Menace to Society

Nish: 0:03

Every story has an ending. Does our quest to play the top 100 courses in 10 years have a good ending? I’m Nish, I’m Jim, and we’re here to guide you through this golfing journey. This is the Top 100 in 10 Golf Podcast

Nish: 0:17

, Episode 20. Menace to Society

Nish: 0:21

. A young street hustler attempts to escape the rigours and temptations of the ghetto in a quest for a better life. After a visit to a local shop goes wrong, his life begins to unravel as he’s dragged into a life he doesn’t want to lead. He went by many names Andrew, andy, gumar, phil Schofield and, of course, the Five Pound man, so we’ve got him here as a special guest today. Hi, nick, evening

Nish: 0:49

all

Nish: 0:49

.

Andy: 0:50

Evening and evening everyone out there, if anyone actually listens to this.

Nish: 0:55

Nobody listens. It’s just me on repeat, just us. Yeah, some introduction. That way it’s good, isn’t it? Yeah, I went with the title first and then I realised I had no idea what medicine society was all about Sounds a bit sinister. I was googling the plot. I’m like I’m not going to fit this in there. It doesn’t fit in, but anyway, whatever, I’ve got the title. Now Andy’s here for a very specific reason. Jim, he’s got a really important function to perform in our journey generally is this turning into an only fans thing.

Andy: 1:30

Listen, everyone’s got to branch out. Yeah, everyone needs to make money from our gym. You need a second stream of income, side hustle.

Nish: 1:37

But before all of that, we’re going to get to find out a bit about Andy and his golf, I think. So yeah, they just won’t take long. Well, we have had the fortune, would you call it. I play golf with you quite frequently yeah um test the extremities of the golf course.

Andy: 1:54

I certainly get a value for money.

Nish: 1:56

I mean, you’re in my phone as Aquaman. Andy got the propensity to find water on the golf course.

Andy: 2:04

Um, but tell us about your golfing journey, andy so it started when I was sort of 14 or 15 at the local golf club and I became a junior member and played a couple of seasons there. But then it started clashing with cricket. As people who know me might know, I do enjoy getting cricket on a saturday afternoon. So one thing I had to give, and that was golf. So played cricket, sort of left golf, for a long while and then, as you do when you’re at a certain age, you just start picking up the clubs again and getting out there and then from there it’s just been running societies at the cricket club and then playing with you guys, playing with other friends. So yeah, just uh, social golf, really there’s no other friends are there no, just a one ball, what um?

Nish: 3:01

which we also have a staff. They have no rights on a golf course. You said your local course. Which one was that? So that’s Duckingfield, duckingfield, it’s a nice course.

Andy: 3:10

Yeah, when I played there it was very different to what it is now. They sold a lot of land and, as part of the development, they developed a load more holes. But yeah, you’ve played it. I think it was Roasting when we played it, do you remember? Every time I’ve played it’s been red hot. Yeah, it’s a decent cost for the value you can get on for like 20 quid that first tee cracks me up because it’s a really wide open fairway.

Nish: 3:35

Pretty much never hits here. I don’t think I ever have. It’s weird, isn’t it? It should just be not an intimidating tee shot in any way, shape or form, sticking iron up there, whatever, always either the trees on the left or the bushes on the right, it’s just like nah, I don’t know what it is. Wide open fairway, new clubs now Nish, yeah, all going straight it went well, yeah.

Nish: 3:56

I got some new bats. They’re behind me, yeah, yeah. When they got fitted up, went to the gym, trafford, signed a job. No, no, no, we’ve. We. Don’t swear on this podcast now saying American Golf why they fished you. No, yeah, they, they didn’t follow me. Yeah, how bitter. Yeah, no, bitterness at all. Well, what happened was Chris went and got fitted up for a driver and he was like it’s awesome. I was like what’s so good about it. So there’s a place called Clubhouse Golf in Warrington he was like what’s so good about it?

Nish: 4:32

He was like they had every single, obviously every single driver. They’re not particularly brand specific, they’re not all trying to push for a particular one, but he said they had like a hundred different shaft combinations and more different grip combinations and all that kind of thing. So he spent an hour there and they did everything, analyze absolutely everything. They use um gc quads to analyze your swing as well, which is like that’s what the pros use for theirs. They’ve got little dots on the the, so it’s really, really accurate so this made you well, we said no in theory theory the ball following was accurate.

Nish: 5:05

Yeah, analyse your team, dan, why don’t you go any better? My problem was I kept blocking everything out to the right and the guy was like I think I know why it is, but just hit a few. And he was like just tell me a little bit about what’s going on and whatever. And he was like what you need is a stiffer shaft, is what he said. That’s what she said a heavier stiffer shaft, don’t we all? And yeah, so, and apparently it just with my swing mechanics. That’s all it was. So he went right. All you need to do is just don’t change how you swing. I’ll fit the club around you. I was like.

Andy: 5:40

That’s how it works these days, because you go for a lesson and then try and change your swing yeah and because you’ve been doing it so badly for the last 30 years, it doesn’t work.

Nish: 5:52

No, you’re just used to doing it, aren’t you?

Andy: 5:54

You just default back to normal. Yeah, so if you can get the clubs that fit around your swing if you like, that’s the way to go.

Nish: 6:02

And we don’t play often enough to bed something new in. That’s the problem, like if you’re playing yeah, even if you’re playing twice a week. So if you’re like an older side boy playing at golf club, you probably can do that, you can bed it in finally, but we just we don’t get that opportunity do anything for a massive slice?

Nish: 6:18

yeah, I mean there’s probably certain limitations. You know you need palm handles for that. Do you do floating golf balls? I think you’ll do well with those. So yeah, but what happened was it went from being blocked out right to everything was centre or just drawing to the left. So I was like I can work with that, yeah, and on the sim it’s still alright the first live test have you used one yet.

Nish: 6:46

Yeah, me and Jim did that. Didn’t go too well, did it? Oh no, it was the odd flash of golf in there, wasn’t there? But I think, generally speaking, it was us just. In fact, we would have gone around quicker if we just rolled the ball with our hands and just played it, picked it up and then just did it again. Foot golf. Yeah, it was pretty torturous, wasn’t it? Yeah, I was a bit demoralised, let’s say.

Andy: 7:13

You get some of those sticks as well. Yeah, yeah, ooh.

Nish: 7:16

It was quite expensive. Did you have to continue for a while? No, no, well, definitely not, but it was. I mean, I’ve never ranked off clubs. No, neither have I. Maybe that’s the way forward. My mind is just off the shelf. The last time, if you do mate, and actually anybody listening, if you do. Honestly, I think it’s a well-trodden path like, yeah, clubhouse golf if you’re in the north west.

Andy: 7:36

Anyway, it’s worth the trip it’s a well that you find a wife who’s tolerant of both, because it’s just so time-consuming yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s good to look at it every saturday and every sunday, sunday saturday cricket, sunday golf.

Nish: 7:58

Imagine that depends on your relationship, doesn’t? It really might be blissful. Yeah, oh it’s gone. Do you not fancy playing midweek as well?

Andy: 8:06

but yeah, I mean it was amazing, amazing fitting experience. I don’t actually know how far I can hit the clubs I’ve got. Yeah, so how far do I hit my 9 line? How far do I hit my 7 line? Got no concept to that at the moment. I think there’s a complete you know, you get a new set of sticks. It’s a complete recalibration.

Nish: 8:27

Yeah, and it is definitely the way you hit because I mean, they’re trying to obviously cater to the select of the golf clubs that are right for your swing. But then I was consciously adjusting to take account of the fact that when you’ve caught it, the shaft’s half an inch longer. The jeans had to be lengthened.

Andy: 8:48

Oh, is that because he’s got taller eyes?

Nish: 8:50

Yeah, he’s got bigger, I’ve got no idea, but yeah, but it was funny because he was like stand further back. And he was like, okay, they gave you the longer shaft, but then he was like stand further back still, sort of thing.

Andy: 9:01

See, I was under the impression they’re all the same length yeah, I didn’t know.

Nish: 9:05

I didn’t know you could adjust that. So, yeah, yeah, but it’d be great if you get a chance. If you want to do that, they’re the place to go. I wouldn’t go anywhere else now. What’s like your earliest golfing memory or your favourite golfing memory, andy?

Andy: 9:19

let’s go with favourite. So as part of the cricket club we used to do it like a society weekend down in rugby. So it was like one of these hotel stroke golf packages. Par 3 there, 175 yards Green was below the tee box by about 20 metres Right good drop, right good drop, yeah good drop and surrounded by reeds and ponds. So inevitably what happened with my first shot straight in the drink teed up, number three banged straight in the hole to save time.

Andy: 10:01

Oh mate Hole in three Brilliant. I didn’t have to buy anyone a drink.

Nish: 10:05

Oh, yeah, buy them a drink results yeah, and it was there to see it as well like full on, fully winning. What a pass. Probably the best way to the hole in one, isn’t it? Oh, I like that. I like that sounds like being a challenge, isn’t it? Nothing goes wrong in the first tee shot.

Andy: 10:21

I mean it was pretty resigned to the fact that my third ball was going in the drink as well so it was quite an amazing shot when it just dribbled into the hole.

Nish: 10:32

I love that good memory mate. Have you played any of the top 100 so far? If so, where, and what was it like? If not, where would you start?

Andy: 10:42

I’ll be honest, I’ve not even looked at the list. So if anyone was asking questions about this, was it like If not, where would you start?

Nish: 10:45

I’ll be honest, I’ve not even looked at the list, so we’re the ones who’s asking questions about the list as well.

Andy: 10:49

Sorry, it’s on the website. Oh, there’s a website. I think the best course I’ve played is. Is it Dunham Forest in Altrincham? Oh yeah, so they run a golf society at work as well, which is quite a golf society at work as well, which is quite a decent Society, and they play some courses, and I just turned out there once. That is narrow, I know, I like to spray it around. But that was a rude tool, so I didn’t go back to that society.

Nish: 11:20

Yeah, I mean that’s Soppy Dog will do. Alright, there, wouldn’t he? Because I mean Sop is just he’s irons off the tee. Yeah, I mean that’s Soppy Dog will do. Alright, there, wouldn’t he? Because my mate, my mate, sop is just he’s irons off the tee. Oh yeah, 7 iron. Yeah, the iron man, that’s it. He just meditates his drive, wouldn’t he?

Andy: 11:33

It’s good, it’s steady, though, like you see, the old boys playing they’re like 100 yards. 7 iron off the tee. Second shot 100 yards. They’re on the green for three and they’ve only hit like three, seven, eights yeah, whereas we’re trying, you know, spraying out.

Nish: 11:46

Yeah, yeah, tommy Gump, yeah, he’s funny, though something like nothing about his swing. That seems to would work, but he just somehow, at that moment of impact, just everything clicks. Then it all collapses again it’s just that, then why is it that little moment in time that gets it perfect? I?

Andy: 12:05

think it’s at our standard. There’s always one part of your game in one round that’s going to let you down. So, like you could be amazing off the tee, amazing to the green, and then your putting’s absolutely shite, or you could struggle.

Nish: 12:22

Or not shit. Yeah, without shit shite, or you could struggle or not shit. You can’t not shit.

Andy: 12:25

Within 100 yards of the green, you’re just duffing everything. Yeah, yeah, that’s it. There’s always something, isn’t there. As soon as you accept that, the better your round’s going to be.

Nish: 12:34

You start getting frustrated with yourself and expecting that strange advice that someone’s going to make, I don’t know. It just came to me in a moment of clarity. Yeah, you really said that there’s only one part of your game that you’re going to play Xenoblade. At least one, shall we say? At least one, yeah, one at a time. That’s what you do.

Andy: 12:52

That’s when you start having to get the donkeys out of your bag when you know you’re having a bad round.

Nish: 12:56

You’ve got a molotov Right, everyone. I’m playing with a Top Flight XL, oh dear oh dear, oh dear.

Andy: 13:03

Start off with a Troll V1 and buy a third. All the way around it, top.

Nish: 13:06

Flight reminds me actually. So when Tom, who designed all of our artwork, when Tom was doing the logo, he sent the initial logo through and I was like I’m not pretty sure I like the font, can I change it? So the logo with the golf ball on it, yeah, can I change the font? He’s like I don’t know, I’ll just model it to the Top Flight logo. I do not want the Top Flight logo on that.

Andy: 13:30

What’s wrong with that? You’ve got to say a bench mark in that it’s not the bench mark.

Nish: 13:36

It’s going to Callaway. I’ll do that, but yeah, not Top Flight. Schlesinger, do they still do golf gear?

Andy: 13:43

Slazinger, I think they do. Yeah, sports director actually plays in it for that sort of stuff I’ve got.

Nish: 13:48

I’ve still got my two iron that I learned to play on. I’ll bring it in one day. I think it’s in there.

Andy: 13:53

It’s in the lockup somewhere, but then when you hit it, on a cold day.

Nish: 14:02

Oh yeah, it hurts your hands. It’s banging, yeah, I mean there’s no shack absorbing technology.

Andy: 14:06

I’m dreaming for it, but if you catch it, just right, it feels so sweet to hit, but how many times out of a hundred could you do that?

Nish: 14:15

I mean to be fair for the size of the clubhead. The sweet spot’s pretty big, I think, just that the clubhead is tiny. It just looks like the thinnest line behind the golf ball. It’s weird, right. Well, Andy, you’re here actually for a very specific purpose, which I mentioned before, and that is to help us run our society that we’re going to set up. So you’ve alluded to it before, but what experience have you got of running a society so?

Andy: 14:41

obviously Cricket Link again a lot of crossover there between people playing cricket and people playing golf and generally liking to do it. So we decided to set up a society at the cricket club, which is basically a day at a golf club, and we used to run it, where it was nine hours in the morning, then a bit of a dinner and then 18 in the afternoon. Prizes for the winners, winners, handicaps set. It was just a chance for everyone with different golfing abilities to get together and have a day out, basically a decent-ish course. Yeah, so it was kind of. You had some varying abilities. Yeah so you had lads who were playing off like single figures, but you had lads who were playing off single figures, but you had lads who were up to like 30.

Nish: 15:27

And they just say that you’re pointed at lads with single figures. To me, yeah, yeah yeah, it’s just the conscious main program. What happens on the day? What’s the because? You know it’s everybody playing in societies and some people solely play in societies they don’t have members anywhere, and that’s all they do. What does a society day look like? So you?

Andy: 15:52

rock up in the morning, have a brew and everyone gets together in the clubhouse. You get drawn out. It depends on how many people have signed up, so ideally you want the right numbers for, say, three balls or four balls, yeah. So you’re drawn out with people. You’re playing with um and a lot of people obviously don’t have an handicap. So you ask people to be quite honest. You don’t want someone who’s off two, playing off 16 and just creaming everything. Similarly, you don’t want someone off 16 getting punished and going down to 10. So it’s kind of a degree of honesty is required, yeah, and you’ll match people up, swap cards and then it’s just the first one, first nap, the first ones in the morning are nine holes, right. So it’ll be like a text sorry, stable, right. So I’m assuming everyone knows how stable for clerks, Don’t assume.

Nish: 16:54

But Searching is the mother of all. Yeah, what is the phrase? Book ups? Is that what it is? That can’t be the phrase, can it? I don’t know, I’ve just made it up. So it’s still when you assume you’re making out of you and me yeah, yeah, yeah.

Andy: 17:09

So I’ll stay with that. Each hole is attributed a par. Obviously, as you are in golf, and depending on what your handicap is, it depends on how many shots you get on that hole and then it depends on how many points you get.

Nish: 17:22

Yeah, so, for instance, you get two for a par, don’t you?

Andy: 17:26

So if you were playing a par four on the first and you’re off 18, which is simple to work out you get one shot on every hole.

Nish: 17:33

So your par is five on that hole.

Andy: 17:35

Yeah, so it’s five for.

Nish: 17:37

Five for two. You hear that, don’t you? Five for two, six for one. What’s happened there? Five for what? Is this some kind of like? Working out change or something in the shot. So five for two. You scored five for two points.

Andy: 17:49

And then obviously your points add up. Yeah, over the nine holes, most points wins.

Nish: 17:55

So if you’re playing off 30. So, yeah, that’s what happens. That’s important, then, aren’t you? Yeah, because if you win a fight.

Andy: 18:00

And it also goes on stroke index as well. Yeah, yeah for language shows Do you still use the proper stroke. What’s this handicap? The?

Nish: 18:09

new system.

Nish: 18:10

I think that still does that the stroke index is for the whole, and it’s how high it is For the whole yes, what they’ve now got is so the new system is, which has been controversial but you’ve not got a fixed handicap for a course handicap now yes, so it’s to allow the course. Not got a fixed handicap for a course handicap now yes. So, um, yeah. So, like some of the places that me and chris have been playing uh, I think it was moore town, there’s a more time sn8 bumped up my handicap by three strokes, so like, okay, that says it’s pretty tough, but what? The only thing I don’t know with that is oh, no, okay, that’s fine’t it, because that means the existing stroke index can stay in place. Otherwise you’ve got to potentially rejig that, haven’t you? So I think it’s just yeah, that means everything can then play off that, yeah.

Andy: 18:55

So your handicap as it stands. You go and look at their board, relate yours to their board and it will correspond.

Nish: 19:05

Yeah, it will say you know. Know, if your handicap is in this range, your adjusted handicap is this now um which I was like because chris didn’t know about the new system yeah and I understood what he was saying actually, so he was like but isn’t that? It’s just the same, though, because all you do is you bump everybody up by three, right? So if you’re bumping everybody up by three, just keep it where it is.

Nish: 19:28

But, then I don’t know if it’s because they’re saying, well, actually, some courses are rock hard, yeah, and then some are actually quite easy to play. So just think about that. But then you know if you’re playing someone. If you’re, you know I’m 18.3, I think it is now so 18.3, you know you’re a. We probably just have a competent golfer right, so you ain’t really going to suddenly become a 15, 14, 15. Might have a really good round one day, but that’s a flash in the pan, really. You’re probably more likely to shoot something 18 over to 23 over, really. But if they took that off your handicap, that’s like pressure on straight away, isn’t it? Imagine, though, that you only played with a rock or a cold course and your handicap was, say, 20.

Andy: 20:14

But compared to you, you might be 18.3 and you go into a tournament and say, of course you’ve never played before, yeah, that other person might be at a better advantage. I’m sure it must have been worked out by people, because some boffins somewhere yeah I think it’s a bit weird.

Nish: 20:30

I mean, I I think primarily their first drive with the new system was to enable them to get handicapped, because that was tricky. Well, it wasn’t tricky, really, if you remember. Three side cards.

Andy: 20:44

But that’s the thing with a society that not everybody has a handicap, correct? Yeah, because you’re not a member of a club necessarily, so you’re kind of putting a finger in the wind, really sometimes.

Nish: 20:54

Well, that’s what caused the problem at the initial invitational last year. So obviously you went party to all of this, jim. Was people taking too party to all of this June? But was people how many cats made too high? That was well, if anybody gets, I was the person that knew everybody’s ability roughly yeah so it was like you’re playing off this, you’re playing off this, you’re playing off this.

Nish: 21:14

So, oh, yeah, I was getting. I was getting Chris. Chris is good, dan Roberts is good. Dan Roberts gets a check name, check every episode to me. I’m so good to have this in the pub on Sunday. I’m going to mention a lot of that. Yeah, you do. I don’t know why it just comes up all the time, but they’re both good.

Nish: 21:34

So I was like you’re playing off 12 and they’re like, oh, no, no, no. So I was like, oh, I’m not playing for 20 years or whatever. You know, the same, it has to be relative with the people you played against, relative with the people you played against. So then, as we were adjusting up, we get to. So I’ve got a handicap, mine is 18. So I’m playing. No way, no way are you playing off 18.

Nish: 22:03

You shot a 79 here and an 80, whatever, there. I was like, yeah, that’s fine, but also, what was the power of that course? If it’s 71, that’s 80. You know, whatever it is. So, anyway, I then put mine down to the same level. I had to bring Chris and Dan up to 14, I think it was and I went down to 14. I was like I’m on to a loser straight away. But you’d crack me up because you just like oh, you put me at 32 or whatever. He’s like. Oh my god. The last time I had a beat 100 was like eight years ago and like, oh, I managed to be. I was like I’m not giving you more than 30 strokes, two strokes.

Nish: 22:31

I don’t know.

Andy: 22:32

We used to set, like, the limit as 30, so no matter how bad you are, that’s it that’s fair, isn’t it?

Nish: 22:39

because that’s hovering you around 100, isn’t? It yeah and you know that’s. I think that’s a reasonable target for most people to go for. Yeah no no, I just, I just. I mean, my next question actually is what’s the biggest challenge in your sense? But I think I’ve just answered the question is that?

Andy: 22:57

yeah, it’s just people and people yeah, yeah and so.

Andy: 23:02

So that was the morning the 9, and then the afternoon would do so. Say you were out in a 4 ball Stableford again. But on the first 6 holes the best 2 scores would count. So everyone’s marking their own card, but you’re marking as a team as well. So it’d be on the first six holes the best two scores count, on the next six it’d be the best three scores and on the last six it’d be everybody’s score counts still stable. That’s a good idea. So everyone’s in play on the last six.

Nish: 23:40

Yeah, so you’re just kind of relying on yeah, it gives everyone a good chance then, doesn’t it? Yeah so and it’s a bit different, like it’s a bit varied that, yeah.

Andy: 23:49

So you, from the last couple of days I’ve had, you’re looking at around 80 to 100 points. Team points wins it, yeah.

Nish: 24:00

Yes, but it just keeps everyone involved. Then yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely Don’t give NIST too many ideas to overcomplicate it.

Andy: 24:07

Yeah, and then you do the obvious fight nearest the pin on the par threes, and then everyone gets a multiple Longest drive on one goal.

Nish: 24:17

Oh yeah, yeah, You’ve got to do all that. I think actually that, for me, is the thing that gives everybody the real chance, because yeah, I mean the first year we did that and it was Chris Oliver, wasn’t it, because they all rolled over. It was my brother-in-law, so they all rolled over. There were four par threes the first three nobody got anywhere near to get in a. I think nobody even landed on the green any of them, so it just kept rolling over. And that’s the last one.

Andy: 24:44

We were in the lead group?

Nish: 24:45

I think, yeah, we were in the lead group. Chris hit this driver off the tee and it just did hit it well, but it was a flat run up to the hole and it trundled up to the edge of the green. That’s always the case. Yeah, and we put the flag in. I was like there’s no driver there. You drive the car through. Yeah, to be fair, chris is great, he’ll just go. That’s my driver distance. So that’s what I’m hitting and he’s right. But why should it be a problem?

Andy: 25:12

We played Holdsworth a couple of years ago. You know the 17th, the little par 3 next to the water, yes, yeah, yeah. Or over the water sorry, that was the nearest to the pier or maybe the 6th, no, I think so 15th, something like that. Yeah, I’m trying to think now my old man top one and it skimmed across the water and landed right next to the old one and won it.

Nish: 25:39

Everyone’s got a job. Yeah, fair play. I like that we’re putting this thing in the in the green, sorry. Chris we’ve got to put it in, but I don’t think you’re going to win this. Like somebody’s going to get that, and then you come in and do anybody get nearest to the pin and I’m like no, 18 quid, mate, it’s all yours, you know that good one is a reasonably short par four, maybe 300, 340, nearest the pinning two. Oh, that’s a good idea, isn’t it just?

Andy: 26:12

mixes it up a little bit, I think like, where would we do that?

Nish: 26:16

so we’re going to do it, not true, obviously. Where was it? No, no, oh, where’s he? Sorry, yeah, we’re not going to, not truesham. I should say that’s a terrible experience. Oh, yeah, that was a, that was a ritual, wasn’t it a ritual? The best. The Greens were all terrible.

Andy: 26:29

Yeah, the Bunkers were, and then the third centre was, and there was not a Green Keeper inside.

Nish: 26:40

No, which is probably lucky for them if been brought up yet I know that.

Andy: 26:44

Were you playing with us.

Nish: 26:45

No, Jim wasn’t there Regis failed.

Andy: 26:47

Second shot into the first Greens keepers just going about his daily work, nice and steady Mish fires one and hits him. He has to go home, this poor lad.

Nish: 26:59

He was DJing that night. It couldn’t work. No way, oh my. He was DJing that night. It couldn’t work. No way, oh my God. I went in the next day and gave him 50 quid. I was like I’m so sorry about that. Yeah, it was an interesting one, wasn’t it?

Andy: 27:10

Because I think somebody had already hit him.

Nish: 27:11

Did you even shout? No, I shouted oh, yes, yes, the independent is on, ah, yeah. And then he was like I mean, I don’t know what, like what’s the deal? Am I playing here or not? I mean, because it was.

Andy: 27:36

You know, the target was in my mind, it’s been a bit of a while.

Nish: 27:40

Yes, it’s quite a bit of water.

Andy: 27:41

You can see a bit of water there, straightening it.

Nish: 27:43

Yeah, it was weird. But then it was the yeah, aaron, the head greenskeeper like collared us on the 6th, which was down here, came charging over and was like who’s it? One of my lads. And I was like I’m really sorry it was me. And he was like well, he’s got this and whatever he. Because he was just like, oh, alright, okay, well, yeah, he’s always like ABC. Oh my god, yeah, don’t tell him. But yeah, it was like oh god. So since then I obviously learnt my lesson. I need to get the thumbs up, probably before, if they’ve got a thumb still left, I’ve grabbed it the last time. Yeah, that’s not. It’s funny, that hasn’t come up yet. Yeah, it has. Now, that’s the demon. So I think we’ve covered everything about what’s good about society.

Andy: 28:28

Yeah, the only thing that you had to say oh yeah, beer. What was a beer at dinner time Makes the afternoon round more interesting.

Nish: 28:38

Oh yeah, of course, because you play in the morning and then have a couple of pints again and then off you go again. That’s like skiing after you’ve had a skin full at lunchtime, you gotta get down the slope, haven’t you sell it out?

Andy: 28:48

I think what, um, we look for, though, was like kind of courses that suited everyone, so that weren’t too massively long or tight, because, obviously, the varying yeah abilities of everyone, you need it to be like a happy round for everyone.

Nish: 29:05

Yeah, do you like put a thing where like a maximum reach hole as well, where you just go up? I think no you don’t Just pick up? Yeah, people just pick up. You know what I?

Andy: 29:15

mean it’s supposed to be a stable put, aren’t you yeah?

Nish: 29:24

so once you you get to like eight or nine yeah, you’re not playing stroke, stroke, yeah, there’s no benefit in doing that.

Andy: 29:28

Just just crack on, enjoy yourself. Yeah, and that’s a real what a society should be about enjoying it, trying new courses, but not getting sort of disheartened with you playing a really tough course and also you’re playing it with people that you get on with yeah, you know and it’s a really good social thing.

Nish: 29:44

I mean, usually a lot of the time you’ve got the course yourself, right. If they just flopped off two times, yeah, if you just flop off like two hours worth of tea time, yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean I’ve seen it quite a lot when they’ve got society days, it does look like great fun and actually when we saw some lads doing it, there was only about 10 of them or something like that, but they were having a great, great time. Yeah, they definitely enjoyed the 19th hole, didn’t they?

Andy: 30:06

There’s a lot of beers you can’t beat it there’s a lot of beers being sunk.

Nish: 30:12

Yeah Well, fair enough, that’s what you want. That’s what you want. So I suppose we’d better get on to how our society is going to work and what we want to, what we want to do. So, um, yes, well yeah, that’s the engine the reveal.

Nish: 30:27

So the way we’re going to look to do it is we’re gonna we’re gonna have two different levels of membership. So it’s gonna be free because we’re not we’re not even trying to make money out of it. However, we are going to offer people a fat membership if they want to make money out of it. However, we are going to offer people a fan membership if they want to. We will call it only fans membership. Oh God, which is just like I’m talking like a tenner a year or something like that. It would help us with some admin, of course, because it is time we continue to do it, and we’d give people early access to book in as well, and every year that you’re a member member, you get a little token of membership. What do you think? Have I signed you up for three fan memberships, or where do I sign you? He’s got two, one for each of the guns. What is the time commitment on this? How many? I don’t think we’ll end up doing more than two events a year.

Andy: 31:19

Really, let’s be honest, I’m happy with that, if you’re looking at playing the organisation for more than that would be quite.

Nish: 31:28

Yeah, we’re potentially looking at playing. Well, we are. Our objective is to play some top 100 courses because the whole point is to open up these courses. So it’s going to be quite costly affair. Yeah, so you could be looking at. Even with a group booking it still could be. Just for the golf is £100. So we want to add a bit of the value added stuff as well. So we want to get range balls in there for people. We want to get maybe group lessons, I don’t know, but inevitably always have some kind of coffee. Yeah, always coffee, bacon rolls, but inevitably always have some kind of coffee. Maybe like a bacon butter. Yeah, always a coffee and bacon rolls, always like maybe some food afterwards. And well, in fact we want to do that.

Andy: 32:08

And then depending on where you’re going. Is there any discount on rooms at the place or nearby? Or you know, you might want to make a weekend of it with your family. I mean, you wouldn’t want to spoil it.

Nish: 32:23

But yeah, true, true, but all of that stuff will be open to people to decide on. I think you know we want to keep it as accessible as possible. Excuse me, I need to go play golf you too. Yeah, that’s it what. What? Accessible as well? Yeah, excuse me, I need to go play golf you too. Yeah, that’s it what. You need, a mediator, I think. So I think. I think that’s what we’re intending on doing. We’re probably looking at Andy’s going to help sort out the first, the first event, which will be somewhere near, and it probably won’t be a top 100 course, will it, because it’d be the first time you know?

Andy: 33:05

yeah, introduce people to each other. Get on hooked on our witty banter and electric company. Yeah, put me straight away.

Nish: 33:16

Yeah because, yeah, you know it’s. How could you not be near these fun magnets? Okay, how could you not? Um, that’d be cool. That’s, yeah, touche, yeah, I think we’d like to my. My objective is definitely to do some of the evaluating. So if it is things like we’re going away somewhere in North Wales, I’m going to use an example Conway, for example, it’s got a very good reputation. It’s not on our list but very highly regarded course.

Nish: 33:47

Hour and a half-ish drive, two hours drive away, we can go there. We’re going to stay somewhere overnight, are welcome, all that kind of thing.

Andy: 33:55

So it’s kind of a good appeal for the families as well. Yeah, and that’s smooth if you played the course on the friday because dates were saturday.

Nish: 34:04

Yeah, it smooths the path for people booking as well. Right, because then you actually can’t get the time out.

Andy: 34:09

We have to be realistic that you won’t get a saturday on a saturday, correct sunday. It’s not gonna happen, yeah yeah, that’s all.

Nish: 34:16

It’s gotta be midweek, hasn’t it? So I think friday is usually gonna be a day ring, isn’t it to do that? So there’ll be a lot of people working from home that day. So one of the things we will do is we’ll let everybody update preferences about whether, like, going away on weekends or keep it local or all that kind of thing, so it’ll help us filter people a little bit, um, but also we touched upon the trouble with handicaps, right so we’ve got two issues with having what is just the fairness of where you’re at for the, for the competition now actually does it matter, because it’s not about the women or losing.

Nish: 34:50

However, some people might not see it like that, judging by that group chat, I should say screenshots or something. But I was just like what is going on? What people were losing their shit? You kept forwarding the messages onto me even though I’d left the group. Honestly, people were losing their shit about the handicap. What was that? This is just losing the spirit of the day. So, yeah, I don’t know, anyway, but there might be some courses where you need to have to have a handicap. So anyone good on photoshop? Yeah, here’s a screenshot. Can you just uh show us? No, no, that’s the screenshot. My phone battery’s run out. You know, initially, certainly most of the people who are going to be joining fingers crossed. We’re going to let them. You know. We initially certainly most of the people who are going to be joining fingers crossed. We’re going to let them. You know, we can try and figure out some way of helping you get that, are you?

Andy: 35:39

sure that some courses would be quite accommodating, I think most courses would be.

Nish: 35:45

You know it’s not, as I certainly so far have never been asked to produce a handicap certificate and you know, as we all know, I have played a little bit. You need to have one there. We needed to have one at SNA. Nobody’s ever asked. So you can go into tournaments.

Andy: 36:00

And there’s a different yeah, I think they’re becoming a bit more in tune with the 21st century. Now golf clubs are, you know, rather than the ways that they were run.

Nish: 36:14

Yeah, they’re just picking up on it, and I think, actually, the hand-me-capped certificate. It’s like a catch-all phrase, isn’t it? I think it’s designed to get people to sell a filter. Yeah, scare people off, scare people off, right, the wrong type of person. That’s it. So somebody does rocks, which, again, that’s not. That’s a bit of an archaic way of looking at it, but it’s probably just to get people to go. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, better, not, can’t go there. Discriminatory, exactly. I’ve never been asked to produce a handicapped circuit, and so you’ve formulated this idea in the Big Orf Society. I mean, it’s progressing. Do you have a name, do they?

Andy: 36:55

have a name. Do they have a name?

Nish: 36:56

Yeah, they’ll fill. Usually, they’ve got quite a funny pun-based name, don’t they?

Andy: 37:00

I don’t know. Oh God, oh yeah, but you haven’t got an idea. No, no, it’s very much in its inventory. Yeah, I can’t wait.

Nish: 37:09

I honestly can’t wait for this. I wanted to get Andy of the other podcast and we said I’m going to do it. Do a society right, do a society. I think it will be.

Nish: 37:28

I think we’ll get a good number of people that we know who will say I’m interested in finding out and I think we’ll get a good number of people that we know who will say I’m interested in finding out, Hmm, I’m worried about the questions and I think we’ll get you know, as evidenced by you know Mark, who’s the episode that was today. You know he’s an avid listener. He’s playing top 100 courses.

Nish: 37:48

I think we’ll get a few people who will just say actually this might be a good way of getting on because it’s not a cost, it’s just an event you can buy up for, you know, in advance, and we can obviously promote it and and let people know and it’s nice to meet people actually just kind of, you know, be interesting to see if this gets any traction as well.

Andy: 38:06

Uh, any other courses come to you and say we’ve heard about your society I mean there’s a, there is a place.

Nish: 38:13

I think might do that, but I suppose we’ll maybe reveal that a little bit later on. But we’ve got a very, very friendly Welsh reception from one of the courses we’re playing in March.

Andy: 38:25

There’s a clue, Jim.

Nish: 38:27

Yeah, they were brilliant, absolutely brilliant. We’ve got a manager of the club who’s emailing. We’ve got a chair of the club was emailing, got like chairing the membership and playing with us. And, uh, I just say the name of the club is absolutely brilliant abu dhabi golf club. They’re so good. Um, and that weekend as well, we’re staying in abu dhabi and our uh, the back it overlooks theth green. And today I found out that the lady who was the secretary was emailing me to let me know all this information. It’s her friend who’s a member at the club. It’s her house. She had me amused. I’m like, all right, okay.

Andy: 39:08

I’m having you stick a ball through your window.

Nish: 39:11

I wish you’d been able to get it back. I think I’ll be, yeah.

Andy: 39:13

Throw that ball back. I think I’d be. Yeah, Throw us that ball back.

Nish: 39:15

I think I’d be putting up to the approach on the 18th day just to make sure I was like, yeah, we’re a lovely, friendly bunch. Yeah, it’d be sensible. On the 19th you picked kids with you, Wow, but we’re staying. I suppose that night we’re not staying in, are we?

Nish: 39:29

Yeah, Honestly such a lovely, warm welcome, but it was. It really did take me by surprise, actually, and everybody’s been great. No, that’s not going to make anybody else, but this was like above and beyond and actually, again, we’ve spoken in other episodes about the difference in when we went to more time. Eddie was so good. We went to sni. The program wasn’t very friendly and it kind of immediately put us on the guard. I’m really looking forward to playing ABBA W. Just off the back of that, it makes me more nervous because I’m actually playing these two rounds Wow, abba W and Rotten Rotten Roots as well. That’s famous. Yeah, so it was part of the WhatsApp chat. It was like no, what’s it? You know the who’s the chair of the membership.

Nish: 40:12

Chair of memberships. He’s happy to come up and play with you. And he said what do you think? And you and Chris were over there. Yeah, this is amazing. We’ve got somebody who knows towards the inside out.

Andy: 40:21

Hook line and sinker.

Nish: 40:23

Oh my God. No, I thought this was like a friendly game, like we were in Regis Vale, and now the pressure I need to get out to the driving range and stuff like that. But that’s not a bad thing, and I said, no, I’d rather it was just us two. This is the go, You’ll be fine, It’ll all be fine. I’m taking the piss. You can’t turn down this opportunity for a golf club that is going out of their way to make you feel welcome. I went round to Chris’s and I was like have you read Jim’s message? He went wrapped, went round to Chris’s and I was like have you read Jim’s message? He was like yeah, I don’t know you went round. Yeah, I went round because I needed to drop something else off as I was chatting.

Nish: 41:02

I was like I’m going to be banned because I’ve invited him to come and play. They were just going to go. Oh no, sorry mate, he feels uncomfortable. So then we were like, well, the compromise is he just played. All the same day was a sack of a WI I was like well, yeah, okay, fair enough. But yeah, it was lovely. That makes me really excited as well. You know, being a novice, he’s not in the chairing of memberships.

Andy: 41:29

He’s not like the type of wuss he’s not gonna.

Nish: 41:31

No, I don’t want to be. I can’t wait. It’s gonna be brilliant that he’s like I know everything about the club and it’s history and all that. So I’m going to no, no, no, I don’t want to be. I can’t wait. It’s going to be brilliant that he’s like I know everything about the club and its history and all that stuff. I’ll be able to tell you all of that. That’d be nice to. It’d be nice to take our mind off the gun and learn about the history of the club.

Nish: 41:46

Is it a links? It obviously know raw saint david, so that’s like harlot castle? Yeah, I don’t think. But um, around that area people say that abaddon is a better, better course. But yeah, I think there’s this. But there’s a little bit of a bit of variety in it because I think some of the hidden behind dunes and things like that, so you get the full, like it’s exposed to the elements, um, treatment kind of thing. But all reports are prior to and obviously it’s been verified now because it’s happened to us. But all reports are that it’s like one of the friendliest golf clubs around.

Andy: 42:19

So and that goes a long way, doesn’t it? Of course it does. You know what I mean really looking forward to it.

Nish: 42:23

It enhances it. It enhances it tremendously, yeah, but it wasn’t about it. It absolutely wasn’t. I sent you a message just going well, you must feel like being a mid-minus celebrity or something. He was like you’re not. I’m like, yeah, I get it, I get it, you’re up to the round. Yeah, yesterday, the whole day yesterday, I was like this is amazing. How good is this that we’ve got that and that comes off the back of you know, a week ago getting invited to play Cardoos. Do you have anyone who listens can improve my golf game? Just give us a shout. Yeah, name an inland course. We need that. Yeah, okay, so what we’ll do is when people, if and when people have signed up, you know, we’ll then post events on on the website and that’ll be the kind of?

Andy: 43:13

I think it will be. We’ll try and keep it sort of and post events on the website, and that’ll be the kind of hub I think it will be. We’ll try and keep it sort of summertime as well Spring summer?

Nish: 43:19

Yeah, I think so.

Andy: 43:20

I don’t think winter society golf is very attractive. I don’t think anybody really wants to do that, does he?

Nish: 43:27

You know you don’t have trudging through and playing off mats and stuff like that. You just don’t want to be doing any of that Winter green mats and stuff like that. You just don’t want to be doing any of that fair weather golf. I think we’ll do, I agree. So, right, great, well, we will get all of those details on the website. They should be up by the time this goes. Gets broadcast. Broadcast, it’s not my word released, released, yeah, podcasted gets podcasted, and that’s on our website, which is top110.couk, and you can sign up straight away. We probably won’t have details of the first session because we don’t really know what we’re doing with that. That’s a general comment, not an argument, but we don’t know what we’re doing.

Andy: 44:09

I need to look at our list, really, don’t I? Yeah, we have the top 100 courses.

Nish: 44:13

The one that jumped out at me initially was because I know they’re okay yes, and Denim is. It’s less than 20 miles distance wise from here. I’ve played there before and it’s a gorgeous course, playable all year round. There’s no issues with maths and anything like that. Anything like that range really well and all that kind of thing, and they are welcoming of society. So that could be a really good shout.

Andy: 44:36

I know somebody who’s a member there, dan’s mate we did mention about just putting our toe in the water, didn’t we?

Nish: 44:44

yeah, maybe something not 100. Yeah, just to get wet people’s whistles, yeah get used to the format and then you fine tune. Yeah, yeah, good idea, you can use the format, and then you fine tune. There is no format, it’s fun, it’s on the fly, jim, we just make it up as we go along, right, you’re off eight. You’re off like you just kidding mate. You’re off scratch mate. For all of that, I’ve not played for 25 years. I’ve got a picture of you.

Andy: 45:11

You post it on Instagram every 22 months.

Nish: 45:13

Celtic manamay of all places. Yeah, yeah, so we’ll do that. Yeah, let’s just see how it goes. Really, I think we’re as with the top and under, we’re just winging it. Yeah, let’s just see what happens. It all came about, I suppose, for me from I think it was what it was driven by your question people that sort of say you know well what, if you don’t know, give us a shout yeah. Or do you regret asking that question now that you’ve been dragged into this? Because, believe me, believe me, you don’t know what’s going to happen. It will be kicking and screaming, you’ll get messages 20 times a day.

Andy: 45:48

I do have quite a lot, a bit of time on my hands. So in between all, the charity work yeah, of course, mate. Yeah, let’s just do it and see what happens. What’s the worst?

Nish: 45:58

that can happen. Nobody wants to play and we don’t do anything. I don’t think that’ll happen. I think people get involved. I think looking at some of the websites, it appears that probably hovering around 30 to 40 of them are welcoming towards societies.

Nish: 46:19

Whether we end up playing all of them, of course, is then a separate matter, because distances come into it. You know, yeah, not necessarily going down to kent or whatever, but it’d be more stuff near us. But then also there might it might not be something that necessarily both their open societies. It might just be that we can block books and tea times. There might be one like in a couple of years, after we’ve got a bit of momentum going. We have a relationship with a good course, some really marquee course somewhere, and we’ll just go with Wentworth. I definitely know how that cultivated that relationship. Come on, nick, get us something to work with. Actually, chris got an email back from Trump in Trump International and he said that they were pretty. I think they put him on to the marketing manager or something. I know Don’t say anything about Trump. It means we need to. It was your question actually.

Andy: 47:11

Little red dot through that window, yay, boom, jim Nolte’s face fell off. I didn’t question. Actually, little red dot through that window, boom, jim Gould’s face down if you were here, I would have mostly done it.

Nish: 47:20

It was definitely you, but I can change the, so what? They’re not going to be re-listening to the podcast. They’re going to be looking at the transcripts that I put on the website. Anyway, andy, thanks for doing it. No problem, that was a real pleasure and, yeah, we’re going well, we’re going to obviously hear from you more, anyway, alright okay, that’s nice. Yeah, your capacity is our, basically our social secretary, I suppose that’s good, isn’t it?

Andy: 47:45

that’s a good title, isn’t it not? Chairman of the office, is it nah not?

Nish: 47:49

that good yet nah, there’s only room for one chairman in this organisation. One of them is Chris, the latest coach. And then the last thing for me is, well, obviously, get off the website and information will be on there. The last thing for me is to just to kind of share the podcast. Follow it. It’s having a really, really great effect. Now it’s been lovely to to chat to people who are listening and get them on, and, uh, and the fact that we’re just getting people contacting us now out there, out of the room, just in the journey, you know, then that sounds really corny.

Andy: 48:27

we said it’s a journey. It’s one of them shows that I’m. It’s a journey, simon. Well, it’s not the main reason for that.

Nish: 48:38

Watch his sob story being on the yeah on the top line.

Andy: 48:41

Yeah.

Nish: 48:43

On the top line. I ran out of red wine the other day. I’ve been singing since I was six months old. I found that music was me, me, way out of it all. Yeah, whatever. So it’s something like that. You have to have a sob story, definitely, well, you need one, otherwise nobody’s going to listen to you you’re not getting anywhere if you go on there as a multi-millionaire.

Nish: 49:02

I’d love somebody to rock up and just go. My dad’s an absolute multi-millionaire. I’ve never worked a day in my life and all I had to do all day was sing. That you know. And it’s going to be like oh, there we go. We want to see him fail or her fail. But yeah, please do share it. It’s absolutely wonderful and it’s nice to hear from random people. Somebody in the school run stopped me the other day.

Andy: 49:22

They knew of me like and I knew, I knew them they were like how’s your podcast going?

Nish: 49:26

I didn’t even know you listened. So was he wearing a dry robe and crocs? What I’m saying is, if you share it and it gets spread out more, it feeds my ego. That’s what I’m saying. So please do, please don’t get in contact, because his ego is going to need a bigger house.

Andy: 49:43

Yeah, I actually do, because he needs to buy a bigger house and you’re going to help out. I think we need to build his upgrade a studio. Don’t we get a little bar in the garden?

Nish: 49:53

need still determined to try and see if I can figure out how to get a golf set in his house. Somehow. We have an episode coming up young chap called Ellis Cornell who’s the Cheshire 16th champion. He had one in his house. So me I was expecting and we went to go and interview him. I was expecting to go into a basement and it’ll be in there or like out building, in the garden or something like that. So his dad, a dead nice guy, started taking photos of him. I wore upstairs. I was like, oh right, okay, this is a bit odd, but he was on the top floor. They’ve got big old Victorian terrace, so really high ceilings and it was just a bedroom. It was probably the size of this kitchen. Really high ceilings and it was just a bedroom. It was probably the size of this kitchen. And you had the simulator set up in there. I mean in a confined space. A driver is bloody loud when it all reverberates.

Andy: 50:44

I was like it’s like a conjo yeah, it was pretty.

Nish: 50:48

I mean not when I hit it, but certainly when I hit it. Yeah, it was. So they had to keep one of the kids out and they’re sleeping outside, just so they could put this gossip. Yeah, listen, I mean I know you don’t know. Everybody needs to make a sacrifice.

Andy: 51:01

He’s got to make it so his brother can come back to the precious house.

Nish: 51:06

This kid was so grounded like he was really. He kept saying you know, I appreciate, oh no, I think, I think we’ll have actually, actually, this is probably going to go after. But he kept saying I’m really appreciative of what mum and dad have sacrificed for me to be where I am, so I’m really turning to. Well, yeah, we’ve had an unbelievable insight into that part of the game really, because you don’t see, you see all the people who’ve made it, you see all the people who are doing holding ones over the top of their house and all that part of the game really. Because you don’t see, you see all the people who’ve made it, you see all the people who are doing hole-in-ones over the top of their house and all that sort of stuff. It’s actually, it’s that grassroots struggle. It’s a graph. My cousin, who’s a few years in with us and he was a really good golfer.

Andy: 51:50

Scratch golfer made a lot of sacrifices to get there, as did my auntie and uncle didn’t quite make it it’s, it’s.

Nish: 52:00

You know if you’re dependent on how it’s been, it’s when you call it as well, isn’t it?

Andy: 52:07

because you see these people on like the DP World Tour and they’re like ranked 400 in the world and they win one tournament on that and that gets them the card. Yeah, that’s all they want. And they’re like ranked 400 in the world and they win one tournament on that, and that gets them the card.

Nish: 52:18

Yeah, that’s all they want.

Andy: 52:19

They just want to get that card. But watching the G3 World Tour at the end of the season last year and it was like 140 places and they were moving up and down all the time and if you dropped off that you’d go on to like is it the Sunshine Tour or something?

Nish: 52:35

I don’t know that’s yeah, get on the sunshine.

Andy: 52:40

It’s like, oh, you have to go back to q school, right, okay. So when you get to like 50, 45, 50, yeah having to redo q school sounds pretty brutal isn’t it?

Nish: 52:51

that sounds awkward. Yeah, interesting.

Andy: 52:55

Um well thanks you, andrew no problem five pound man a trip to new key when we were, well, a lot younger than we are now. A lot younger than we are. Yeah, yeah, and it was the result of a conversation in the kebab shop.

Nish: 53:15

Yeah, and it was the result of a conversation in the kebab shop Between myself and the kebab owner, love it.

Andy: 53:22

Yeah, thank you, andrew. No problem, until next time. The top 110, 12, I guess.