Yeah if we played four rounds of golf he would be 40 shots minimum better than me. So welcome back down to the rickshaws golf show podcast everybody i'm your host rick shields i'm here with producer guy a married man now yes congratulations guys thank you very much this episode is a bonus extra break 75 episode treat a little treat. For everybody listening everybody that's in the clubhouse everybody follows on the facebook page uh i feel like we just want to get back into the swing of things start recording some new podcasts we've had some great ones in the past few weeks tubes and andrew was a really successful one yeah mimwoo lee fantastic podcast considering it was his first ever podcast next.
Week we'll be back to normal service every single tuesday make sure you check it out on apple spotify also do check out the full version if you want to watch it on the second channel can i see a little bit of housekeeping first off love you too this is something that really really really annoys me. So obviously i was away on honeymoon last week very nice we had to stay uk based you saw the covered rules which was fair enough went to cornwall it was really nice weather was awesome. But there was one thing that ruined it. For me rick can i guess go on apple podcast podcast borderline ruined my honeymoon because. And some people listen to this who don't listen to apple you're fine don't worry about it if you're a spotify listener amazon youtube you're good you are cruising down the freeway to a one-way ticket to podcastville oh yeah like you're fine yeah come on window down a little bit tunes blasting sunglasses you're chilling just give some sympathy. For those apple podcast listeners if you're an apple podcast listener i'm not every listener which is borderline more annoying some probably 50 of apple podcast listeners are thinking what are these guys talking about it's there. For me every tuesday morning fine they're almost on the toll road they're just chilling as well aren't they they are cruising away. But ironically the roads in cornwall are very similar to the experience that some apple podcasts are happening tight windy you can't fit two cars you have to awkwardly pull over into a horrible labor. And worry about scratching your car bumpy bumpy stressful you get too hot even though the windows are down irk on your armpits are sweating just really horrible experience because there's been a problem with one of the latest apple ios software updates where. For some reason not just our podcast but loads of podcasts aren't refreshing so you'll go on a tuesday looking for the new podcast it's not there wednesday it's not there it might turn up randomly on a thursday this week's took one week for it to come onto mine ridiculous so if you are an apple podcast listener. And you're having this issue you're not alone it's not just our podcast as others and i'm hoping that um there'll be a software update very soon that will uh resolve it i even googled it. And ended up on an apple forum and there's loads of people having the same issue with all sorts of podcasts so yeah trying to get out the way as a backup. For people listening if you are having that issue might be worth downloading spotify yeah it's still free to listen to on spotify. And as i mentioned you can now watch. And listen to the whole episode every single week on the second channel the rickshaws golf show youtube channel well i had a bit telling off actually because people can now watch us not to listen to us a lot of people were commenting on how much i was messing with the mic my hands are purposely not going to touch it today.
Have you been in it as well yeah i think you were worse. But yeah i caught myself doing it you know what it is we've got these new microphone stands. And i watched some other podcasts on youtube and i saw loads of podcast people like messing with it and i thought what is it they're doing i'm doing it as we speak what is it. And the basis is like little spinny things that tighten the mic. And they're perfectly tight don't need tightening but it's like when you're talking it's quite therapeutic so today.
Hands are on the table firmly away from the mic. And if anyone seems to do it again feel free to comment. And slag me off till the cows come home yes break 75 yes well let's let's almost kind of summarize it at the moment. So far we have done 11 episodes yeah the 12th one is coming next.
Week now that was always the plan we want to do 12 episodes going around different golf courses here in the uk. And the premise is very simple can i shoot 75 we want to put a really cool video together harry who's been doing all of the break 75 edits has done an amazing job. So big shout out to harry matt's been helping with the filming as well as harry filming it all the break 75s you've been on every single one yes you've played in three three um we've had um other fantastic guests we've played some amazing golf courses some that i've done very well at some that i've comfortably broke 75 some historic golf courses such as saint andrews where i broke 75 played amazing at king's barns uh sometimes i've had a few shockers sent out sent hanzo links which was really tough the weather conditions weren't in my favor. And i just got a bit lucky and had a terrible round and then.
Jcb the monster off the back tees that was also a real kick in the teeth well just briefly on 75 i know we've mentioned this before in one of the podcasts. But we came up with this idea and it's actually mid-january i've got an email here when we chatting about it with the lads of how we saw the whole thing looking and it was really. For two reasons it was firstly to get out playing more golf because although again a lot of people think that you play golf a lot you actually don't you hit a lot of golf balls in certain situations. But you don't play that much goal this is the most golf i've played in a stretch of 12 weeks oh probably ever yeah it will be a different golf course he's playing properly with a scorecard yeah. So that was the first thing. And then.
We also want to try and make these videos a bit different because obviously kind of traditional golf course vlogs been on youtube now since years and a lot of people like them they're kind of long form there's there's dialogue there's banned to this chat etc but we wanted to try and keep that in it a little bit and obviously get them fun we'll get all 18 holes in every single shot show off the golf courses show off some of the guests and make it kind of quite bingeable yeah because now there's 11 as you said there will be 12 very soon people have been loving them every week. And we've seen people saying they set alarms at four o'clock every week in the uk or whatever to watch them but also we want people to find this in two years time and just watch four in the night or three at night and i think from the reception that that's been the case people have really enjoyed them haven't they yeah i think the reception has been incredible to be honest because we've had fun with the edits as well we've experimented with different things very source the infamous birdie source now the things like that when i had that mad power run through king's barns with like the mario effects. And things like that the shot traces that we've had but we've experimented with different ones the music the cutting the rewinding the the the stats that go through it all the length of the videos as well like that was something we really wanted to to nail down we wanted to people to watch it enjoy every single second of it right till the last put drops. And are gutted that it's over like they can't wait. For the next.
Episode and i feel like we've done a really good job of that as well i think what i like about it is obviously you know you've built this massive audience. And we're really fortunate to have a huge audience and we always try and make great videos and sometimes we make videos that do well in terms of views very well. But you look at them and think other people could do that video we might have had the best idea. Or whatever but with these i do think like without being kind of well i am being biased. And stuff but i do think these do stand out as being some of the best videos on on youtube in terms of like the videography yes. But also just just everything about them i am really happy with the kind of product if you like and yeah the good news is there's one more left yes friday there's possibly more we might just sprinkle a little bit of secret salt. And just tell people uh what the plans we've got yeah. So again the original idea was 12 episodes. And that's what we're going to stick to the first season we call it a seasonal series season's very american series is more english. So i'll let you choose let's go series okay. So series 1 12 episodes that's gonna be finishing soon that is it. For 2021 break 75. but as guy mentioned we've got a couple of ideas little sneaky extra break 75 episodes that will be coming in the next.
Few weeks slash months. And then.
It stops and then.
It potentially starts again season two next.
Year series two next.
Year should we give any little sprinkles on one of what those ideas is. Or not one of the ideas is a twist on a previous very very successful series i've done in the past as well yes. So that's all i'm going to say at the moment okay um i feel like the golf courses we've played some have been really challenging some have been kind of somewhat easier ones that i've maybe known a bit more uh the ones that i found more challenging than the ones i've never played ever before to be honest barking spans. So which would you say was the hardest then.
Hardest. For a number of reasons one because i've never played it before two because of the length three because of the experience and almost in the i was in awe of the place was what you. And me played at jcb yes that was solid that was the hardest one even though the weather wasn't that hard that day it could have been harder it was long it was super long it was. And i don't think you playing your best either sound this sounds. So obvious but if you go to a golf course and don't play well it's obviously a lot harder yeah you're going to get punished. But dale was tough as well yeah. And if you were you hit it quite well around burt dale if he was spraying it around though he would have shot a million. So it's often how hard the golf course is obviously. But also how well you play outside golf course it's a big difference what my favorite course what my favorite course so far i need to get them on youtube so i don't forget any my favorite course that i've played so far in the series i would possibly say king's barns the most stunning and you played well does that have it does that change things though when you play well at a golf course you like it more it does. But i'd also say maybe second or third best golf course i played that was jcb. So then.
No it doesn't play because i i still remember what the golf course is about. For me kings barnes it was the company it was the golf course it was the scenery it's how i played it was the whole experience being up in scotland the home of golf we played we had a really special day the day before playing obviously the old course with your family got a really nice meal that night next.
Day we went. And played kings bars very relaxed atmosphere i wasn't the best golfer in the group by a long way which is great you're the fourth best i was the fourth best we also had some really exciting things the next.
Day. So we did the andrews in reverse video which will be out now yeah yeah. So that'll be out which was mega. So i had that coming up and i also knew that i had the break 75 at cent andrews the next.
Day so i was just in golf mode away from the family that helped get more chilled a bit more relaxed didn't have to do a school run. Or whatever in the morning that definitely helps um so that's probably my most stunning one you know what was my um what's what i'm looking. For surprise yes it's surprise golf course was stockport i thought stockport was because it's quite local very local to us it's probably 20 minutes half an hour away. And weirdly for us when we go filming when we're a golf course that is close to home he doesn't like as much a day out obviously that we went to celtic man it was like a three-hour trip there three-hour trip back it felt like a proper day out. And obviously you know when we went to st andrews as well goes without saying but stockport was like we got there in early in the morning i knew it would be decent. But that really impressed me that golf course yeah it was really nice manicured it was obviously a beautiful day. And it wasn't supposed to be a beautiful day i played with hannah he was great on the video great company as well. So it's like it was a really nice blend of everything really. And we played some solid golf as well and then.
One thing we're going to come on to not just. Yet but later on the podcast is you have now got a handicap hi i have now got an actual handicap. So we are 14. i'm going to be a deadly part they're in the doubles next.
Year with someone you will be um no. But we're going to come on in a minute. But then.
I think first off one of the things you said was obviously going to play more golf which you clearly done i think i've learned a lot about your golf game. And i think you've probably obviously learnt loads i think one of the things that i've well how to word it i think because you get a lot of clubs sent to try. And stuff obviously to review it's quite easy to put a new club in the bag and just think i'll put a new club in the bag. For the sake of it and i think a lot of people would do the same. And i've done it before we've put stuff in the bag for no reason other than it's a new club why not shiny yeah exactly. But then.
When you've got a scorecard in your hand which you don't do very often until recently. And i don't do very often. And you get onto a whole 16 with a good score going. And you're hitting a three-wood do you want that shiny new three-wood. Or do you want that one that you know. And you trust yeah. And i think although you have swapped clubs about this series. For certain reasons again we'll come on to i think it's really shown to me. And i'm sure to you that actually how important is to use stuff that you actually trust. And that's been a big thing i feel like i've learned about my equipment much more yeah i've learned about what i like a lot more actually playing golf you know yes this driver might go further this driver might be better looking this truck. But actually i stood there with a driver that gives you confidence that actually you can stand there. And go okay this driver's going to help me yeah this driver it might not the longest in the world. But i know i can hit it pretty fast still. But it's gonna go down there well that's it because gc quad as we know and driving ranges are. So different to the golf course and if i give you a super low spinning titles ts4 now on the gc quad you might hit one that is longer i think you actually did when you tried it out the longest shot of the year 300. And however. many yards long and that'll be one in ten and it is easy to delete those down. And go look at that and maybe even you know tell someone about it whatever it might be or if you went for a driver fitting yourself as a you know an amateur golfer or something someone listening you know i tried out the taylormade whatever and i got one that went 300 yards what did the rest of them do. And like when you get on the golf course obviously i know people know this but certainly some of these golf courses like your jcb's your your um bert dale's obviously massively rough is. So long hitting the fairway is. So important and you need to have products in the bag that you can hit well. And the trust and that you can stand there. And go i know this is going to help me in some capacity i did that with the putters as well through the series about three putters through the series. But again i've settled on a putter that i like the look of it gives me confidence it makes me feel good um even the development of the the happy accident that happened where i snapped my two iron at jcb and then.
They're putting a three iron in the bag that's been game changing for me i really do think that because i've now got a much better gap in my three wood i'm hitting outrageously more often. And you're ripping it i know and i love it again and i shied away from using it because it was almost redundant a little bit in my bag because of my two iron. And then.
Because i didn't use it very often i didn't have much trust or faith in it but now i've got three iron which sits in a lot nicer i pull my three three wood out way more and the more i've hit it the more i become confident with it and i'm loving that guy that was a big change that because also as well i felt when you had two iron four iron there's quite a lot of holes where you need a three iron yeah. And you either try and smash a four round which doesn't often work very well or go easy on a two line which again is a hard shot to place that was a good addition swapping your driver as well as a slight tweak. But i think that was a big a good change i stole yours at scotland why did you use mine i played the day before at san andreas with the ls tech yeah. And it was. So hard the conditions yeah. And i just i just thought that morning i don't really i'm not quite with it with my driver you might gain five yards occasionally but you're gonna miss more fairways i just felt like going around kings barnes that saturday after playing the really tough conditions in the senate andrews with you which to a lot of people again watching we never filmed we didn't film that video. So now there's no there's no nobody saw saw that that was just a nice little kind of um relaxing round of golf that we had. But my driver my driver had lost confidence because of probably the conditions were. So hard so because guy wasn't playing the next.
Day and he's got the max in the in his drive the g4 25 max i was like let me just borrow your drive ahead. And i loved it and ever since i put my own one in my own bag and loved it ever since i don't think you lose anything you might literally lose four yards if you smash them both four. Or five yards nothing is that nothing. And the only thing it's a little bit louder or it feels louder i don't think it's louder it does feel like it's louder. But it's not like a horrendous noise and i think once you get used to that after which you did after a few holes that was a that was a really good change um anything else that you changed i can't remember that's it i want to ask a question if you were to rank my sections of golf game in order of best to worst would you be able to do that yes okay what's what's the best part of my game i would say your best part of the game has been driving yeah did you agree i would agree i think you've been pretty long yeah you've been straight my wishes haven't been that bad no. And i think compared to possibly last year year before when you did play in your golfer when we played. Or you were just reviewing a driver you misses out as bad you you still got a left when occasionally which you probably always will have which is you know fine. But you could have some horrendous lefts i think that's been ironed out massively that's been really good it was a couple of rounds celtic manor a drove the ball outrageously good yeah king's barns are drove it outrageously good dude. And the rest of them are just okay i never feel like i've had a bad driving day. So that's top yeah i think. So i think your ions have been pretty solid yeah i'd say they're probably in in at number two yeah when i stand up to a par 3 i never feel like i'm not going to hit the green yeah like. And it doesn't really matter what length iron it is either it'd be it would actually be quite interesting i'm probably not as geeky on this. But maybe somebody listening could be really geeky go through all that like proper proper diving that would be interesting because what we might be saying now might end up being wrong but that's how it feels when you're there in the situation i mean maybe we could look into that. But it's it's a lot i mean all the evidence is there if somebody wants to go through it all. And and do all the strokes gained. And all this class i don't understand strokes gain massively i'll be honest but it would be really interesting to find out i think you've put in has been probably next.
I think it's been hot. And cold to be honest with you but when it's hot it is hot where was it where you couldn't was that king's barnes hold a lot of really good puts well then.
When was the day you could say i can't miss was it burt dale yeah you had a few good ports i don't think i can miss this. And you rolled it quite well i think yeah you've had some other days at celtic manor where you missed loads like stupidly short ones you just lost in reports. And all sorts was that with the old even role as well though yeah i went back to the even role i think that i think that new odyssey's been well the old obviously now got new in the back it's been a good change you put it's been hot on cold um your pitching's been pretty poor which obviously you know about. And you're chipping yeah. And what you've started to do now which obviously is is it good in some ways you're doing a lot more putting off the green yeah. And it's therefore. made your bad putt still okay you know you're not gonna where you might fatter chip. Or sculpt through the green you're not going to hit that bad of a pot however. i do think it has still cost you i i think it's massively cost me this this series because you might be on a certain linked course we're putting is a bit more i mean you did obviously the 18 it's in andrews you put it off the green. And put it well close that was ridiculous. But there's a lot of times when that's not the shot even if you put it within 10 foot you're kind of thinking at least in it through the green but then.
You're gonna hold a ten footer sometimes you will sometimes you won't you've got a little bit more confidence on your chips. And get it within six foot five foot more off and i do think you'd end up shooting better skulls that's something that you need to address. But you you've kind of tried it's just yeah confidence there's a couple of things that i'm surprised i've not changed my wedges. Yet if i'm honest i don't know why i've not done that yet probably not settled on wedges that i really really want to move into so i want to change my lofting i want to go to a 50 degree 54 and a 58 i probably want to go slightly wider sold wedges to give me a bit more support underneath the ball and then.
Like you said like remember when we before we played at bertdale we went on that mega chip in green yes that was awesome that shipping green some of the shots weren't great. But some of the shots i played were just outrageously good because you were trying something a bit different with you kind of opening your body up a bit more. But there was no consequence you could if you thinned one isn't it there was that one shot you hit which i know we can't really explain properly. But it was a ridiculous golf shot it was confidence yeah it was. And then.
You can if i can build on that. So i if if there's any part of my game and i would agree exactly what you've described it there i would almost rank it almost exactly the same for me if i could put more effort guidance work if i could become unbelievable from 100 yards and in i could be my scores could come a lot lower i honestly believe that i think what also is weird with your game is you're very much a confidence player huge used to offer birdie power you you're not doing much worse than the 75 yeah i feel like because it's in your head you've got a nice little start going. But also what's mad is like if we went to the golf course i mean joe's side you do beat me most times you play. But we have a few rounds it's pretty close whatever if we went out and played now i feel like your bad round could be bad but you've also got an under you have got you can go quite under par if everything's going well. So that's why we're going with quantity handicapping when it's interesting what you've been given yes. But i do think if you can get a little bit more confidence. Or maybe not have more comments after a bad start yeah i also sometimes think of it a few times you might get the whole 14. And get a bit carried away and it sometimes goes to pot a little bit but overall i think you've played some good golf i think one thing that i'm i'm never scared about when i'm having a good round going i actually never think i'm gonna have a bad round. But i try and push too much to have a great round yes like. So many times i was like level par around the 14th. And instead of maybe still being patient it's then.
When i go right let's see if i can make some birdies yeah. And i try and push on the accelerator which is is actually quite a nice feeling because i must have confidence in my game if i feel like i can do that. But maybe my confidence and my ability don't quite match up yet because i as much as i want to push on the accelerator sometimes i just can't force those birdies when i need them yeah um it'd be it'd be an amazing position. And i've done this a few times going back years ago. And i just do quest. For the open if i can get on the part i was never scared of going more on the par like i felt like i could push if i had a good round together i never felt like i was going to suddenly make a double. Or a triple to ruin that scorecard which is mad i feel like if you remember at my golf club right. And it was a club championships. And you went out at 10 o'clock in the morning i was at 11. when i came in i would think you could have had their ad 82. Or 69. yeah i think that's it that's where your golf's at which to be fair he's quite good because 69 is he needs to be winning tournaments there's nobody shooting 75 because that's not gonna win i would would i swap it though. For being that player who pretty much always shoots one or two over par or or whatever it may be four over par let's say i don't think you would because those type of golfers aren't always that good to watch they just kind of get it around which is is it it's good to know that you're going to go to a golf course. And not shoot a horrendous score but is it would it be fun. For you yeah exactly i don't know i feel like if i can if certainly from 100 yards. And in because like say i'm decent off the tee if i could nail that those wedgy shots and give myself four or five proper better opportunities for birdie because sometimes i'm hitting wedge shots to 20 feet and they're not they're not going to drop all the time are they ever where if i was taking them into less than 10 feet. And rolling a few more of those in if i had that bad start i could probably think well it's all right i'm probably gonna make five birdies this round of golf where i have to get off to a good start to think i'm going to make five birdies in a round of golf okay then..
So put it into handicap you've obviously played a lot of golf and you've learned about your game is there anything that you think from play more golf obviously as a golf coach as well that stood out that you would say to listeners that's going to help them play better golf. And they've got scorecard in the hand or is it just down to each individual is anything you've taken away from this 12 weeks we think you know what i'm not playing. So much i almost forgot that i forgot that feeling but from playing again i've remembered x y and z yeah managing emotions being much more in game mode when you're playing golf like i don't i feel like now because of the the evolution of driving ranges. And launch monitors and home launch monitors that people have sometimes they'll try and take that way of playing golf yeah which is not real it's artificial way of playing golf. And trying to implement it out on a golf course and that's not golf golf is played on a golf course where the conditions are different every single day the shots that you've got trying to hit are different every day as you mentioned before there's consequences some holes there's trouble down the right there's trouble down the left there's water to carry it's into wind downwind you're on a hill like all of those things as golfers i think now in the in the new world of practice is getting overlooked like i would much more if i was now a proper proper plane now on a you know if i suddenly now i said right i'm gonna stop all this youtube podcast. And everything else i'm gonna play all the time i would be on the golf course a lot more than i would be just shelling golf balls because i feel like that it's not it's not real like and that's something i've really recognized because a lot in this time and i was chatting to matt about it yesterday when we're doing some filming i've not spent loads of time beating balls in this 12 week period i've spent a bit more time on the golf courses. Or whatever it may be that that's how i feel like you get better at golf being out on a golf course and playing golf and different lives and different situations and another thing that's absolutely crazy if we look at this 12-week window that we've been playing loads of golf and that's three months how much the weather conditions have changed yeah from like early in the season when it was cold it was wet it was damp the first one that's in tanzania links second one. But like the weather compared to now like at bertdale last week where the ball is bounding. And bouncing down the fairways till you know as long as you're hitting it straight it's like a runway yeah like those conditions the tv's just gone off those conditions are. So different aren't they compared to you know i say march and i think that's something as as golfers again we might overlook a little bit too much yeah no that's good you know what i only obviously played three of the courses. But i was looking they were great courses i played obviously uh presby really good course i'd never played before jcb which destroyed me. And then.
Obviously bert dale did place it andrews. But obviously that wasn't kind of one of them as such what opened my eyes is obviously now with handicap index your handicap changes on different golf courses which is is good because it means you can kind of have a more of a realistic target. Or goal if you want to shoot but what really opened my eyes is that your handicap typically. For most people is based around one golf course well you know what club to hit you know what the way the wind typically goes you know the breaks the greens you know what the misses are not to miss from playing different golf courses which i've not been doing as much until recently you have to just change your expectations. So for me again handicap isn't officially anymore it has a lot but it was four i'm not really playing to forks i'm not playing enough golf. But also what i did which i think helped me certainly at burt dale. And st andrews was don't almost forget that that's your handicap. And give yourself another another handy camera so i kind of thought well i want to try and break nine over that if i can do that. Or in the 70s i'm gonna be well happy and by having that little bit of a different expectation it definitely helped me enjoy the game more because obviously you want to go and enjoy it but you know you're fortunate and that don't they paid for any green fees at these golf courses did we no. For most people if you're going to play another golf course you're paying a green fee. So there comes a balance if you want to go and enjoy it but you also want to play well but if you go to a birthday let's just say you'd pay 200 pounds 250 whatever it is. For a green fee and you go double double bogey like i did it could be quite easy to go oh my wife are bothered with this. But you have to just almost give yourself a different goal whether it might be right okay well that's done next.
16 holes when i played some handy cap yeah. Or whatever it might be i'm going to try. And make three parts in this round exactly and that's one thing we did at some andrews again that wasn't 75. But it kind of felt like it was a bit because we kept our score. And stuff but i had i think i had seven vogues in a row. But the weather was that bad i literally thought well bogeys are passed today.
Your your objective became not making a double yeah exactly not make a double. And obviously powers as birdies in the end i think what they have nine over which was quite really good you played. So real around that and if that was not the beginning that was i'd 9 over 81 oh yeah that's right um. And that i'm not the people necessarily want my advice that was the only thing i would say if you are paying to go to other golf courses just have a different expectation look at what your handicap should be handicap index. And that might change but also give yourself a bit of a three or four shot leeway we've also got an apology to mate rick i'm gonna let you just um ponder for a minute of what this might be to josh no no not to josh. So obviously the the previous podcasts we had were sponsored by motocaddy. And we had the dirk section yes one of them was from a guy i don't know if he was known as. Or not i'm gonna say it now his name is ethan o'neill. And if you listen to the podcast all the time you're in the clubhouse you'll know this email it was about a young lad who is very fortunate that his granddad is a member at royal berkdale i bet people will remember that now you've said it. And he was having a bit of a i don't say mono wins it was neither of those it was just a bit of he was asking our opinion on the fact that he's been playing golf by 18 months plays his mates his local track. And can the players okay go sit bert with his granddad who even pays. For him to play and he plays that bad he's starting to not enjoy it and we said at the time how could how can i enjoy how can that even be a thing yeah we said you need to make sure that you enjoy because he said here he plays a local golf course in liverpool. And shoots about 83. he's happy with that at birthday it's 100 plus it is we we can see that now 100. And we were saying to him well forget that you know you're playing bertdale. For free enjoy it embrace it forget what you score after i think it was three holes at burt dale i turned to you. And said drove me that email. And you went yeah i said i think i changed my um advice now because it's very very very hard very hard if you went as a one-off with a friend. And you paid that top green fee you might just treat it as an experience that look i'm playing an open course i'm going to enjoy it no matter what i shoot. And that's a good mindset but if you are fortunate like ethan. And you're playing it quite often i can honestly understand now why that golf course would start to just destroy you because the novelty would wear off yep. And it's absolutely solid and and it's one of those courses that if he shoots an 83 around his local ghost in liverpool and it might be quite open and he might hit it a long way and smash it out there or whatever and kind of get away with it because the rough isn't that bad or there's not that tree lined and he enjoys that golf that's great golf you can not. And we mean this as you probably saw in the video you cannot hit it five yards offline at robert dale your golf ball is lost even on par threes it's ridiculous the rough was it hole 14 i would not end up getting down which is really happy. But i think they might have hit the side of the green. And bounced off and it's like knee-high rough where you're either not finding your ball or if you do find it it's horrendously tough. And you might get up and down occasionally but more often than not you're getting destroyed well we walk around with harry and my camera guys and they're off what are you off now matt just 12. they said they couldn't wouldn't be able to play this golf course because it was it's like it's not a golf course that you can literally play because just the rough. And anything offline as we mentioned it's like being out of bounds yeah the only again i know i use running a lot analogies a lot. And it's a bit silly but like i've got a 5k pb on a treadmill right it's flat and you just do the speed that it's doing. And you just don't fall off you can do a certain time you can't do that. And expect to do the same 5k time running up a mountain you wouldn't do obviously would you. And that's like with golf if you shoot at your home track which is quite easy. Or you know and then.
You're to bert dale you're not going to you have to see it as a different game almost almost doesn't matter what the course slope measurement is. Or anything because it wouldn't allow you for that many shots it'd have to be 20 shots because certainly if you play that type of game i'm talking about you smash it a long way and kind of find it somewhere else you wouldn't do that birddale it almost gives me a much deeper i think that's another thing that i really want to highlight i think playing this much more golf. And trying to record these scores and playing these fantastic golf courses and sometimes playing off a much longer t for me i think this year has been a big development of a greater appreciation to tour players 100 like an outrageously deeper like praise an acknowledgement of how unbelievable tour players are. And then.
You've even got that level above the top 50 in the world it is madness like most golf courses you have either a junior. Or a somebody who's off like scratch who might win the club championship every year who has the odd score under par who compared to most golfers is unreal. And that's go you know very very good standard then.
You have like the plus five guy the plus four guy who might represent england occasionally and have won a few like local amateur things or whatever it might be which completely another level actually five shots per round better then.
You've got people like minwoo lee who would be off about plus eight i think in between that you've even got you you want to be kind of journey men yeah who are pros. But playing like the local pga stuff like heroes who were fantastic golfers like i know. So many of them that are really really good golfers regular shoot under par around local tracks around here. And probably someone like pete finch is kind of trying to get into that kind of world at the moment like that's not even close to what we experience playing with james robinson. And james is a. And i'm sure he doesn't mind her saying this a failed tour pro he wasn't good enough then.
You've got tour pros well this leads us it's mad this leads us very nicely onto the handicap bit because this is where i think even. For us some of the confusion comes from because a scratch golfer is a zero handicap. So you get no shots on the golf course. So whatever they shoot they're gross in the net at the same score when you turn pro whether it be a pga pro or obviously a playing professional you then.
Have no handicap. So you receive no shots off the golf course. Or anything like that so therefore. it could be quite you know a simple mistake to think that scratch golfer a zero handicap golfer. And a pro are the same. And obviously they're not you can also as again some people may. Or may not know but to do you know become a pga professional like you are you can turn profit four handicapping that's the same in the u.s i'm not sure. But in the uk it's four handicap and that means that then.
You become a qualified pga professional where you can go out. And you can become a golf coach you can become a fitter you can have a business like a pro shop. Or golf business whatever whatever that might be but you could just ultimately be a four handicap goal which is still a very very good level of golf. But it's not even a scratch handicap and then.
Obviously as we said the guys on tour don't have handicaps some actually i think do now kind of unofficially at the home courses where they're off like plus nine. Or whatever but typically don't know what the handicap is. So you don't have a handicap as it stands but let's talk about a bit more with this you don't want to say where this came from introduce a little bit so after all the break 75 we've done so far i've put my scores into england golf and i now have been assigned a handicap and it's really surprised me okay. So a bit of a backstory when i was a junior golfer i got down to single figures probably at 16. Or so i was off single figures when i went to college as i turned probably to about 18 i probably was off about four. Or five handicap and i needed to work quite hard at 19 i turned professional i did my pga qualifications at 19. And as mentioned to become a pg pro you have to be off four or less i got my lowest amateur handicap down to three can you remember the exact handicap three point four five just in three right i then.
Turn professional. And when you turn professional you have zero handicap so i became a zero handicap player i never really felt like i was a zero handicap player like i never i wasn't a golfer that could shoot regularly on the par very rare would i do that would i played in tournaments when i became a pga pro i shot four. Or five over par that was my goal. And that was quite you happy with that that was what i expected weirdly my mindset changed thinking i should overnight now start shooting level par even though that's not like overnight as soon as i turn pro i thought oh i've turned pro now that must now unlock the key to get me into level par golf. Or underpar golf not true so from 19 to current date now over that time period i've not had a handicap so that's been third um 15 years of no i've been a golf professional. For 15 years now i'm not scary it's a long time in that 15 years i've played in some competitions i've um done okayish not really competed in a massive amount of level so right now before at the start of this year we did a video talking about what my handicap would be roughly in my head from the golf that i play i honestly believed i'm a two to three handicapper. And that's where the premise of break 75 came from we thought if i can make a video where i can go around the golf course if i can break 75 which is typically on a par 72 it's three over par if i can break 75 i'm playing to my handy she's shooting two over power then.
Two over power yeah that's where the whole idea came from. And the big idea with break 75 was to almost let people know that i'm not going to shoot underpower all the time i'm not a tall player somewhere around the 70s i'm happy with do you think the pj. And your name people think of pj tour. And their [ __ ] elite elite golfers 100 yeah there's a definite misconception there i know i'm good enough to play i turn professional as a pj pro to coach. And to make people play better had the skill the ability i could demonstrate shots if i needed to um i played a little bit but again that wasn't why i turned professional i turned professional so it gave me the license so i could coach charge money earn money make a list just a quick one then.
So when you did term prone your handicapped kind of vanished. But it was really like it was three when you then.
Played like a scratch golfer did you feel like you were the same as the mod you still think they were kind of a bit better i never i never wanted to receive shots off a scratch handicapper. But in reality i never probably won so you should have done really yeah yeah because because what do i then.
Say i am because again when soon as you turn pro. And you lose your handicap there's no way of monitoring it like until now this year with the world handicap system there was no way of me putting an accurate measurement on this unless i literally tracked every single score i had in that 15-year period. And almost did it myself. And do you think full handicap is the right handicap to turn pro off. Or do you think it should be lower. Or higher or is it about right i think i think four's good if you're off scratch you don't have to do a plain ability test ah screw scratch. Or better you don't have to do a playing ability test from one two three. Or four you have to do a playing ability test which isn't ridiculously hard it's two rounds of golf. And you've got to shoot under 15 over so seven over each round basically gets you in sounds easy on paper but i bet if people are nervous. And you get one 82 in there yeah you're suddenly thinking it's gonna be a tough ass yeah yeah. So that's that's kind of it just showed there's a level of skill there and again as we mentioned the pga is a pathway into. So many different jobs like doing the pga qualification here in the uk and the uspj in the usa it allows you to be a like you mentioned a club fitter a professional golfer a head pro at a golf club a director of golf whatever it may be so you don't have to be scratch or better you just have to have an awareness so before the series i thought i was off three. So because i've been recording all my scores for the last 11 rounds i'm gonna put a little caveat on this because i've actually only been able to use ten of the rounds the jcb round that had which weirdly my highest score convenient didn't count because the jcb isn't affiliated with england golf so it you can't get a handicap there there's no slope rating no. So because it's a corporate membership facility okay. So they don't have memberships there so i submitted all my scores and i'm just going to run through them very quickly. So people can listen. And we'll just fire him on screen worsely part was the first one that i did 77 five over sent hanzo links was neck one 82 12 over next.
One i did was mia 70 one on the par next.
One is was presprit 73 2 over par next.
One did was celtic manor 77 five over par stop port 73 two over par hillside 76 four i think it's four over that's not 76. i actually shot 77. i wonder if the triple bogey turns into it will do yeah it does it does yeah i just looked. And so hillside i've got on this app now i'm on the england golf app it's down as a 76 but i actually shot seven years that's why triple bogies don't net it's net double bogey is it the worst you can have. So the seven turned into a six so that was four over uh kings barnes i shot 72 level par old course. And andrew shot 73 one over par and roy bert dell shot 77 5 over par so you now have a handicap after all those rounds in my head after watching and you watching all my golf yeah. And me playing after all the rounds of golf what would you say muhammad i don't know what yours is are you not sure i was not sure what my handicap is i would honestly say between two. And four so i go go two you're a long way off and that surprised me higher or lower a lot lower my handicap my my handicap now after those 10 rounds of golf drum roll please is plus 1.2 i am i am a plus handicapper let me explain. So with the new world handicap system all the things like slope rating course index everything else has been factored into these measurements so even though let's say i had a 73 around saint andrews old course because of the difficulty of the golf course that actually played as a plus 1.8 almost 200 gross so for example this is really interesting when i had my 70 yeah around mia. So one on the par because of the difficulty level of the golf course etc etc it actually came out as 2.4 on the par so you're one undergrowth so essentially two and a half undergrowths ah now this is where it's interesting even though i had some bad rounds i had this eighty-two at saint-ann's old links. And i had a couple of high seventies the way that the new handicap system works with my 10 handicaps the three best scores count okay. And it's an average from those best three so you've got mia 70 at may which played two i had a 72 at king's barns which played a 1.1 on the par right and i had a 73 at the old course which plays 0.1 so blitz plus yeah. So they've taken those scores into consideration they take an average of those three and the average of those three is one point two handicap plus one plus one point two you know what's mad as shock as i am i always a bit of a cliche. But i think it is true people always say you should place your handicap when you're playing well i've i've always said a handicap is a snapshot of you on a good day. And that's to be fair you are of course certainly now we know about the actual how the essentially the power changes as well yeah you are on a good day about between level. And one under i'm not going shooting five on the par. So i'm not off plus five i can squeeze a one on the power in every now. And again as we've seen so that's kind of that's me on a good day and what would you say was your worst score how many over the worst score on the on the system because the jcb one didn't count was 12 over at centenn's old links. So do you think that might give listeners some faith that if a plus one handicapped golfer can shoot 12 over on a bad day what would an 18 handicapper shoot on a bad day this is really interesting something i've just seen at 12 over par at cent android links because of the conditions everything else the measurements of the day it actually came out as only four point eight over par oh my dear. So they have the condition on the day on that yeah. So they've got history of like competitions that have taken place that day or all the scores that have taken place that day oh my word so even though i was 12 over gross. And we saw the conditions it was horrendous it was also sorry very quick one um some of my scores around were quite big at central links they got knocked down down a little bit as well how does it feel to be a plus one handicapped golfer it's pretty nice bit of flex like say after looking at the evidence i can't argue with it because that's kind of what i'm saying it does make sense it's me on a good day. And every now and again i can shoot a one on the par what it's made me consider is if i'm a plus 1.2 handicapper okay. Or i'm a less than scratch handicapper honestly now if you did handicap measurements of the best players in the world are dustin johnson around the golf courses that he plays at in those conditions what is someone like dustin johnson's handicap literally plus 12 plus 30 because they can shoot 10 on the par on a solid course seven. And a half thousand yards so that's massive 10 on the par could easily turn into a 13 under power because of the conditions and again if it's a snapshot of you on a good day an average of your best rounds i honestly believe and this is why we see tour players at their local golf courses having plus nine handicaps etc it just shows the levels. And if anybody for one second is thinking that oh rick you're not that good i'm just going to put this into perspective if i'm a plus 1.2 okay. And someone like a dj is off plus 10 yeah if we played four rounds of golf he would be 40 shots minimum better than me different it's a different it's literally a different world in a different game. And although we talk about tough pros a lot and how good they are it still doesn't sink in that if you are off plus one he's gonna be like you said 35 to 40 shots better than. Yet over a four day tournament so if we saw a leaderboard and he was 10 on the par i'd be 30 plus overpass sounds about right how mad is that it is ridiculous. But i think what i like from that is it just shows that even again plus one handicapper you can have good days which you've got on there out like 10. Or 11 whatever but you can have some shocks as well. So just you know if you're an 18 handicap listening a 10 handicap a 30 handicap whatever it might be your handicap is on a good day. And you are gonna have some days unfortunately we all are were you miles over your handicap. But it happens on it so now next.
Season next.
Series i think we've got break69 carried away. But what you need to then.
Do in theory you want to do that would actually find what the course power was on the day yeah you say it changes that yeah. So when you're trying to break 75 it actually hadn't been break 78 that day because i've had the difficulty in the conditions but that's not good for the title is it exactly we could still call it break75 i'm expecting big things from you now this is also it's that moment when i turn pro. And i think i unlocked a key that made me better suddenly because i'm a plus one handicapper now i feel like it's gonna unlock the key to make me suddenly better at chipping a picture i can't wait to shoot 85 next.
Time we play golf. So guys thanks so much for listening to today's episode hopefully you enjoyed it i feel like we dived into a lot of information there the final break 75 is coming next.
Friday. And it's either one of two options a very special venue or redemption episode we'll find out next.
Friday a couple of quick things um about the podcast next.
Week when it comes back on tuesday it's a normal tuesday slot we might be having a little bit of a fresh note might have a few little changes there and there obviously it's been 18 months now it's started this is going to be this episode 80s next.
Week will be 81.. So we want some more emails because if you remember when we had tubes and john last week we said we're going to start some new features we're gonna have stupid golf rules we've had quite a lot of good ones sent in. But if you've got an experience of either a golf rule on the golf course or whatever it might be in a divot or something or ideally things were you've gone to a golf club. And they've said you've got to take those socks off i've got to do you know the stupid annoying rules that just don't make sense one that always gets me is you can't change your shoes in the car park you said that last time. But stuff like that emails those in um if you've got a nightmare golf story a dear rick all that kind of good stuff emails simple email podcast rickshield.com still get a lot of people asking what the email is it's literally podcast rickshaw.com. And then.
Last last thing although we're slagging off apple before royally saying how annoying apple is it's always nice to get some apple um feedback. And five star reviews so i'm not asked for ages nothing that bothered but if you enjoyed the podcast so far and you want to give us some feedback we love emails but we also love seeing those reviews on apple so if you use apple give us five stars um and join the clubhouse we've basically been slipping down the ranking of the usa and we want to get back up into we've stopped three yeah we stopped asking. For reviews reviews always help and if you're not sure what the clubhouse is most people are you're in the clubhouse when rick how do you how do you enter the clubhouse this mystical clubhouse you send a um blank check to our shields um you listen to every single episode exactly when you're in you're in. And then.
We might do some clubhouse merch i think we are i think we should. And then.
Also don't forget i think we should if you're in the clubhouse. And you see rick out and about rick clasher is a friend. And certainly when we've got the merch out if you see rick out and about on a golf course or whatever it might be and you've got your merch with you he will buy you a soft beverage of your choice yeah alcoholic. Or another alcoholic see what happens so quadruple vodka and coke i paid five pounds for this heart that that's not gonna be five pounds five million pounds i paid 35 pounds for this heart i want a bottle of champagne yeah do it that's not legal tender guys thanks. For listening everybody hopefully you enjoyed the episode that was a nice little deep dive a little little bonus episode hopefully you enjoyed the vibes. And we'll see you next.
Week [Music].
