{"id":883400,"date":"2026-09-07T15:50:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T15:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/883400\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T15:50:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T15:50:31","slug":"golf-a-cold-drink-and-actually-talking-about-the-stuff-that-matters-how-chip-n-chat-is-helping-men-relieve-lifes-pressures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/883400\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Golf, a cold drink, and actually talking about the stuff that matters\u2019: How \u2018Chip \u2018n\u2019 Chat\u2019 is helping men relieve life\u2019s pressures"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"h3\">A chip and a chat. It could be golf drilled down into a five-word nutshell. But it\u2019s also helping to change lives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"h3\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve been at Moor Allerton over the summer, a group of guys have gathered at the Leeds club to do just that: play 9 holes, get together, and talk about anything that might be on their minds.<\/p>\n<p>Chip \u2018n\u2019 Chat Men\u2019s Club is the brainchild of PGA Professional George Carroll and his student Andy Wilson.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The pair bonded not only in the lesson studio, but in the catch-up they would have before they started hitting shots.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe first 15 minutes of pretty much each lesson was a check-in with each other and just to see how each other was,\u201d said Carroll.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019d been through some tough times, and I was struggling as well through various things. It was like having a conversation with each other \u2013 and giving each other a hug if we needed to \u2013 and just making sure each was all right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What struck both was how golf was a natural environment to get things off the chest \u2013 a relaxed, no-pressure place to converse.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"GeorgeCarrollPic.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f62b495b-00da-4f0c-9e58-7aa774184a3d.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>PGA Professional George Carroll<\/p>\n<p>Carroll added: \u201cYou\u2019ve got a couple of people who are generally your pals around you and you&#8217;re out in the fresh air and having a walk.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere doesn&#8217;t need to be any pressure on the golf, but it\u2019s such a perfect place to talk about things and you\u2019re not sat down in a controlled environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you don\u2019t want to talk, you don\u2019t have to, either. But that space on the golf course is just perfect to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"h4\">\u201cYou just can\u2019t believe how powerful it can be. All it takes is one person to start talking about something and it opens the floodgates.&#8221; &#8211; George Carroll<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>From there, Chip \u2018n\u2019 Chat was born. Its beauty is its informality, as Carroll explained: \u201cWe\u2019re trying to keep it as simple and casual as possible. We\u2019ve done a couple of events and they\u2019ve just been remarkable.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can have a chat on the course. You can have a chat when the group is back together indoors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe go and sit in a quieter room, away from anybody else. We\u2019re trying to provide a safe space and if anybody wants to come and have a conversation about anything that\u2019s happened to them, or anything they want to talk about, they can do. And if they want to just turn up and play golf, they can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Moor Allerton held the first event in June and provided crucial backing as the new gathering got off the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Carroll plans to take the concept with him when he becomes the Head Professional at Harrogate in the next few weeks.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s because he has already seen the huge benefits getting people together in this environment can have. The group has already had a tremendous impact and is growing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"GeorgeCarrollChipChat.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/d676ab79-9cea-4119-9be9-1f058ed1c887.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Chip &#8216;n&#8217; Chat is having a big impact on the lives of participants<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou just can\u2019t believe how powerful it can be,\u201d he said. \u201cAll it takes is one person to start talking about something and it opens the floodgates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe first 9, I played with a chap who didn\u2019t even believe he had anything he was struggling with, but he came away from that evening absolutely buzzing. He had a smile from ear to ear and was phoning us and saying he couldn\u2019t believe how great that was.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve played with two guys in completely different situations and both times I was able to open up about things I\u2019ve not been able to speak about.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t go into it thinking I was going to do that. I was there to try and help other people. But there was this collective [spirit], where you were able to open up if you wanted to. You didn\u2019t even know those people two hours ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t have to have any kind of recognised anxiety issue. There\u2019s no pressure. It might just be that you want to come and meet some new guys and play golf and have a drink afterwards. That\u2019s absolutely fine. But it\u2019s also there if you do want to come and tell someone what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd my door&#8217;s always open. My phone&#8217;s always ready to be answered. I am so happy to help anybody where I can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Anyone interested in attending an event, which are held monthly, can message George on Instagram <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/chipnchatmensclub\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@chipnchatmensclub<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>                <script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 A chip and a chat. It could be golf drilled down into a five-word nutshell. But it\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":883401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-883400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=883400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/883401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}