The Speedgolf World Championships are heading our way faster than Rob Hogan fleeing a beard trimmer. We’ve got 84 competitors across the Open, Women, and Senior divisions.
To shovel some extra coal into the hype train, I’ve been burning the midnight oil, dissecting stats, and stalking social media feeds to bring you the ultimate World Championships power rankings.
It’s been a labor of love, requiring an unhealthy obsession with tracking down speedgolf tournament results. (Sidebar: Speedgolf Japan is the gold standard of tournament record-keeping!)
First on the tee, we’re taking a swing at the Senior division. These seasoned speedsters prove that age is just a number – unless that number is 50 or higher, in which case it’s the golden ticket to this silver-haired showdown.
So, without further ado (because let’s face it, in speedgolf, ado is the enemy), here are the top 20 seniors in the field.
» Honorable mentions | "Happy to be here"
Don’t shoot the messenger, but only 20 players can make the top 20. Your 2024 honorable mentions: Tim Shryack, USA | Pat Brennan, Ireland | Sean Ohno, Japan | Akahiro Taka, Japan.
On to the top 20!
#20 Mats Åkesson, Sweden | 🚨 Liability Golf | ⏱️ Efficient Speed
Mats sells a robot that picks up range balls. How long before he can get a robot to hit tee shots for him?
19 小川清孝 Kiyotaka Ogawa, Japan | ⚠️ Inconsistent Golf | ⏱️ Efficient Speed
Things I know about Kiyotaka Ogawa:
- He plays in a LOT of speedgolf tournaments.
- He’s the second-best Ogawa on the Japanese Senior tour. (See below.)
#18 Shane Lakins, Canada | ⚠️ Inconsistent Golf | ⏱️ Efficient Speed
Shane has a golf and fitness coaching practice and he’s recently started posting speedgolf content on Facebook. Give him a follow!
#17 Chris Hundhausen, United States | ⚠️ Inconsistent Golf | ⏱️ Efficient Speed
Chris “The Professor of Speedgolf” is the mastermind behind speedscore.org, which aims to be the “everything app” for speedgolfers. Check it out if you haven’t already. And if you know a speedgolf course that’s not mapped yet, offer to help out.
#16 Gary Sobczak, United States | ⚠️ Inconsistent Golf | ⏱️ Efficient Speed
Gary has played in over 50 speedgolf tournaments around the world. You know what that means: his wife, Jane, is the real MVP.
Golf Ratings Key:
🏆 Elite (best) | ⛳️ Steady | 👍 Competent | ⚠️ Inconsistent | 🚨 Liability (worst)“Judge not, lest ye be judged,” said the person who wants a vanilla World Championships preview.
#15 西川智巳 Tomomi Nishikawa, Japan | ⚠️ Inconsistent Golf | ⏱️ Efficient Speed
As an American, it’s not easy to put the 2023 US Open Senior champion this low on the list. But the level of competition in this division is at an all-time high this year!
#14 John Farron, New Zealand | 👍 Competent Golf | ⏱️ Efficient Speed
In 2023, Kiwi John Farron turned the “shortest day” into his own personal speedgolf marathon, smashing 100 holes in less than 6 hours at Paraparaumu Beach. That’s a great achievement! At Worlds, we’re just looking for two perfect rounds.
#13 Timo Eskeli, Finland | 🥇 2022 World Champion | ⚠️ Inconsistent Golf | 🏃♂️ Swift Speed
In case you needed more evidence that the Senior division got a HUGE influx of talent in the last two years: the 2022 World Champ is ranked 13th!
Signature performances: 5th at Finnish Championships, 1st at Worlds 2022
#12 松岡伸太 Shinta Matsuoka, Japan | 👍 Competent Golf | ⏱️ Efficient Speed
Matsuoka-san is the speedgolf equivalent of a ninja - silent, efficient, and impossible to find on the internet. This Japanese enigma might be flying under the radar, but that means he’s got more potential surprises than a bento box.
Signature performances: 2nd at Iga Open, 2nd at Hokkaido Open
#11 伴場信吾 Shingo Banba, Japan | 👍 Competent Golf | ⏱️ Efficient Speed
According to his Instagram bio, Shingo has 8 holes in one and has run a 2:50 marathon. Prediction: if he makes 8 holes in one at Worlds this year, he will finish top-3 in the Senior division 😁.
Signature performances: 3rd at Ibaraki Open, 3rd at Japan Open 2023
Speed Ratings Key:
🚀 Supersonic (best) | 🏃♂️ Swift | ⏱️ Efficient | 🐢 Leisurely | 🥵 Winded (worst)“Fast is relative,” said the sloth to the cheetah.
#10 Paul Kivela, United States | 👍 Competent Golf | 🏃♂️ Swift Speed
Dr. Kivela’s seamlessly switches from saving lives in the ER to saving strokes on the course. This former college XC star is proving that his sprint to the green is almost as fast as his dash to the defibrillator.
Signature performance: 2nd at US Open
#9 Peter Sharlott, New Zealand | ⛳️ Steady Golf | ⏱️ Efficient Speed
Peter Sharlott, a biomedical equipment technician, is a past winner of the Royal New Zealand Air Force Golf Championship.
Signature performances: 1st at North Island Open, 3rd at New Zealand Open
#8 小林秀之 Hideyuki Kobayashi, Japan | 👍 Competent Golf | 🏃♂️ Swift Speed
Kobayashi might share a name with the hot dog eating champ, but he’s not here to inhale encased meat byproducts. He’s devouring fairways and greens faster than you can say “Hideyuki Kobayashi”.
Signature performances: 4th at Ibaraki Open, 2nd at Japan Open 2023
#7 Greg Anderson, New Zealand | ⛳️ Steady Golf | ⏱️ Efficient Speed
Haters will say Greg is only coming to Worlds to keep his 22-year-old son Jordan out of trouble, but he’s got the potential to make a run at the top 5!
Signature performance: 2nd at New Zealand Open
#6 小川泰樹 Yasuki Ogawa, Japan | 👍 Competent Golf | 🏃♂️ Swift Speed
The #1 Ogawa on the Japanese Senior tour comes in at #6 in my rankings. A formidable competitor with a 99.7% chance of beating Kiyotaka Ogawa.
Signature performances: 2nd at Ibaraki Open, 1st at Iga Open, 1st at Hokkaido Open, 1st at Japan Open 2023
» 🌏 Help Speedgolf Baby at Worlds 📽️
Do you want a front row seat to an elite speedgolfer’s round? Do you want to contribute to the 2024 World Championships broadcast? If so, I’d be extremely grateful if YOU would consider being a camera operator at the World Championships.
I don’t like asking for help, but I can’t deny the truth — I need help. There are going to be amazing performances at Worlds, and if we don’t have cameras rolling, those moments will be lost forever.
If you’re even a little bit interested, reply to this email and I’ll share more details.
On to the favorites! ⛳🏃🏌🔥#5 Markus Rytterkull, Sweden | ⛳️ Steady Golf | 🏃♂️ Swift Speed
#4 Mikael Palmberg, Sweden | ⛳️ Steady Golf | 🏃♂️ Swift Speed
Strap in for a double dose of Scandinavian swiftness! Coming in at #5 and #4, we’ve got the Swedish sensations Markus Rytterkull and Mikael Palmberg. These Nordic speedsters are so similar in skill, they could be mistaken for twins separated at birth and reunited on the fairway.
Signature performances:
- Rytterkull: 9th at Swedish Speedgolf Open (Open division)
- Palmberg: 6th at Swedish Speedgolf Open (Open division)
#3 Damian Mills, New Zealand | ⛳️ Steady Golf | 🏃♂️ Swift Speed
Team New Zealand has the best chance of any nation to sweep the awards at Worlds, thanks to Jamie Reid, Liz McKinnon, and this man — Damian Mills.
Signature performances: 1st at New Zealand Open, 1st at Northland Open, 2nd at North Island Open
#2 Steve Vancil, United States | 🏆 Elite Golf | 🏃♂️ Swift Speed
Steve Vancil is here to make you question everything you thought you knew about golf, running, and possibly the laws of physics. The 59-year-old math teacher subtracts strokes from his scorecard faster than his students can say “calculus.”
On the hottest day in recorded history (according to me), Steve shot 69 (-2) at the sadistic Yahnundasis Golf Club — 8 shots better than anyone in any division. That was the 2024 US Open, which he won by a margin of 40 minutes(!).
So remember, kids: do your math homework, hit some range balls, and maybe, just maybe, you too can grow up to make the rest of the field look like they’re moving in slow motion.
Signature performances: 1st at US Open, 5th at US Open 2023 (Open division)
#1 松井丈 Joe Matsui, Japan | ⛳️ Steady Golf | 🚀 Supersonic Speed
In the Land of the Rising Sun, only two speedgolfers have posted faster 18-hole times than Joe this year. Those two are both top 5 players in the world.
Joe just moved up to the Senior division and is making the competition sweat more than a sumo wrestler in a sauna. He’s collecting trophies like they’re Pokémon, and he’s gotta catch ‘em all. No one will be surprised if Joe wins a World Championship at the 700 Club, where he shot 75 in 50:58 just a year ago.
Signature performances: 1st at Ibaraki Open, 1st at Nagoya Bayside Classic, 4th at Japan Open 2023 (Open division)
And there you have it, folks - the crème de la crème of senior speedgolf. Stay tuned for the Women’s and Open division power ranks, coming soon to your inbox. Be sure to add your email address to the list if you haven’t already.
Until next time, keep it in the short grass.