Rick Shiels has officially entered Open Qualifying! 

Get Liam from Golf Mates out of caddy retirement as a European tour winning caddy to steer you around. Quality RU-vid collaboration.

Dear Rick, Most of us are happy to hear you are entering open qualifying! We won’t care if you shoot 86 or 71 we will enjoy watching you compete in a competitive golf setting and hopefully having fun doing so. Best of luck pal.

Rick.. you need to have a formal portrait taken in that chair, with that Guinness.

Loved hearing from the guys behind the camera. Great pod love the work guys

You know what? I think Matt and Ed would make fantastic stand-ins for Guy when he's away! I love how confident Matt is especially with chipping in and creating that back-and-forth chat and banter. Just like you Rick, he's a natural! So looking forward to seeing how you get on, thanks for taking all of us along with you for the ride...

This was a great chat Rick! Loved it with the crew! Should be more of this!

I can't remember the last time I heard you so relaxed but exited about where your golf is at Rick. Take this attitude on to the course and you can't lose... but leave the Guinness behind! 👏👏 Go for it!

Fav pod ever. Great having more than 2 people

Good luck in qualifying for the Open Rick.

Good luck qualifying for the open, hope to see you at Royal Troon.

Good luck, love to see you in the field.

Great work, loved the chat between you all.

Hi Rick. This was the best ever podcast for me. Loved the chat with Matt and Ed in the background. I think a scramble video with you, Matt, Ed and Guy would be awesome including a back spin competition on one hole 😂

Great to hear! Good luck Rick!

Brilliant content and so far one of the most interesting for me. Great you have entered qualifying. Good luck

Sounds like that wasn't Rick's first pint,, gift of the gap 😂

Ive fond memories of Royal County Down. I played a match a few years back against their captain and holed a 12 footer to win on 18. The last match ofbthe fixture and put us through. Course was wonderful, as were the members who were super hospitable. We even had a couple of pints both before and after the match😂

Great video as always. As much as Guy is a miss today it’s great to hear and have the other members included in the podcast is brilliant!

Absolutely fantastic episode! Totally felt that I was in the clubhouse with you just chatting. I would love the guys to be involved more. You guys just seem to have a great rapport.

Best of luck to you Rick

Absolutely brillo, Up down, lets gooooo Love to see some northern golf!

Great podcast Rick. Learned so much.

Seriously the best decision you’ve made in the last 5 years! No matter the result you should be entering competition golf! Open qualifiers could be a big jump but absolutely not out of reach! Good luck Rick!!!!!👍👍

Great episode! While I did miss Guy on this episode, it was nice hearing from the rest of the guys. I'm so excited for you Rick and your upcoming qualifier. Excited to hear about and see your progress when training. Love the podcast and the content. Best of luck! 😀

Love the behind the scenes commentary.

My grandad was a member of Royal County Down his whole life, but he always called it Newcastle.

Rick, every Break75 or new filming week that comes out I'm screaming at the TV hoping it's in Ireland and here you are. Really hoping the weather turns so we can see Royal Co Down in all it's beauty, these are some of the best tracks on earth. Look forward to the content!

Congrats for entering ! Enjoy the experience and doing well is a bonus !!

I listen to all your podcast while I'm mowing and this was by far one of the best podcasts yet. You heard solid truth about your game and it had been mentioned in comments for months that you try to shape to much and over think your putts. This was a breath of fresh air for you. I'm really looking forward to seeing how you play from here on in. Keep at it rick! Question to ask on the podcast. Have you kept record of every golf course you have ever played? I keep a ball marker from every course and I'm nearing 80 in 3 years.

Looking forward to the open qualifying content. Gives us a good behind the ropes view of what its like. Maybe he'll shock people and have it all come together

Cant wait to follow the results!

All the best dude, it's a mental game, you hit it well enough without nerves.

Hoping for the best!

My Dad was born in Ardglass Castle Clubhouse... Don't let Howd's-Hole scare you Rick

Thanks for the impromptu podcast. I really enjoyed the conversational nature and hearing Matt and Ed! Would love to see a round table format with everyone on camera chatting about topics. You couldn't refer to it as a rough cut (wink wink) but I think the lads add a lot to the discussion.

Nice to hear from the 'staff', welcome addition

Great to hear you're working with Scott Fawcett Rick. Scott is absolutely one of the smartest people in golf. I was thinking that a series of videos of you trying to up your tournament game with Scott caddying for you would be incredible. His golf strategy game is the benchmark. He's also a great player. Imagine a kind of "One Year to PGA" or even more exciting an idea... Team up with Scott and aim at playing a Liv event next year. Just some thoughts. I'm thinking gym, training, coaching, the whole nine yards... You're in a very unique position. Use it to educate your audience.

Bring it on Rick I wish you all the luck mate great contents great guy you deserve it pal

One of the best podcast you've done, just my opinion. Just seemed more relaxed and open about whats going on with your game and having fun. I'm not putting Guy down but definitely more adversarial.

Goodluck Rick!

Good luck Rich!! It’s not going to be easy

I was one of the guys that stuck it out on the course at Royal Co. Down in the wind and rain yesterday evening! It was brutal - the clubs and apparel are still drying out 24 hours later, but still an incredible experience to play there! Enjoy your trip, the courses you will be playing are superb.

Win . lose .. or draw , its going to be all about the experience , i for one am looking forward to the video ......... good luck Rick 🙂

Good luck Ricky lad

Go Rick You can do it

I can’t believe that no one in this podcast had heard of Shawn Fawcett and Decade Golf. Golf is their livelihood, I find this absolutely astonishing.

Best of luck

Best time to come to Australia is March/April. End of our summer heading into Autumn. I would love to come meet you and watch you play. My local course Port Lincoln Golf Club, South Australia would be a great break 75. Hoping you can find the time to come “Down Under”. Probably to late but will be keen to see if you qualify. Good luck.

If you are going to do gapping sessions you also need to include the make / model or your clubs and their lofts. Strong lofted irons could add a full club to your distances.

Rosapenna st Patrick’s links is a must! Bit further away but worth the trip

Really interested to hear Rick speak about Scott Fawcett, just watched a Good Good Extra video where Scott gave the boys his house!

Glad to know Rick has a proper understanding of the Law of Large Numbers.

Can we get more of these guys on? Maybe have Matt as a permanent part of the Friday Clubhouse episodes?

I wish you all the best for quali…..you got this, you can do this 👍

At last Rick welcome to Ireland ☘ You will have a great time. And only an hours flight time from Manchester. Can't wait to see the content. Enjoy the Guinness and the craic. Slainte.

Thanks for the insight of the game. I will still play one shot at a time.

Go get em Rick!

GOOOOD LUCK. You're going to need a ton of it to make the cut. I have a guy here who averages 8 under par and he doesn't think he'll qualify. Conditions will be brutal.

Wedge chart changed my golfing life. Went from 12hdcp to 7. I even did a "wedge chart" for a lot of my clubs because if you need a punch out from a favorable lie or avoiding something you didnt anticipate is really handy. Like, if you have a drive thats in the fairway and you're only 120 yards out but you have a tall tree that blocks a regular iron in but you got 30 feet of space to work with underneath of it, I know that I can 1/2 swing a chippy a 6 iron that hardly gets off the ground and rolls out.

Agreed with the comments having to lads behind the camera is great. Makes the videos more personal

It’s funny how you mention the driver situation Rick, I’ve had the struggles like yourself there, my natural shot is a little fade, but for the last year or so I’ve been trying to move it both ways etc and it’s resulted in bad shanks, pulled poorly left🤦🏼‍♂️ so the last 2 weeks or so I’ve just literally gone back to my natural shot and it results in so much more confidence on the tee

Very excited to see how you score after implementing decade Rick! I bet we are about to see a lot of sub 75s!

Good luck for the Qualifying, if all fails just get right into the Guinness again 🙏🏾😁

April to September is a beautiful time of year here in OZ for Golf. Clear Skies, Light breeze, and mid 20's C.

Should roll in to one of Peter Finch’s area pro contests. Nice little practice before your domination of Open qualifying.

Hi Rick, to answer your question about the best time to goto Australia, I think it would be November, especially if you’re coming to the west coast, the weather is good (not to hot not too cold). Whereas it’s getting pretty nippy in your neck of the woods

Much better podcast than usual mate.. not havin to listen to the charnock podcast was a nice change 😂👍🏻👍🏻

I love how thick Rick’s accent gets when he’s just hanging out at the pub with the boys😂

My wedges are killing me right now. I used to be scratch, when I practiced different wedge distances. My driver is by far the best asset of my game, so I have lots of short wedge shots into short par 4’s, and long par 5’s. These are golden opportunities to score, and I’m simply not doing it. You’ve inspired me to get back out there, and dial in my wedges.

Go give it your best and pursue happiness! Regarding your wedge distances, you might consider using some label tape and putting your distances on the shaft just below the grip.

To play at Rory’s home course u need to go 30 miles up the road to Holywood golf club

Split the G Rick 👏🏻

Get yourself a local caddie or the club champion at your qualifying round. It worked for Tommy lad in the masters one of his best finishes in a major

Hey Rick Will you play in the open if you qualify and how do you get your mindset on the game and not others

Who else remembers the amount of negativity Guy and Rick gave to Peter Finch for trying to qualify for the Open?

Lol at the idea of a wedge chart. I'm never close enough to use a wedge on my second shot!

Come down to Australia when Liv Golf is in Adelaide

Rick, think of it this way, you have absolutely nothing to lose now. All of the people who think you’ll shoot a high score can only be surprised and some even happy if you prove them wrong. Just go out there and play some solid golf!

I liked this episode a lot. I’ve just done my wedge chart a few weeks ago: 4 wedges, 3 swings: 12 distances between 38 & 110 meters. I think I need a 4rth shorter swing to gap the 15 to 38 meters. BUT, I already made an up & down from 96m and 72m so it’s already working for me. 🤩

I’m a 15 handicap and recently did my pitching and chipping numbers and have been practicing putting every night with a putout mat in the kitchen, yesterday i shot 82 so yes it works 👍.

Thanks for asking my question Matt, I play off 14 and hit my 7 iron 175 so knowing your distances would have been interesting... (although i get what Rick was saying)

I used to be ”Matt”. 120 chs and 17 handicap. Since I took some lessons back in the 90’s my chs dropped significantly, cause them PGA noodles didn’t know sheite about accelerating a playing device. All I’d needed back in the day was controll over the fast clubhead and they put me crossing my arms staying stationary inswing. And one told me to turn my lead leg - foot closed at the stance to restrict the slide past the ball. Restricted the hips from turning and broke my knee, thank you! It was only then I knew, I need to go thru thick and thin by my own. Leadbetter was the standard back in the day, but his advice was no good either.

Australia, November to May depending on location.

I absolutely agree with the statement that play in tournaments is different. I've played competitive baseball at the national and collegiate level, so I'm no stranger to competition. When I picked up golf, it was a lot of fun, but starting proper score and now playing in the Amateur Players Tour, the fact that each shot matters makes me plot my way around the course better and forces me to be smarter in my regular weekend play as well. I'm off of 14hcp right now, but am planning to do a simple wedge chart. I got my 52 Kirkland bent to 50 to try to close the gap and get better at finding out what my carry distances are. Is there another way aside from Trackman to reliably get this?

I don't know what my weakness is 😂 chip much.

Good luck in qualifying for the Open Rick. Are you going to join with Pete Finch in QFTO?

Any chance to catch you guys while here in Northern Ireland?

Would be good to share an image of your wedge-chart, Rick. Sounds like something we should all be doing.

Matt's 7 iron is interesting... I'm a 18 handicap and I'm carrying 185 😅 This obviously means I need to be better haha If your coming to Oz, possibly Sydney, your better off coming in Spring, it's waaaay to humid otherwise

Good luck Rick , give it your best effort and don’t worry about all the haters it’s just all the players who would never enter the open qualifier !

You mention all the stats you want to collect. Are you ‘allowed’ to use shot trackers? (E.G. Arccos or ShotScope?)

😂😂😂 fucking love it .well said 👍

Always check your iron lofts...even from new. Tolerances can be +/- 2* out. I have checked many new clubs right out of the box, and I haven't seen one set, from any manufacturer, that didn't have 1 or 2 clubs out of spec for loft. Lie angles are usually better.

Would be really cool to see Rick do some Events, even if he doesn't record them and just update on how he did, give hole descriptions and stuff.

If you go to AUS, add South Africa to the trip!

Rick's Therapy Session .... now just sit here Rick and let's talk about your putting!

I was really hoping we had Ricky for the intro of the podcast and was fully hoping you were going to at least “split the G” 😂😂

Good luck Rick 🤞🤞🤞🤞

25:27 YOUR SHAFT ??? 😅

You hitting from grass or matts??