Around the green strategy in speedgolf

Get up and down as quickly as possible.

Both. A stroke costs a full minute, so I cannot just rush and make mistakes. But I also cannot take forever playing careful golf.

Speedgolf score equals golf strokes plus total time.

So:

SGS = golf strokes + run time + golf time

Or in seconds:

SGS = 60(strokes) + run seconds + golf seconds

Expected SGS. Not just strokes, and not just time.

The putter. Putting is low risk. It is hard to chunk, blade, or leave in a bunker. And if the putter is already in my hand, I do not have to switch clubs.

It needs to save at least three to five seconds in expected SGS. Since one stroke is sixty seconds, that means it needs to improve the expected golf outcome by at least:

3 ÷ 60 = 0.05 strokes

to

5 ÷ 60 = 0.08 strokes

No. A chip might be better if there is a sprinkler head, thick fringe, a big slope, or some other feature that makes putting unreliable.

Putt. If the ball can roll safely, putting is usually the lowest-risk choice.

No. The putt is usually better.

We’ve covered this. A long putt has lower expected strokes than a pitch from off the green, and it avoids a club transition. Here’s what we decided:

• 60-foot putt: 2.21 strokes to hole out
• 20-yard fairway pitch: 2.40 strokes + club switch time = adds 14-16 SGS seconds
• 20-yard rough pitch: 2.59 strokes + club switch time = adds 26-28 SGS seconds
• 20-yard sand shot: 2.56 strokes + club switch time + raking time = adds 37-39 SGS seconds

It depends on the lie, the amount of green to work with, whether I need to carry something, and what shots I have practiced.

Because the theoretical best shot is not necessarily my best shot in competition. If I have practiced a low running chip thousands of times, that may be safer than a pitch. But if I only practice high soft pitches, then the high pitch may be my better competitive shot.

Probably not. That increases decision-making and execution risk.

Have one or two stock shots. For example:

• Putt whenever possible.
• Use one stock running chip when the ball cannot be putted.
• Use one stock carry shot when I must fly the ball over rough, bunker, slope, or water.

It reduces thinking time and lowers execution risk. I do not have to invent a shot while breathing hard.

Among the shots I can reliably execute under speedgolf conditions, which one gives the lowest expected SGS?

Get the ball onto the putting surface.

Not first. If I get cute and leave it in the bunker, water, or even rough, the failure can cost a full stroke plus extra golf time.

At least one extra stroke, so sixty seconds. Then more setup time, more raking, and another shot. So maybe sixty-five to ninety seconds.

Sixty seconds for the penalty stroke, plus drop procedure and possible extra movement. That could be seventy-five to one hundred twenty seconds or more.

Yes. If the bad outcome costs around seventy-five seconds, then five extra seconds only needs to reduce that risk by:

5 ÷ 75 = about 7%

No. Extra time is bad when it does not improve the outcome. But it is good when it prevents a costly failure.

Avoid the three-putt.

No. I do not know what would have happened with a faster read.

So I need to compare the cost of extra reading time with the expected stroke-risk reduction.

Ten seconds is:

5 ÷ 60 = 0.08 strokes

So it must reduce expected strokes, in other words a three-putt, by about 8%.

Probably not. Even if my baseline three-putt risk from 30 feet is double, at 10%, that’s an expected cost of:

10% × 60s = 6s

So a five second read is breakeven at best most of the time.

Spending extra time can make more sense. On a putt like that, my three-putt risk could be close to 50% and a four-putt is unfortunately a possibility. A few seconds spent understanding the speed and safe leave may prevent a bad miss.

Speed first. The goal is not to find the perfect make line. The goal is to leave the ball in a safe two-putt zone.

Inside twenty-five or thirty feet, trust the first read unless something looks strange.

From forty to sixty feet, take a short deliberate read focused on speed.

On very long putts, tiers, severe slopes, or fast downhill putts, take a few extra seconds to identify the safe leave.

No. If I am waiting for the ball anyway, I did not save usable time. I only raised my heart rate. Sprinting was counterproductive.

Then walking is probably better. The time savings are tiny, and walking gives me recovery before I run to the next tee.

No. These decisions compound over the round. If I sprint over and over, gaining only a few seconds total, I may lose more time later from fatigue because I missed chances to recover.

Run when movement time is the bottleneck. Walk when recovery, ball-settling time, or shot execution is the bottleneck.

You cannot set them on the green. So you either carry them somehow while putting, or you leave them off the green and retrieve them afterward.

Where they are relative to the hole and the next tee.

Almost zero. I hole out, run to the clubs, pick them up, and continue toward the next tee. But that only works when I’m approaching the green from the same angle I’ll be exiting later, which is rare.

Then I may have to backtrack. If the clubs are twenty yards from the hole, I might run twenty yards to get them and twenty yards back toward the exit line, adding forty yards of travel.

A seven-minute mile is 420 seconds over 1,760 yards, or about 0.24 seconds per yard.

So forty yards costs:

40 × 0.24 = about 9.5 seconds

Then I may add a second or two to grab the clubs.

Yes. And it will cost minutes over a full round.

If there were a clear winner, I think elite speedgolfers would have converged on it. My best guess is that those club carrying methods only differ by a small amount when putting. It probably depends more how a player likes to carry their clubs when they’re not on the green.

The important thing is to find a way to bring my clubs with me on the green that doesn’t interfere with my putting stroke or slow down my movement too much.

Expected value.

3 ÷ 60 = 5%

5 ÷ 60 = about 8%

It is right around the break-even zone. If the putt is truly automatic, casual tapping is fine. But once confidence drops, taking a real setup is worth it.

Test it. Hit casual taps and proper putts from one foot, one and a half feet, two feet, two and a half feet, and three feet. Find the distance where the casual tap starts losing too much make rate.

Probably around one foot. Maybe longer for elite players, shorter for nervous or developing players.

Casual tap only inside my proven automatic range. Outside that, take the few seconds and make a real stroke.

I am trying to hole out with the lowest expected SGS, not simply play the prettiest short-game shot or move as fast as possible.

That usually means putting whenever the ball can roll safely, because the putter has low risk and often avoids a club switch.

When I cannot putt, I should choose from my practiced stock shots rather than inventing a specialty shot while tired. A bump-and-run may be best for many golfers, but the best competition shot is the one I can execute reliably under speedgolf conditions.

In bunkers and forced-carry situations, my first priority is getting the ball onto the putting surface. A longer putt is acceptable if it reduces the chance of a disaster like leaving the ball in a bunker, water, or penalty area.

On lag putts, I should read for speed and safe leave, not pretend that staring longer always improves the outcome. On short putts, I can casual tap only inside my proven automatic range.

I should also manage my effort and my clubs. Sprinting to a ball that is still rolling saves nothing, and leaving my clubs on the side of the green costs minutes over a round.

In plain English: around the green, speedgolf is about avoiding expensive little disasters. Use simple practiced shots, get the ball on the putting surface, protect against the big tail risks, and spend time only where it actually buys expected SGS.