3rd Hole - Dodging Divots

This week on Golf Pod Cymru, Rhys ap William, Eryl Williams and Matt Dearden are back in the studio with a packed episode covering all things Welsh golf.

The trio kick things off with a look back at their own golfing experiences over the past week, sharing the highs, lows and everything in between. Matt gives an update on his “Road to the Seniors” challenge, including a recap of his first tournaments in six months and how he’s finding competitive golf again.

There’s also a roundup of the latest from the Welsh professional and amateur scene, plus big news as the Seniors Open is set to return to Royal Porthcawl in 2027.

This episode features a special interview with Peter Evans, Head Professional at Royal Porthcawl, offering insight into the club, the upcoming championship.

As always, the team covers the latest Welsh golf news and announcements, before wrapping up with the popular “Ask Matt” segment—where Matt answers a listener’s question.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:14

Hello, everybody. Welcome to the third round of Golf Pod Cymru, where we discuss all things golf. I'm Reese App William, your kind of host, first to tee off, once again, our Captain Errol Williams alongside me, our pro is Matt D'Innan. Everybody okay, guys? All good here? Yeah, all good, thank you. Right, on today's episode, we're gonna do a little welcome, a little catch-up with everybody. Run into Matt's challenge, see how he's getting on on the progress towards the seniors tour. We'll cover some results, pro and amateur. Our topic in this pod is the senior open, and in particular the senior open coming back to Royal Post Call. Cracking interview with Peter Evans, the head pro down there at uh Royal Post Call. We'll cover some Welsh news and of course we'll have the Ask Matt section. That's where we're going to. So let's get started with a bit of a catch-up.

SPEAKER_03 1:09

Errol, what have you been up to? Um, well, I've been playing a bit of golf and the the hard work of kind of hitting balls with Matt has actually finally uh kind of worked. It was our first board comp uh at Radar Golf Club last week and um I won it. So it was a big shock. So I've got my uh name in gold leaf for 2026, so my season's done, my clubs are in a garage, and that's it.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Well, I'm hoping for a bit of a percentage of your uh your Pro Shop winnings or whatever you're gonna get. 10%. Come in your way, Matt.

SPEAKER_03 1:41

Don't worry. Don't worry. It was actually a a bogey competition, and it's a it's a format that nobody really likes, but um, it's my best format now. I want more bogey competitions, but I think most of the players didn't really understand the format. Probably that's why I won it because all the scores were probably wrong, and I was the only one that scored it properly.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

Tell us about the format there.

SPEAKER_03 2:00

Well, the bogey comp, um it's not often the comps are played in this format, but it's you're playing against the course rather than the rest of the field. You you try and beat the par of your handicap to win the hole. So if you if you par a hole, it's it's a zero. If you win the hole with a birdie, net birdie, you win the hole, and then a bogey or above is you're just a loss.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

So it's a a plus and minus scoring format basically. Are you playing match play against the golf course, essentially? Yeah. Essentially, yeah, that's a match play against the course.

SPEAKER_03 2:30

So so I won with a plus three. So I was quite surprised that you know that it's not a particularly great score, but on that day the course was playing really tough, and I think it was only six goals that beat beat their handicap. So um I was delighted. Thank you, Matt. Congratulations. Well done.

SPEAKER_02 2:46

Is is that the first time your name has been up in Gold Leaf at Radar Golf Club?

SPEAKER_03 2:51

No, it's my third one. Um competition on my uh on my own, and I've won uh uh another board competition with my son Tommy, um which which is great. So it's another individual one I've got now. Um so what about you, Fries? You went to Ireland, didn't you? How did that go?

SPEAKER_02 3:11

Yeah, I've got um I've got my my Freebie show, Portmarnock, the Jameson golf links, you know, Jameson. I I drank enough whiskey of all sorts of variety and and Guinness and it didn't help my golf that much. Uh but I played quite well here actually. Then we went to uh a little course called Corbalis, the par 66 had seven par threes on it, really in the dunes, really interesting little course, you know. So um I was a bit sketchy to start off with. I'll tell you about the first hole, so par three, 140, into the wind, straight into the the coastline. And the the there was a green, and to the left of the green there was a trap, and also a little path that went through the dunes to the beach. And either side of that path, it it was fenced, and uh I ended up on the path and had to play it back towards the clubhouse. It gave me a little idea of how I would play for the maybe the first nine until I warmed up a bit. But uh yeah, it was a really enjoyable uh trip and a lot of lot of Guinness, a lot of whiskey, and we went to Punchestown Racing as well, so we had we had some fun there. Not many winners there. The only winner was the couple of pros that I paid a lot of money for, a lot of balls that I used in their courses.

SPEAKER_03 4:25

Talking about pros, our Resident Pro played his first competition this week.

SPEAKER_02 4:30

Yeah, it's it's your challenge, Matt. You know, let's get straight on to that because you know what you've been doing is playing golf and and competitive golf again.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

Yeah, so uh yeah, back on the saddle the last uh the last week or so. My first competitive tournament since September last year, so it's been a long time out, and yeah, it I can sort of uh vouch that it's not like uh riding a bike. It's a little bit more difficult. It's it's one thing sort of practicing and playing, and another thing altogether going back into sort of tournament golf. Thoroughly enjoyable, I think. Uh i it was difficult. The the courses that I've played this week uh like playing in a concrete wind tunnel with sort of 30 to 40 mile an hour gusting winds, firm greens on sort of Parkland golf courses. So they were playing very similar to sort of you know a Link style golf course with the added addition of some lovely trees, which obviously came into play quite a few times. First tournament I played over in Cotswold Hills, as I mentioned in the last episode, I I I had fond memories of Cotswold Hills, they've now disappeared. Um I I I didn't sort of do myself any sort of uh injustice there. I ended up uh finishing a tie for 63rd position uh out of a field I think that started around about 140, 150 players, so put myself sort of midway, you know, in that in that tournament. So it was a nice, nice way to sort of break myself back in. And yesterday I played the PGA qualifier for the professional championship, which is being held at Slaley Hall in June, and I managed to finish effectively I was tied fifth yesterday. Uh so yeah, I was uh I was delighted with that. The top 13 got through uh to the finals, uh, which is you know which is great stuff for me. Uh I didn't really sort of anticipate you know getting through the qualifier because I've not played an awful lot of golf, but played solid uh yesterday and sort of hung on towards the end, which uh which I needed to do. It was a a bit of a nervy last tour where I needed to get sort of up and down from 50 yards, which has been my sort of nemesis for last week, that 50 yard shot. Something I've been practicing, but uh it sort of um elooted my sort of skill set over the last couple of rounds. So nice to get back in the saddle and get a couple of decent results, you know.

SPEAKER_03 7:02

You mentioned about the the weather there, Matt. Um I played midweek as well, and uh the wind was really, really gusting and and howling. And that being your first tournament, uh was that something you practised, you know, your wind game? Because that's a totally different ball game, isn't it? Trying to knock down shots and you know driving into 40 mile an hour winds, is it you don't practice that on the range?

SPEAKER_00 7:23

No, and the honest answer there is no, I I definitely was underprepared uh uh for 40 mile an hour gusts uh on a sort of firm Parkland golf course. Uh the the reality is it caught me out, it caught a lot of players out. And unfortunately, you you were getting penalised for actually sort of hitting good shots, you know, on one hole in particular at Cotswold Hills uh is a path three which is touching 200 yards with a tree on the right hand side, and I can only describe this tree as a similar size tree to the one that got dug up at Adrian's Wall. So if they need it if they need a replacement, then they can go there and collect that one happily. I think everyone will be happy to see the back of that one. But yeah, that that particular hole, I pitched the green there, it had a lovely shot. I get up there and my golf ball is sort of no longer there. And the best way to describe this was it looked like it ended up in a harvester salad bar, basically. The foliage around my golf ball was was ridiculous, unplayable, but uh yeah, very penal.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

On that note, Matt, you know, you how would how did you react to those kind of incidents on on the golf course? Could you switch back on to it and put that to one side and and go again?

SPEAKER_00 8:38

What I was attempting to do all week was to stick to my routine and trust the process that I was going through, and also to be sort of a little bit kinder to myself. So self-sabotage, you know, and self-sabotage being whereby you you give yourself a bolck-in uh and then you carry on to the next shot. I attempted not to do that, so it was sort of a clean slate on every single shot, and that in itself is difficult to do, as we all know as golfers, because we tend to hold on to the bad shots that we hit. You know, how often do you go into a clubhouse and somebody says, or you ask somebody how they've played, and instantly they'll say, Yeah, I did well, but I hit this shot, I hit that shot, I should have done this, I should have done that. Nobody talks about the good shots, they all talk about the bad shots.

SPEAKER_02 9:23

What what about your body physically? Because you mentioned you've had the the knee operation. How how's your body physically holding up?

SPEAKER_00 9:29

Uh okay. Yeah, it was it's it's been it's been tricky in terms of you know, the the amount of rounds of golf that I played last week is the exact same amount of rounds of golf that I've played since last September. So you can imagine cramming that level of golf, if you like, into a short space of time has been pretty demanding. I I took a step count actually for the last four days of playing, and I I I'm up near 65,000 steps this week. That's just on the golf course. So the the the important thing that I try to push across to my clients when I'm coaching them, very often they'll say to me, I get tired towards the end of a round of golf. That could be just simply because you've hit too many shots, but you know, at the same time, people aren't taking on the correct nutrition, they're not sort of drinking enough water. Bulmers, does bulmers count? I I I drank a few of them on the back line, that kept me going. Whatever works, to be honest. Whatever gets you through the round of golf. The reality is in a round of golf, you know, without being overly sort of serious about it, you should be consuming two litres of water because that's roughly what your body is going to be pushing out, irrespective of the conditions. If it's warm, you want to be taking more on. So if you're not drinking any water in a round of golf, you are going to be dehydrated. And the only plus side of that is if you have a pint after you finish, it's going straight to your head. So it's going to be a cheap night.

SPEAKER_02 10:48

Well, and what's next, Matt? For for you, where where do you go next?

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Next week, back over to back over the bridge to England to compete again in another uh chrome series event, which is similar to the first one I played in this week. Uh so I've got that to look forward to, and also now um with what with qualifying for the uh for the national event, uh I've got that one to look forward to in June as well. So uh a couple of things, you know, in the pipeline. Uh continue to practice, continue training, continue playing as much as I possibly can, you know, around my schedule of uh helping people with their golf games.

SPEAKER_02 11:22

Well, Matt, that's great to have an update on your challenge, and the challenge is to try and get on the seniors tour in in a couple of years' time. But what else is happening around the uh the results in the amateur and and pro game in in Wales and beyond?

SPEAKER_00 11:35

So recently in the uh in the professional game, the the Legends Tour visited Barbados. This is a tournament that's hosted by uh our very own Ian Moosnum. We had six Welsh men in the field, uh so this is a real strong field, and the performances from the Welsh players didn't let us down in any way. Great results from the Welsh players. So we had Jamie Donaldson finishing third with a score of minus eleven. So congratulations to Jamie. In 14th place, David Park on minus five, thirty-second place Phil Price, level par. 45th, Mark Mooland, 49th was Ian Wosenham, and in 51st place was Stephen Dodd. So a strong show-in there from uh from the guys on the Legends Tour. The Ladies European Tour visited South Africa for the Women's Open at Royal Cape Golf Club. In 29th position was Lydia Hall on minus two, and in 34th position we had Darcy Harry on minus one. The eventual winner from England with a score of minus 15 was Esmee Hamilton, so great score there. On to other sort of tours, professional tours this week. Ash Burnham hosted the Clutch Tour. So the Clutch Tour is, as mentioned in the previous episode, is one of the main feeder tours to the Hotel Planner Tour. And with a number of players, a number of Welsh players featuring in the field, so this is contested over three rounds. A couple of great finishes here. So in tied ninth position was James Fraser on level par. Tide 11th was James Ashfield on plus one. And tied 16th was Luke Harris on plus two. So the eventual winner from Ireland, Paul McRayd, he finished on minus four. So you can see the guys, the Welsh guys there didn't finish too far behind the eventual winner. So congratulations to them guys as well. In the amateur scene or in the amateur circuit, congratulations got to go to Theo Baker winning the Trubshaw Cup. So this is his second win this season. Theo, with rounds of 68, 74, 67, and 70, finished 11 shots clear of the field in this event. So that that is some winning margin. On to uh other news in terms of results. We had the Welsh stroke play at Pylon Kenfig. This was won by Andrew Heswell from Ormskirk Golf Club with a plus five total. The best home player from Pyland Kenfig actually was Sean David. He finished on plus eight in third position with rounds of 77, 68, 75, and 72. The Welsh Women's Open Stroke Blade Championship was recently contested at Aberdeen Golf Club. The eventual winner, Ella Butteris from Beaconsfield Golf Club, with a total score of 204, which is minus 21, an amazing score. Ella started the tournament with a with a fine round of 64. She was pushed quite strongly towards the end by Lily Hurst from Huddersfield Golf Club. And our leading Welsh player for the week, finishing in a tied sixth position, was Rebecca Del Sol Gonzalez from Pennard Golf Club. Rebecca finished on minus seven, so a great show in there. And finally, moving on to the North Wales Seniors Championship, which was held at Clandinno Golf Club. The winner there from Newport Golf Club was Chris Dinsdale with scores of 75 and 70.

SPEAKER_02 15:08

That's a little catch-up about the results and things. And good to see Jamie Donaldson doing so well. Can you win a a major? Can you win a senior major, man?

SPEAKER_00 15:18

Well definitely. It looks like he's brought sort of his form from the you know the DP World Tour when he was playing into the Legends tour. And clearly, you know, he's he's one of the youngest players on that tour, still fit and by all means hitting the golf ball a long way. So no doubt he's got the the ability and the game to do something this year in the seniors majors. So there'll definitely be something to look out for.

SPEAKER_02 15:43

Well you say this year, Matt, what uh what about next year? Because that's our topic. The senior open is coming to Royal Post Call. That'd be something special if he could you could lift that that title there.

SPEAKER_00 15:54

Absolutely. And you know, we're gonna have next year we'll have a a real strong showing again because you know the guys that we've mentioned previously will hopefully be playing. A lot of them will automatically get into the field. We'll have local qualifiers at or surrounding golf courses where the players can give it a go and and and maybe qualify to get into the field. So hopefully we'll have a you know a strong contingent of Welsh players, you know, not just Jamie, but you know, other players that hopefully can compete for the title.

SPEAKER_02 16:22

But a bit a bit too soon in in your attempt to get on the uh the senior tour, you won't be old enough.

SPEAKER_00 16:27

Yeah, I think uh yeah, my parents met a year too late, I think. So uh yeah, I'm uh I'm gonna have to miss out on that one. But you know, you you never know if Errol keeps winning sort of board competitions. So he's of the age now where he might be, you know, sort of angling for a bit of an invite. Hold on, hold on.

SPEAKER_02 16:44

Well, our topic is the the senior open and the fact that it's coming back to Royal Post Call. And Errol, it's it is only yesterday that it was it was there, wasn't it? You know, so it's it's great that it's back there uh so soon in in 2027.

SPEAKER_03 16:58

Yeah, it's the the fourth time the senior open's been there since well, since 2014 was the first one. Um Bernard Langer won that one emphatically if I remember, and then he won it again in 2017, and then the last one was 2023 when Alex Checker um won a playoff against Prack Harrington. But um what an amazing thing it is for us to have you know a major, be it a senior major, back in Wales, and it's a chance to see all these players. And I was looking through the the list of players that potentially could could play because of their age. Um obviously Padrick Harrington will be there, Ernie Ells, um Hendrik Stenson now has has started playing some legend stuff. You know, what's gonna happen with Liv if things kind of fall apart there? Does that open the door for the likes of Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Phil Mickelson? Um you got Tiger Woods even. He's he's turned 50 this year. You know, is there's a 16 months until until that, and you know, that what what a story would that be if he was back and playing in Port Cole. But it's exciting um that we have this again in Wales, and yeah, hopefully the crowds will will follow and the weather will will play game as well.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

Yeah, because the the the women's open uh has been there as well last year, so you know that that's the the big question, of course, that everybody will be asking. Will will we get the big tournament?

SPEAKER_03 18:24

Yeah, the the open is that nugget that Poth Cole would love, and um I think of the courses we have in Wales, you know probably Poth Cole and Conway would be the only two that would possibly be able to hold a an open, but it's it all comes down to the logistics and um the infrastructure around the course. Um you've seen the open, the grandstands and the pavilions and the and the village. Yeah, they're on massive pieces of land um that Port Cole don't really have at the moment. Uh and then there's another aspect of all accommodation and hotels, you know, that that is always a bit of a negative. But you know, it's a stepping stone towards that. And maybe, you know, will we see an open at post call in our generation? Probably not, but it wouldn't be greater in a hundred years' time the open would be at post call.

SPEAKER_02 19:15

Yeah, it would would be fantastic, and we're keeping on topic because you know, in our first two uh pods we've gone to to clubs and spoken to the pro, and that's exactly what we've done to keep on topic. We've gone to to Royal Post Call to speak to Peter Evans.

SPEAKER_03 19:30

Yeah, any opportunity I have to go to Royal Post Call that I'll I'll take it, even if I'm playing or not, that the place is so special and uh a stunning setting. So yeah, earlier this week I um popped down and had a chat with Peter Evans. I've driven along uh the beautiful Rasp Bay and through the iconic gate, and you arrive at this very special place. One of UK's best golf courses, not but not only UK, one of the world's top golf courses. Peter Evans, the head pro is with me. Thank you, Peter, for your time. Grows at a golf bod Cumbri. Before we start, talking about the club and the course. Uh as I walked into the pro shop, on your left there's a board showing all the all the professionals who have been uh appointed here since is it 1891 the course was opened up.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

That's right, yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:18

And amazingly, you're the fourth name on that list, which is quite incredible. So obviously, this job, once uh you have it, it's a job for life.

SPEAKER_01 20:27

Well, uh thank you so much for coming to Port Call today and welcome. And I you know Port Call so so well, and it's uh it's lovely uh to have you and see you again. So um it's uh it's a long, long story, and it's 44 years since I started here actually as assistant golf pro. I I was a junior member at Pad and Kenfer Golf Club, which is the neighbouring course, and I was a boy international, and the Welsh golfing union at the time uh they used to give coaching vouchers out to um members of the junior team. And I elected to come and have some lessons from the golf professor here, Graham Poore. He was uh recently appointed, he was only 26, 27 years of age, and he was building his uh reputation as a golf pro, and I came to have some lessons with him. And uh from those lessons, he offered me the opportunity to come and work as assistant golf pro here. And um I I I owe everything to him, really, not only the opportunity, but uh all that I learned and trained from him all those years ago. I and I can remember the very, very first time, the very first lesson I came, was probably the best lesson I ever had. And I perhaps didn't re really understand and realize that at the time. But I was ha having a little lesson w with him and he um uh I was hitting walls down the 18th fairway at that time. We did have that wonderful practice facility that we now enjoy. And I hit about 20 shots in a row, and I hit a big raking draw, 20 yards of movement through the air, and I virtually took the pen from the marker post, 20 shots, and he said, Stop. And um I stopped and he said to me, he said, Now, do you want to become a good player? I said, Yes, yes, I do, Mr. Poor. I do really want to become a good player. He said, Well you can't hit a golf ball like that. And that was the start. It was very, very difficult. The change that he was offering to me that day was very difficult because I had a very, very strong grip, a four knuckle grip, a lot of movement in the air. But he sold to me that day the reason why I needed to change, and that was to control the club face, to control the ball. And and that lesson helped me at that point, but also really, really helped me through my coaching days. And what what he sold to me that day was the understanding, and that's been one of my principles of coaching throughout the years. So that was my introduction to Graham Poor and I came to work for him uh in in July uh 1982. He was a great uh supporter of me. When I came into the game, I wanted to be a player, and he gave me every opportunity to do that. I I worked for nine years, I trained uh with Graham. Uh, in those days, it was a very, very different job. We we played a lot, we played lots of the members, we played in programs, and I had the opportunity uh to play in South Africa and the Safari Tour, Sunshine Tour, and got a fringe tour card. I had played a number of European tour events and I always wanted to be a player, but didn't quite make it. And after a period of time, I decided that um I would get my own prose job. And my first prose job was at Kingsdown Golf Club, and I can remember very, very clearly writing a letter to him to say thank you so much. And I and I said, Dear Graeme, thank you so much for the nine-year holiday. I've now got to work for a living. And it really felt like that, uh, being assistant golf pro at this wonderful club and the opportunity. So I tootled off and got my first prose job at at Kingsdown Golf Club. And Graham became an even bigger friend during the time uh that I went there. He he offered me lots of uh support and help and guidance in running my own business and shop. And then tragically, um he uh at the age of 38, he he was killed in an air crash. Wow. Um and um uh so I'd left never to return, and within 21 months I I'd come back as the golf pro. I I wrestle a lot with that uh even now. Um all these years on, you know, but for that terrible incident uh and and tragic loss for for Graham, who was one my my great friend and and great mentor, where where I'd be. And that's so that's where it all started for me. So I returned here in in in in 1982 and have been uh here ever since, and it's a great place for me, and I'm back to my home, uh which is uh Porthcore.

SPEAKER_03 24:16

It is a stunning place. You're just looking out the window here, that it's a stunning setting, and that must be part of why there's been so little ahead professionals here, because it is a kind of joke job that you pinch yourself, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

You do. And I I have to say this, Errol, I don't take it for granted as well. I I see it every day and I I drive the the beach road, as you you've just said, and you come through the gates and it is stepping into a little piece of heaven. And yes, I'm very, very fortunate, and and uh this wonderful stretch of uh Welsh coastline that we uh have is is is a huge part of my life uh and has been for many many years.

SPEAKER_03 24:50

On to the the club or the course itself. Um obviously this place reeks of history and tradition. Um give us a bit of other background on the club and how we became uh I don't think it was here originally, was it?

SPEAKER_01 25:04

No, you're absolutely right. We've been on this site here since 1896, and the original Porth Call Golf Club was on Locks Common, which is the common uh you you drive through as you approach the club. There was a nine-hole course there, and then the uh the opportunity uh arose for them to come to this site. We we've been here ever since. Uh Ramsey Hunter was the uh original course architect here. It's uh it's had lots of changes throughout the years, and more recently, uh Martin Ebert of Mackenzie Ebert, they've done quite a lot of work, and I dare say we'll chat more about the course as we go along.

SPEAKER_03 25:41

Definitely we will have got plenty of questions. Obviously, rollport call is up there with one of the best links in the UK, but what makes it stand out from the others, you think?

SPEAKER_01 25:49

I think golf courses of this period were typically built close to the railway networks, so they were built on strips of land and they went straight out and straight back. Um a porthole doesn't do that. The first three holes run parallel to the shore and then it sort of cuts back on itself and loops and twists. You play downwind, crosswind, uh and it's the variety of holes I think that you get. You get some long holes, some short holes. But the other great great claim that we have, and I think this is possibly one of the only claims that uh is made in the UK, is that you can see the sea from every hole. And that that is great as well. And it's uh it's that sort of that natural feel that you have and the sound of the sea breaking uh and all of the elements that you have with it, that makes it so special. And it's just a beautiful, beautiful stretch of coastline. And all of the holes, they they have that lovely, beautiful, almost postcard sort of feel to them, really.

SPEAKER_03 26:43

They do, which leads me on to the next question, really, because um I've been looking at the clear quite a few times and I can't really pinpoint my favourite hole because every hole is so special in his different way. Have you got a favourite hole out there?

SPEAKER_01 26:56

I probably can't get much beyond the first hole and the first hole because it's just that wow factor. You come through the corridor uh between the the clubhouse and the pro shop and then you see this wonderful, wonderful view. And it's that sort of wow factor that you have when you look down the first there. Now there'll be members here who will say, Well, hang on, mine's the this hole, that hole, whatever it might be, and the and everyone will have their different views on it. But the first hole for me, when I stand on the first T, the T's been slightly elevated, you feel on top of the world, you're looking down to the first hole, and and of course we have uh, you know, that wonderful city in the background, Swansea City. And of course, being a Jack, that's a that's a particularly nice view.

SPEAKER_03 27:35

I've topped quite a few balls off that first T. Then on the flip side, hardest holes, the wind is such a factor here. Um day zone is a different wind to the normal. But um there's a a few tricky, tough holes out there.

SPEAKER_01 27:50

There there are, and I think that uh the the second hole here, with the the green's proximity to the the outer band's fence and the and the beach, that's a very, very difficult green to hit, even with the best of T-shots there. You're typically just on the sort of brow of the hill with the ball slightly below your wind off the left side, out of bands left. Um that certainly captures your attention. So the the second hole would be one of one of them. And I guess the the the par five, the twelfth, um, which before it was lengthened was really uh one of the easier holes where you could certainly uh squeeze a shot back. But now I find that very, very difficult. Even if you hit a good T-shot there, um it just tests your nerve because there's a sea of gulfs right and left. Um so I I tend these days to sort of sort of kick it up, nudge it up there somewhere and and try to make a five that way.

SPEAKER_03 28:38

Well, that leads me on to one of the questions I was gonna ask. If you were playing role post call for the first time, what kind of advice would you give them? You know, is there is there a way of playing port call?

SPEAKER_01 28:48

Well, I it's it's interesting because I get asked this so so frequently. What would be the strategy and what would be the tip? And I I we live in the era of boom, big uh uh hitting. But the key here is driving the ball straight. If you can avoid the bunkers and keep the ball on the fairway, you have a chance. And and even now with the distance that I don't hit the ball, if I can play and hit it straight, then I've got a chance. If you find the fairway bunkers, then you are really going to take a big score. You're on the back foot. So driving the ball straight is one of the things that I've tried to teach and play and achieve myself over the years. Uh, but one of the keys to playing it here so often, and look, just today I've had we've had lots of visitors here. I get asked, give give me a tip for the day, pro. And I say hit the ball quietly. Hit the ball quietly. Well, that's difficult to do when it's blowing 30 miles an hour in your face. But that's that's the key, really, if you hit the ball softly, then it helps keep the ball down, takes the spin from the ball, and hopefully keeps it straight for you too.

SPEAKER_03 29:44

Great advice. Obviously, this is uh a famous course in the UK, and that I'm sure over the years, well, I know over the years, a lot of famous golfers and celebrities that have played here. Who's the most iconic or famous person you've played with on the course?

SPEAKER_01 30:00

Well, as as a golfer, then obviously that would have to be Ian Woosnum, our very own man, and I I played with him. Ironically, it was in a um a memorial match uh that we we had here for Graham Paul. I played with Ian Woosnum, Max Boyce, and Brian Huggett, the legendary Brian Huggett, who uh was was fantastic. And Brian and I took on Max and Woosie, and Woosie decided that day that he would knock it round in '64. So we were the Bridesmaids. But uh He was at his prime then. He was at his prime and and he he did say that it in fact it was the best he'd played since he'd won the Masters in 1991 uh to his credit. So that was a great thrill for me. So he's the most definitely the most famous golfer. The most famous um person, I guess, that I've played with outside of golf would be Hugh Grant. Uh so uh the great opportunity to play with him here. He was great to play with a charming man, and we we did have a little wager. Um and to his credit, he paid his his debt after the match. He gave he gave me£25, uh, a fiver and a£20 note. And I and I thought, well, you know, I've got to get him to sign this, which he did sign. Dear Peter, thank you so much for the the day. The best wish is Hugh, and I tucked it into my wallet and I thought, well, okay, I'll get that sort of framed up. But uh a few days later I went into my wallet to get the uh the£25 out and uh and there was no money there. And I and I I I shouted to my wife, she said, I've been into your wallet, I had to pay the cleaner, she sent. So anyway, the£25, which was due to be hanging in the wall, is gone.

SPEAKER_03 31:28

It's somewhere in circulation.

SPEAKER_01 31:30

It's somewhere in circulation that's right, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:32

But talking about visitors, I presume we get a lot of international visitors here. Is there a certain country that comes in most, or is it pretty much across the globe they they they come here?

SPEAKER_01 31:43

We get a lot of Europeans here. We do get a lot of uh French and uh German and Spanish, Italians, Scandinavians, so we we get a lot of. We are getting more and more Americans come to visit. You know that golf in Ireland and Scotland is very, very popular, but also very costly too. So um they they love the course, they love Wales, and not just playing a Porth Call too. We've got so many great courses on a little tour. Obviously, we've got neighbouring Southern Down and and Pad and Kenfig and Pennard, and they they they enjoy playing those golf courses because they are different to what they experience at home.

SPEAKER_03 32:18

Which leads me on actually. What's your favourite course in Wales? And obviously you can say a Porth Call.

SPEAKER_01 32:24

Well, uh there's a lot of deliberation there because I think there are so many great courses. My my tendency is bound to lean towards the Link style courses because that's what I grew up on. So Abba Dovey uh and Roll St. David's are uh are great, great tracks, and Prestatin and Conway, and uh there's so many great courses, and uh there's one racing certainty that is we have so many great courses in Wales, man, it's a it's a a destination which I think is is building and growing.

SPEAKER_03 32:50

Definitely, totally agree. Um and talking about um people coming over to to to Wales, we had the announcement a few weeks ago that the senior open is is coming back to Port Cold in 2027, uh which is fantastic news. And you're you're so used to holding international events here from Battle Walker Cups to the Women's British Open last year and and multiple senior open. As a club, are you are you delighted with this? Uh what's the reaction of the members and uh the impact on the area?

SPEAKER_01 33:20

Oh I think as a club we we we're delighted that the the scene is is returning and and returning so quickly after uh 2023 when we last uh hosted it. So uh to have it again next year is is a great thrill for us. So no, the members are are uh so on board with that and uh and um it's interesting actually, we we have uh a lot of divoting parties here, and uh we get a lot of people coming out for divoting parties, and that they enjoy that too, and it's a sense of one looking after their their club, but also you know trying to get the course in pristine condition. In terms of the benefit to uh the local area, it's big. We get a lot of benefit from that, not just from the week, but it's the global exposure that we've enjoyed in in in more recent years and we'll continue to enjoy too. So having people coming to this area it can only be a good thing, and we know we're very excited about having it again.

SPEAKER_03 34:17

And uh in terms of the setup of the course, how different is the setup for the for the I guess the major events you have here compared to how it plays for a normal visitor?

SPEAKER_01 34:27

Interestingly, we we've had this conversation within the club. I I sit on the a green uh committee, uh and we we we've talked about this more recently where the the experience for your day-to-day member visitor doesn't dip significantly. Obviously, you can't be at championship specification every week of the year. That doesn't work. But the club are very, very keen want to have the course at a bar that doesn't dip too low. So obviously you try to get into pristine condition for for a major championship like that. The the big difference for next year will be the um reconfiguration of the seventeenth hole, which is significant. We we've reconfigured the T's. The T's are a bit higher, so you've got a better view of the uh the hole because it was completely blind. We've cleared uh the course at the brow of the hill, and we've actually taken about a metre f of the of the first fifty yards of the fairway away. So uh and we've now gone to be playing to a new green. So the hole will be significantly different for the for the championship next year.

SPEAKER_03 35:32

On a slightly different tangent, I that this club, like I said, is is full of history, tradition. Um certainly this this club would be a no-caps in a clubhouse kind of a kind of uh uh location, but uh how do you balance uh tradition with uh a Rollpools call but making golf accessible?

SPEAKER_01 35:50

I think uh that things have changed and things are evolving and I I can remember uh starting here all those years ago and on a Saturday there'd be no golf here on a Saturday morning. At twelve o'clock you'd have everyone turn up in collar and tie, tweet jackets, so it's changed an awful lot. I think the club recognise that change has to come and takes place. There are still standards that have to be followed, but I think that we are embracing change. We recognise that there is change out there, and I hope that uh the people that come to Porth Call don't feel that um they're not made welcome and comfortable. And I think to a large extent people do feel that they they're comfortable here and they come um they come into a special place and people respect those traditions too.

SPEAKER_03 36:45

No, the welcome is always great. Yeah, you are treated like royalty when you do come here. Uh last question um is a question that we ask all guest clubs. It's the price of a bacon bap, but possibly being here at a roll pothole is probably a bacon brioche.

SPEAKER_01 37:02

Well, I can tell you it's it's uh it it's an excellent bacon roll here and I think it's around about four pounds twenty um with a free cup of coffee as well. So a free cup of coffee, yeah. So I think it's pretty uh good value for money, but um uh it's it's one of those things, it's a must, isn't it? Coffee and bacon rolls before you play golf.

SPEAKER_03 37:22

Thank you very much uh for your time, Peter. It's like I said, it's so special to be here and and then obviously good luck with with all the preparations for for next year for the senior open. And obviously you'll be I'm sure you'll be trying to qualify for the event yourself, along with a lot of other Welsh seniors and amateurs as well. So good luck and maybe we can come back next year to see how we're getting on uh with the preparation for the event.

SPEAKER_01 37:45

Yeah, that would be uh obviously that I'd be delighted to see you before that. And uh I I will be trying to pre-qualify. It's the last throw of the dice for me, I think. Um trying to get in uh difference between uh 50 and 60 is is big, but I will try. You I'm just one r decent round away from playing in it. But thank you, Errol, for coming and thank you for all the support that you've given to Welsh Golf. It's huge to to the PGA, and uh we are all very, very appreciative. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 38:12

Thank you, Peter. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_01 38:13

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_02 38:15

Well, that was some interview, Errol. Nostalgic and you know, hit a lot of history with Porth Call. And one of the things that really struck me from from early in the interview was just the amount of pros that have been there, you know, what four of them in the history of the golf club? That was amazing.

SPEAKER_03 38:33

Over 135 years to have four pros is is quite spectacular, you know. And I think the first pro was there for 60 years, I think, so he he did a good stint, but um kind of shows, you know, how that kind of job is one for life.

SPEAKER_02 38:49

You know, when the interview started, I couldn't wait for you to ask him how much a bacon roll was gonna cost, and I was quite surprised. And you had a coffee in with it as well. You know, it was a serious threat to you, I think.

SPEAKER_03 38:58

I know that the the free coffee that comes with it is uh, you know, there's an asterisk next to that one, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 39:04

We won't mention the cost of a green fee that you have to pay to get on to Royal Porthcall, but just go there for a bacon roll and a coffee. Matt, what what did you take from that interview with with Peter? What what caught your attention?

SPEAKER_00 39:17

Well for me it was Peter's sort of passion for the for the golf club and sort of the the the passion that he's got for the for the membership there and the respect that he's got for the membership. So in terms of sort of his early days there, in terms of being a you know an assistant pro, was very similar to to mine. You know, I got taken under the wing by my sort of local pro who offered me the job, you know, as the assistant, and I played a lot of golf. And you know, listening to Peter, he also played a lot of golf, you know, in his early years as an assistant, which this doesn't happen anymore, and it it doesn't happen for a number of reasons. It it happens because th the you know wages, if you like, you know, you've got to pay assistants and you've got to pay a lot of money now to get people working, you know, in a in any environment. Back when we were doing it, I was being paid£45 a week and I worked six days. It didn't bother me because I also got I got to play golf six days a week, you know, in and around my work. So for me, listening to Peter talk about sort of the early days, it brought back some memories for me in terms of why I got into golf and possibly what's missing now in terms of attracting you know the youngsters into the game.

SPEAKER_02 40:28

And the fact that the the senior open i is is going back there, you know, he was saying what it means to the the club errell, you know, and not just to the club but to the area and and to Wales.

SPEAKER_03 40:39

Yeah, the tourism it it brings for the event is is huge, but it's more the spotlight, you know, the TV coverage over the world and like he said, they have a lot of international visitors that come over and rather than go into their typical golfing destination of Scotland and Ireland, it's great that they they come over to Wales, they play the other courses, they'll travel, uh they'll see the cities and the beautiful landscape we've got here, and um it's all positive for Wales.

SPEAKER_02 41:07

What what does Royal Put Call need as as protection, really? You know, looking at when the women's open was there, Yamashit won it at leven under, I think, and then Checker was and Harrington were five over par, so it does need certain elements to to protect the course a little bit, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 41:26

Yeah, absolutely. The wind is the biggest factor there, I think. If you've ever been blessed with playing Porthcal in benign conditions, you know, it is something to behold. It's still very, very difficult, but as soon as the you know that that breeze gets up down there, it's brutal.

SPEAKER_02 41:43

Peter mentioned the first hole is his favourite hole of the course. One of the first times I played Royal Porthcall, the old first T was right next to the C, you know. That that's moved. And something else happens in championship format, doesn't it? They they change the the configuration a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 42:03

Yeah, um for the tournament for the senior open, the the 17th hole is actually the eighteenth hole and the first hole is the eighteenth. It's and that's because they can't get a grandstand around the eighth, the eighteenth hole as as we play it, um, because it's next to the C, so they kind of alter it for that event. But it also works because the 18th and it's next to the practice area, which is the Tented Village. Logistically, it works. But with the new green they've installed, I had a look at it um the other day. The the the new green on on the 17th, it's gonna make it a much tougher hole as a as a closing hole. So it'll be a risk reward uh element to it. But as as Matt mentioned earlier as well, it's worth mentioning uh for all the uh amateurs in Wales, if you're over 55 um and a handicap of 0.4 lower, you can enter the qualifying rounds to to try and get to the to the senior up and that um th those qualifiers usually are are local clubs. Uh they haven't been announced yet. Um the entry fee sounds quite steep,£250, but there's a lot of these pros across the world that come to qualify for that vent, and and what an opportunity to to try and um you know qualify for uh for a major. Yeah. Anybody over fifty-five in Wales, put that on your diary next year.

SPEAKER_02 43:27

Well, I think that's our topic covered. The senior open coming to Royal Porth call. Let's move on to Welsh news. What's happening in Welsh Golf? Erl, what have you got uh in this bulletin, especially from the studio?

SPEAKER_03 43:42

Yeah, the news this week. Well, we touched on this last in the last pod. Um it's the G4D coming to to Celtic Manor, and that's uh on the 14th to the 16th of May, which is next week. So it's uh it's a fantastic um competition uh coming to Wales. It's open to Uh amateurs and professionals. So it's free for spectators to attend and it's be it'll be played on the Roman Road course. Some Welsh players that'll be playing, notable ones. Liam O'Neill, he's played in a lot of uh these events, and Mike Jones will be playing, and I think he's represented Wales in a lot of disability golf um competition. And I think someone you notice?

SPEAKER_02 44:23

Yeah, I know Mike well. You know, I played with him a couple of times and then uh played some events where he's the pro on uh certain path threes and we uh have to beat the pirate, which I've yet to do, and he's a fantastic ball striker, you know. And but he he had a a shoulder injury. He's had a operation and like Matt has been doing sort of rehabilitating and getting back to play. So I've not touched base with him, not seen him in the wild, so I I'll hopefully make it up to see him play on the Roman road.

SPEAKER_03 44:53

Yeah, it's great that Wales is becoming a global home for inclusive championships in golf at this is fantastic. In uh the news, actually, Matt's colleague, uh Bridgen Driving Range, Christian Askins, won the Toby Sunderland uh award from the PJ. Um this award is for recognition to PJ members who have made an outstanding charitable contribution. And Christian last year did a number of events um all to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society. In December last year, ran a 10k run every day in December. Um I actually joined him on the last one on the 31st of December, which is great to join him. But he then went one step further, and a few months later he ran a half marathon every day for a month. Every day he ran a half marathon, he was getting up really early before going to work. I don't know how he did it, fair play. And then followed that up, he ran the London Marathon last year as well, all to raise money. So, all in all, he raised over um 11,000 pounds, and yeah, great recognition for him to win this award as well.

SPEAKER_02 46:03

That's quite an interesting story, Aaron, about uh Adele Nichols. She's uh an athlete Olympian, and but she's joining forces with Wales Golf.

SPEAKER_03 46:12

Yeah, uh news that came out this week. Adele Nicholas joined the Wales Golf um board. Um she's joined as a non-executive director of high performance. Um and like I said, she's not short of of performance experience. She she competes for Wales in in the shot put and the discus and the bobsleigh as well. She just recently um competed in the Winter Olympics. So um so she'll be a uh a great uh positive influence on elite golf in Wales.

SPEAKER_02 46:42

And she's a a mid-Wales, she's I think she's a Welsh pool girl, and she didn't play a lot of golf herself, she said, but it's in the family. I think her mother's been the captain at the Lakeside Golf Club just outside Welshpool, so it's it's in the blood, it's in the blood. And another thing in in Welsh golfing news is the four-ball at at Glen Abbey. We're gonna go a a different route to announcing it this time, I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 47:05

Yes, rather than announcing it on the pod, we're gonna announce it on on Instagram. So um there's a chance for more followers to to to kind of follow us there and we'll we'll make the announcement over video on Instagram around Wednesday. So get yourself on Instagram for a chance to win.

SPEAKER_02 47:24

Yeah, a four-ball at Glen Abbey, lovely course, which I flew over when I came back from Ireland. I took a picture of Glen Abbey and Force Last. That's the route that we came back from from Dublin. So uh it looked good from about a mile up in the sky. I'm not sure how how um how it'll look when I'm uh in in the trees that I saw lots of around Glen Abbey. But I I look forward to getting down there over the over the summer to play. Right, the next section that we have is uh the podley one of Ask Matt, where we go through the questions that people have asked and sent to us personally or on social media. And Eril, what have you picked out for Matt to answer this week?

SPEAKER_03 48:02

Yeah, we we've got a question, and and it's a really good question actually. And this has come from Elgun Griffiths from Borthon and Islas Golf Club um there in Mid Wales. So, Matt, if you could change one rule in professional golf to improve the sport, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00 48:18

Okay, rules in in golf at the moment, it's quite a hot topic, and I'm not sure if you've sort of listened to the news this week, but it looks like the golf ball rollback is going to be in force from 2030, and that'll be for all golfers apparently, not just for professionals. But uh that aside, I think uh in my opinion, um one of the harshest rules in golf, if you call it a rule, if but it's when your golf ball lands in a divot. So, in in my opinion, changing this rule in golf would would simply be removing any unfair randomness. Quite literally, you know, hitting the perfect shot and landing in a divot which is left by someone else, I think sort of creates a mismatch between skill and outcome. So that you get penalised unfairly for your golf ball landing in somebody else's divot.

SPEAKER_03 49:12

I totally agree. It's uh it's such an unfair rule, but why haven't they changed a rule? What what's stopping them? Is it people wouldn't trust other people to say you know, would you have to check every time? Or there must be a reason why they haven't.

SPEAKER_00 49:27

Yeah, but we do, you know, we do these things when we play golf anyway. If you if you need to take a drop, you check with your play-in partner. You know, if if your golf ball lands in a divot, ultimately all you're gonna do is check with your you know, with your play-in partner. I mean, uh a a main counter argument against this is that, you know, golf traditionally is a test of adaptability and and also you know, rub of the green. In my opinion, adopting this rule whereby you could sort of move your golf ball out of a divot, it is not really sort of fundamentally altering the game.

SPEAKER_02 49:58

Would you would you have more divots on the course then though?

SPEAKER_00 50:01

You'd have sort of yeah, you'd have shallower divots because you wouldn't be hitting another big divot out of another divot. So, I mean, how do you repair a divot that's already a divot? I've mentioned earlier that I needed to get up and down on the last hole, and my my ball when I arrived there was in a divot. Fortunately for me, preferred lies was on yesterday. So I got to remove that golf ball from the divot. I I wouldn't have had a chance to get in that golf ball anywhere near the hole if I wasn't able to prefer my lie. And and that for me is unfair. I don't know what you guys think. You know, what's your opinions on it?

SPEAKER_02 50:34

Well, what about a p you know a a plugged ball, for example? You you you you hit the ball onto the fairway and the fairway is a little bit wet, and that ball embeds itself in into the fairway. The rule is there, you should be able to pick that ball up, clean it, and and drop it and and play from within a within a club's length no near of the hole, yeah?

SPEAKER_00 50:54

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 50:54

So why why be penalized for hitting a another good shot and you land in in someone else's hole, which is a divot, you know? Do some courses make it a local rule? Could you bring it in that way on your course to try something different? To bend the rules a little bit?

SPEAKER_00 51:10

It's a great question. Potentially, yes, you you you know, you could add that as a local rule, but I think, you know, for it to work you know across the board, I think it does need to be a rule and whether whether it'll change or in line with you know with other things, uh you know, I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_03 51:24

But the only reason I can think that they won't do it is is the clarification of what is a divot and what isn't, you know, is a bare patch of grass a divot or a bare patch of grass? Yeah. It it I think it's a s it it's a a rule that they should look at, but uh it just baffles me why this has never been addressed, you know, in in how many years we've been playing the sport.

SPEAKER_02 51:47

So that's the uh end, almost the end of the third episode of Golf Pod Camri. Where we're going next then? What's the plan there, are we gonna venture off course?

SPEAKER_03 51:58

Yeah, I think we'll try something different. We'll try to go, well, boardroom. We we we'll we'll use that as a category and we'll we'll try and get somebody high up, possibly if we can, in Wales Golf, and see what kind of interview we can get.

SPEAKER_02 52:13

Great stuff. So look forward to keeping uh track with Matt's progress as he continues his his journey. See if Errol can get his name in gold leaf on another board somewhere up at at Rada Golf Club, and I'll keep playing with my new T100s that I got from Will Irwin at Wichards. Thanks very much for those. Well, right, that's it then for this third hole of Golf Pod Cymru, and as we always do, we'll finish with the same line with an added extra this week. Remember, all golfers, repair your pitch marks and also replace your divots.