Chaos in Castlebar: Take 2

Howdy speedgolf family! You’re reading This Week in Speedgolf.

Reading this newsletter is like walking your dog. It’s always familiar, it sometimes comes with unexpected twists, but you always end up right back where you started.

Here’s what’s happening in speedgolf this week.

Rob Hogan, two-time speedgolf world champion and most interesting speedgolfer alive, announced a daring new format for this year’s Irish Speedgolf Open, spurring confusion and concern from established speedgolf figures.

What we know

Quick history lesson: Speedgolf Rob (like yours truly) doesn’t believe 36 hole strokes + minutes is the most compelling format for speedgolf. And because the Irish Open is his event, he can experiment all he wants.

In 2024, he tried a daily theme idea — one day, time is all that matters; another day, golf score is all that matters.

In 2025, he debuted Irish Style Scoring. Your time is your time, but you get one minute subtracted for every birdie and one minute added for every double bogey or worse.

After the 2025 edition, he proposed what I call Speedgolf: Adventure Mode. Time is all that matters, but a birdie unlocks a shortcut to the next green, and a double bogey means you have to take the “scenic route”. (This is a logistical nightmare, but I would love to try it!)

The 2026 experiment has been announced. I call it Tee Ladder Speedgolf.

In many ways, it’s a continuation of the same theme: if you make birdie, you get to play from the front tees on the next hole. If you make bogey, you have to move back to the tips. If you make par, you play from the middle tees.

But there’s a significant new wrinkle that has everyone’s knickers in a twist. “THIS IS A MASS START EVENT.” says Hogan.

You remember that video of the 10 crazy 20-somethings in Australia playing speedgolf with helmets and safety glasses? That’s a “mass start” event.

It clearly worked for those kids in the Sydney suburbs. In just a few short weeks, we’ll find out whether this format works for adults with mortgages, wills, and life insurance policies.

The community is NOT sold

Valérie Texier, head of Speedgolf France, said the French golf federation would never allow such a dangerous event.

Pam Painter, head of British Speedgolf, strongly recommended liability waivers, event insurance, and having ambulances on-site (invoking the Gloucester Cheese Rolling race). She also warned that other speedgolf tournaments might be required to carry insurance if Rob goes ahead with this plan.

Garlin Smith, head of Speedgolf SoCal, said “I cannot imagine a US course allowing ‘mass start’ due to the potential liability”. He argues that the closer we keep speedgolf to regular golf, the easier it is for golfers to cross over.

Chris Hundhausen, the Professor of Speedgolf, said he personally would never take on the risk of playing in a ‘mass start’ event.

Why it could work

I have to point out something a little delicate: the people expressing the strongest objections to this concept are all over 50 years old. They are (appropriately) concerned about what could go wrong.

Rob seems to be concerned with something else altogether: what will the internet be excited to watch?

You see, Rob streams live on TikTok most mornings. He’s in direct contact with the people who consume his content. And I’m guessing Rob has observed the same thing I have: the biggest speedgolf videos of the past year have NOT come from traditional speedgolf.

• We had the Grant Horvat + Bryan Bros speedgolf relay
• We had Lachlan Earnshaw’s mass start chaos golf event

The only traditional speedgolfer I’ve seen getting big views is Luke Willett (and even then, it’s for spectacles and challenges, not for strokes + minutes).

So Rob is placing a (calculated) bet on what will earn attention. And I think there’s reason to believe Mass Start Tee Ladder Speedgolf could work.

• It’s easy to understand, like a race. Whoever has advanced furthest on the course is in the lead
• It rewards golf skill without asking viewers to do math
• Lead changes will be exciting as heck
• And if two players are battling for the lead, how will they change their tactics compared to regular speedgolf?

Bottom line

I don’t know if this is going to work. Maybe the skeptics are right and Rob is about to send someone to the hospital and trigger an insurance nightmare for himself and the golf course.

I think some people will opt out because they’re afraid of getting hit (or hitting someone else) with a golf ball. And that’s a good thing! Clearly, this is not for everyone.

But as I’ll keep repeating: when Rob Hogan makes a move — particularly one that I wouldn’t have made myself — I don’t complain; I take notes.

And personally… if I were in the neighborhood, I would be willing to risk a few bumps and bruises to try this. My kids will understand… I did it for the content!

Thanks to everyone who is supporting my trip to New Zealand. We’re already 20% of the way to a plane ticket after just one week! Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi.

From britishspeedgolf.co.uk:

With a maximum field of 70 and expected high demand, we will be inviting expressions of interest soon with a link to a pre-registration survey. Around 50 places will be offered and players invited to register based on past performance and ability, with qualification opportunities to be announced shortly for the remaining spots, also providing valuable championship preparation and training.

From golfshake.com:

Golfers keen to try the sport for themselves or secure a place in September’s championship can enter the qualifying event at Wildernesse Golf Club on Friday 17 July.

The number in the 3rd column is the number of Worlds appearances.

Elite Men

Elite Women

Men’s - Senior (50+)

Women’s - Senior (50+)

Reserves

Manager: Gary Younger

📍 SpeedgolfApp: AZ Open dot tracker replay — the “dot tracker thing” won Innovation of the Year in our awards. Watch how the AZ Open played out via the course map.

⛳ RipitRunGolf: the Patrick Cantlay challenge — can you finish an entire hole of golf before Patrick Cantlay hits a single shot? About 41 seconds. No pressure.

🏃 Golfshake: Imagine playing 18 holes of golf in under 38 minutes — a sharp recap of the British Pairs Championship and another useful mainstream explainer for speedgolf-curious golfers.

Looking for your next speedgolf adventure? Find it on Speedgolf Directory! Here’s what’s coming up soon.

• May 30: Puurs Breendonk Speedgolf — Golfclub Breendonk, Puurs-Sint-Amands, Antwerp. A flat, fast Belgian 9-hole stop that invites aggressive pacing without sacrificing the friendly tour feel. Sign up »
• Jun 4: Royal Bercuit Speedgolf — Royal Golf Club du Bercuit, Grez-Doiceau, Walloon Brabant. A rare chance to play speedgolf on one of Belgium’s most storied courses, where architecture, terrain, and ambition all step up a level. Sign up »
• Jun 14: Oregon Speedgolf Open — Arrowhead Golf Club, Molalla, OR. A Pacific Northwest stop with fir trees, rural calm, and the sneaky kind of course that feels comfortable right up until it starts asking harder questions. Sign up »
• Jun 20: Speedgolf Irish Open — Castlebar Golf Club, Castlebar, County Mayo. Irish hospitality, serious racing, and a Castlebar event that has quickly become one of the liveliest summer stops in European speedgolf. Sign up »