The Open 2026 Tips: The 275/1 Longshot at Royal Birkdale

Nish 0:01

good story is about the journey. And this is the story of our journey trying to play the top 100 courses in the UK and Ireland in just 10 years. This is the Top 100 in 10 Golf Podcast. Bonus episode, the Open Preview. So in this episode, we’re going to give you with a good friend of ours of the podcast Harbs 7 Golf. Just like last year, he’s going to give us his tips for on where maybe some smart money might be for the open that’s coming up this weekend. It’s over at Royal Birkdale. Of course, I played a couple of times. If you’ve listened to the podcast before, you know I’ve mentioned that a few times. And dear friend of mine, Dave, he’s a member there. So he is going out there and he’s being a spotter for the whole weekend, which is a wonderful job to do. So this is our preview. If you’re listening, hit follow. The reason for that is that gives a signal to Apple, to Spotify, to whichever platform you’re using to listen to this podcast that you’re interested in this topic and you’re interested in this podcast. And what that does is it helps beef up the number of people that our podcast is served to. Now, Apple are a bit more democratic, they have charts. We always chart in the top 20 for UK Golf podcasts, which is still mind-blowing, but it’s there, and that’s not getting taken away from us. So please keep doing what you’re doing. Every little bit helps. It takes a second of your time. You don’t get spammed, you don’t get anything, there’s nothing else that happens to you. You just like this content, give it a follow and give it a thumbs up. It’s a great vote. Now back to the episode, we’re going to tell you where you should potentially put your money for the open. So I’m joined by Harbs from Harbs 7 Golf, old friend of our podcast. Uh sorry, I shouldn’t say old friend of the podcast. That’s that’s a little bit rude, mate. I’m really sorry about that. Good long-term friend of the podcast. Now, Harbs is here, he’s gonna give us his insights. We did a feature like this last year, and it was his it was betting tips for the open. So this is his insights on who he thinks uh has a chance uh this weekend at the open, which is just up the road from us. And he’s gonna give us towards the end of the episode his wild card pick, which I think is gonna be one of those picks that’s gonna be like worth sticking a couple of quid on. So stick around for that in this episode. Now we have just come fresh off playing the niche invitational last weekend, and uh we obviously had a serious debrief in the bar afterwards watching the football. Um it was a great, great day, wasn’t it? Again, as usual.

Harbs 2:54

Awesome,

Nish Invitational recap & £750 for British Liver Trust

Harbs 2:55

yeah, awesome. It was uh everyone got fully involved. If possible, seemed to even better last year, I think. Um maybe it was because uh the weather was a little bit better this time, didn’t rain during the round. It was pretty windy though.

Nish 3:11

It was quite windy, wasn’t it? Yeah, I mean, you know, the the flatness of the course was coming back to bite us with the with the wind, but it felt very lynxy with the wind, to be honest.

Harbs 3:21

So it was all

Top 100 in 10 Society: spaces open at Lindrick

Harbs 3:22

right.

Nish 3:22

It was it was interesting going through all the scoring. We had a good mix of people as well, so it was you know, some people who haven’t played um with us before, some people who haven’t played the Nish Invitational uh before. So it was a lovely mix um of people, and I think everyone got fully involved. We were doing it all in aid of the British Liver Trust, and we raised it grand total, the ticking total is at £750 at the minute, which is unbelievable for the number of golfers that we have. It’s awesome, Nick. Um well done, mate. Thank you, mate. Um now one other thing we’re gonna do before we start giving you some idea on who where your we’ll call it wise money, where the wise money is for the open. Um we’re gonna do a little shameless plug for the top 110 golf society. So we’ve talked about it before in the episodes uh and on the podcast, but we run a very informal society, it’s like-minded people, just want to have a bit of fun, the opportunity to play some good courses every now and again, and we have an event coming up at Lindrick, which is a uh in the England Top 100 list. Um it’s up near Sheffield, that kind of way, worksop Sheffield kind of way. And it’s a wonderful golf course with a lot of pedigrees, so it’s a rider cup venue. So we do have spaces available for that. You can get involved, you can join our society. The society is all free to join. So head over to our website, there’s a last link there, uh, and you can you can get in touch. So please do that. We’ve already got we had 16 spaces, so we always keep the events relatively small, um, just so we can get to know people and have good days like the Nish Invitational, where everybody gets to know each other and and have a good laugh. So um please look that up. Now, before any further ado about Harbs, let’s run into who you think is gonna do well at the open and why you think so. You’ve got to show us your working.

Harbs 5:12

No worries,

Harbs’ Pick #1: (16/1)

Harbs 5:13

Nish. Um, so my first tip is going to be a player that has made 13 cuts from 14 starts in 2026, six top 10 finishes, uh, 10 top 25 finishes, and three top five finishes. So clear pedigree there. And it’s obvious for me not to always go for whoever’s on immediate form. So going back to back wins is normally quite a challenge for any pro when you’ve got fields as good as we’ve got right now. So, you know, on the basis that it’s likely to be someone that’s been there or thereabouts and they’re just waiting their opportunity. Um, and at 16 to 1, I think the value is absolutely massive as well. So um that’s where I’ve put the majority of my money on the open this time round, and it’s going on Tommy Fleetwood.

Nish 6:02

Tommy Fleetwood. Now, what a popular winner he would be anyway. Yeah, I didn’t know he was on that good run of form.

Harbs 6:10

Yeah, well, I mean, it’s just consistent, isn’t he? It’s it’s not too far away from stats for the last several years. I think he’s been playing really well. He has a couple of moments where we all kind of dip out of the top ten performance-wise for a little while, and then he seems to just pick it back up and be very consistent. And of course, in the last year, he’s he’s put in some mad performances where we had that build-up, that crescendo, where he wasn’t quite making it. I think he, you know, he was just kind of being pipped over the line over in a couple of tournaments, and then obviously he got his big win. So um that was a while ago now, and and he’s playing so well still. I fancy him to either be in the top five or grab a win. So even though he’s 16 to one, I will I’ve put this one on the nose, 10 pounds on the nose, nice and simple, hoping for 160 quid return on that one. Um, I’ll also be sitting in nice tidy cash out options if he’s sitting at the top of the table come the last day as well. So something else to consider. Um, and that’s another reason why I like to go for the bigger odds on a couple of other options as well.

Nish 7:16

Yeah, and I think also because we’re in the the starting bit of a um heat wave again or in the midst of the heat wave again. So it’s gonna be firm, it’s gonna be fast. I think that kind of consistent and probably windy, I’m guessing, just because of where it is. And I think a solid, consistent golfer is probably what you need there, don’t you? Just to to ride out.

Harbs 7:42

Yeah. I also think it’s a royal birkdown. I think it, I think it really suits the big hitters as well. Um, while Tommy’s probably not the biggest hitter out there, he is for me one of the most consistent and plays well no matter what course he’s on. But I always I always like to try and back somebody that I know’s kind of grown up on or around links courses as well. For me, they tend to have the advantage. I’m not going to go for him this year. I really wanted to, but on the basis I did put him in my picks last year and he was doing really well until the final day. I was going to go Rob McIntyre again, but again, another player that I think performs super solidly around links courses and would be a fantastic option if his odds are sitting high enough.

Nish 8:25

He’ll just wilt in the heat though, Bob McIntyre.

Harbs 8:27

It won’t be used. Somebody’s got his factor 15 double cap on, he’ll be fine.

Nish 8:33

I love it. Absolutely love it. Well, look, we we we would all applaud that that win anyway, but I am gonna I’m I’m in that camp, the Tommy camp. So I think my money will be going on that one. So that’s your that’s your first pick.

Harbs’ Pick #2: (45/1)

Harbs 8:47

Yes, yeah. Um, my second pick is a punt. So it’s somebody that’s been well like off the off the radar of any of my bets in the whole year, really. Um he’s somebody that does thrive under pressure. He’s you know, he likes challenging golf courses. Um, and he’s picked up wins in the past where it doesn’t matter whether he’s coming off the back of you know good form or not. Um, and like I said, I think if you’re a good driver and you’ve got a good solid iron and short game, I think he should do really well around this course as well. So sitting at 45 to one, this one I’ve backed each way for um five places, um, and I wouldn’t mind getting to day three and being offered a decent cash out on this one and just taking it. But I’m going for Brooks Kepka.

Nish 9:40

Brooks Kepka, interesting. A name that’s probably not crossed many tongues for a while. Yeah, that’s an interesting shout. That one I was like, who’s he going for? Yeah, yeah. Okay. That’s well, I mean, look, what is it? Um recent open history does suggest that there’s probably going to be an American, most likely to be an American winner, right? Yeah. Um, particularly if the weather doesn’t play any havoc with them. Um, brilliant. Brooks Kepka. I think that’s a good shout. That’s a good shout. I mean, look, he’s always there or thereabouts, isn’t he?

Harbs 10:13

So and he’s Yeah, yeah. I mean, he’s he’s somebody that I think if he can start to get up a ahead of steam and get some some good first day rounds behind him, he’ll be he’ll be hard to um ignore going into the third and fourth day. So um, yeah, that’s kind of where where I’m hoping with the betting that he’s gonna have a good run on the first couple of days. You know, there’s other players out there that I wouldn’t be so concerned if they were sitting outside the top 20 going into day three. But for me, I think if Brooks is sitting in the top top 10 positions going into day three, um, I’ll be happy with that and hopefully he’ll kick on.

Qualifying for The Open: Bryan Brothers, Peter Finch & Burnham & Berrow

Nish 10:50

Wonderful. Now, you also have a wildcard pick, but we’re gonna get to that in a moment. But before that, I actually wanted to just talk about qualifying for the open in the first place. And the reason that this has come into my radar is that very recently we’ve seen a lot of um, I’m gonna use a phrase, and I don’t mean it in any way, shape, or form as a derogatory term at all. Um, the internet golfers. So people like the Bryan brothers, um Peter Finch, people like that, they’ve all been trying to qualify for the open. So Peter Finch has done a couple of years of trying to qualify for the open um and obviously documenting it on his feed. And the Bryan brothers entered final qualifying uh this year. So um, what was interesting for me was I was like, well, how how has that sort of come about and and kind of what’s going on? So look, qualifying for the open is quite interesting because uh about half of the place, well, a little bit more than half, there’s 156 places on offer, and uh about half of them uh they’re granted various exemptions. So, for example, you’ve got people who are there’s the you know the champion golfer under the age of 60, so that’s the person who won last year. Uh, top 10 finishes at the previous open, the winners of selected elite amateur events, uh, and the top 30 finishers on the FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai rankings get exemptions and they’re allowed to play in the open anyway. Um, there’s obviously there’s other exemptions, and you know, they can be um researched on the open website, so please go and do that. And then they do a further number of places which are allocated through open qualifying series and final qualifying. So they have a range of events that will allow people to qualify, and then they have these final qualifying venues as well. So um the qualifying venues this year were really interesting. Final qualifying, I should say. So we there was West lancs, which we’ve played before, um, and that’s again that’s near to us. There’s Royal Cinque ports, that’s down in uh in Kent, and that’s an absolutely fantastic links golf course. There’s Dundonald Link links up in Scotland, and that’s up near Troon, kind of way. And then the final one, and it piqued my interest halves, and I thought you might be interested in it. And the final one was Burnham and Berrow.

Harbs 13:12

Yeah.

Nish 13:12

Which is a course that keeps rearing its head.

Robbie 13:15

Yeah.

Harbs 13:15

Yeah, so it’s just a couple of weeks ago, and um my brother-in-law Rory, who obviously came on the niche invitational at the weekend, um, I don’t think we got a chance to talk about it at the weekend, but he actually went round and was doing the scoreboards for um one of the groups. And as you’ll know, one of our good friends who entered the um the Southwest top 10 in top 110 versus Hub 7 golf day is Toby. Toby was two groups ahead of Rory’s scoring. So it was to Rory going round scoring one of our friends who um yeah, was also in that event at Burnham and Berrow trying to qualify.

Nish 13:56

That would have been unbelievable. I know. I know.

Harbs 13:59

And he was one, I think he was either one or three, I can’t remember which way he was, one or three groups away um from um scoring for oh gosh, I can’t remember his name now. One of the one of the top pros, uh Bhattia.

Nish 14:16

Oh my goodness, right? Yeah, the American guy’s.

Harbs 14:19

I’m not sure why he’s there. I thought I thought he was already in. I don’t think he’s not there, but yeah.

Nish 14:26

Well, it just shows how difficult it is to qualify for the open, I suppose. The reason I was looking into this, I was like, hang on a minute. So if these guys are doing it like the Brian brothers, like what what what are my chances of trying to qualify for the open set?

Harbs 14:39

Uh dear. I don’t know if you have you watched any of it because I’m I’m so keen on watching the YouTube golfers, and I I really enjoy watching the Bryan Brothers. Yeah, um, and I haven’t quite got round to watching it yet, so I will still watch it. But of course, when I knew you were going to talk about it today, I had to find out what happened. Um, and yeah, watching the Bryan Bros and George Bryan is just uh fantastic. And I don’t know if he’s actually qualified yet, but I know he made it through to the final stages.

Nish 15:08

Didn’t he have like a third playoff hole or something like that? And I think that’s didn’t we?

Harbs 15:12

I’m not sure the final I’m not sure the final outcome. And if you if you know the answer, feel free to tell me, but I’ll watch it anyway. But he’s just been playing such fantastic golf, and it’s it’s fascinating to watch because they’re doing there’s another thing that where they’ve all collaborated with, like Grant Horvat, and you know, there’s other kind of top, top players who probably should be playing pro golf, but they’ve opted for YouTube golf, and watching them play is just fantastic, they’re so good to watch, and it’s so enjoyable following them around and hearing all just the general conversations they have. So it’s been really entertaining watching these lads trying to attempt their qualifiers. Peter Finch, I’ve watched him several episodes from him as well. Um, but yeah, it’s just been fascinating. I’ve got to say, I don’t know if he’s made it yet, so I’ll find out um later on when I watch the episode. But if George Bryan has made it, I don’t think that would be a nicer bloke ever to enter. Yeah, mate.

Nish 16:05

So I mean I think like it’s just it’s great, isn’t it? I think it’s this great melting pot, and and I think it’s really nice that that’s happening at the open, you know, um our tournament, our thing, and and you know, the the where it all sort of started. So yeah, it’s it’s brilliant. Um, but Burnham & Berrow also, and this is a shout out now to our sponsors. Uh Burnham & Berrow is the um the venue for the latest draw for four ball draws. And as a result, because I knew that I was doing this preview and that the final qualifying one of the venues was Burnham & Berrow, um, I had a little chat with with Robbie a little bit earlier today, and here’s what he had to say. Robbie, it is great to have you on the podcast finally. Look, tell our listeners from the person who created this, tell our listeners how this competition can work and they can win this amazing prize.

Four Ball Draws: win a four-ball at Burnham & Berrow

Robbie 16:59

Yeah, thanks for for having me, Nish. Um, and thank you for finally getting me on three months down the line. So uh very much happy to be here. But yeah, four-ball draws, the concept of it is pretty straightforward, really. Um raffle slash prize draw is ultimately the category which it falls down to online. Um, and how that works for the the customer is you’ve got uh an opportunity to buy a raffle ticket, which um we we’re capping out at five pounds. That’s going to be the max that you’d probably ever pay for a for a raffle ticket unless we we do something extremely special in the future. But um capping a number of tickets of how many we can sell for a four-ball uh top uh golf courses. At the moment we’ve been sticking to England, that’s where predominantly the networks are working, but we do we do hope to venture out to Scotland and Ireland. So yeah, headline a chance to win a four-ball uh a top 100 golf course for for the chance of a less than a pint.

Nish 18:02

I mean it’s unbelievable, isn’t it? I mean, we we uh I’ll I’ll I’ll give everyone some insight behind the scenes of how our conversation and and relationship started is that um I think uh Robbie and the four-ball draws account followed us, so I followed back and I was like, Oh, you know, thank or message back said thanks for following. And they were like, oh, it’s great, we’ve been listening. Um have a look at what we do kind of thing. And then that kind of turned into like this is like the most glove in hand potential relationship we could ever think about having. It was amazing, wasn’t it?

Robbie 18:40

Yeah, it’s uh I mean, similarly, it going back to a little bit about starting it as well. We’re just four lads that enjoy playing these top 100 golf courses as you guys do. Um doc not documenting it in such a way that you guys are uh documenting it, but wanting to play the best courses in in the UK. So um, yeah, there was just uh there was something that felt quite right, the synergy. Uh obviously, you guys have got a community of listeners that are probably doing the same, or at least they’re interested in to hear or find out what it’s like to play these top courses.

Nish 19:15

Yeah, I mean, exactly right. I mean, I’ve I’ve only just we’re playing Walton Heath next week. I’ve only just had a message from a listener. Uh Tom, if you’re out there, thank you for this. And he’s given me a full rundown of the old course at Walton Heath, as like a caddy. And it’s like, you know, because we’re doing a pairs event, he’s like, I know you’re doing that. So here’s some tips on how to score well. I was like, that’s incredible. I mean, that’s so heartwarming to kind of get messages like that. Um, what um obviously you you know you you you’re four guys, you you want to play, you like playing golf. Like what what was it that was the tipping point that made you go, actually, we can do something here for the wider golf community.

Robbie 19:51

I’m not entirely sure where uh or what the tipping point was, but like anything, it was just it was just an idea. I think a couple of us were were chatting over WhatsApp. It was late one evening, and then one thing led to another of actually why getting out on these great golf courses and these great golf days are some of the best moments that we have, especially within golf. Like it’s it’s it’s there’s nothing like pulling up to uh an elite venue, either driving through some gates and seeing what it’s like from the moment you step in the clubhouse, even to the moment that you’re kind of walking out the door after having a beer or two in the clubhouse after playing golf. It’s such a good day out, and it’s such an amazing like experience. And we felt that there was just a gap in the market to be able to offer that out to to people and the community, and and no one else was doing that, so that’s what it was. And I think like every idea that you kind of get a little bit excited about, one thing led to another. We were looking at potentially how to build a website, start a company, and and next thing we know, it was it was the end of December 2025, and four ball draws was launched.

Nish 20:58

Yeah, suddenly the first offer’s on there, and you’re like, uh oh, it looks like we’re doing it then.

Robbie 21:02

That was it, yeah. That was it. And it was one of them things, and I know you and I spoke about business and and and chances and just getting things going. That’s that’s all it was. That’s that’s what we thought we’d do. We thought actually, none of us have been in this space before. People have have run businesses and people know what they’re doing in that sense, but let’s just give it a go. We know golf, we love golf, let’s let’s try.

Nish 21:24

Yeah, it’s I mean it’s it’s brilliant. Like I said, the synergy with what we’re doing is we’re just like this is mind-bending a little bit. Couldn’t couldn’t quite uh get my head around it almost. It was so good. But um look, we’ll we’ll talk about the Burnham draw specifically because this one we’ve done it, it’s a little bit different. This one, you you’ve you are absolutely limited to 175 tickets, but it’s a one in seven hundred and seventy five chance of winning, basically getting 895 quid off your green fees at Burnham and Berrow. It’s incredible.

Robbie 21:53

Yeah, I mean we’ve um we we always want to we want to try and keep it still as uh as achievable. As possible, and there obviously is other businesses out there that have a similar concept in different industries. And um again, one of the big ones that’s out there I think is the one which is the housing draw. And you you must you must everyone’s got a chance. If you’re if you’re in the raffle, you’ve got a chance of winning. But I think we actually wanted it. We wanted people to feel like they actually did have a genuine chance of being able to place one of these top golf courses. So yeah, 175 tickets is a one in seven, hundred and seventy-five chance if you buy one ticket. I mean, most instances we’ve we’ve got customers that are that are buying a couple of tickets, they may be pretty local and they want to do it. And yeah, doubling, tripling, quadrupling their chances. It’s uh it’s a great way to be able to tick these places off. Obviously, it’s it’s luck, and if you win, um if you’re drawn live on Instagram, that’s that’s the look of the draw, but it’s a chance, and yeah, it’s it’s it’s great to be able to give that opportunity to people.

Nish 22:56

Yeah, I mean, and we’re we will we’ll give you a plug here. You can get two tickets, so that’s £10. And if you use the code, it’s the link is in our description. If you use our code, you can get one extra free ticket. So you’re increasing your chances straight away there anyway. And there was uh one lucky chap, so the last two draws, one lucky chap’s won it twice in a row, hasn’t he? He’s like back-to-back winners. So I mean, that’s that like you say, it’s the look of the drawer, it’s so good, isn’t it?

Robbie 23:23

It’s the look of the draw, and I think um I think what um and again being communicating with with that winner, Andy, over over socials, and I think he’s been pretty smart about it. He said to the guys that he wants to include in his four ball, he said, listen, you buy two, you buy two, I’ll buy two, and and then all of a sudden your odds have quadrupled as a group as well, and you’ve you’ve probably don’t have to then go through that whole process of right, I’ve won it now, which three lucky people am I gonna pick? So they’ve kind of they’ve done that forward planning and thought, right, here we go, let’s quadruple our chances of winning, and and that’s what he did. So yeah, and he’s been fortunate to win two on the on the spin.

Nish 24:02

That’s a great hack, isn’t it? I love it. I didn’t even think of that. That’s brilliant. Um, well, look, we’re we’re here talking in the top 100 in 10 golf podcast. We’re both very lucky, we’ve been able to play some amazing golf courses. I know you’ve got two really crackers, uh crackerjack courses coming up soon. But tell us about the ones you have already played and you know which was your favourite or favourites?

Robbie 24:26

Yeah, it’s it’s uh it I always find it really hard to answer this question. Um and it kind of it probably just depends how I’m feeling on the day. There’s definitely a couple of standout ones in the UK. Um we played Royal Cinque ports earlier in the year in March, which um which again for for any of your listeners, I think that’s right at the back end of their winter green fee offering, so the um so the winter rate. So we got a glorious day. I think it was about 22, 23 degrees at the end of March. So really, really lucky. Amazing. Yeah, Royal Cinque Port’s just it’s obviously steeped in history. I think just the location down on that sandwich Kent coast is is pretty special, and it always helps when you play quite well around one of these courses. You definitely step off with a with a bit more of a smile on your face. So as far as links go, Royal CInque Port’s is is well up there. And then I think I think you guys have played this just already as well, but Swinley Forest down down in uh in the Ascot of Berkshire where Surrey Sandbelt is um is something else as well.

Nish 25:34

Special place, Swinley Forest. Yeah, we we haven’t quite done our uh review yet because we’re gathering all of our thoughts, but there is a big bombshell due in that review episode, I think. But what a golf course that was.

Robbie 25:48

Yeah, it’s um it’s so grand, isn’t it? And you just kind of feel it felt like Millionaires Golf when when we were there. I don’t know what it was like in terms of how busy it was when you were there, but again, reading into the to the history of how Swinley came about, and um I’m sure you guys will talk about it on the pod, but um yeah, what a what a golf course. And I think when you’re when you’re looking at deciding which one of these is the best, you you I I think it’s all about the experience as well, and I go I know you guys have referred to it on previous podcasts. It’s about that breakfast beforehand, it’s about the service that you get in the pro shop. It’s again halfway houses are a big thing as well, I think, which don’t get spoken about a lot. But what happens and the the quality of the halfway house, but yeah, it’s um it’s more so an overall experience, I think, that that rises their ones to the top.

Nish 26:43

Now, Robbie, I’m quite fortunate. We keep in touch quite a lot. So obviously, we speak about how the winners have experienced their round. Um what’s been their response so far?

Robbie 26:56

I think every winner is obviously uh the reaction that we get initially is people are over the moon and can’t believe that they’ve won. Um but i I think yeah, when you kind of like anything, and again, uh not that everyone wins anything all the time, but I think there’s that moment of realisation that right, I’ve won. Like, and then there’s the next level of it where actually I’m redeeming what I’ve won, or I’m playing the prize and best getting out on the golf course. And there’s been some yeah, some a couple of good stories. A standout one really was um a lady called Maddie Hodgkinson who entered for as a surprise for her husband’s 40th birthday. So she saw um she saw one of the previous winners do a do a do a video advertising it, and the course was fairly local to to to where Maddie and her husband live, and yeah, she she got pulled straight out of the hat and uh surprised her husband. And again, even better, the the three the three fellas that went along with her husband as well got uh got what what was a well a very cheap, if not free, round of golf um at Grove uh the Grove.

Nish 28:01

Amazing, isn’t it? I mean, what an experience they would have had. Um yeah, I mean look, there’s there’s that element. So the winners get that kind of element of joy as well, but you actually have a little charity element to to what you’re doing. So do you want to tell us a little bit about that?

Robbie 28:15

Yeah, so we’ve made one donation to to a charity so far, and um I think what we wanted to do is we we didn’t want we wanted this kind of whole holistic offering to to work quite well organically. And um there’s a charity called Two Pints Deep, which is uh it’s a men’s mental health and suicide prevention charity. Uh obviously quite local, quite small. Um obviously the the funds which they raise do make a meaningful difference to to that charity to be able to operate. So so yeah, so we’ve made one donation to it so far. I think with the Burnham and Berrow draw, we may be in a position to to make a second one. But I think similarly with what we spoke about with the synergy between top 100 in 10 and and and ourselves, I think just that that community feel, that that connecting uh as as men as well, it’s it’s a great chance. And again, it’s not just obviously um limited to men, but when you’re out on the golf course, the phone’s in the bag, it’s a chance that you get to chat to your friends, even people that you’ve not played with before, you don’t know, for four or five hours um that you just don’t normally get in the in a busy life. So so yeah, it felt like a good mix, it felt like a good um a good place to start with a donation.

Nish 29:30

I I think that’s a fantastic uh charity to to to pick. You know, the the local charities are the ones that need our support the most, if I’m honest. You know, the big ones get enough coverage, and and that’s not to say don’t donate to them, of course. I’m not suggesting that at all, but the small local ones, and you know what a great charity. We say again, we talk about we’ve used the word loads of times, haven’t we, Synergy? But you know, golf is for many people, many people who play, it’s not the score at the end of it, it’s not you know, have a beat in my pals. It is all about I’m out there, it’s a switch off, it’s a chance to have a little gas with my mates and do a bit of exercise, and that is great for your mental health.

Robbie 30:12

Yeah, no, very it’s it’s very good, and I think it’s um yeah, it’s it it that side of the game I think probably doesn’t get enough airtime as well, especially not on the kind of professional level. I don’t know how that would happen on the professional level, but it doesn’t really get enough enough airtime about what that does for for people’s mental health.

Nish 30:33

Well, look, Robbie, this is absolutely brilliant. I’m so glad you managed to tell us everything about um the way that the the drawers work. You know, the thing that always smacks me in the face is how much you save. You know, you buy a ticket or two, it’s five, ten pounds. And I think it was lost on us actually when we started. I didn’t realise that some of these courses, once you start looking into it, the green fees are two to four hundred pounds per person, not the full four-ball per person. So you could be saving over a grand on a green fee here. Um, so definitely worth getting into it. Obviously, there’s a link in our description. Get on that, you get your one free ticket if you buy two. Um, now the one last thing I must ask you before you go, and we talked about the kind of benefits of what we do playing top 100 courses, but let’s go right back to way back when. How did he get into golf in the first place?

Robbie 31:25

Um, I can’t I must have been, I think, 13 getting into golf. And I got into golf because my brother, who was younger, he got a hole in one when he was 11.

Nish 31:36

Oh, Chris is gonna love that. He’s still not had one.

Robbie 31:38

Alright, he got a hole in one when he was 11, and um and younger brother um wasn’t again growing up, he was not afraid to try any sports, and I think the same was with football. He started that, and then I started to play, and uh yeah, he got a hole in one, it was all in the local newspaper, and I just as that kind of probably competitive, slightly jealous older brother, I thought, and I’m gonna try this, I’m gonna skip going. And um, yeah, so I play, I was a member of a club up in the northeast, which um is uh is just about to cease to exist, I think, Dinsdale Spa.

Nish 32:12

Oh, you’re kidding, what a shame.

Robbie 32:13

Which is a shame, yeah. Um but yeah, I played as a junior up there for um for many years. Uh got down to a relatively okay handicap. Um we had a really good junior team up there, actually. Someone is um who I played with and and I still in touch with this day. He was on the PGA tour last year, he’s back on the DP this year just finding his way. So yeah, got into golf through probably brotherly competitiveness.

Nish 32:44

Love it. Oh well Robbie, look, thank you for joining us today. And uh maybe if I can push you for one last thing, have you got a gut feeling about who you think’s gonna win the open?

Robbie 32:56

It’s it’s very hard, isn’t it? I feel like I’ve never got this right when when you when you ask, or when you kind of want to say who’s gonna win. Um a lot of people will be rooting for Tommy, I think. Um local. I think he will he’s what he’s obviously won now, so he’ll I think he’ll step up to the challenge. He’ll be there or thereabouts. But I think another person who might be a bit more of a wildcard shout might be Chris Gotterup , who obviously won the Scottish Up Genesis last year before coming in and I think doing okay um over at Port rush, and he obviously won last week on the PGA again, so just possibly finding a little bit of form to bring it in. But it’s probably like a lot of English golf fans, I’ll be rooting for Tommy Fleetwood.

Nish 33:40

Yeah, I mean what a popular winner he would be. It would be amazing if he does it. I’ve got a I’ve got a sneaky suspicion. He’s snuck in again through uh qualifying, but I think Matthew Jordan’s gonna do alright again.

Robbie 33:52

It’s gonna well, I’m not too sure what the forecast is like, but if it’s anything what it’s like been like the last couple of weeks, it’s gonna be it’s gonna be dry, it’s gonna be it’s gonna be bouncing, it’s gonna be playing quite difficult. I’m sure the wind will be will be a um influencing factor up there as well. So yeah, it’s um it’s well, links golf is is how the game started, isn’t it? It’s how it should be played. So I think I think anyone can win on any given day.

Nish 34:19

Wonderful. Well that

The wildcard reveal at 275/1

Nish 34:20

like I said, that was Robbie from four ball draws. Get yourself on there. The link is in the description. I kept saying it in the interview, but it’s really worth doing uh this time around. Now, Harps, we’ve teased everyone with your wild card picking off.

Harbs 34:33

Yes.

Nish 34:33

Go on then. Tell us where’s the where’s the long shot?

Harbs 34:37

So look, this is a this is a big outsider. Um so this person’s had multiple top 20 finishes this season. Um, they’re a solid ball striker, you know, it’s inevitable you’re going to be a decent player if you’ve made it into this tournament. Um he’s somebody that’s comfortable with UK conditions, he’s really good playing in-link style golf courses, and again, somebody that’s grown up with it. But there’s um a fellow called Laurie Canter who’s sitting at 275 to one. Um, so what I’m doing with that, I’m putting an each-way bet on that because there’s always a handful of golfers sitting on those sorts of odds that on day one or across day one and two will shoot an absolute worldie of a round compared to their normal standards. And your cash out options will shoot right up. So my intention with this is a big fingers crossed for a fantastic day one, see what we’re looking at going into day two and how he’s playing to start day two off. But the idea would be I’m not expecting him to get a top five, but what I’m trying to do is cash out a decent value here. So he’s 275 to one. I’ve chucked several pounds each way on him, and I’m hoping if I can get the cash out option to be in excess of 50 pounds. Just a nice, easy little payday.

Nish 35:57

I love that. That is a great shout. Great shout. I’ve no idea who that is, but great shout. I think that’s a good way to look at it. Um that’s actually quite um that’s quite clever. Is that like a hack? Is that is that a betting hack?

Harbs 36:12

I’ll tell you what, we’ll give it a go. Pick your own player, try it, and if it works, come back to us and tell us how you got on. But um it’s something I’ve done several times in the past. Uh, it doesn’t always work, of course. You know, you’re relying on players that are sitting in the hundreds to one to outperform the top pros, but there will be a handful of players sitting 100 to 1 plus that will have a fantastic first day. And you just need the person you’ve picked, obviously, to have an absolute blinder. If they shoot up that table and they’re sitting in the top three going into day two, you’ll you’ll be offered a decent little cash out for that. And if they continue that foot van of form going into day two, and they’re starting day three also sitting in the top ten, you will be offered a very nice, tidy little cash out for that.

Nish 36:59

Yeah, I think so. I mean, uh our friend from last year, uh Matthew Jordan, is is back in again. He managed to make it through final qualifying.

Harbs 37:06

So yeah, so so actually on that, if if I’d have used this strategy last year, I definitely would have been cashing out for a tidy little profit, but I let it ride all the way to the final day. Um, but you know, I I I think I remember texting you going, not too bad, is it? Not too bad a start. I’m pretty sure he was sitting pretty high up after two days, uh, but then the wheels fell off, which you know, this is the this is the risk when the conditions are how they are and the fields as strong as it is, that they’re always they’re gonna have to have the game of the four days of their lives to finish in the top five. But you know, they’re all capable.

Nish 37:42

Brilliant. Well, look, on the uh video version of our website, which gives me the chance to plug it again, you know. If you want to get this episode a few hours early, so we released the video version on Monday at six o’clock. Just give us a subscribe on YouTube and stick your notification bell on, and you’ll actually be able to hear the the episode that goes out on Tuesday morning. You’ll be able to get it early. So that’s that’s a podcast hack. Um, but uh on the video version we’re gonna have the list of who you’ve selected here, Harbs. But just give us a quick rundown. Who are your your other two tips and then your wild card at the end?

Harbs 38:19

Yeah, so we’ve gone Tommy Fleetwood, is where I’ve I’ve I really do fancy him to challenge uh for the win. He’s at 16 to one. Um, it’s kind of a semi-wild card, but you know, not as good odds. Brooke Kepka. I’m I’m expecting somebody that’s been completely off the radar for a while now to work their way up and be in contention, and I think Brooks very capable of doing that. So at 45 to 1, he’s my second pick. And then pick three, massive outsider, somebody that’s grown up playing links courses, similar to last year’s pick. I’ve tried to find somebody that you know should be quite comfortable in these sort of English challenging conditions, and that’s Laurie Canter.

Sunday’s sport bonanza & sign-off

Nish 39:02

Wonderful. Three fantastic picks. Well, look, I’m gonna put my money where my mouth is. I’m gonna back everything that you’ve backed there, and we will do a an update as the weekend progresses, and hopefully on Sunday. Now, Sunday is a bumper day of got of sport because not only do we have the final round of the open to which I will be absolutely glued, we also have the the World Cup final, so we’re hoping England make it through to that. Um, and there is also the Belgian Grand Prix in the middle of the day. So for me, that’s three things I absolutely love. We’ve got England playing this weekend, it’s my son’s birthday party. I’m hoping big fingers crossed to uh to the the three lions. Obviously, this goes out on Tuesday, week of the open. Fingers crossed England are still out in there on on earth, what tomorrow it would be for the um for the for the semi-final. Uh, but what a great adventure it’s been so far. So good luck, everybody. Uh we will keep everybody up to date with what’s going on. Until next time on the Top 100 in 10 Golf Podcast.