10th Hole - Hunt for a Tour Card

Golf Pod Cymru – Episode 10:  Hunt for a Tour Card

Join Rhys ap William, Eryl Williams and Matt Dearden for another packed episode of Golf Pod Cymru as we explore the highs, lows and challenges of professional golf, with one Welsh player on the 'Hunt' for more opportunities on the DP World Tour.

Welsh Golf Round-Up

We catch up on all the latest results and stories from the Welsh professional and amateur scene, including the Home Internationals and the players flying the flag for Wales on the international stage.

We also head to the Legends Tour, where our very own Jamie Donaldson continues to shine amongst some of the biggest names in senior professional golf.

There's also a look back at the Men's Team Championship at Wrexham, as well as the winner of the Eisteddfod Golf Day at Cardigan Golf Club.

Special Guest – Toby Hunt

This week's guest is professional golfer Toby Hunt, who shares his story and his ambitions to secure more starts on the DP World Tour.

Toby gives us a fascinating insight into the reality of life as a professional golfer – the opportunities, the challenges and just how difficult it is to earn your place on one of the world's leading tours. We hear about his journey so far and what he needs to do to take the next step in his career.

Matt's Challenge

Has Matt peaked, or has he finally fallen in love with his putter?

We catch up with Matt to see how his game is progressing and whether the putter has become his secret weapon – or whether we're getting a little carried away!

Topic of the Pod – When the Weather Turns Extreme

Severe weather is becoming an increasing challenge for golf courses and golfers. This week we discuss the impact of extreme conditions, particularly prolonged dry spells and heat, on the game.

With courses facing growing challenges around water availability and storage, we look at how clubs and greenkeepers are adapting, what the future might look like and what these conditions mean for the golfers who play on them.

Ask Matt

This week's question takes us onto the baked fairways and rock-hard greens. Matt shares his advice on how to play golf on baked-out courses, from managing the different lies and unpredictable bounces to choosing the right shots and adjusting your course management when the ground is running hard.

Another episode packed with Welsh golf, professional insight, stories from the course and plenty of debate.

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

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Shabby everybody and welcome to the tenth hall of Golf Pod Cymri. We've just had our halfway house snack and refreshment, and we're all set for this par three tenth episode. What's in store? Well Eril Matter alongside me on the tee, and we'll catch up with our Welsh global golfing talent. We'll see how Matt's challenge is going. We'll have our podley interview if we can track him down, little hint to who he is there. And our topic this week is the effects of the weather, this extreme weather, on Welsh golf courses and and in some cases Welsh golf players. And we'll have maybe an Ask Matt section after all of that. Matt Eril Shumay, how are we? Yeah, good. Very warm. Well I said what's what's in store. You know, let's let's crack on. How are our uh talented golfers doing at the moment, Matt?

SPEAKER_02 1:08

So over the last uh last week or so we've got uh a few results that have come in again from across the globe. Notably uh more recently we've had the Welsh Men's and Ladies' Amateur Championship held at Prestatin Golf Club. The eventual winner of the men's event there was uh Keelan Burford, and in the ladies' championship, uh Harriet Lockley came through and won that one.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Prestatin is a club I've I've never played. Yeah, what's the uh what's the course like? You you played there, Matt Oerel?

SPEAKER_02 1:37

Personally, no, I've never played there. I've seen a few photos recently of it, and yeah, like everywhere else, it looks uh looks very very burnt and dry.

SPEAKER_03 1:46

I played a lot as uh as a junior, and yeah, it's a really, really nice lynx, and it's it doesn't get the accolade that it should get, really. It's a really nice lynx course, not particularly long, but a proper lynx test. Well worth a visit then, 100%.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Moving on to some professional news. Uh the AIG Ladies Open was held at Royal Litherman St. Anne's last week. We had two Welsh players in the field there, Chloe Williams and Darcy Harry. Unfortunately, both players missed the cut, but uh nevertheless great to see a couple of Welsh golfers participating and playing in a major event. Moving on to the LET Access Tour, Malahyde was the venue for the Irish Ladies Challenge event there. Both Fionne Tynan and Gracie Mayo missed the cut. But something slipped under the radar for us in the last couple of weeks. We've covered Gracie Mayo a couple of times in previous pods, and she's achieved uh a few sort of impressive results as an amateur on the LET Access Tour over the last couple of months. But looking quite closely at the list and the results, I've noticed that the the A, which normally appears in brackets next to an amateur, has disappeared. So delving a little bit deeper into this, it appears that the Gracie has turned professional. So we'd like to wish her all the best in uh in the paid ranks moving forward. Moving on to the clutch tour. This is one of the satellite tours which leads to the Hotel Planetor. Uh, we had the Rhapsode Open at Studley Wood Golf Club. Uh James Ashfield finishing tight second there with scores of 69, 67, and 66 for a 17 under par total. So very good score, and again there on the Clutch Pro Tour. On the Legends Tour. Uh, we had an event last week which was co-sanctioned with the Champions Tour, the Portuguese invitational at the Elves Club in Villamora. Only one player in the field there uh for us this week was Jamie Donaldson. He finished in a tied for 24th position on seven under par. The eventual winner from uh the USA was Zach Johnson on 19 under par. But uh good news there that Jamie Donaldson has uh sort of retained his number one ranking status on the Legends tour as well. So well done to Jamie. Yeah, where are everybody else on that, Matt? Yeah, so obviously number one in the rankings, Jamie Donaldson. Uh moving down the list in 40th position, we got Bradley Dredge up in 48th position, Mark Mooland, Phil Price in 51st, and our next player at 72nd is Stephen Dodd.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

Thanks, Matt. But we're recording this on on the Tuesday, and lucky for you, you're going away on the holidays. So, Edo, you're gonna report on on some more results. What happened?

SPEAKER_03 4:31

Well, the the short answer for that race is a lot of golf uh has happened in the last uh few days. We had the boys and girls and the men's and women's home international matches. The boys and girls were playing at Montyfeith Golf Links um and obviously playing against the the other home nations, England, Scotland, and Ireland. And the girls and boys they came fourth out of obviously the four, but a great experience for those girls and boys there. And the men's and women's they played at Woodbrook Golf Club in Ireland, and they came third, um, but with a standout performance by Keelan Burford again, uh obviously continuing his good form. He won all six matches he played, so fantastic achievement for him. On to the Ladies' European Tour, we had the uh London Challenge at the Centurion Club and Lydia Hall, she finished tied eighth and winning just over 41,000 euros. So well done, Lydia. Fantastic achievement. Then on the Legends Tour, we had the Stayshaw PGH Senior Championships at the Trump International Lynx in Scotland. And again, Jamie Donaldson continuing his form and presence on that uh leaderboard. He finished in third, which obviously cements his uh place on the top of the order of merit. So well done, Jamie. Uh also finishing this weekend we had the the men's team championship held at Wrexham, the biggest amateur team competition in Wales. And after three days of gruelling match play, whittled down to two clubs in a final, and that final being played between Celtic Manor and Neath Golf Club. And it went all the way down to the wire uh with additional holes required, where Celtic Manor won that deciding match on the 19th hole. So well done to the team from Celtic Manor, Mitchell Reed, Daniel Bearcroft, Theo Baker, Tris Pescod, and Piers Murphy. So well done Celtic Manor. And lastly, we had another big amateur competition held last week, which was the Estadwood Golf Day. This year was held at Cardigan Golf Club, where 180 players uh turned up to play fantastic uh turnout. And the winner was Nicholas Bennett from Glomorganshire. So well done Nicholas, and he had a hauling one in his round as well, so fantastic. And runner up was Jane Westlake from Abigail. Uh there was another hauling one, I hear as well, from one of the boys from Bala Golf Club, who, from what I hear, they did celebrate that hauling one to its uh Mac. So uh Diane Paug and yeah, Matt, it was a good week for you to take off on holiday. There's a lot of results to catch up on there.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

Well, they're the results of all our golfing talent across the globe. Uh good luck to whatever they're playing next. And um Matt's challenge is next on our uh agenda. So Matt, what's been happening there, buddy? How's it going? Practice playing?

SPEAKER_02 7:21

Practice, yeah. More practice, practice, and and and more practice actually over the last uh week or two. Uh we've played a a couple of rounds of golf um with some friends, you know, fellow professionals. Uh nothing competitive still until the end of this month. But as we know, even though I'm not playing any competitive golf, it's quite important that I sort of keep on top of my game and you know keep practicing, you know, even though there's you know there's nothing on the horizon, if you like. You know, you still gotta try and keep on top of things and uh you know keep keep the swing in motion. Well, how how is the swing? Do you feel you're hitting it nicely? Yeah, well, uh Errol actually commented the last time that we played that he felt that I may have hit my peak over the last week. He's teaching you now, is he? Yeah, he might as well do, yeah. Yeah. A mind coach. Yeah, yeah, not a patin coach, yeah. Yeah. But no, he did uh to be fair, he he commented uh how nicely I was playing, and and he he was correct. I was playing very, very nicely. Golf, you know, it it it it comes in peaks and troughs. You know, you can play well one day, you can play poorly the next day, and I've definitely felt like I've been playing very, very nicely over the last couple of weeks. Go you should try playing nicely for one hole and playing badly for the next hole. You know, you're lucky you get days. Yeah, no, it it is a nice feeling when you know the golf swing flows a little bit and you're not thinking too much about the technique and you know you hit your ball where you'd like it to go. And in these conditions at the moment, that's not a given, but it is a nice feeling. Even at at any level, you can start sometimes to feel that the game is is deteriorating slightly, you know, whether it's pat in, chipping, and again, you know, like we've discussed previously, it's about sort of knowing the areas that are starting to to maybe dwindle a little bit and then sort of doubling down on that practice and and trying to improve that way.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

Yeah, I identifying where it's going wrong. And if you haven't done already, I know there's a discount code flying about for for for the app. Matt, what's the uptake been uh been on that over the last uh couple of weeks?

SPEAKER_02 9:19

Yeah, it's been brilliant. I've had messages, I've had people asking about it, we've had uh plenty of subscribers to the app and um it it's only a good thing because the more people that get involved in the app, the more I can start to develop it as well. So I'm getting questions about certain features and w whether we can add features to the app as well, which is definitely something that I'll be looking to do over the over the next couple of months as well. So yeah, thanks to everyone who's who signed up and is on that journey with us.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Yeah, get involved on on our Instagram page, you can find out all about that app.

SPEAKER_03 9:50

Yeah, Mark, I I played with you and you you were very impressive. But what I did notice um you had a new putter and you you putted really well. Is that something that you're gonna stick to? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 10:02

So yes, the this will be the fourth patter this year. So I've I've gone for a counterbalance putter, which is 38 inches long. It's much, much heavier than what I'd normally use. Uh but I find that the that the putter is very, very stable. It allows me to take it straight back and straight through, and straight out of out of the wrapper, if you like it, it works straight away. And I'm I'm really actually very much enjoying the patter. Uh we'll see how it performs when I when I tee it up in a in an event and I've got a scorecard in my hand. But you know, un until that point, I hope that um our relationship can blossom. Sounds sounds like you're in love with your putta.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

I am absolutely in love with my putta. And and with Erl with all your compliments, he's after a free lesson.

SPEAKER_03 10:47

Well, compared to my putting, he was amazing, so that probably made made him feel really good.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

Right. Uh great matt, we're looking forward to seeing you competing again. You know, and that's gonna happen the end of of August, so we'll uh keep a sharp eye on that. Right, our Pogley interview is next. I said if we can track him down, that was a little hint, Eril to a little tiny, very dad joke-esque hint to who we've we've got in our interview.

SPEAKER_03 11:15

Yeah, as a as a poor link, to be honest. But yeah, I did have an interview with Toby Hunt this week. Obviously, Toby is one of our highest ranked players, and so it was a it was a good opportunity to have a chat with him in between a lot of tournaments and events he's he's got at the moment.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

Right, great. Let's have a listen.

SPEAKER_03 11:33

Our guest this week is is Toby Hunt. Uh, thanks for your time, Toby. I know you're a a busy man playing a lot of uh tournaments, and you're currently one of our what highest ranked Welsh players in the world, uh, which we'll talk about uh uh later on. So before we go on to that, where did it start for you? Where where did your golf journey start?

SPEAKER_04 11:52

Uh so I started playing golf when I was four around Heath Park Golf Club. My dad played golf, so so he would take uh take me up there and to go and play. And then when I was eight years old, I was able to play at Celtic Manor. I think my grandfather's business at the time had a corporate up there. And so I started on the Coldwell Woods course, which was no par fives, a handful of par fours and mainly par threes. It was fantastic to sort of learn the game. And then when I was ten, I was able to uh join St. Melan's and I was there up until 2024. So I was there through my junior days, turning professional there, worked in the shop with uh with his my old coach and the and the head pro at the time there, Barry, Barry Thomas. And then took over from him actually and did a couple of years uh on the retail side of it in the shop there. And uh 2024 moved to Woodchurch then and uh sort of been attached there for a couple of years working with uh with Willow in there now.

SPEAKER_03 12:47

You you mentioned um Sam Ellen there and obviously Barry Thomas was there for years. It was was he one of your biggest influences in terms of getting you you into golf and your progression?

SPEAKER_04 12:57

When I was I think s about sixteen, I started working with Barry. He's been absolutely fantastic over the years. He was probably the one person who always believed in me when nobody did. And you know, when you've got loads of members and you know, even people close to you now, he's not good enough, he's not gonna make it, he's not gonna make any money out of it. Barry was sort of constant through that of having that that belief, and he he was fantastic with me through the sort of ten years I worked with him. So um yeah, we've had a a great relationship over the years.

SPEAKER_03 13:28

So was it a tough decision to turn pro or not?

SPEAKER_04 13:30

You know, was that a dilemma or is that No, I it it was really easy to be honest. I was never good enough as an amateur to to be in sort of the elite programs of Wales Golf, and I was never good enough, certainly, to be anywhere near Walker Caps or anything like that. And to be honest, unless you're gonna be on the fringes of Walker Cap, there's just no point, in my opinion, of being an amateur if you've got aspirations to be to turn professional. So you might as well turn pro and go and try it out at at professional level and start playing playing for some money. And and that's uh that's sort of what I did really was turned pro, did my PGA for three years, started playing some PGA tournaments, played a little bit of EuroPro that first year. Went to sort of Q school and and things like that. So turned pro 2013 was a pretty good decision. Some success uh on Jamiga Tour actually, pretty early on. I won my first event within two or three months of turning pro in the War Warrature Golf Club. Um yeah, it's been up and down since then.

SPEAKER_03 14:24

Obviously, you've played quite a few events from you know PGA regional stuff to hotel planner events and some DP World tour events as well, which we'll have a chat about after. But what's the biggest milestone for you so far in your career?

SPEAKER_04 14:38

Yeah, I won the Welsh National PGA Championship 2018 uh at Aspernham. Um I had a pretty good year that year because I then went on to get through the final stage of qualifying school, DP World Tour qualifying school, and ended up getting a um Hotel Planet or category for 2019. So that was a big achievement, something I've been trying to do for a couple of years. Uh, and then also I won Welsh National PGA Championship in 2023 again. Yeah, those those two events are probably quite uh there with with the highlights of achievement. Playing in a DP World Tour event last year, that that's something I've always wanted to do, just to prove to myself whether I'm actually able to compete with the best players in the world. Made the cut there, hold a five-footer down the hill to make the cut, and then I played with Rafa Kabira Beo and beat him on the last day, so he'd beaten sort of former Ryder Cup players, and it was a great week. You feel like a celebrity, you know, you're signing autographs of kids, giving balls away. You know, you've got friends, family, coaches there. I had Willow in there who's sort of my current coach, Barry came at um for the whole four days, and you know, it was a nice, almost like a big full circle there with him coming back and being able to experience uh a DP World Tour event there.

SPEAKER_03 15:47

So that was the British Masters last day at the Belfry. Yeah. Uh and you finished in 33rd position, which was a fantastic achievement on in your first DP World Tour event.

SPEAKER_04 15:56

Well, it was actually my second. So two weeks two weeks before I get a phone call. I'm over in Ireland for a channel tour event, and I get a phone call at about four o'clock from the PGA on a Wednesday. So I travelled to Ireland on a Monday, done the practice around Tuesday, Wednesday, and I'm getting some food for the evening in Tesco and get a phone call from the PGA saying Graham Robinson has um just pulled out injured. The DP will tour have allowed us to still have the invite, you're the next person on the list. Well, do you want to go? And I was thinking, hang on, I've got to get from Ireland to Scotland ready for an 8.50 tee off time the next day. I got on the phone to Will and was like, What do you think? And he was like, Whatever happens, you've got to go. I was like, right, okay. Hastied back from Tesco, about half an hour back to the uh the Airbnb, got all of the stuff down to uh Dublin in the car. We couldn't get into Aberdeen airport, so we flew into Grasgow, three-hour drive, got there at one o'clock in the morning, on the tee for 850, and started with an eight on. And I'm going down the first hole at Trump Trump Aberdeen, and I a bit left off the tee, and I was thinking that's not great. Playing partners found the ball and I had to play the second shot of a DP World Tour event off my knees because it was that slopey and with all the jeans there. And I'm basically zigzagging all the way up the hole, going across the fairways, and I'm just thinking, these boys I'm playing with must be thinking, who the hell is this guy? Like you cannot play the game. But anyway, the next 15 hours was two underpass. Finished Bogey Bowie, you finished three over for the first round. Second round, I just made a couple of silly, silly doubles really with this cat there. But a great experience, although it was I didn't have a practice round, I didn't get to take any of the sort of crowds in and anything like that. It was all a bit surreal, really.

SPEAKER_03 17:36

But yeah, like I said, a great experience. And Matt Didden has said when he was on the tour as well, is those opportunities you've got to drop everything. If you get the opportunity, you drop everything where wherever it is. Yeah, you know, he they don't come around often, does it?

SPEAKER_04 17:49

Exactly. And to be honest, the British masses I flew back from Spain, I was supposed to have a a week um on holiday with the missus um over in Spain, and I got a phone call on the Monday saying that Graham's still injured, so do you want to come over? So I got the next flight out on the Tuesday and love rather than spending her holiday in Spain. She spent it in Birmingham, so so uh but yeah, I went over to the Battlefree. But I had a bit more of a prep then because I got back on a Tuesday, I was able to play the golf course on the Tuesday, Wednesday I was able to do the proper practice session uh on the range and and short game area, um, and then yeah, played the played the event and um obviously a big, big event.

SPEAKER_03 18:27

So did that give you a taste and some like a desire then to you want to do this again?

SPEAKER_04 18:32

Yeah, so I I think and I've struggled this year mentally more than anything. I think one of those things is once you experience that, you want that every week, and when you can't have it, it's very difficult to uh sort of get your head head around because like you say you do feel like a bit of celebrity for a week. You you know, this is kind of what you you're normally the other side of the rope, so on TV watching these events, and actually you're now the the one that's there. And I think when I was in in Trump International, I felt I had imposter syndrome. I felt I I didn't belong there, and whether that was because of the preparation that I had, or whether it's just because I'd never been in that that position before, I don't know. But then by the time I got to the Belfry two weeks later, I'd had proper prep, I had friends and family watching me, and it felt like it was quite a natural, natural thing. I shot three over first round, played really, really well second round, shot three under, and like I said, hold a nasty little sort of five footer down the hill left to right to make the cut. And then those that weekend was such an enjoyable weekend because like you said, you've got friends and family, you got signing autographs, you're playing a great golf course, you're on TV, you're uh you're playing with players that you n you know and you recognise, and it is a fantastic experience. And then it's a bit of a bittersweet when you know that you're not really gonna get that opportunity again, or if you are it might not be for a while. So yeah, it's it was a unbelievable week, but yeah, something you definitely want to try and create or you definitely crave to have again.

SPEAKER_03 20:00

Another success you've had is um well, twice now you've been in the PJ Cup team, um, and you've recently announced you're on the on the team again. A lot of listeners may not know about the PGA Cup. And and the PJ Cup is the competition between UK and Ireland PJ professionals against American PGA professionals, like the Ryder Cup.

SPEAKER_04 20:22

Yeah, right, exact same Ryder Cup format. You've got sort of best ten players from each of Great Britain and Ireland and US. There's eight just over eight thousand PGA members in the UK. There's the top ten from that. And then there's 32,000, I think, P US PGA members. Um again, top ten players from from their sort of championships. Yeah, great honour to be able to play that again. Two years ago, the result there was a bit of a stuffing, and we had we had wildfires that we had to evacuate from, and we had fog delays. It was it was an amazing experience, but it was a bit chaotic as well. So hopefully this year being over at the K Club, we've just I've just actually come back last night from a sort of get together over there. So we've seen the golf course, got to meet everybody, meet all the team and and try and establish some pairings, which was which was good. Um so yeah, hopefully looking well look really looking forward and hopefully we'll get a bit of a better result this year. But it's it it's a fantastic event. You really get spoiled, but you know, the bags, all the clothing you get, wives and girlfriends are able to come, they're able all to come out and experience it with you. They all get gear. Um you know, you don't have to pay for anything whilst you're there. You really do they really do make it like the rider card. Um and it and credit to the PGA and the US PGA, they do put on a fantastic event. And it is an it is an honour. The captain, both captains we've had now have mentioned, you know, you are the best ten players in your country of through the PGA system, you know.

SPEAKER_03 21:48

So it is quite an honour and Yeah, well congratulations again on making that team and obviously good luck in October. We we'll make sure we'll cover it on the on the podcast. Um on to the Welsh PGA championship. You mentioned you've won that twice. Actually, Asprey Golf was the sponsor of both, and I remember handing the trophy to you twice. So um, I think I've mentioned on the podcast before one of the m most memorable golf I've ever seen was the back nine of Machenness between yourself, Adam Rency, and and Ben Breley, where you shot, I think you went seven straight birdies. Adam was five straight birdies um to finish, so you won by one shot. And how was that for you playing that that afternoon?

SPEAKER_04 22:27

It's actually a story. I did I did that with 12 clubs in my bag, so that's something that not many people know. I had a I had a PGA tournament about a week before, and I've hit a shot from in in amongst trees on the right hand side of the tenth at St. Mallens, and as I've hit the shot, I've my follow-through, I hit the tree, and I've ended up snapping my five-iron. And I played a pro am then at Exeter Golf Club within the same sort of period, and I've hit a shot from the right hand side of the 18th in the trees, and as I've hit the shot, I've hit a root, so my seven-iron bent about two or three degrees. So I didn't have a five-iron in the bag at all, and I had a seven-iron in the bag, but I didn't use it for the two rounds. I I can't remember what I shot in the first round, I think it was four under or something. And I played pretty good and didn't really hold a part. And then second round, I remember making double at the ninth hole. Would have been a two or three behind behind Adam. I remember hitting a shot into twelve, and it's sort of a great drive wedge into you know a foot or something like that. And he's made, I think, five. Oh okay, I've got two shots back here. I'm you know, old school level with him. And I birdie 13, hole a 25 footer on 14, he knocks one in close on 15, and I chip in from over the back on 15, and then he holds. 16, we've both hit it in there really, really tight, and both hold apart. 17, we've done the same sort of thing, hit two great shots in there, hold apart. 18's a power five, and I'm leading by one. I've hit, I think, driver six line just short and chipped it up to about two or three feet, and it was sort of job done then. But I remember just it's probably the only time where I've forgotten about the occasion, and you're basically just playing the man. The the way I describe it is like it was like um I think it was 2016 at the open, uh, Henrik Stenkson and Milk Filmickerson, they were 20 and 18, and uh next third was probably like 10 shots behind them. And it was similar to that. It was like you've forgotten about the rest of the field, and you're basically just trying to make birdie because you know your playing partner's gonna make birdie, so you're like, you know, you need to make birdie, and it was just one of those things that every shot you hit, it kind of was going in the right sort of place, and every time he looked at a party, it went in. I felt for Adam, to be fair, because he you know, in any other tournament he would have won that, and he'd have to win that with with how he played. But yeah, that that week was was was my week, and um yeah, what a fantastic golf course as well, to be fair. But look, it's a great honour to to play in and win your national tournament, especially with some of the names that have you know, you've had DP World Tour winners and major winners on that trophy, you know. So it's it's great to to edge your name into history and um yeah, it's a great tournament.

SPEAKER_03 25:04

So looking ahead, what what's next for Toby Hunt? Where do you see yourself at five year? Have you got like a five year plan?

SPEAKER_04 25:11

Yeah, three years is probably a bit more bit more to it. It's been an event for a couple of years. Um you know, 2023 win, you know, the the Welsh National BJ tournament, and then 2024 I got through all the way through to final stage of Q school again, got a category for 2025, had the DP World Tour experiences, had six Challenge Tour events, and and my best result there was seventh, you know, getting quite high up in one of those events. Um but then you also get the lows where you know this year I my game's been nowhere near where I want it to be. And you know, I'm 33 now, I realise I've probably got three years really to to to do something. And also, you know, how how often do you want to be at this level where you're sort of nearly at it? Are you you know another year where you nearly get on to where you want to be that drains you after a after a while. Yeah, it's all over the next three years. My goal is to try and get a better category than I've got this year on Hotel Planet Tour for next year. Definitely want to experience some more DP tour starts, whether that's invites through the PGA again or trying to get some sort of category through Q-School on there. Yeah, I'll definitely be trying trying Q School the next few years, um, and then playing as many world ranking events as I as I can, really, um, focusing on the Hotel Planetor. And to be honest, it's n it's nice to try and get into the PGA Cup again. It is a great honour, regardless of what happens with the result this year. Look again in two years' time of going back over to America. I've got like little goals there that I want to try and try and achieve and then um go from there really.

SPEAKER_03 26:41

On the on the last podcast, we had uh Tom Froom, who's now in China on the China tour. Is that something you've considered, one of these international tours? No, I'd be a nightmare over in Asia because I'm such a fussy eater.

SPEAKER_04 26:52

So no, I I've never even looked at the possibility of going anywhere near Asia purely because I just wouldn't survive over there. No, I've I've looked to possibly go into uh Sunshine Tour in in South Africa, but now I've got family. It's you know, some of the places in South Africa are probably not the safest for a girlfriend and an 18-month-old to to be. And you start moving abroad and it becomes a family environment probably becomes quite difficult. Or if I move away without them, all of a sudden I'm spending months away from your family, and I wouldn't want that either. I've just been away for 10 days and you come back and you can't wait to to to see them. So I think if I got if I ever got to the stage where I was earning enough money on DP World Tour, I would happily relocate somewhere, whether it's the Middle East or somewhere probably a little bit more in the centre of where their schedule is, because obviously it's a worldwide tour now, you know, it's everywhere apart from America. So that that's something that I can maybe look at in the future.

SPEAKER_03 27:48

You mentioned that earn it enough money to to kind of relocate. Um and we've spoken to a lot of professionals about the costs of being a professional and you know the financial burden of travelling and entering competition. So do you have sponsors that uh I have I haven't at the moment.

SPEAKER_04 28:06

I have had in the past and and hopefully will have in in the future. It's very difficult, you know. For instance, so the last financial year with me playing a couple of DP events, having a caddy for for the Hotel Panotur events, Mina Tour through this winter in the Middle East, um, number of clutch events last year. I spent over 50 grand last year. Now I made money, but not really enough to do that every year. It's difficult to try and get sponsors. You know, you don't have the businesses who are willing to give you 10, 15, 20 grand that they may have done 10 years ago. I'm also not a type of person I can really go asking loads of people for money. I I do struggle with with that aspect of it. I feel I've got to get try and give something back. And when you're playing on Clutch or you're playing PGA stuff and or only a handful of Hotel Planetur events, you've got to ask yourself what really is in it for the sponsor, you know? Because it's not a huge amount of coverage, whereas if you had full hotel planetur and you had some starts on DP World Tour and they've got television exper uh exposure and they've got social media where they've got hundreds of thousands, if not millions, probably DP World Tour across the social media platforms you get on there. Yeah, it is you you need financial financial help. That's why obviously the main reason why most golfers don't do it is that or give up or stop chasing their dreams, really, is the financial pressures of it. And unfortunately, it's one of the few jobs where you turn up to work and you can lose money. But most people they're getting a wage regardless of whether they're crap at their job or not. You know, if I'm if I don't perform in my job, I lose thousands of pounds every week.

SPEAKER_03 29:38

That's a that's a very good way of putting it. Yeah. Coming back to Wales, obviously it's all about Wales on this podcast. There's a battle at the moment to be the top ranked Welsh player in the world between yourself and and Jack Davidson around the thousandth position mark in the world. Is there like a friendly rivalry between you to get to that number one Welsh player? Do you guys look at that world ranking?

SPEAKER_04 30:02

I probably had never looked at the official world rankings until back half of last year where you know I got my my world ranking down to 796, I think. I don't know whether it was my dad or Will who had said, are you actually best player in Wales now, lowest ranked player in Wales. And I'd never really thought of it by that, and it's a bit of it's a bit of a bittersweet, really, because it's such a great achievement to say that you're the best in your country. And some somebody sent me a photo of some golfing magazine, and on there it had number one in Scotland's Robert McIntyre, number one in England at the time as Tommy Fleetwood, Northern Ireland was Rory, Ireland, Shane Lowry, Wales, Toby Hunt. But then you start seeing Rory number two in the world, Shane number 19, Fleetwood four or whatever he was, Toby Hunt 796, and it really puts it in perspective on where we are as a country in in professional golf at the moment.

SPEAKER_03 30:57

Well, there was gonna be a question I was gonna ask you about how healthy is elite golf in Wales, um, in your opinion?

SPEAKER_04 31:03

Uh it's really poor. Really poor in my opinion. You you go back 20 teens, really, where you've got Jamie Donaldson's playing Ryder Cup and he's winning on tour. Um, you know, you've got Bradley Dredge has obviously been very successful on tour, and you go Stephen Dodd, Phil Price Ryder Cup player. You know, Roosel back in the 90s obviously were number one major winner. You know, Wales Golf has probably a punch above its weight back then, and now it's going through an era where he hasn't developed those type of players, and uh, you know, obviously I include myself in that category. And improvements and need to be made from from us as players. You know, probably the Welsh Golf Union needs to probably look at the transition between their elite amateurs and how they go into the professional game, because it is different. You turn professional and you buy a house all of a sudden you're playing golf to put food on the table for you and your family and to pay your mold to keep roof over your head. You don't have that any of that pressure when you're 18 years old and you're going off on a Wales team with all of your travel sorted and your golf course preparation all sorted, you don't have to do you know, everything's done for you, sort of thing. When you go in transition, all of a sudden you're on your own. So I think there needs to be a a look at from that from that aspect of people coming through. Money, as we've touched on. You can't do anything without without without the money, you know, you can't do a full schedule without you know even doing it on clutch tour, which is all around the UK, really. You can't do it for less than 20 grand. You know, you're 450 pounds just for one event, just to enter, and then you've got your hotel costs for £100 a night minimum and petrol food, all that sort of stuff. So you need you need the financial help. Um, and then I think the the third thing and the main thing we need is a hotel panor event in the in Wales. Because if you had a hotel panor in in Wales, you have 50 invites to use. Now, if you turned round and said the top five professionals in the official World Golf rankings, we're gonna give you seven starts, that's 35 invites. You then turn around to your best three amateurs, say in the Welsh squad, and say we're gonna give you five events each, that's your 50 events. You've then got five of your best players playing at least seven events through the year, where you play well enough you can get a category yourself on Hotel Planetor for the next year. It gives them the exposure to ask for sponsorship to say, right, I'm guaranteed seven events. Through those seven events, you've got Hotel Planetor, social media coverage, you've got television, lights on sky, you know, all these other things that you can offer them for that to help with that sponsorship. And then your amateur guys, rather than playing predominantly Lynx golf courses, where back in my day the standard scratch would be four or five more than what the actual par is, and you knock it around level par one over and your handicap gets dropped, and you think you've done a good score. Realistically, you go to professional golf and unless you're shooting six under, you're not making a penny, you know? Um, you know, I've just been in in Czech Republic this week, first round I shot two over, didn't think I played that bad, should have been probably one under level, someone shoots eight under.

SPEAKER_03 34:04

Tom Froom said exactly the same that you've got to be comfortable shooting those kind of numbers on a regular basis.

SPEAKER_04 34:10

And it's like once you get to four under, you get four under through nine, you gotta go right and then try and get to eight. I'm gonna get four under through the back nine there. You shoot four under and you come in twentieth, you know, fifteenths, maybe. So I don't think turning back in my day you didn't have that in amateur golf. So I think professional golf is like regardless of how good or hard the golf course is or hard the conditions are, somebody in that 156-man field will shoot six and eight under.

SPEAKER_03 34:35

It seems to be that transition from turning pro or elite amateur to to pro that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_04 34:41

Look, it's not it's not all bad. We've had Walker Cup players over the last ten years. You know, Jack was a Walker Cup player whenever it was ten, twelve years ago. You've got James um James Ashfield as a World Cup Cup player, Reese Pew back in my sort of era was, you know, and maybe others. It's not like we can't produce good golfers, but there's clearly a problem between elite amateur and then playing professionally and being able to compete professionally. And I don't really buy into we're a small nation, you know, we punch above our weight bar, but because you've got European countries that you know, in places like Finland, they can't play golf for seven months. Yeah, you know, but they seem to have hotel planetal winners. Uh you know, I it there's there's clearly a lot that we can do as a as a country to improve the situation in Wales. We probably don't have as many top professionals as we should. The onus is also on us as players. It is difficult to get the chances, but when you do get chances, you have to perform, and that's the pressure and the responsibility for us as players. But I think it would be a huge help to our careers if we had some sort of pathway through Wales or a Welsh event, like they do in England, Scotland, Ireland, and all the hotel planetor events, and they all get the national national players to to play in those and and to play in other events because they obviously can swap the um swap the invites. So it's a huge thing.

SPEAKER_03 36:00

Yeah, well hopefully with you know a bit of encouragement, and the more we publicize it, then hopefully something will happen. So you mentioned that some Ellen's um you were brought up, and now you're at Witchurch. Um, but what is your favourite course in Wales?

SPEAKER_04 36:13

Celtic Manor 2010.

SPEAKER_03 36:14

Really? Yeah, it's a good challenge, isn't it?

SPEAKER_04 36:16

It's a good challenge. It was probably the first I think it was the first sort of tour-level golf course that I played, where it's seven and a half thousand yards, greens normally fantastic, slopey greens, because they got brilliant batch facilities, things like that there. Um so yeah, that's probably my favourite. My favourite in terms of a playing tournament experience would probably be McCannis, just purely me killing the way of finishing that uh that course, but very similar golf course, you know. It's again a lot a long golf course, not many trees, a lot of water. So, yeah, similar sort of for golf courses. I I much prefer golf courses that you can hit a lot of drivers, you know, you're hitting irons into greens rather than you know, a lot of golf courses in in Wales now with probably the modern technologies outgrowing them. Yeah, um, and they become especially when we've got wires alone we've had, they become a bit fiddly. Yeah. Um so yeah, playing playing Calcutta Manor 2010 is always always enjoyable for me.

SPEAKER_03 37:11

Well, thanks for your time, Toby. It's uh it's been a really interesting chat and um good luck with the future. Obviously, the PJ Cup coming up, that's a big one. And obviously your you know Q school for for next year, that's gonna be when when is that?

SPEAKER_04 37:23

As long as I'm actually gonna go to Austria in September is first stage. With a bit of luck, I can try and perform for the next couple of hotel planner tour events. I think you get in the if you're inside the top hundred or top eighty in the order of merit, I think you get into second stage. So that's uh another goal of mine over the next three or four tournaments. Um so yeah, hopefully, uh hopefully you do all right at this.

SPEAKER_03 37:44

Yeah, well good luck and yeah, great to see you uh getting some more uh DP World tour of that as well.

SPEAKER_04 37:50

That would be nice. Thanks for your time as well.

SPEAKER_03 37:52

Thanks, Toby.

SPEAKER_04 37:53

Thanks.

SPEAKER_01 37:54

Well, a real fantastic interview with with Toby Hunt. I'm gonna start with this reaction. I I listened to it in the car with my son, Henry, who's who's 10, and he said, Wow, Dad, golf's expensive, isn't it? He's picked up on that from the interview that I as a professional golfer, £50,000 just to play. You know, because Toby mentioned that, you know, the cost of caddies and X, Y, Z, and that's a ten-year-old picking up on how difficult it is for a for a professional golfer on on any kind of tour.

SPEAKER_03 38:24

Well, there's not many jobs that you go to and you come out losing money. It's it's it's just that added pressure that having to earn your money through golf, um it it gives it gives a total another dimension to how you play.

SPEAKER_01 38:38

Yeah, he said about a weekly wage, didn't he, or a monthly wage. Well, it's it's you know, it's there's no guarantee of that. It's a constant thread through all of our interviews, or whether we speak to Matt or any of the pros, that how difficult it is and how difficult sponsorship is.

SPEAKER_02 38:53

Yeah, definitely. And you know, Toby mentioned that um it it's very difficult to offer potential sponsors something back in return. You know, we we all know that we can offer the the chance to play golf with us, play in proams, you know, or or maybe some lessons, but there's there's no real financial guarantee that we can give potential sponsors to say, look, I'll give you ten, twenty, thirty percent back of my earnings because potentially you might not earn anything. So, you know, twenty percent of nothing is is nothing. So it it's not it's not that at attractive to uh potential sponsors, if you like, to to go out there and throw money at at unproven golfers. You know, if as an unproven golfer, if I walked into a bank and asked for a £50,000 loan, they'd probably laugh me out of the building because I've got no guarantees that I can pay that pay that money back. You know, occasionally you find uh some good-hearted business people or friends, family that will offer to to give you money to help you to play. But you know, even you know, from experience, you know, taking money from family and friends adds a little bit more pressure because you know exactly where that money's coming from. You don't want to disappoint them and you want to be able to be in that position to be able to pay them back as well. So, you know, all of these added pressures are there, but you know, what what I would say is is that when we turn professional and when we go and play professional golf, that is our choice to do it. So you have to expect these speed bumps in the road and you've got to deal with them. And you know, if you're playing good golf, there's a chance that you can make some money and and cover your expenses. But certainly in the early days of playing, it it's not necessarily about making money, it's about trying to get yourself up the ladder, and you have to go through all of these loops and these you know these rings that you've got to jump through to try and get to the to the DP World Tour. And and like Toby said, once you get a taste of the main tour, it's then very, very difficult to go back and play in events that you've been playing in because you you know you've you've been given that that opportunity and it it you know it it it's fantastic. Um I've had one opportunity the same pr pretty much as as Toby. I I managed to play in one what was then a European tour event in Russia. And how about this for a stat? So I've played one European tour event and I've made one cut, so I've got a hundred percent record. Can you buy a house in Dubai now then? No, I I I couldn't buy a box of Lego actually out of what I won in Russia. By the time I paid all my expenses, I came back and um I actually I won more money the week before in my stake program. I made more profit actually in my stake program than I did travelling to Russia. So um you've got to weigh those things up as well, haven't you? Shall I go to my steak or Moscow? Where am I gonna go?

SPEAKER_01 41:40

Uh the the other thing I I picked up in in Toby's that he he said uh when he turned pro, you know, that he wasn't anywhere near good enough to be a Walker Cup player. So he thought, okay, I'm gonna turn pro. I'm not gonna waste my time anymore. I'm gonna get into the game quickly. But then he also mentioned that there is an issue with that transition from top amateur to pro in terms of Welsh golfers. What happens to that talent?

SPEAKER_03 42:07

Yeah, it seems a common theme, doesn't it, that the more professionals we we speak to, that it's that transition from elite amateur to turning professional and that um being left alone um with no backing or support and um no idea how the other countries are doing it, but there there might be something in place there. But one of the things, again, what Toby and others have mentioned is that that opportunity for elite amateurs and newly turned pros in Wales to have an event to play in. Yeah, you're talking about a a hotel planner tour event or or a uh or a you know a clutch tour or Yeah, I think uh a hotel planner tour event is is the key to to kind of give us a bit of kudos, I think. It certainly gives the players a guaranteed start in four, five, six events so so they can plan their schedule, and maybe that's the starting point we need to to kind of regenerate or rejuvenate success in for for the Welsh men.

SPEAKER_02 43:07

Yeah, definitely. No, we've recently seen the the English Open has been resurrected, and that was a hotel planetore event. So there's no reason why we couldn't do the same for you know a Wales Open or a Welsh Open. Uh you know, it'd be a great idea, and as Toby said, as well as invites that potentially we could get to other events, we could get a you know a a a a school of players, you know, five or six players, and we could give them X amount of events to go and play in, and that would give them that platform then to kick on. And you know, we've seen it happen, we've seen players get five or six invitations, and all of a sudden they've won enough money to retain their card for the following season, and you know what a great sort of platform that would be to to help kick start their career.

SPEAKER_03 43:52

Well Marco Penge came through that system and won a couple of events on the hotel planner and you know kicked him on and got a spot on European Tour.

SPEAKER_01 44:00

Look where he is now. Good luck to Toby on whatever Tory ends up playing on. We'll keep a sharp eye on you on Golf Pod Camry. And and talking about toys, what what's happening with Live? Is it gonna be live and let die? Because it it's not looking good, is it?

SPEAKER_02 44:17

Yes, it looks like it's the um the beginning of the end of of Live as as we know it, but uh never say never. Reports suggest that uh there are sort of um the finances are out there and potentially there are sponsors out there to to keep the the tour alive for for 2027, but uh we'll have to watch this space. Well what do you think, Errol?

SPEAKER_03 44:42

Well, I think what the live events have shown is they do get a lot of uh attendees and a lot of fans go to watch um those events, maybe not as much watch it on TV. What it does show there is a a desire for for golf in the UK, you know, the fifty thousand spectators at the JCB club last week. Um it just shows yeah, we need more of these large events in the UK and obviously preferably Wales, but there is a desire for people to watch at the best players playing golf. And personally, I haven't been into Liv that much, but I do miss having all the best players playing against each other every every week, be it on any tour.

SPEAKER_01 45:20

One thing that might happen, of course, if Liv does go uh Pete Tong, then the DP World Tour could be a way back for some of those Liv players.

SPEAKER_02 45:29

Yeah, it it certainly looks that way. There's there's sort of rumors that some of the players have already paid their fines that they've racked up from leaving the DP World Tour, so there's a chance that we're gonna see some of those players back. And we you know we've already seen Patrick Reed uh come back and play on the DP World Tour, which you know love him or or hate him as a player. But um it it is only good news for you know for golf that we're we we're gonna start hopefully to see the best players in the world competing against each other again week in, week out, and not just in the majors. I'm a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to golf. I prefer to watch you know it as an individual sport. I do love the Ryder Cup and I do love the team event, but you know, the live stuff for me, uh I I'm not that bothered about whether the smashers are beating the you know the majestics or whatever they're called. Um I want to see the best player come out on top and not necessarily a team, but that's my opinion and that's my point of view. So, you know, that counts for nothing really sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 46:29

Right, the topic. Topic this week, the effects of the weather, the extreme weather, and our golf course is suffering because of it. What what have you seen, guys? I've seen some terrible footage up around sort of Morlice Castle, so hopefully everything's not too bad up there. I know that you know th there are fires all kind of all over the place, but and that that is because of the extreme weather, everything's so dry. Hopefully the uh the tiny bit of rain that we've had has has alleviated some problems, but it's not just fires, isn't it? You're cutting grass so short, you you've got to water it, then there's a water shortage, it's it's a it's a vicious circle.

SPEAKER_03 47:08

Yeah, it's a huge vicious circle, the extreme weather conditions we're having at the this summer, and then you've got the you know the polar opposite in winter when we get too much rain and storms and what effects that has on on golf courses. But obviously this summer water seems to be at the big thing, and going back to an interview we had with Julian Doty of Radar Golf Club, the Greenkeeper there, he mentioned that this is gonna be the norm, and I think golf clubs will have to look at water storage big time going forward, you know, be it a reservoir or water silos. A lot of golf courses got boreholes, but they kind of can run dry. Um, and then you have to look at using Maine's water, and obviously that's not gonna last that that long because the the the clubs aren't gonna be able to pay to have it. And so it's a tough job for these green keepers. They are they have to prioritize where they put the water. A lot of golf clubs have have given up on their teas and just put in water on the greens, because of the of the if you lose the greens, you know, the grass could be dormant for you know a month. It'll take a month or so to to kind of come back. So it's a it's a tricky balance to to get right.

SPEAKER_01 48:15

Yeah, not not all golf courses are lucky enough to have uh a lake there, natural lake there, or if you have rivers, streams. Can you use that water from natural resources?

SPEAKER_02 48:25

No No, I was gonna say the um you know a lot of the greenkeepers you know they're they're very well trained and you know they're very knowledgeable and they they they they can and they are able to take sort of pH samples from you know those those ponds that they've got on the golf course to see whether that water is suitable. And and certainly uh I'd say that the vast majority of pond water is suitable for teas, definitely. Whether it'll be suitable for for greens, I'm you know, I'm not sure. You know, as Errol was saying, priority list in terms of water in a golf course at the moment is you know, the everybody has sort of given up on water in the fairways. Um the grass that's going orange or brown, it's not necessarily dying, it's just going dormant. So it's it's it's turning that colour to retain some of its some of its moisture. The the the big worry is is that heavy, heavy worn traffic areas when the grass is dormant, those areas are going to take a long, long time to recover, regardless of um the amount of water that you put on it. So it it it's quite important that um golf clubs are spread in the wear as well in terms of walk-offs from teas and onto greens, otherwise, you like you say, those areas will just remain bare for for months.

SPEAKER_03 49:38

I was speaking to my mother actually, she's a member of Betzakoy, and I was asking how bare it was there. Um and she said it's actually fine, it's really, really green and lush because you mentioned if they can take uh water from the river, they have a river going through uh just next to the golf course. Then you are allowed to take a certain amount of water from the river. But I was looking at some stats again, I do like my stats, and obviously every golf club is different. Uh an average golf club in normal conditions would spend about 60,000 pounds a year on water, and then in extreme conditions like we've had this year, that could double to up to £120,000. So um a lot of golf clubs will be dipping into their reserves this year just to to make sure the greens are are kept alive over the next uh next few weeks. Because I was looking on on the forecast, and there's no significant rain in the forecast till September, so there's still another four or five weeks uh of this dry heat uh to come for a lot of us.

SPEAKER_02 50:39

A friend of mine who's at a golf club uh at a Lynx club, I won't mention the name or the golf club, but um th they've been struggling for water, and as opposed to using the main's water, they've actually been uh getting tankers in from a local quarry where there's a uh a stockpile of of water there, so they've been bringing in the water uh in tankers and and it's um considerably cheaper actually than using you know the main supply. So um, you know, that that's thinking slightly outside of the box as well, just to obviously keep the golf course alive.

SPEAKER_03 51:11

A lot of golf courses have got boreholes, and I was looking into the costs of actually creating boreholes, and that it depends on how deep they need to bow down, but it's between twenty-five thousand to forty thousand pounds. But when you consider a golf club would spend sixty thousand pounds on on water a year, it only takes maybe eighteen months for for it to pay for itself, and then the club will actually save money. So, you know, this water storage or or kind of access to to new water supply is something that I think golf courses are going to be looking into big time over the next few years. Yeah, another another aspect of this extreme weather is the uh the effect on the actual golfers as well. It's exhaustion, heat exhaustion. I was at the golf club a couple of weeks ago and uh there was a guy who had fainted uh on the course because overheating and competitions like the the seniors uh opens at Saint Pierre was cancelled in July due to the heat uh so that was had to be rescheduled. So you know it's another effect of the extreme hot weather we have is on on golfers as well.

SPEAKER_01 52:20

Yeah, keep you've got to keep hydrated. I I don't mean you know cracking open a can of strong bow or something. It's it's vital that you you keep your fluid intake and I mean water high when you're um you know you're walking fifteen depends where you're hitting the ball, twenty thousand steps while pulling or c or even carrying a bag. So you've got to look after the course and look after yourself. Well, that's the end of our topic conversation, but I'm sure we'll be having a similar conversation in December, guys, when we have deluges of rain and and storm and wind and all kinds of weather coming in. A different kind of extreme weather and the effects on the golf course. But yeah, look look after yourselves, look after the courses, and of course, repair your pitch marks. Right. Ask Matt section, and we we have a question in and it's quite an appropriate one about what we've just been talking about.

SPEAKER_03 53:13

Yeah, actually it was asked by uh one of the juniors I look after at the golf club. He was bemused, well, and excited that his ball went through the green, which was like 300 yards away. The question, Matt, is is how do you kind of change your mindset in conditions like this? Do you need to totally re think how you attack golf courses in the in conditions so fiery fiery as this?

SPEAKER_02 53:37

Yeah, absolutely. Uh you know, it's a lottery at the moment, and you know, you're you you could potentially hit a six iron the same distance as you'd normally hit a driver, and you you've obviously got to take that into account as well when you you know you're teeing off that certain penalty areas or you know, bunkers might come into play that wouldn't normally come into play. Ironically, uh this time of year for me, when the weather's like this, nobody comes for a golf lesson asking for more distance, which is uh the the usual request all year round. But nobody's asked actually in the last couple of weeks. Everyone's delighted with how far their golf ball is going. You know, obviously you've got to weigh up the situation when you w when you're playing golf. You know, you've got to expect that um you know your your your shots, you know, off the T and off the fairway are gonna travel, you know, s significantly further, uh, you know, due to the hard due to the hard ground. You know, clubbing down is is something that I would suggest that you do and you know try and land the golf ball short of the green is the obvious answer, but doing that brings in the a situation perhaps where your golf ball might hit a a very firm part of the fairway and and kick offline. But no, that that's something that you can't really account for. You know, if if obviously the greens are you know accepting golf balls and you know the turf is is nice and soft and you can pitch the green, then fine, you know, go with that approach. But I'd I'd definitely be you know suggesting to people that they look to play a little bit shorter, maybe look at the golf ball that they're using. Or if you're using very hard golf balls and hitting that hard golf ball into a hard surface, you can only expect one result. So potentially use a golf ball which is a little bit softer, which is going to help you generate a little bit more spin, which might I'm gonna say might help you stop that golf ball just that that little bit quicker. I'm guessing all Parkland courses are turning more lynx-like, aren't they, at this time of year? Yeah, and and with that becomes, you know, that that then you've got that unpredictability then, because on a lynx course, it's laid out in front of you generally. You can see a golf bush, there are very few trees on a lynx course, and you know, it if your golf ball kicks offline, then you'll end up in the rough, but you'll probably find your golf ball. Your golf ball kicking offline on a Parkland golf course, you're going to end up in somebody's garden or you know, behind a a massive cops of trees. So th these golf courses are not intended to be played that way, but we we need to figure out a way out to play them, especially in when these conditions.

SPEAKER_01 56:07

Yeah, I I like what Tom Froome said in his interview in our last pod. He said, I think the the ground is your friend, he said that he realized from an early age, you know, to to get the ball running sometimes. And if the I I I was brought up, my dad said that to me. If you've got nothing to go over, well play the ball on the floor, you know. If there's no trap or any hazard in front of the green, you don't always have to fly it, you know. So use the contours, that's what I say. That's maybe because I top the ball quite a lot. Perfect conditions for you then. Right. Well, I think that is the end of the tenth episode, the tenth hole, a a short, tricky par three, and uh it might be a little longer walk to the next, to the lengthy, because we might be all on holiday for a little while. Hope you've you've all enjoyed this one. Get some interaction on Instagram, send us your your questions if you've got anything you want us to to cover, and let us know. Enjoy your golf, stay cool, stay hydrated, and of course, yes, my favourite, repair your pitch marks. Ta everybody.