You put a you put a stroke play card in your hand, um, you know, it's a it's a different kettle of fish because you can clock up a big score on any hole if you're out of position. But it's not as difficult if you're playing uh obviously if you're if you've got a stable for card in, because you know, if you're in the row, you can be a little that little bit more aggressive, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but it's the same as you stand on you stand on the first team in Castle Barra and you say to yourself in a staple for competition, I'm gonna try and drive the green.
SPEAKER_02Exactly, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Whereas in a in a strokes competition, you say, let's just throw it out with a little five-iron out to the right hand side and we'll see about a wedge in or something like that. You know, I mean, it changes exactly, it changes everything. Because, like, all of a sudden, if it's stroke play, you pull it about five yards or in out of bounds on the left-hand side. I mean, that's that's what to me is a good golf hole because it makes you think, yeah, you know, what's the reward here? You know, is par better on a stroke play compared to birdie on the stable? You know, yeah, it's it's kind of a thinkers' golf course. But I wanted to ask you, I ask everyone who comes on, and I'm gonna ask you the same questions that I ask everyone, even though we're we're having a little bit of a different format. But first and foremost, I wanted to ask you, you know, you're you're obviously now doing the Instagram thing, and you know, you're talking a good bit about golf and you know the the fame and all that kind of stuff. But do you actually look but do you actually love golf?
SPEAKER_02I adore golf.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um I think that golf, um I don't know do I have ADHD or whatever the fuck, but um what I do know is that if you if you like to obsess over things, golf is one of those um sports that you know you can it can occupy a lot of headspace if you want it to, you know, thinking about it, planning for it, um strategies, all that kind of stuff, buying equipment, uh, golf balls, reading about it. Uh it's just I think that there's so many layers to the game of golf. And even through your life, where you are in your life, in your personal life, there's a lot that can be said about where your golf game is at through all of that, and you can decide at any time to to change direction completely in the game of golf, and it could work, you know. You could decide to take a complete another U-turn, and it's you know, I just think it's an absolutely fabulous game, and I think that you can play it at any level and and really, really enjoy it. And um and you know, it's cheesy to say, but it is, it's a metaphor for life. It it absolutely is, you know, it's not easy and it's not enjoyable, but it's really really rewarding when you try and you give it a go, you open yourself up to be absolutely fucking humiliated. When you stand up to hit a golf ball, it's like it's like it's like public speaking. You know, you can make you could hit a fresh air in front of people and they could laugh at you, and you could think they're gonna laugh at me, I won't do it. But if you go and you play for your club, you do that's what you're doing, and you're saying, Fuck it, I'm gonna do it anyway. And then it's so rewarding if it works out, and but it's not easy, and it's not meant to be easy. If it was easy, everybody would do it. It's meant to be difficult, it's meant to you know get into your head, it's meant to you know make you fearful, it's meant to do all of these things that happen in life, you know. Like, you know, you can you can shit yourself over a chip if you've got if you're yipped yippy, you know, you can if you it's the same with putting, same with all every aspect of it. But then when you let go and let God and all those things you hear in AA and in life, you know, you can see that you know the the variable output gets better, you know. You can see that you start hitting the ball better, and you know, life gets better, and but if you come on bothered and you know, so I just think that it's um yeah, I I just think that it's it's just uh it's a fabulous game. And you know, the fact that it's not easy is the main part, that it's very, very difficult, but rewarding.
SPEAKER_00We kind of spoke about it briefly. We you know, where we're both kind of coming at it from different angles, in a way, I think. Yes. Okay, so I had mentioned to you that when I was going through my own, let's say, shit times or whatever, that you know, the golf course was the freedom, it was the place where you know I could go for four and a half hours and be completely clear and free of all the shit that was happening elsewhere in my life.
SPEAKER_02That's fabulous, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00And it was a wonderful place, and it always remains that way for me. So the minute I drive into the now, it's not as bad. I mean, my life is great now, but I mean, back a while ago it wasn't that great, and for that amount of time it was wonderful. So no matter what happened, it didn't matter to me, you know. It was great. It was oh yeah, great, I've had a great score, amazing, you know. So, like you do speak openly about mindset and life and stuff like that, but golf can drive a person completely insane. You you mentioned a little minute ago here. So, are we both then coming from different perspectives in as far as that golf doesn't drive me insane? Like, I I don't care what I score, I don't care whether I'm going to be a scratch golfer or not. I don't think I just I go out and I just see if the ball of now don't get me wrong, I get very frustrated if I'm hitting it like an absolute muck savage. But as long as I'm getting a couple of pars and maybe a birdie or whatever, I don't get too frustrated. I don't get too high and I don't get too low. I just enjoy the walk with the people and it's the enjoyment and it's the set and it's like the session, it's like the the crack with your friends and stuff like that. If you have the right people with you, it's the best day in the world.
SPEAKER_02But isn't that like a fabulous way to live, like what you've described? Isn't it? If you think about it, like what a what a what a wonderful outlook to have, to be able to go out and do something and say that you know, I'm not going to get too bothered about what happens, I'm not going to get too bothered about, you know, you know, any of the bad shots or the good shots. I'm just going to enjoy it. And like what a wonderful way to live your life. If you can, if you if you can do that, uh power to you, because that's the you've that's the magic sauce there. That's participating and and and trying, but not getting too, you know, upset if things don't go your way. And really that's the that's the that's the kind of philosophy that you really want in life. I think that's I think that's uh magical what you just said there. Like for me, like I I uh when I'm when I talk about golf and and the the golf I play on a golf course is generally competitive. It's a competitive game. It's I'm preparing for something and I go out and I try and do it. But then I might have a leisure round, which is different. But like I I'm generally putting myself under pressure to try and uh play on a team or or compete. And um you know, and uh I um you know, do I go out with the same mentality? Maybe I should, you know, maybe I should maybe I should be like yourself. Well, where I just say fuck it, like I'm not, I'm just coming out here to enjoy it. I've been told that by loads of people, don't take it so seriously if it's just go out and enjoy it. And uh, you know, and uh maybe that's where I'm going wrong. Maybe I need to I need to be a little bit more like yourself and just take uh take a chill pill, you know.
SPEAKER_00But I'm not saying it's I'm not saying it's easy and I'm not saying it's it's it's been like that forever. I mean, there were times when I went out and I thought I was pretty good at this game, and I obviously wasn't as you know, I'm not saying I we're none of us, none of us are good at this game, you know. Yeah, you can only look at the likes of Scotty and Rory and all those guys, and they're very good at this game. The rest of us are pretending to be good at this game, right? Yeah, hence we have handicaps. So that's the one big thing that I've learned over the last number of years is that we're not any good at this, none of us. Yeah, we're all just going out there acting the fucking lad, acting like we're we're something hot. Don't get me wrong, I'll still love the competitiveness. I go out with every intention of beating you. If I was playing you in a match now, Finton, I would be 100% gunning to take the two euro out of your pocket. 100%. But at the end of the day, I'm not gonna let it get to me win, lose or draw.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and you but see, you can you can you can you you can get obsessed with different parts of the game because you know, um my ball striking has never been better than it is now, but my my game playing has never been as bad. Like taking it as a game uh of putting the ball in the hole. So Finton three years ago would beat, would hammer the shit out of Finton now. Whereas I'm hitting the ball 40 yards longer off the T, I'm hitting two irons less, I'm striking it better, I'm striking it out of the middle of the club, my variation is lower. But I've spent lots of time practicing that. I haven't had spent any time playing the game, which is getting the ball in the hole, knowing where my ball is going to miss, and you know, so when it comes to the actual game, I was better at putting the ball in the hole in the least number of shots three years ago than I am now, but I'm a better ball striker by a mile than I was, so you know that's just so that's because I've concentrated on two different things, you know. But that's why it's so that's what makes golf such a such a great game. It's just because like I'm married now and sh my wife will go mad with all the golf I'm playing. So if I only have an hour in the evening, I spend my hour, you know, hitting golf balls and not playing the game. That's why I bought a boogie. I fucking bought a boogie when I was in. I did, yeah. I remember I was like, I got I got the shit hammered out of me by a 17-year-old. Fucking humiliated me. He beat me on the junior cup trial, he beat me on the 13th, and I was like, oh fuck this man. And uh I I was thinking and I was on the way to India and I was like, what am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? And I f I fell asleep and I said I woke up and buying a buggy, and then I fucking said I'm buying a buggy, and I made a phone call and I bought a buggy when I was in India and I picked it up when I came back, and that was my that was my you know, to to play junior cup and all that kind of stuff. I said, I get out in the evening, and instead of hitting golf balls, I'm going out playing nine holes in the evening, every evening, um, with the buggy. And you know, so that's the kind of madness that you're dealing with with me. So but and and it worked, you know. So I get to play golf now in the evenings, so like I can play it for an hour and I can run around and skip and have nine holes played. Whereas I would have ordinarily, you know, played um or gone to the driving range or gone to the simulator.
SPEAKER_00So it's it's I just find it amazing like I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not when I say this to you, I'm not judging you. It's a man the amount of money that someone can spend. Like, literally, today I have ordered my new pair of golf shoes, which are 280 euro.
SPEAKER_02Class.
SPEAKER_00And only because of the fact that I have a um my right foot is like a size and a half smaller than my left foot.
SPEAKER_02I believe you, I believe you, I believe you.
SPEAKER_00So I have to buy two different, but I have to buy my foot foot show, are the only pair uh I believe you.
SPEAKER_02Oh, you don't you don't have to do that?
SPEAKER_00Stop it now, dump it like that.
SPEAKER_02They sound like the nicest pair of shoes you can possibly buy.
SPEAKER_00Oh, unbelievable, and and you know what, when you when you pay that amount of money, you can actually design them yourself. So, like I put in my own colours and the whole lot, they're gonna be the most amazing pair of golf shoes you'll ever see in your life.
SPEAKER_02Customization, that's what you want to do.
SPEAKER_00Customization, yeah. Well at 280 quid you better be able to do it.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah, beautiful though. I like I'm a firm, I am a firm believer that um especially um in a sport like golf, I think that the the golf ball that you like, the glove, the golf ball you like, the glove and the shoes and even the clothes, being comfortable is a lot more important than the clubs. I think that I I I'm telling you, I y once you get comfortable with you know your with your setup and the clothes you're wearing and how free you feel, um it makes golf a lot easier. Trust me. Like Ben Hogan used to drink uh uh um ginger ale before playing to make his fingers uh feel thinner on the club because he didn't like the feel of his hands in the morning that they might be a bit chunky, um you know, that there was too much blood on his hands. So he used to drink ginger ale to get the uh blood circulating because of the feel. It's mad, but it's the truth, it's the absolute truth, because there there are times that you feel great over the ball, what you're wearing, maybe a cold shower or something like that, and it has nothing to do with the fucking 480 euro driver or the or the irons or anything. It's to do with the feel of the glove, it's to do with the ball you're using, it's to do with a specific T, like a pink one that RN Rye uses that that gets that perfect height, that gets the perfect height. And they're the things I I I I I definitely believe that uh Will, you know. I don't think that we put enough emphasis on feeling comfortable um with what we're doing when we go out and play, you know. I have a pink t-shirt, a shark pink t-shirt that I play wear playing golf, and it's the most comfortable t-shirt. I just love wearing it. I would wear it in winter time and not wear any jacket or anything just for the freedom of it, because of how how nice it feels when I have it on. And then I I I I I with certain clothes I can't play. I I can't play like in uh certain t-shirts, just catching and it puts me off and annoys me, you know.
SPEAKER_00No, I hear I hear you completely. I mean, yeah, I can't the normal the normal kind of uh cottony t-shirts or whatever, these these lovely material like the climate cool material and stuff like that, they're beautiful to play golf in. Like they kind of slide on your body. Whereas the ones that are kind of these, this fabric, you know, when you've got big, big muscle arms like I do, you know, they get caught.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Big stuffy arms, like you know, you need the stretchy material.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. You're you're you're a you're a bit of an Ian Wosen. I can see that you would hit the ball uh well.
SPEAKER_00I mean, I'm a little bit taller, I'm a little bit taller than Woozy.
SPEAKER_02No, but you know what I mean? You've got the strength in your back and your shoulders and arms, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, if I can just get the hips. If I could get the hips moving at the same speed, I'd be doing okay. But it was interesting, you were out today at your sp your main your main sponsor, uh golf style. Um obviously having a look at your main sponsor, I would swear you're sponsored by them. Yeah, I'm not actually, but uh but they're they seem like a good spot, but you bought a three wood. Here's a funny story about a three wood. Forward, forward, forward. Oh, forward. I'm so sorry, excuse me, forward, yeah. You said that, yeah. Um, but I got a three-wood going back about Jesus, I bought at the same time as my driver, and I got the Ping G425 Um L uh low spin, the LST or LTS or whatever it's called, right? Yes, and I just for the life of me could not hit this golf club. I mean, and every time I swung at it, it was going high right, and I just kept on thinking to myself, going, Oh my god, it's so far, I've got something that's in my stance, or I'm swinging too far, or I'm in on the inside and I'm not getting the hands around. And I just gave up. I just almost a slappy slice, you know. And I just gave up on it. Like I was like, Well, okay, well, it just means I can't hit it, and I was hitting my five iron as far as it, and I was kind of going, Well, there's no point. So I was I was then experimenting. I got this um I broke my driver and I got a new driver with a new shaft, but kept the old shaft, which was an extra stiff shaft. And I started then thinking to myself, maybe I'll put the the new the old shaft of my driver into my three wood. Okay, yeah, yeah. Turns out you can't do that, right? Yeah, but by tinkering around, I actually just figured out that I just actually closed the face of my driver or my three wood. I just closed the face of it uh by using a little tool thing, closed it, and now all of a sudden I'm pinging this lovely draw 240 with the three-wood.
SPEAKER_02You see, it's probably sitting nicely. Uh it might it might it might have been open and it was causing you to bring it in on the inside, and then all sorts of funky shit was happening. Uh, you know, it's amazing. Too much variation. But no, but it's it's it's it's just amazing what a small that's why you know when it comes to lessons and all that kind of stuff. I know you need PGA professionals and all that to do them, but you know, sometimes it just takes uh a set of eyes that know that know you to see are you addressing the ball properly. Are you addressing maybe that club was sitting um obviously it was sitting open, and as a result of that, you could have been bringing it into the inside too much and having to accommodate and come over the top and all sorts, but once you had it sitting square or what you think what you think is closed, I'd win you this. I bought I had a centre shafted putter. I went to Declan and I said, you know, I'm doing an aim point course next week and um on the 8th, and I wanted I I contacted the main aim point and I said, I want to figure out is this nonsense or not, you know. I I I keep saying it's nonsense, and you know, I'm seeing people doing it and saying that's all bullshit and nonsense, but I don't know if it's nonsense because I don't know much about it. So um I went to Declan and I said I want to get a centre shaft to put her as well as part of this, and I went up there and I was a bit frustrated anyway because I had I played the senior cup and I fucking played shy and I was humiliated again there. So he just took a look on my putting style with this and he checked my setup. I'm waiting for this, but he said that I was aiming at least two balls to the right. So I'm telling you, and then I said that no way, and then he he he put a ball down and he got me got me to hit a ball against another ball across the carpet, and I had to hit the middle of it, and he set me up a bit like the way Fanny Soonerson sets used to set Nick Faldo up, and he goes, Now you're square, and I was looking down, I was like, That's two and a half balls at least to the left, and I started hitting it uh bang on every time. So I went out the following day and I shot one overpower gross, and I should have been a couple of under, and I I I nailed every putt. And every time I stood over a put, and when I lined it up, it I felt like I was going two balls to the left, and it went straight into the hole. It went straight on line. I was actually online with it. So just Just to say exactly what you said there with your three wood You you started you were starting square, you were aiming straight. And that's half the battle if you can have somebody to say, Am I fucking aiming straight or not? And not to go near your settle, not to go near your grip or any other tinkering with your swing, am I actually aiming where I think I am? And you know, I think that's half the battle with a lot of this, you know, especially for amateurs. You know, am I aiming where I think I'm aiming? Because you do all sorts of funky shit, as I say, if you're not, you know, you don't feel comfortable, and like you know, when you were hitting that three wood, you were doing all sorts of shit to make it go straight when you weren't actually square at a dress, you know.
SPEAKER_00Seamus McMonagall, a guy, a great guy from Donegal, uh, he's a coach and uh lovely, lovely gentleman. And he uh he was on the podcast and I asked him the question I said, what's one thing that would be surprising that a lot of good golfers do wrong? Yeah, not average golfers, not like me, or well, you're better than I am, but unlike me and above and all that kind of stuff. Good golfers, he says, aiming incorrectly. Yeah, all the amount of people that they come back and he said, the amount of money the coaches make off this. He told me a story and now whether this is true or whether it's one of those uh I don't know, one of those made upy stories, whatever, but your man uh manship who coaches Shane Lowry. Larry Larry rang him one time and said, Oh, I'm all over the place. Can you come out and sort me out? He got on a plane, went out wherever he went, and just told him he was aiming incorrectly. Larry started pinging it down the middle, he got back on the plane and went on. That was it.
SPEAKER_02Did you ever hear of dynamic alignment? Dynamic alignment means that you align with the club first and then your leg and then your feet, so that you put the club to the target square, and then you align your feet, not the other way around. And it's a much, much easier way to aim at your target. So you would you would set up with everything open, put the club down, and make sure that that's going straight to the target, and then you align your feet, not aligning your feet first, and then the club.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's mad because I I saw a guy on the internet, and it was actually very clever of a little video. I'm I'm addicted to all this stuff. I watch so much internet stuff. I'm watching everyone with their tips, but they had this golf ball, and the golf ball had it was like one of those tailor maids that has a little design on both sides, right?
SPEAKER_02Gotcha.
SPEAKER_00It had the line down the middle. So, first and foremost, we're saying put the ball.
SPEAKER_02Is it the curved line?
SPEAKER_00Is it it's just the curved line that goes across the top of the tall like you're aligning your put on the green, you might use the line on the balls, right? So, anyway, he said use that, and what you're doing is you're putting that line on your target on the T on the T, right? So I was thinking about that's clever, okay. I never thought of that. I've used the line for the putter. You're trying to put put in the line because you're saying your head down. He said, If you put your if you use that ball and put it down in the ground so it's facing, and then there was two around the sides of the ball, like those tailor maids, and he says, So that's there, and then so that target is that line is going at the target, and then these two lines are going, you know, around the ball, which are meaning that that's where your club should then be lined up straight beside those two lines. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm kind of going, oh my god, this is like this is like so simple. Like, why aren't more people doing it?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And yeah, we want to go out there and hit pro v1s with nothing on them, pro v1s, pro v1s, pro v1s. It's like the whisper. Don't mention it, pro v1, pro v1, pro v1.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah. But there's nothing as fucking sexy as a black pro v1 straight out of the box. Like, it's just there's you know, when you hit a when you hit a brand new Pro V1, you know, with a 9-iron or a or a wedge, and you hit it nicely and it skins up the green and stops, or if you rattle a putt from 12 feet and it hits off your putter, and it just the feel out the that beautiful feel of a premium golf ball. Nothing like it, man. Nothing like it. I I think that you know the you know, that's it's the best golf ball in golf. Like there's a different feel from the black Pro V1 than there is from anything else. Um I know it might be only some of it's probably in my head, but to me, like when I the when I'm playing interclub golf and I have a box of new Pro V1s and I'm starting off and you're lining up a new Pro V1 on your putts, it's just uh it's like putting on a brand new suit opening up a box of Pro V1s. It's that it's that feeling, you know. You might have old golf clubs, and your clubs mightn't be you know, but if you when you when you open up a new box of pro v1s, it's like everything is new, you know. That's why it's fucking sacrilege to um to to hit a brand new Pro V1 out of bones, you know.
SPEAKER_00Oh well, I'm like I'm literally that weirdo that I have hundreds of Pro V1s and I never hit them.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I buy them, yeah, and I store them. Yeah, I buy branded ones to keep them, you know. I'll always go down. If I go to a golf club, I'll always ask them do you have branded pro-1s? I bought them in Ross's Point for the West of Ireland this year, got them in an inch, you know. I've got them for the IRFU ones, I buy them all the time, and I have a box inside, and I've got another box downstairs with about 150 of them in them. And I swear to God, if anyone's out there listening and I pass away, if you're a golfer and you like pro v ones, go to my funeral because they'll be giving away pro v ones as a gift to everyone as they walk in the door.
SPEAKER_02But what's your what's your number two golf ball?
SPEAKER_00Do you know what I really love? I mean, and this I I have never actually I don't I don't actually think I've said this on live air before, so people might judge me for this. Um, I actually love the feel of a Callaway Super Soft.
SPEAKER_02I do too. I do too. Uh and you're not you're not far wrong there. There's a there do you know what they remind me of? Um the you the titleist had a golf ball called the Titleist HP2 Tour.
SPEAKER_00HP2 Tour, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02The HP2 Tour was a lovely golf ball, it wasn't as soft as a ballad, but and it came off, you know, there was a you know it was a little bit harder, but there was a lovely feel of it. You're not wrong. That's super that's a really nice golf ball.
SPEAKER_00I love the feel of it, just the feel that comes off the wedges and the putter. I'm not necessarily people said to me before that I said, why aren't more people using this? And they said, because they cut them up if you're if you swing really hard, you know, if you're a really hard hitter at the golf ball, like I like I would be. I'd if a swing speed of hundred over a hundred, um, you'll cut them up very quickly.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00But the feel around the green for me is lovely.
SPEAKER_02I mean, because they're not the chrome soft, these are the super soft, that they're like super soft. Yeah, they're the harder ball. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I just like the feel off them. Don't get me wrong, it's just I I remember I remember hitting it once and I went, geez, that's a lovely feel. I'm not saying it was the best feel I've ever had, but I mean I just I always remember it.
SPEAKER_02Whereas did you ever get a feel?
SPEAKER_00Yes, is you ever get the feel of a fiber? Did you ever get to old? Did you ever get told? Did you ever get the whole week's wages? But oh man, I get this is the crack.
SPEAKER_02But but that that is it that that is and you're not you're not far around. That that is a good golf ball. I've used them uh and they are and they are responsive, and you know, like for knocking the ball around in winter time, you know, and uh you know you said that they chop up, not really like I'm using seed golf balls a lot, you know. Um I I I like them. This I like a lot of the seed balls. There's a seed SD01, SDO2, and the SDX01, and I've used them all. Um Seed have given me golf balls to use, and uh I have to say that they they really are a good ball. Like I would you know careful I say here now there's three golf balls, right? You've got the vice golf ball, you've got the snell golf ball, and then you've got the seed golf ball. Now to me, the pro v1 and and the snell ball are the same. Like Snell is the guy that invented the Pro V1 and he has his own brand, and the Sn the Snell MB2, uh I think it's called that's a phenomenal golf ball. There isn't much of a difference between the price of them. They are never heard of this before. Snell, oh, they're fucking beautiful golf balls beautiful, and they have they have blacks the black one and the red one the same way as you have um the same for titlist. One of them like the the red the red snail ball um is spinnier but it's harder, so it it is a different feel off the putter, same way as um the titleist um the titleist X uh golf ball. So yeah. So to me the the the the snail golf ball and the pro v1 are the ball, and then uh you've got vice coming in then and then you've got seed. But I think that seed are a very good ball, like for you know for what you pay for them. There's no doubt about that.
SPEAKER_00Sorry, just go back a second here, right? Before we go forward, let's go back and talk about vice for a second. Yes. So these are the golf balls that I find around the golf course all the time that I just throw into the bag and never hit.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it depends on the vice. Like they all have a premium ball.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, of course.
SPEAKER_02They all have a Eurekain ball, but the the vice ball is uh is a is a player's ball. It's uh it's up there with the Pro V1. Oh no, no question at all. Yeah, seriously, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And they're relatively cheap, they're only like 33 or 34 quid for a display.
SPEAKER_02They are, yeah, yeah, yeah. But they're very good. They're very good. I played in uh I played in Druid's Glen with one and they go a long way too. I played I played against a guy called Derek the Rambler. He he invited me down to play, and uh I beat him on 18, and we had great we had a great old tussle, you know. And uh he gave me a sleeve of the vice golf balls to play with, and they're a beautiful ball, really are. Yeah, they're like a pro v1, no doubt about it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So listen, Camir, we unfortunately we're we're gonna have to finish up. I mean, it's uh it's creeping up on time for today. I mean, yeah, we've only unfortunately we've only tipped the top of the iceberg here. I mean, we're we're literally we're just we're just tipping off from Southampton here, you know, on our on our journey on the Titanic. So we've got many of these hours before we sink.
SPEAKER_02Well, you have to come out and cast a bar anyway, and you know what we'll do? We'll get some of these golf balls, we'll get we'll get some snail and we get some vice, and we'll get and we'll we'll have a crack and we'll see what we think because um I think uh and I've said this for a long time, I touched on it there. The glove, the ball, the grips, the the T's. I think that you know I think that every amateur should have those. They should allow themselves to have an affordable premium level um of those items, and it'll do wonders for their game, you know, and be consistent. You have the same glove, have the same T's, and have the no fucking round like you can pick a ball that suits you and that you like and uh and continue with those, you know. I I I firmly believe that. I got a glove, glove they're called, um glove by glove, G-L-U-V. And I'm telling you, Will, they are quality, man. You can get four of them for 60 quid, and they're they're triple A leather, beautiful. I mean they're they're gorgeous. So um they gave me a few of them to try, and I'm telling you now, they're as good as you get.
SPEAKER_00So I guess I tell you what, you're dropping the names here like Joe, like the Joneses, you know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Keeping up with the Joneses here, and tell you between seeds and snells and vice and and the gloves and the whole lot. I don't wear a glove at all. Oh, do you not? No, do you know why? I'm gonna tell you this now, and you're gonna judge me, and I don't care. Let let it be judged.
SPEAKER_02Did you get grease on your hands or something?
SPEAKER_00No, I didn't. I got Sam Torrens' hand one year from the weather uh because I was playing so much golf, I was wearing a glove nearly every day playing golf that my what this hand went very brown, this hand would stay white. Yes, I went, I just don't want that anymore in my life. So I actually stopped wearing a glove because I was like, I want my both hands to be brown.
SPEAKER_02Fair picture.
SPEAKER_00And I still see a difference. I still see a difference. I still see this hand being whiter.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, this is the same, I have the same deal. And tell me, um, how do you manage with uh you know sweat? Um or do your hands perspire?
SPEAKER_00No, I sweat everywhere else except for my hands.
SPEAKER_02Are you serious?
SPEAKER_00You're yeah, it could be dripping away, dripping down my neck in the whole lot, but my hands be relatively relatively fine. And then listen, I just have a towel always with me, and I just make sure that my hands will be dry, like you know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, fantastic. I don't know. Is there any ruling, is there, uh, Will, to use talc on your hands?
SPEAKER_00I don't know. I used to I use talc like every day.
SPEAKER_02You know, like the weightlifters kind of like uh Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00But I I I I don't I just all I know is I make sure that I'm my grip my my clubs are have good grips. That's it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and what grips do you use? Do you use the big uh the do you use mid-size or just normal ones?
SPEAKER_00No, no, mid-size.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, same size.
SPEAKER_00I well and I use mid-size and then I have to get bigger ones because my hands are quite large, so like I have to get thicker grips, like I have to get double tape or triple tape or whatever it's called.
SPEAKER_02Like, you know, yeah, I'm the same. No, I have to get like I use like uh the the the biggest grips you can get um for the same reason. But I I would be absolutely I actually wouldn't be able to play a game of golf without a I wouldn't play without a glove. I wouldn't be able to play. Um it's not mad. And I know some people wouldn't be able to, yeah.
SPEAKER_00But there's some people I talk to, and it's it's part of their routine now. If they don't have it, it upsets everything that they've done. So like people I wouldn't be able to play.
SPEAKER_02I wouldn't be able to play.
SPEAKER_00They can't but they get ready, but you know, they're they're not into their swing until they've actually you know put the velcro on, as in it's got sucky in or whatever, and then they're right, okay. I'm into my swing now. Whereas I just don't even think about it. It's not a money thing, it's not like I don't have 15 quid to spend on a glove, it's more so a case that I just don't see the point in them. You know, I think I can hit the ball without a glove. Yeah, why am I putting on a glove? I mean, it's just purely, I I think it's just another money-making thing. I think about some of the best golfers in the world that you know, Freddie Couples never had a glove.
SPEAKER_02No, no, he didn't.
SPEAKER_00Um couldn't afford them as a kid, so he just said, No, I don't need them.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the reason why he doesn't shake hands with anybody. Um, because he doesn't wear a glove, he doesn't want to get grease on his hands. It happened to him once before, uh, where he shook hands with somebody and he got grease on his hand. No, and the club was slipping off, so people thought he was ignorant that he wouldn't, you know, you know, so he might fist pump, but he won't let you touch touch his hand, you know. No, yeah, yeah, yeah. So an interview with him before people thought he was an ignorant bastard for not shaking hands, but he he won't do it because uh he doesn't want to get any uh yeah sweat or grease in his hands from other people, you know.
SPEAKER_00Isn't that brilliant? I never knew that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's class. Yeah, that's pretty funny. I mean, that's great. So listen, Camir, I mean, genuinely uh it's been great. This there, as I said, first time doing kind of like the video inter video kind of chat. Really, really enjoyed it. Um I think you're great. I think you're great. Uh great bit of banter, great chat. And I mean we'll get this out and we'll see what the feedback is like from people, and then we'll you know, if if there's a voice from the audience out there to say they want uh they want more of this, we will provide them with more and we'll see about getting some other stuff done. But 100%.
SPEAKER_02And if anybody wants to uh talk about any uh any specific topics in the game of golf, I'm uh I'm open to talk about pretty much anything from the the the handicapped shambles to to top golf courses in the country.
SPEAKER_00We never but I had a list of like six or seven yeah to talk about, and we only got to talk to one uh one of them, like you know. So yeah, I mean we've got plenty of things that we can talk about on another episode. I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what we do. We'll see if it's a case so if we get a bit of feedback off this. If people are interested, we might maybe think about doing it maybe once a month or something like that.
SPEAKER_02Just having a yeah, or even whatever frequency they want, but make sure everybody keeps it in the let the people talk, let the people talk, you know.
SPEAKER_00Let them yeah, we're like the we're like the you know the in the groman times. We're sitting in there with the thumbs up or thumbs down, you know. Exactly. Let the audience tell us that. But uh Finton, thank you so much for your time today.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you too, and thanks for putting this together. Uh your top man.
SPEAKER_00It's great fun. Thanks a million. Um so that's it now for another episode of A Touch of Class. A huge thanks to Finton, uh the creative Sigma, uh, for taking the time to chat and for sharing his story. If you enjoy the conversation, make sure to follow a touch of class on Instagram at ATOC Pod. It genuinely helps the show uh and keeps up to date with every episode. And wherever you listen, Apple, Spotify, or anywhere else, hit follow so you never miss what's coming next. And for everyone out there, a touch of class says good night.