9th Hole - Far Froom Home

Golf Pod Cymru – Episode 9: Far Froom Home

Join Rhys ap William, Eryl Williams and Matt Dearden for another episode of Golf Pod Cymru as we reflect on an unforgettable Open Championship and catch up with one of Welsh golf's most well-travelled professionals.

The Open Championship Review

The team looks back at this year's Open Championship, analysing the biggest talking points, standout performances and key moments from golf's oldest major. From the eventual Champion Golfer of the Year to the stories that captured the imagination, we give our thoughts on an unforgettable week.

Welsh Golf Round-Up

We bring you the latest news from the professional and amateur game in Wales, including a fantastic showing by Welsh golfers at the Senior Open at Gleneagles. It's another encouraging week for Welsh golf, with plenty of impressive performances to celebrate.

Special Guest – Tom Froom

This week's guest is Welsh professional Tom Froom. From learning the game at Nefyn Golf Club to taking his golfing career across the world to China, Tom shares the remarkable story of his golfing journey. We discuss the opportunities and challenges of playing internationally, the experiences he's gained overseas, and what the future holds for his career.

Golf Stat App

Matt introduces his new Golf Stat app, designed to track every aspect of your game. From fairways hit and greens in regulation to putting statistics and scoring trends, Matt explains how collecting the right data can help golfers identify weaknesses, monitor progress and ultimately lower their scores.

Ask Matt

Rhys puts himself in the spotlight this week with a question to Matt - Does he need a new putter?!

Whether you're looking back at The Open, following the latest Welsh golf news or searching for ways to improve your own game, Episode 9 is packed with stories, insight and plenty of golfing chat.

Golf Pod Cymru – bringing you the people, places and passion that make Welsh golf so special.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:15

How are we everybody? Welcome to Golf Pod Cumber. We are on the ninth hall. We are about four hundred and twenty-three yards of the halfway house and a cheeky cold cider in this boiling hot weather. Looking forward to that, but first we're gonna be talking about the open. This is the first pod that we've done after the open, the classic that it was at Royal Burkedale. Erl, Matt, good to see you and talk to you again. What did you make of of the open? It was I called it a classic.

SPEAKER_03 0:44

Did you think it was? Definitely classic one to remember. And it was nice to see those last few holes where you knew that there was going to be a new major winner, somebody who hasn't won a major before, so it was really good, really exciting.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

For me, as you guys know, uh I actually seen very little of uh of the open, but I've caught up on it since uh I was away for a long weekend in Rome and uh Reese kindly gave me uh some live commentary uh whilst I was sat in uh sat in the airport, waiting to board my flight.

SPEAKER_04 1:13

For those of you who can remember C Fax, this is exactly what it was like. I was sending details like used to get me football results on C Fax. But I try to keep you posted with what was happening there. What did you make of that? The back nine. That's right, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

I sat there and obviously you were uh you were giving me the uh the lowdown on how Fox was doing and sort of what he needed to do in the last couple of holes, and yeah, it was just uh quite exciting actually, reading the text. It's been uh been a while since I got excited reading the text messages, I've got to be honest.

SPEAKER_04 1:42

What stood out for you, Errol? You know, his pace of play, but uh his boldness and everybody seeing that his swing is is quite unique, and we're talking about Fox, Ryan Fox the the winner, obviously, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:53

Yeah. What what stood out for me is the way he approached that last hole. You know, a a a par would have taken him to a a playoff with um Cam Young, uh which it would have been an amazing three-hole playoff, but he he took his driver out and he played for a birdie, which on the 72nd hole of an open, um you know what a ballsy decision to do. And he kind of said he he didn't mind if he lost. If he lost he'd a gamble worth taking, and yeah, that's for me stood out, you know, because at the history books, you go back there's not many people who have won the open with a birdie on a last. I think there's not many at all, but um yeah, that showed uh the the character he is, and he's so well liked on tour as well, so everybody was delighted for him. But yeah, what a what a ballsy decision on a last a fantastic birdie.

SPEAKER_04 2:42

Yeah, third golfer from New Zealand after Bob Charles w won the open and and then Michael Campbell as well to win a to win a major. And um I i I thought he was really un and lucky on a couple of the holes as well. When he went into the trap, he hit his his iron into the trap, and he that went what, 320 odd yards just rolled in and and then Cam Young took that shot on on 18 out of the trap, you know. Matt, as a pro, what were your thoughts seeing him there at 10 and a pie? He did well to make bogey, but you know, was that the wrong decision for him?

SPEAKER_02 3:15

Yeah, quite possibly. But I mean, you know, in terms of the way that Fox played the last six holes, he he barely missed a shot, and you know, as Errol said, it a a very ballsy move, you know, going down the last. That that last hole I think yielded four birdies, I think, on the last day. So, you know, by no stretch of the imagination, that wasn't a birdieable hole in many respects. But uh I think it it's difficult, you know, when you've got somebody hitting the golf ball so well, you know, in Fox, and then you know, obviously uh Cam Young's situation being sat round all day pretty much, wasn't he? I mean he was out fairly, fairly early on in the day. In hindsight, he pr he could probably go back and save himself a few shots over the week, but you know, again, hats off to Cam Young. I think uh you know he was very unlucky, but you know, in terms of the open, I think it would have been a quite a an anti climax if if Cam Young had won, because what sort of happened in the afternoon led to it being, as Errol said, you know, quite a quite a classic, really, and great again to see somebody from New Zealand winning, you know, a small country like ours. So hopefully, you know, we can take a little bit uh little bit from that and uh hopefully we can produce one soon.

SPEAKER_04 4:24

Yeah, indeed. There's a lot of great sportsmen in his family. His grandfather was a cricketer that played for New Zealand, and and obviously his father, Grant Fox, was a legendary all-black as well. And now they have a major winner, an open winner in the family. Some talent, right. Uh looking forward to uh to next year now, Earl, because as you said in our last pod, the open is the last major of the four, which is quite hard to believe because we we're still in July.

SPEAKER_03 4:51

Yeah, it's weird, isn't it? We know we're looking forward to the Masters. It's just a strange thing to think about in August, but the Masters being the next uh major. But going back to the Open, I was just looking, you know, our our predictions, just to give you a recap. Freeze, you went for Victor Hovland. Yes, he did exceptionally well. Did exceptionally well and went home after two days, didn't make the cut. Matt, you went for Tyrrell Hatton, yeah, and he was tied 69th, so um good showing there.

SPEAKER_02 5:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:20

I I won with McElroy, a tied 40th, so um yeah, our predictions didn't go to plan really today. But to be fair, you know, nobody would have picked Ryan Fox. Um Cam Young, maybe he was he's he's he was up there as a potential winner, but we didn't pick him. But um the closest we got actually was the one we said we wasn't gonna win was Tommy Fleetwood. And he got close, didn't he? Got within one at one stage, and you know, with a crowd behind him, I thought he he coped with that so well, and I think uh he did better than we expected anyway.

SPEAKER_04 5:52

Yeah, he dropped a couple of shots but got got a few of them back as well towards the end. So, yeah, all in all of them. A pretty brilliant open. We're gonna go on to results next, and we might as well start with and obviously we're gonna focus on on Welsh talent of the amateur and programme, but let's start with the the senior open. That that's literally just finished, Matt, and we had a a lot of Welsh golfers playing there.

SPEAKER_02 6:13

Yeah, we did. We we actually had seven Welsh players in the in the field for the actual tournament, which is possibly the highest number of Welsh players we've had, not just in a field this year, but definitely in uh in a major championship. Um how those players got there, we had the seniors open qualifiers and from the qualifying events at Sterling Golf Club, Kyron Sullivan, uh he shot three under par and finished second there, so that that gained him entry into the actual field. Player Gowrie, David Park, who's obviously a previous winner on tour, he qualified in second place there again on three under par. And at Glenn Bervey, Richard Dinsdale, uh obviously uh from Aspury Golf, he uh he finished tied first there on four under par. So those three guys made it into the field with the rest of the players, and as we we've just sort of alluded to, the tournament has finished today. Missing the cut, unfortunately, David Park, Stephen Dodd, and Richard Dinsdale. However, Bradley Dredge and Jamie Donaldson, they finished in a tied for 11th position, but both with closing rounds of 66, earning both of them just over 40,000 euros. So not bad for four days' work, guys. Take that, wouldn't you? Yeah. They they they played together as well today, didn't they? They did, yeah. They had the final round they played together, and uh I watched a little bit. I sort of trapped it a little bit as well uh on the website, and yeah, looks like it looked like they were having a good uh having a good sort of ding-dong together. Bradley was out in front early on, and yeah, nice for for you know for both of them to finish in in that position as well. Bradley got a better payout than he did when he played with me then. Yeah, yeah, he did, yeah, yeah. Cup of water and a bag of nuts, yeah. Slightly better, I would say, yeah, definitely. In 41st position, uh Phil Price, uh earning just over 14,000 euros, and in 62nd position, uh winning the silver medal for the lowest amateur in the field was Kyron Sullivan. Uh Kyron shot rounds of 68, 75, 74, and 72. There were five amateurs in the field. Uh only Kyron made the cut. So uh that gave him that silver medal. Those of you who don't know Kyron, uh Kyron was uh a professional for many, many years, played on the was then the European Tour and Challenge Tours. Um a very, very good player, really chuffed for Kyron. I bet he was pleased to be back playing you know golf at the top level.

SPEAKER_03 8:38

Yeah, he's obviously representing Bryn Hill Golf Club, and I think a lot of uh Brynhill members were following him around that uh over the weekend. But obviously, Kyron's a an amateur, if he was to turn pro, what what would he have won, uh Matt?

SPEAKER_02 8:53

If he was a pro playing this week, he would have won just over five and a half thousand euros, but obviously being an amateur, he's not eligible to obviously you know win that money. But nevertheless, you know, the in the the memories he'll have from playing in that event this week, I'm sure we'll get close to the check that he didn't have, I'm sure. Um the eventual winner, uh 59-year-old American Jerry Kelly. He claimed the title after a two and a par final round to finish on 10 and a par. Two clear of the rest of the field and winning uh 393,000 euros. So a very, very nice paycheck. And for those of you listening today, we we're actually trialing uh a little bit more information in terms of the prize money that these probes are winning. We've had a few requests to sort of mention how much they are winning. It is possible to do this for some events, but not every single event. We don't get to see all the prize money at all events, but we will do our best. Moving on to the Hotel Planetur. Two players in the field from Wales, Risinock, unfortunately Mr. Cut, and Toby Hunt was playing. Toby finished in a tie for 40th, winning just shy of 1900 euros. So that would have covered his costs for the week. You know, a good show in there for Toby on the Hotel Planetur. The ladies' uh European tour, they were at um Dundoland this week for the Scottish Open. Toby Williams, Darcy Harry, Lydia Hall all missed the cut. So no news there. On the LET Access Tour, they visited Hanbury Manor this week for the pitch 15 championship. Three Welsh players in the field, Gracie Mayo missing the cut, Luca Thompson finishing a tide for fourth, winning around 1,500 euros, and Fionn Tynan finished in 46th position, winning €265. Uh, one final result in the professional game. Owen Edwards. We've talked about Owen over the last couple of weeks after his knee-a-miss at open qualifying. Owen won the Benelak Trophy in Holland with a five under par total and scores of 70 and 69 there. So obviously well done to Owen. Great form as we talked about earlier, guys.

SPEAKER_04 11:01

Yeah, it's quite a big thing, Matt, isn't it? You know, to come so close to to making the biggest tournament of your life and then to fall at the final hurdle and to come straight back and win something. That that takes some takes some guts.

SPEAKER_02 11:13

Yeah, you know, in in many situations, if you come that close to qualifying for you know a major and you know you you don't succeed, you could take a little bit of a knock actually from that uh from that result. But uh I've been following him on social media and you know you can see that he's practicing a lot and quite lighthearted and and humoured about sort of his experience at final qualifying. So great to see him back on the back on the horse, as they say, you know, winning events, uh, which is excellent. In amateur news, we had the uh Welsh Boys and Welsh Girls uh Championship at Bourth and his last golf club. The winner of the boys' event was James Palfrey, beat James Platt. And a special mention here, actually, in the semi-final, Mike Davis from Glen Abbey, his son Riley, he got through to the um the semi-finals and lost to the eventual winner James Palfrey. So congratulations to Riley and Mike as well. Obviously, Mike uh being on the podcast with us uh a few episodes ago. Uh in the Welsh girls event, our winner there was Ariana Elektra Nikitadis, who beat uh Lucy Hearst in the final. Uh, one last result, we had the South of Ireland amateur, which has just finished today. That was being played at uh Le Hinch Old Course. And some great news here. Uh battling through the match play stages were Tommy Bowen from Welsh Pool and Sean David from Piland Kenfig. Both players actually eventually meet in in the final, so you know, a a an all-Welsh duel there. Uh Sean came out on top winning on the the last hole, so it was obviously a very close contest. And you know, being Welsh and seeing two Welsh players in the final, we don't really want to see either of them lose, but you know, there had to be a winner. But obviously, this is very encouraging news for Welsh men's golf um and a great display really by both players in what was a very strong field as well.

SPEAKER_03 13:04

Yeah, and obviously Sean David's from Pilent Kenfig. Another another final which was played today was the Victory Shield, which is the Pairs Forsums match play, which every club in Wales put a team in. So the finals were played in Prestatin, and following on to from Sean David's success, the Pylon Kenfig men's team played Roll St. David's and won that match. And then the on the women's side, Pil and Kenfig women took on Roll Pulse Cole and Pilon Kenfig came on top on that. So it was a double for the Pilon Kenfig teams in the in the Victory Shield. So very well done to them.

SPEAKER_04 13:39

Yeah, successful in La Hinch and in North Wales as well. Obviously, uh very good travellers, the Pylon Kenfig massive.

SPEAKER_02 13:46

Yeah, there'll be a few Guinnesses sunk, I would imagine, at uh well, at La Hinch and uh Pile and Kenfig tonight. To be sure.

SPEAKER_04 13:52

Right. Thanks, Matt. That's the end of the amateur and pro Welsh golfing results from uh our talent that is all over the globe, and that leads us nicely to our interview this week because uh we've been talking about this guy on the China tour, Tom Froome, and luckily for us, we didn't have to cross any time zones because he well, he is in North Wales, but luckily that is in the same time zone. He was back at home in Nevin, and I yeah, I think it is just about, you know, different language, but uh they are in the same time zone. But I was lucky enough to catch up with Tom this week to to learn about him and his his journey in the golfing world. Right. Uh Tom Froom, should I say Ni Hao? I think my my Chinese isn't too bad. Uh or guess anyway, Boredan Gamra give it on. Tom, we've been following your progress on on the China tour on golf pod, Camri, but I think what everybody wants to know is is your story and how you how you made it to China in the first place. But let's go way, way back and start talking about when you first picked up the clubs, because I think everybody knows that uh golf is in the family.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

Yeah, it is actually. Um so my dad was the head professional at uh Nevin Golf Club, and he actually got the job on his honeymoon. As he always says, as soon as he finished his honeymoon, he was straight into Nevin. So um it was always a nice gift for them. Oh, we're moving to Nevin. Um he was there for 33 years, so he's he's he's part of the furniture over there. But uh my first ever time holding a golf club was at the age of three, and um mum's got a really nice photo of me and my dad on the 18th hole at Nevin, and I'm just in I'm just in my golf gear at three years old with it with a a flag in one hand and a and a put in the other hand. So yeah, I I started around about the age of three.

SPEAKER_04 15:44

Not everybody in South Wales knows where Nevin is, but it's on the the Thien Peninsula, really. It's a glorious course, but it it's more than 18 holes there.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

What's it? Is it 27 there now? 27 holes, yeah. So you've got the peninsula nine where you see the nice views and it Yeah, craft hanger. That's it, yeah. People say pebble beach and things like that, and then you've got the main 18. So yeah, it's a it's a nice little track. It's good. I wouldn't recommend it in December, but yeah, it's nice and nice at the moment.

SPEAKER_04 16:10

So growing up there, is you is your golf very much based around that kind of lit lynx model and and playing in the wind and and and shaping your shots?

SPEAKER_01 16:19

Yeah, 100%. So like obviously I I've still got a two-wine in the bag, so I was always brought up, keep the ball low, the ground's your friend. So I'm I'm still in that mindset of right, how can I get this on the green as soon as possible and get it chasing towards the pin, basically. So yeah, I've always been brought up with knockdown charts when when it when it blows and and downwind, crosswinds, and things like that. So yeah, I've got I've got a little bit of advantage on that.

SPEAKER_04 16:47

You're not in China at the moment, you're back at home. Let's let's uh talk about what you've been doing because there's a little hiatus, a little break in the China tour. So you you've been back and you told me you'd been up to Royal Burke Dill.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

Yeah, so I came back around about two weeks ago. So basically I've just been meeting up with m with my team, seeing my coaches, see my physio, seeing my petting coaches and things like that, just catching up with them because I've been away for the last eight weeks, so it's nice to just reset with them, really. Um and then yeah, dad told me uh he got got us some tickets for for Birkdale on on the Monday, and I could just spend hours on that driving range just watching them hit hit the golf balls, really. It is something special, just watching them kind of thing. Mainly on how they prep and everything like that. I I I go quite deep into things like that. Yeah, what an open it was.

SPEAKER_04 17:34

We'll we'll discuss that maybe a a little bit later on. So you you've held the club for the first time at at three years old. What what's your progression been like then in into your teens and beyond? Did you realise quite quickly in your younger years that that you you're gonna be quite good at this game?

SPEAKER_01 17:51

Yeah, I wasn't I wasn't forced into playing golf. Like, to be fair to my old man, he was one to get me into any sport. He just wanted me to play, just if you want to go and play football, go and play football. If you want to go and play some some rounds of golf, go and play some some golf. Just just anything, just to to to to keep myself active. And I I remember the time that I because we used to play, it was a rugby school, so wrestle button was a lot about playing rugby. And I wasn't the slimmest, should I say, in in my teens. So I was a I was a hooker, and I just remember I played about two, two, three games for the school, and I just thought this is not for me, so I might as well just start concentrating on my golf. And and reality hit me again when uh when I was playing for Nevin football team, and uh I I remember I got dropped for one game, and I just thought, don't think I'm gonna be a footballer anytime soon. So yeah, I I decided golf's gonna be my my my profession. Basically, I'm I'm I'm pretty good at it. Um and yeah, I've I've basically just put all my eggs into one basket with the with golf, even though I still play the odd seven aside and things like that. But yeah, I knew at a very young age though, it was gonna be gotta be golf. So you know you you started with a handicap.

SPEAKER_04 19:02

How quickly then did you get down to sort of single figures and and then down to cratch?

SPEAKER_01 19:07

Yeah, probably the best memory that I have with my handicap is I had a really good year when I was 15. And uh this was on the old system, and I finished the year at plus one at um at 15 years of age. So that was when I first time went, oh dad, this is I'm I'm pretty good at this game. And but what did Dad say? Dad never did he agree he he he did, but he did he never wanted to say it, he never wanted me to beat him, and I think it was around about 50, 14, 15 when I was actually giving him a game, and then as soon as soon as I passed that, he was like, Yeah, I can't beat this kid anymore. So yeah, I've got I've got bragging rights for the last last last 10 years or so.

SPEAKER_04 19:43

Yeah, and and you know then international honours as well at uh at an early age in into the the Welsh boys and things then as well. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

Yeah, so I I think uh I won the Welsh Under-13s at Abersorg. Dad put me into a tournament and Welsh Boys Under 13s, and it was the time where you played the under 15s as well. And I didn't I didn't know that it was there was an under 13s tournament. I thought I was just going there as like a 12-13-year-old, uh, go and play for the under-15s championship basically. And someone told me, Tom, you've won the under-13s, and then it was it was like a switch. I was just so buzzing to be there and to play. So um going back to the international arms, I think I made my first debut for Wales when I was 13. I played the quadrangular when I was 13, and I played up that in all the way up until I was 15. So I I had a gradual progression, and then as soon as I got into the Wales squad, I knew, yeah, again, I was pretty good at this game.

SPEAKER_04 20:38

And what happened then? You know, you you come to the time where you finish in in school and you're still playing golf, you're still playing golf internationally, and then you you must have thought about going to the the States. Was that always on the cards? Something you wanted to do?

SPEAKER_01 20:52

Yeah, so when when I was playing the amateur golf, I didn't really know what I was gonna do after school. So I knew I was gonna go to college. America wasn't really on the cards, but because I was playing uh quite a lot of competitive golf and I was doing quite well in that period of my life, people started asking, Are you gonna go to the States? So and then colleges started messaging you going, Why didn't you come to the States and things like that? So I had a little sit-down with my with my dad, and we we thought what's what's gonna be next. And I decided to go to college in in Pikelli, and then when that time came, I thought, yeah, I'd I'd like to go out to the States because we've been on family holidays and things like that to Florida, and I love America. But yeah, it got to a point where yeah, I'm gonna try it in in over in the in the in the States.

SPEAKER_04 21:34

And you ended up in uh in Ohio, didn't you? Northwestern there. So um how did that come about? Was that the colleges coming after you, or did you think, okay, this this is the kind of college I want to go to?

SPEAKER_01 21:45

Yeah, it was a bit of both, to be honest, because it's it like I'll speak to anyone who wants to go to college and I'll give them my experience on it, and I I loved it. It's like you go into the unknown because you don't know how it works or anything like that. But it's um they approached Me and then they gave me a full scholarship, so financially it was good for my parents and everything like that. Yeah, northwestern Ohio treated me well, and I spoke to the team to be honest, the varsity team, which is the the top five guys and the guys that were leaving, they were all internationals. So I had two guys from England, one guy from Scotland, and one guy from Spain. So it was like I could get on with these guys because they're they're they're from my way. So I I spoke to them and and then yeah, I I bit the bullet and and and went over there.

SPEAKER_04 22:28

What would your advice be to anybody thinking of going to the States, having the ability and having the offers? Would you recommend for them to go?

SPEAKER_01 22:37

I would because I was only I think I was 18, 19 at the time, and just coming out of your comfort zone, going out to a new country, going experience life where you where obviously mum and dad would only have a phone call away, but you're you have to be much more independent. Obviously, you've got your coaches and your classes and and your teammates to to help you as a freshman coming up and things like that, but you mature so much quickly than if I were to just stay at home and then you start defending for yourself. Even like at the time I didn't think about it, but like practice plan. So your coach would give you a practice plan, right? I need to be here for this time, I need to be in school. And then we had workouts Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 6 a.m. So you started to get into a routine of going, right, I need to be here, here, and here, and then you start doing on your own kind of thing. So you mature massively just going out, just going out on your own kind of thing. I'll never forget because my dad's assistant, um, Pierce, he he went to the States and he gave me a little bit of advice. Anything that the team does, if it's even going for a meal, if it's going for a drink, or going out for practice, or they're just going out to have a little bit of fun, go and go and do it. Because you you you bounce off them much more and you get you start to find out their personalities and things like that. And if I didn't and I just stayed in my room, you'd feel a lot more homesick. So that was the best advice he could have given me. So anything they did, I was I was there with them.

SPEAKER_04 24:00

Yeah, immerse yourself in the culture and meet people because this is preparing you for the next step, really, and that was professional golf, wasn't it? Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:09

So I was in northwestern Ohio, I just played the South South Amateur um down in Chile, which was a great experience. And then I remember I flew back to play home internationals, and my last event was for for Wales was in La Hinge. I sit down with my dad quite a bit, um, and we talk through things, and we decided, well, I've done everything international-wise. The only thing that I I kind of regret not getting into was the Heisenhower, but everything else I've done I've done from boys to men's, and we just thought, why don't we give it a go? So, yeah, we turned we turned pro. Um, I think my first event was an 1836 tour around here. It's it it humbles you quite quickly because when you turn pro you think, right, I'm gonna go out and win things. And it's just it's a slow progression, what I've learned over the over the last couple of years. So I I started on EuroPro, and even then, as soon as I came out of amateur golf, it was like, right, I need to start shooting under par more regularly. Because I was a very good amateur, and and even as an amateur playing in Wales events and things like that, the realisation of going, right, you've got to shoot six under now, you've got to shoot eight under, because the guys are doing out on tour, even in the development tours, that they can go out and shoot eight under, nine under if they're on it that day. And it's it's being comfortable shooting them numbers. Because I always remember in my amateur career, if I got to four under, you'd feel a little bit of nerves and things like that, and and you'd try and go, right, let's try and protect this and get in the into the clubhouse. Whereas as soon as you get onto tour, no one cares what you shoot, they just all want to beat you. Any any person that steps on that first team, they want to beat you, they want to beat you with with the best score they've got. So you've got to get comfortable of shooting eight, nine, ten, ten under. Uh, you don't have to do it regularly, but you've got to have that have that in you.

SPEAKER_04 25:51

Right, so you you've turned pro, you've played on various tours. Where did the opportunity arise, or how did you qualify for the China tour?

SPEAKER_01 26:00

It was last year, it was. So I was playing Tartan Tour uh up in Scotland, and I played the par three championship for the the Paul Lori event, and uh I got paired with a guy called Ollie Roberts, he's from Scotland, and uh we were just having a chat. Obviously, you try and try and ask where you're from and what you've been doing and things like that. And he mentioned this China tour, but I didn't really think much of it. I was like, right, I'm gonna do do my season on Tartan and things like that. And then we started talking a little bit more, and uh he he told me midway through the season, then he said, Why don't you come and try China Tour? And to personally, I didn't I haven't heard of China Tour, I didn't know anything about China tour, and I was just like, Yeah, I'm I'm I I kind of got to a point where playing UK golf didn't feel like a like a professional golfer, didn't feel like I was traveling, didn't feel like like I was being a touring professional. So I thought, yeah, I'll go because I've done I've done Asian Q school and things like that, and I thought, yeah, we'll we'll we'll try China. Went out in January, a place called Hainan. So there's two stages, first stage and finals. Um first stage was four rounds, final stage is five rounds, and um yeah, I played played well enough to get my full card. That that that's quite an an amazing story.

SPEAKER_04 27:11

You're you're on the other side of the world. You you're you're in China to get out to Q school there. Do you need sponsorship and things to get you out there? How how do you fund things out there then?

SPEAKER_01 27:21

So I had funding the last couple of years and it was a little bit difficult. I didn't think I was gonna go to China this year. I knew I couldn't afford Asian Q school at the back end of uh 2025, but it was an opportunity to go, right, we'll go. We'll we'll just try like I again put all my eggs in one basket. We're gonna go to China, and to be fair, like I said, the sponsorship dried up last year, so I went out to China with no sponsors, um, had a little bit of money left, and yeah, I went out to went out to China, got my tour card, and then yeah, it's again sponsorship is a massive thing because I don't think anyone could do it without sponsorship. Um I was looking if I had backing going through through EuroPro to Tartan, um, but obviously results, you want results to show your sponsors that you are you are doing well. Um I remember the first year that I turned pro, me and me and my dad did it off our own back, and financially it wasn't affordable. We couldn't we couldn't do it, it wasn't sustainable. But yeah, we've got to a point now where yes sponsorships would help massively because it does put the risk of you thinking I'm running out of money, I've got to play well. You just freeze.

SPEAKER_04 28:34

You just want to concentrate on your golf 100%. It's something that Matt Didden, our pro on on golf podcamy, spoke about, you know, where it's you know you were you're travelling all over the world, you're living out of a suitcase and you're trying to make a living, and without the backing of sponsors, it can you know put too much pressure on someone who's already under pressure just to you know hit the ball straight down the fairway. But how's it how's it gone this year? I've been looking at results in China. What have you played? You played six or seven events out there?

SPEAKER_01 29:02

Yeah, so I've made three cuts. I think my best finish is top 35 or something like that. I've played quite nicely, and the results have been pretty good. I'd like them to be better, but every golfer wants better results. Um but the biggest thing for myself is the progression of it. I remember, and and you you guys might know him, David Shewellin, he was uh he was an ex-coach of mine, and this has sat in my head for a very long time. He says, the score never defines you. So I always go out and and go and play saying the score never defines me. I could shoot 90 tomorrow, but if if my if my old man and my coaches know that I've tried on every single shot and I've not given up, I can come off that golf course quite happy. I'm I'm not one to dwell on scores. Obviously, I want to be competing and and and winning on these on these tours that I go into. But if I've had an off day and I've I can I can sit into my hotel room and go, right, I've tried my hardest today and try to get the best score that I can get out of that round, I take much more of that than what what I sign for for at the end of the round, kind of thing.

SPEAKER_04 30:06

Yeah, that's that's a good mindset. Do you base yourself in in one place in in China? Because as we all know, China is absolutely vast, and you play uh r right across that that Asian area.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

No, so basically if I've got a few weeks back to back, I'll just jump to the the different cities where I'm playing next. Keep travelling. Yeah, but if I do have a week off, because it's so exclusive to practice out in China. Another another story, this was the it was the first week after my first ever ever event in China. I went to go and practice on the range where we've just played, and I just asked, Oh, can I have a hundred balls like you do over here? Um just to just to hit some and to to practice. And obviously they didn't know much of English, so they translated me. We don't do it by the balls, we do it by the hour. So I was like, okay, I'll do I'll do a couple of hours practice and have unlimited golf balls. And I got the price afterwards. It cost me £50 to practice. So I was just like, wow, this is expensive just to just to hit a few golf balls.

SPEAKER_04 31:05

What's the price of golf out there? Do you do you get special dispensation to play in places or privileges?

SPEAKER_01 31:11

No, we don't really know. Over here, if you're a PGA or if you're a touring professional, a lot of club pros give you courtesy. Um I'm quite lucky. I've got mates around Chesterway and things like that, and I know a lot around the north northwest of Wales. So they do let me practice free. But when you go over there, it's uh it's a money-making scheme for them. It's like we we need to make money. So they don't actually offer you any discount or anything like that.

SPEAKER_04 31:37

What about playing if you're going into a tournament, then you I presumably it's a Thursday to kind of Sunday, you get any practice rounds, or is that something you have to to pay for as well?

SPEAKER_01 31:46

No, so um so Chinatow official practice round is on the Tuesday, Wednesday. Uh, you can play on the Monday but at a discounted fee. Um, and then in the practice round, you have to have a caddy. What they've done is on the Thursday and Friday, it's not mandatory to have a caddy, so you can carry your own bag, but on the Saturday and Sunday, you have to have a caddy, so you have to pay for the caddy. So usually what we do is we on the practice rounds, if there's a four-ball, we'll get two caddies, and then basically on the on the Thursday, Friday, I'll I'll invest into a caddy. Because the I've done it once where I've just carried my own bag, and obviously you want to feel you want to feel fresh, you want to feel feel good, you don't want to be lumping around a carry bag all the way through. So yeah, Thursday, Friday, all the way up until Sunday, I'll have a caddy.

SPEAKER_04 32:31

Wow, that's quite amazing. Now, what about the players on the tour? Is it a a global tour? You know, you're you're from from Devon going over to China to play, and I'm gonna I'm guessing there's a lot of people in the same boat as you really trying to get their their first kind of steps onto a tour and and victories on the China tour that progresses them onto something else.

SPEAKER_01 32:52

Yeah, so uh I base myself with Matt Killins, who he's an English lad. Um he's been he's been out there for for years, um, and then Ollie Roberts, the Scottish guy, he's been very good for me, uh, where to go, because he did it last year, what to do, and and and and things like that. And then we always um get the same four ball all the time. So Jake Vinson or Brett, um one of the Americans come comes and joins us. If I if I don't play on the Monday, I'll play a full 18 on the Tuesday, and then there's a pro am on the Wednesday, so we usually do nine holes, depending on which nine is the hardest, we'll go and do that nine again um on the Wednesday. What what is next? Back back the China? Yeah, so um I'm I was back for six weeks, so another another month or so in in in the UK, and then I fly straight to straight to Hong Kong, um and then there's an event in Hong Kong.

SPEAKER_04 33:40

But what is the aspirations for Tom Fu? You know, if we're gonna talk to you in in a year's time, in five years' time, w where do you hope to to get to, Tom? I know you've you've been to Royal Birthday. Is that an aspiration of yours?

SPEAKER_01 33:54

It is, it's a dream of mine, to be honest, and I think it's a dream of my dad's as well, because he he knows how much work I put into my golf and the the sacrifice I put into it. I always have a picture in my head just walking down a practice round with my old man at the open or any major and just having a photo with him. That that'd be that'd be that'd be pretty cool to be honest.

SPEAKER_04 34:14

Yeah, so that that is the big goal for for Tom Froom to make it to the open. What about the short-term goal out in China? What are you looking to do out there now?

SPEAKER_01 34:22

So um my short-term goal is I want to win. I wouldn't go over to China just to compete. I want to win a winner's medal basically over there. Um as in a short-term goal, I want to keep my card for next year. Um so top 50 guys, keep the card. Um just I think I'm around about 75th at the moment, so I need a good back end of the year. The the the good thing about China is they do have invites to Volver Open, Hainan Classic, um, and things like that. So if you if you finish around about the top 40, you do get invites to these co-sanction events with the DP World. And I'd love to do because I've never played Challenge Tour and I've never played on the DP World or anything like that. I'd like to test myself because I've been to the open qualifying final stage once, and I always believe that the the the better the step is, the better I play. And I truly believe if if I do get that chance or that opportunity, my game will rise to it as well.

SPEAKER_04 35:14

Yeah, I just want that door to open a little bit, and you can swing your your six eye and straight through it and and and make a dent in in the pro game. And you you you mentioned how tough it is, and that spons sponsorship is is hugely beneficial to uh to a guy trying to make it on the on the tour. Well, this is an outlet for you to say uh a little thank you to your sponsors and maybe people who supported you over the years.

SPEAKER_01 35:38

Yeah, 100%. So I've got a you might know the name. I think a lot of Welsh people might know the name, and I'm lucky to have him as a sponsor as well. He's he's called Pradinborn, and he plays out of Nevin, and he's been absolutely great with me. And when he came up to me at the start of the year and he wanted to sponsor me, I was over the moon. So I do have his his label name on on the side of my shirt, and also Sean, uh he's an Irish fella, he's uh he's a great crack, and he was over the moon when I got my card for for China, and he also sponsored me. So I'd like to say thanks to both of them, to be honest.

SPEAKER_04 36:14

Yeah, Brin Vaughan. Well, I've worked a lot with Brynn over the years on various TV series, and I I wondered where all his money from sobbing and the smiley it is gone. It's gone, it's gone to to fund Tom from eating uh chicken and rice in China. Brilliant. Well, Tom, I think we've almost covered everything. There are a couple of questions that I had from the the others in Golf Port Cambridge. Food, what's food like out in China? Is it good? Can you get a bacon roll out there on the golf course?

SPEAKER_01 36:44

That's the that's the one thing you can get, and that's the one thing I do miss because uh the first thing I do when I come back off that plane, I go to a Greg's and get myself a bacon bath. Well, what what is the food like out there? It's it's yeah, it's different. We're we're creatures of habit, you kind of get in the same thing all the time. So I've tried different things. Uh I usually I'm a I'm a chicken and rice guy, which is which is perfect, which is easy. I would. But the one thing they do leave is the bones. So I'm just like that's not quite what I wanted, kind of thing. So um, but yeah, I did the the food's fine. I again I fall back on Ollie and Matt. They they take me to the restaurants where they've been before or know what to do, kind of thing. So I just go with the flow kind of thing.

SPEAKER_04 37:29

And uh what's your favourite course in Wales? I'm guessing, you know, you grew up playing Nevin, so that's maybe out of the equation on this question. Bar barring Nevin, what's your favourite course in Wales and why?

SPEAKER_01 37:41

I've never played Royal Puff Call, so that's the one thing I'd love to do. But I have to say, Royal St. David's. Um there's something about Royal St. David's, it's a par 69, and on a good day you can go after it like any links. It's probably the hardest par 69 I've ever played. It brings the bad out of you and it brings the very good out of you as well. Um so yeah, Royal St. David's. Royal St.

SPEAKER_04 38:04

David's in in Harlech. Tom, I know you speak Welsh. Some of our listeners are golf podcast might uh speak a little bit of Welsh as uh as well. So we'll have one question and the gimrag, one question in Welsh. Uh BC and the baggage, John Paglub.

SPEAKER_01 38:22

Uh so can I doing Taylor Maid again and I labor. So uh bodim and tailor made.

SPEAKER_04 38:29

Uh a massive thank you for your for your time. I know you're you're practicing hard in in prep for going back onto the China Tour. We we wish you well. We follow your results every time you play, and uh hopefully we'll be uh cheering you on to victory soon on golf podcamri, somewhere on the China Tour. But a a massive thanks. Uh Public, Nolan China. Death of Erl, Matt, what did you make of of that interview and and and Tom Fruton's journey, you know? He's he's genuinely been all over the globe, hasn't he? And he and he's still doing that, but he's he he's lived that that golfing life from the picture we saw of him, you know, when he was three years old on on the green with it with his dad who was the pro.

SPEAKER_03 39:11

You know, it's uh some story, some journey. Yeah, I I know his uh his father well, having dealt with him, been a pro at Nevin for many years, and yeah, he Tom sounds a very level-headed young lad, and he's doing around the right thing, he's going on tour, be it the China tour to get some experience. And I've myself I've been to China numerous, numerous times, and China can be a quite a lonely place um as a foreigner, obviously with a language and uh food. So yeah, it's a it's a a big thing for him to do, and that like you said, he's learnt a lot about himself um fending for himself, not just from a golf perspective, uh, but from life as well, and it's probably a great uh life experience for him. He seems to be doing well, and hopefully he'll he'll get a card on tour or the challenge tour soon.

SPEAKER_04 39:57

Yeah, Matt, you know, the privilege that maybe you're accustomed to as a PGA professional in Wales, in the UK, in Europe, it's not quite the same in China, is it? You got that from from Tom's story, you know, that that if he wants to practice and he wants to get balls and and to play on the range to get his game better, then he he has to pay for that.

SPEAKER_02 40:16

No, it must be it must be very difficult for him over there. For those of you who don't know, obviously China there aren't that many golf courses. There are golf courses there, but the population is so vast that um it's difficult to get a tea time. We've all seen the pictures of the driving ranges where you know they're four or five tiers high, and these driving ranges, a lot of them, you know, they're open 24 hours and they're full. So you can see that the owners of these places they're capitalising on the fact that golf is still booming over there and it's uh you know that th there are too many people that actually want to play golf, so it makes it difficult then to to try and get you know sort of courtesy at golf courses when you know they're charging big money to normal punters to go and play. So it it's got to be incredibly difficult for him in between tournaments, trying to find places to you know to go and practice without it costing him an arm and a leg.

SPEAKER_04 41:09

And Matt, he he also mentioned that he'd gone to the States and went through the collegiate system there, but he was also not disillusioned, but kind of wanted to to push and go away and and try something new, didn't he?

SPEAKER_02 41:22

You know, and and not play within the UK, within Europe. Yeah, that's correct. And you know, obviously this is all this is about Tom, not about me, but it sort of semi-mirrors what I did during my time of you know of playing. I found it difficult to play in sort of at home on tours where you were travelling just up and down the country. So I took the decision to go and play a lot of golf abroad in mainland Europe and I even travelled as far as Singapore and Malaysia to play, and it if it was probably the best thing I ever did because it put me outside of my comfort zone, but it also put me in a scenario whereby I'd be away playing, I didn't know anyone apart from the the guys who I I was travelling with, and it it it gave me that sort of sense that I could um you know just turn up and practice and do my own my own thing. Whereas at home you often find there's quite a lot of distractions, so whether it's familiarity, the golf courses and also the unpredictable weather in the UK as well. You know, you push yourself a little bit further afield, and you know, you find that sometimes the weather's a little bit more in your favour, the golf courses are in better condition, and you know the tournaments are you know are better as well, and they lead on to bigger and better things as well, as Tom mentioned. You know, if he does well enough on the China tour, there's you know, there's chance there's a chance that he'll get into some co-sanctioned events which are which are massive events, and that could open doors for him. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 42:38

Go well, Tom. From we'll be following your progress when you go back onto the to the China tour. Right, our next section is Matt's challenge. We all know that he wants to get onto the senior tour, and if you've listened, you'll know that we follow his progress uh podley and uh catch up with him. So, what's been going on in in your life, Matt?

SPEAKER_02 42:58

Yeah, so uh I've been playing a little bit. Errol and I have had a game last week. You know, obviously we all played the week before last as well, down at St. Mellon's, which was in uh which was in great condition. Working hard still on my game. Um again, areas that I feel that you know need more attention than others, so a lot of short games still, uh trying to sharpen up around the greens and you know, looking at various aspects of my game through you know the statistical side of things where you know I'm sort of measuring myself against you know the world's top players on a strokes gained sort of system. So seeing where my weaknesses are and then working on those weaknesses, you know, and and even not just competitive golf, I'm taking stats from my casual games of golf so that I can see exactly and pinpoint the areas that I need to sort of work on.

SPEAKER_04 43:47

That that is something you really believe in, Matt, isn't it? You know, statistics and analytics of the golf game, of the golf swing. You you're a you're a big believer in that.

SPEAKER_02 43:57

Oh, absolutely. Uh you know, pre any Technology, I started off with a notebook. I would write down how many greens I'd hit, how many fairways I'd hit, you know, how many pets I'd had, and that served as a as a tool for me during tournament immediately after I played, I could look at those stats and I could go, right, okay, that area needs needs improving. You know, obviously as time went on, I sound really old now, but actually after the notebook came XL, again, you know, you you could clump all of your data into into the sheet and it would give you a a slightly better overview of what you were doing over a specific timescale and you know, you could get all that data together. So that was my sort of upbringing, and you know, that in conjunction with I've got yardage books um you know from tournaments that date back probably the best part of 20 years, and I still got them. Whenever I've got a yardage book, I'd write down the wind direction, I'd write down what yardage I had, and I'd write down what club I hit. So over a you know, a three or four-day tournament, you know, by the end of that tournament, I've got four separate, hopefully four, if I made the cut, sets of information. I either run out of paper or run out of ink. Pencil. Pencil. But yeah, I've I've always been it's always been something that I've been quite passionate about in terms of not getting an edge, but I always thought, you know what, if I knew exactly what area I needed to work on, surely that's going to give me an advantage over other players. And certainly, you know, it g it gives me insights into into my own game.

SPEAKER_04 45:28

Yeah, and from the last time we played, I I you know I saw you on on your phone using this technology and technology that did you've actually developed yourself.

SPEAKER_02 45:36

Yeah, that's correct. Uh so I've spent the last nine months developing an app, and how it came about was partially because of my sort of beliefs in terms of keeping stats. I've always kept them myself, and personally, I always wanted somewhere where I could actually look at rounds, rounds I I'd played in the past. So if I'm going back to a golf course, I could quite quickly then go back to that venue and see exactly how I played. But you can't really do that unless you've got a tool to do it. And we know there's loads of these apps about. But um I didn't really do anything about it until I started coaching more. And what I found was I'd get clients come in and I'd ask them, I'd say, Look, you know, what what are we going to do today? Where are you struggling? Um most of the time, not gonna say all the time, but most of the time, the player would say to me, Oh, I'm not really sure, you know, where I'm missing where I'm missing greens, where I'm missing fairways. So then my next question would be to them, do you use, you know, trackers or, you know, a a stats app? And actually I found that it was quite common that a lot of players use GPS devices. So they actually it tracks their shots as they're going round. So my next question after that was, okay, so if you're using a GPS device which is tracking where you're hitting the golf ball, are you then looking at the stats that that tracking device is producing? And almost everybody said no. So it it sort of got me thinking, you know, it's there, it's so easy for them to use, but they're not looking at it. So why are they using it? So my thought process was, all right, I'll build an app. And it's a it's a web-based app, but it's a manual entry app. So basically, you play your round of golf, you don't do anything with it when you're playing, because that's a distraction in itself. When you finish, almost everybody that I've talked to, they they go through their round in their head. Okay, so if you're going right through the round in your head, you might as well start tapping it into a phone. You put your score in, you put how many pets you've had, you put whether you missed a fairway, hit the fairway, or green, you know, and you sort of you build it from there. The app itself then generates the stats, it puts them together, and it'll give you that insight and that overview in terms of what that round looks like from a statistical point of view. So it doesn't stop there because we've got within the app, we've got uh an AI coach, and the AI coach is not an actual coach, it's a practice coach. So the AI coach within the app will basically look at your stats from the previous round and it will tell you instantly the area of your game that you need to work on. So, for example, last week I played Celtic Manor with Errol. I missed three greens and I failed to get up and down three times. The app now knows that I didn't get up and down at all during that round. So it's suggesting to me that I need to go and do a bit of short game practice, which is not it's not wrong, is it? It'll suggest that, and what it'll do is it'll give you some sort of drills and games to work on to improve your short game.

SPEAKER_04 48:26

So the the app is basically a a a big aid, really, for golfers like myself and for for pro golfers or single figure scratch golfers to analyse their game and put it to good use in practice as well, in in getting better, which we which we all want to do.

SPEAKER_02 48:43

Oh, exactly, and it's for better players, it's for players who've just started, it you know, it's it's for anyone. You know, um leading on to you know other features that it's got, you know, this is not a hard sell, by the way, it's just me telling you what it does. But you know, you can generate a report uh based on however many rounds that you want to select or over a time period. That report, okay, will put all of those stats from those rounds together. You can then save it, or as a lot of my clients do, they will give me that data before they come for a golf lesson. I can look at that data before you come, and I pretty much then know exactly what we need to be working on when you arrive for your golf lesson. Makes my life easier, makes your life easier. I'm gonna remember where exactly where you're missing every shot. But it it it's in it's an invaluable tool. And um, Errol, you've been using it. You were one of my um my first guinea pigs for the app, weren't you?

SPEAKER_03 49:32

Yeah, definitely. I um I use it every every round I play, I enter my my stats into what the the app is called Golf Stat. Um and it's it's fantastic. It it tracks your scores, it tracks your pets, it tracks your percentage greens in reg, your fairways hit. Um but from from my point of view is it's the strokes gained element of the app where you can put your round and then you compare that um uh against PGA Pro, you can compare it to a scratch golfer, a five handicapper, ten handicapper. So you can select the comparison you want. Um so for myself I've been comparing to a scratch golfer and I kind of knew Putin wasn't the strongest part of my game, but since using this app, it gives me that number straight away. I'm I'm four or five shots away from where I should be. So there it gives me instantly where I need to improve. You know, the rest of my game is comparable and it it seems to be on par, but it's a really good tool to to kind of nail down where where you need to improve your game, and but also how your how your golf's improving or deteriorating month by month or week by week. It there's a lot of comparison tools on that app that you can see exactly where your game's heading and what needs to be done to get it heading in the right uh right way. So I would definitely recommend this app to everybody. Give us the name of the app again and the cost of the app and where people can find it.

SPEAKER_02 51:00

So the name of the app is Golfstat. You won't find it on the app store at the moment. There's uh there's a few reasons for that, but this is a web-based app. So you go to www.golf-stat.com and from there you can subscribe to the app. The way that modern phones are and and tablets are such that you can actually press a couple of buttons and you can add it to your home screen, which actually technically then makes it perform exactly like an app. Okay. The app itself it costs £20, okay, and that's for a 12-month subscription. That is, you know, I'm gonna say it, it's very, very inexpensive for what the app does, and it is taking me a lot of time to do it, but I wanted to I really wanted to pitch it at a a price whereby you can dip in and out of it, okay? So you you don't feel like it's gonna cost you, you know, couple hundred pounds a year, and therefore you've got to use it every single time. Um I would advise that you use it as often as you possibly can because it's beneficial for your game. £20 a year for what it does, I think is incredible value. And I'm gonna say that obviously because I built it, but it's you know it's less than a round of drinks. There's there's some information on that website that I gave you if you want to look through it. There's um there's also a an Instagram page which you can find, which we'll put a post up on on sort of uh the golf podcree. And any questions that you got about it, you know, please send them through. Are you giving golf podcry listeners a a bit of a discount to to try the app? Absolutely. So if you go to the website uh that we mentioned, if you use the code GPC, which is uh obviously golf podcry, use that code at the checkout and it'll give you a 20% discount for your first year. Okay, so it'll bring the price down to £16. I'm hoping that we'll get you know quite a bit of traction. I've got quite a lot of people using it, including around 15 professionals at the moment that are using the app. They're using it for their their own purposes and they're also using it for their coaching purposes as well and recommending it to their clients. So, like you said, it's evolving, and hopefully we can get everyone involved in this and we can make everyone better.

SPEAKER_03 53:10

Yeah, I definitely recommend the app. I've tried a lot of different apps over the years, tracking scores and stuff, and at £20 it's it's extremely cheap. 20% off with Golf Pod Company, GPC. Yeah, you'd be paying four or five times that amount for these apps. So um it's definitely uh one to download and get your get your stats on there.

SPEAKER_04 53:31

One other thing, Matt. Uh what's your handle on on Instagram for maybe our listeners to to go and follow you there as well if they don't already, of course.

SPEAKER_02 53:39

Yeah, so if you um head across to Instagram and my handle is MD Golf Coaching. So you type that in, you'll see me swinging a golf club a few hundred times on there.

SPEAKER_04 53:48

Right, our next section is the Ask Matt section, and I want to ask a question this week, and um you've played with me now, Matt. You you know my game pretty well, you know how I kind of hit the ball, but I've my putta, my old ping, it's ri really, really light. And I I went to uh henceult today and picked up a couple of putters there, and immediately, you know, it's so much heavier, a lot of the weight is in the head. Should I invest in in a new putter? And I and yes, you can be as nasty or and or as honest as you want to be.

SPEAKER_02 54:19

Yes, you should, definitely. Do you think it would make a difference to my game? Well, yeah, that that thing that you got is a it's a relic, isn't it? Or an antique or whatever you want to whatever you want to call it. I think we've like we've we've dabbled a bit with this before in terms of putters and what you shouldn't do and what you should do. And in your your scenario, definitely. I think um yeah, I've I've seen younger conquer trees than that thing that you use. So give it a go.

SPEAKER_04 54:44

Yeah. A short and sweet answer to the ask Matt section. Should I buy a new putter? The answer was simply yes. Right. Comedy golf.

SPEAKER_03 54:53

Eril, you've got one of this part, have you? Yeah, just a message sent from a friend last week, which I thought was quite funny and very apt for this section. Um, a message went, uh I was chatting to a new to golf member this week and she came over delighted to say that she'd had a hole in one. So obviously inquisitive, I asked which hole it was, and she she pointed to one of the holes on the practice putting green at me. It made me chuckle, but you know, you've got to start somewhere.

SPEAKER_04 55:21

I wasn't sure where that comedy golf story was going there, but yes. I had a hole in one at Hensol on the on the pating green there as well, indoor.

SPEAKER_02 55:31

We all start somewhere.

SPEAKER_04 55:33

Yeah. Does that class as my uh first hole in one? That's to be discussed. But what what else is coming coming on in the in the golfing? Well, we've got another major, we've got another open that the uh the ladies open, of course, is is just around the corner, isn't it? And qualifying is gonna happen literally when the pod goes out.

SPEAKER_03 55:50

Yeah, um obviously the the AIG Women's Open is this week. Obviously, it was at Porth Call last year, fantastic event. Um Matt, we've got one already qualified, and then we've got other Welsh players qualifying tomorrow. That's correct.

SPEAKER_02 56:04

Yeah, Darcy Harry is already in the field, and at final qualifying, uh we've got Lydia Hall, we've got Chloe Williams, Luca Thompson, and Gracie Mayo. So good luck to the girls in final qualifying.

SPEAKER_03 56:17

Yeah, good luck to all four of them. Hopefully, we'll get all five in the open this week.

SPEAKER_02 56:22

Yeah, absolutely. And um yeah, it's probably a good time to mention that I think you know, as Welsh golfers in Wales, I think we're we're quite hard done by at the moment. If you look at all these nice events going around the UK, you know, majors, European tour events, ladies' tour events. You know, we've got an awful lot going on at the moment, have we?

SPEAKER_04 56:41

Yeah, definitely good luck to all the golfers from Wales at uh Royal Lithuan St Anne's in the 50th edition of the Ladies Open go well. And I agree with what Matt said that it is such a shame that not um more tournaments are coming to Wales. We'd love to see, as we've discussed on the pod, a Welsh Open. We're on the ninth episode of Golf Pod Cumber, we'll see where we are by the 18th, if we can get some momentum behind a Welsh Open of some sort. Until next time, I'm off for a sausage roll and a coal cider in the halfway house while Eril and Matt are repairing my pitch box.