At The Turn - Golf Podcast · Joe Simons & Nick Heidelberger

Gifting Golf Lessons & Goals for 2026

·1 hr 6 min·4 clips

Nick says his 2025 improvement came from putting, not ball striking.

1. At The Turn turns "Gifting Golf Lessons & Goals for 2026" into a golf-nerd conversation about gifts, statistics, and offseason plans. 2. Hosts Nick Heidelberger and Joe Simons lead the episode, with Joe posing the gift question and Nick answering from the perspective of a golfer who tracks his game. 3. The episode asks whether a golf lesson is a rude present or a smart one, then uses that question to build toward 2026 goals. 4. Joe describes his friend Andy Hainer as a 14 handicap who plays about five times a year and names his woods Brandy, Candy, and Mandy. 5. Joe says he considered buying Andy a golf lesson, then asks if that would feel "emasculating" or thoughtful. 6. Nick says December is the perfect time for a lesson because it leaves "a couple months" to book it and work on changes before the season. 7. Nick points to Scotty Scheffler as proof that golf lessons are not a sign of weakness. 8. Nick says a lesson can still help with putting, short game, or club selection even if the full swing is already fine. 9. Joe says he asked for golf lessons for Christmas and hopes his mother will "pull through." 10. Joe later says the last lessons he took were in high school, and one drill still helps when his swing dips down. 11. Nick describes an old lesson that gave him a simple arm-folding drill he still uses more than 20 years later. 12. Joe says the lesson works because turning behind the ball puts the club in a better place and the exercise still helps on the range. 13. Nick and Joe then move to simulator golf, where Joe asks whether to bring his own clubs and how putting works. 14. They say simulator golf is more like a virtual round with friends than a range session, and Joe compares the mindset to bowling. 15. Joe also talks through his year using the USGA "gin rewind," including his six rounds in May and a low score in November. 16. Nick says his own 2025 scoring improved because putting changed, not because his ball striking changed much. 17. Nick says his up-and-down rate rose from 23% in 2024 to 30% in 2025, and his make rate from six to nine feet jumped from 27% to 44%. 18. The tone stays conversational and practical, with both hosts swapping stories, numbers, and small jokes instead of formal analysis. 19. Golfers who like offseason practice, handicap talk, and gift ideas will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners wanting a polished interview or a non-golf topic may skip it.

As heard by us

Year-end golf banter with receipts, goals, and handicap anxiety.

At The Turn settles into a year-end check-in, with Nick and Joe looking back at 2025 and sketching out what they want from 2026. The talk hangs on receipts, handicap chatter, and the joke that posting goals at the end of the year is not for everybody.

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Why you'd press play

For a year-end golf reset with receipts, handicap talk, and Christmas-week nerves.

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