Scandinavian Open Preview

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

The US Government has banned foreign nationals from using Claude’s new ‘Fable’ AI model because it’s too powerful. Thank goodness the folks in Washington have no power over Rob Hogan’s TikTok.

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

For the past few months, the Scandinavian Speedgolf Open has lived in that pleasant fantasy space where everyone says the field is going to be great, the venue looks amazing, the hosts are rolling out the red carpet… You’ve heard it all before.

But now, it’s getting real.

Everyone I’ve talked to who is not going to the Scandinavian Open tells me it’s their biggest regret.

This is going to be the strongest field we see before Worlds (no offense intended to the US Open or British Championships, of course). And that’s even with the devastating news out of New Zealand, where we learned that…

World #1 Robin Smith is out with a back injury. Robin posted an image that’s been seared into my brain since my days as a competitive swimmer — the black line on the bottom of the pool — which he says is going to be his #1 training partner over the next few weeks. Good luck, Robin. Strange things happen when you stare at that line for too long.

My updated pre-tournament rankings follow.

Elite men

Title contenders

• Carl Palmberg — 2025 European Open Champion
• Luke Willett — 2025 European Open Runner-Up
• Will Robson
• James Hardy — 2025 British Speedgolf Champion
• Rob Hogan
• Alexandre Arguel — 2025 European Open Bronze

Dark horses

7. Riley Davie
8. Ville Heinonen
9. Brad Dippie
10. Pertti Palosuo
11. Mick McBeth (would be higher if not for injury history)
12. George Boxall
13. Henrik Honkalehto

Elite women: It’s Emily all day

• Emily Mollard — 2025 European Open Champion
• Kathy Leppard
• Runa Pettersson

Elite senior men: sneaky good

• Joakim Wikland
• Marko Kuningas
• Mikael Palmberg
• Markus Rytterkull
• Timo Eskeli

The Irish Speedgolf Open goes off on June 20 at Castlebar Golf Club, which means Rob Hogan’s event is no longer a thought experiment. You’ll be seeing the ‘tee ladder’ format, but NOT the ‘mass start’. Higher handicappers (like Kathy Leppard and me) are preparing to play 18 holes from the tips.

Thinking back to middle school: If Scandinavia is a midterm exam, the Irish Open is a pop quiz where you can win a family-size bag of M&Ms.

The Oregon Speedgolf Open 2026 is now in the books, and (surprising nobody) Steve and Paige Vancil stole the headlines.

• Steve Vancil won Open with 71 in 48:30 for 119:30
• Trevor Hiebing was second at 132:06
• Paige Vancil won Women at 136:42
• Rex Schulz won Senior at 138:34
• Arlo Martin won Junior at 61:24

Speedgolf USA unveiled a new logo. Head to the IG post and tell them what you think.

The most interesting thing about Speedgolf Australia’s newly announced Worlds team is not any single name on the list. It is the scale. Two years ago, James McMaster was basically trying to reboot Australian speedgolf from close to zero. In 2024, Australia sent four players to Worlds, including McMaster himself. Now, after the Eagle Ridge opener, a fuller Australian Open, and a year of clearly intentional organizing, he is bringing a real squad to New Zealand in November.

Ben Taylor remains the headline open man, with SG Australia noting that he is the top-ranked Aussie in the world rankings, who you’ll remember finished just 42 seconds behind Robin Smith at this year’s Australian Open. Riley Davie looks like the other obvious point of intrigue, winning the Cape Kidnappers Invitational and playing the next two weeks in Ireland and Sweden. On the women’s side, Ingrid Noack finished second at the Australian Open, behind #1 Senior Woman Colette Blacklock (who is representing England at Worlds).

Then you get the part that makes this feel like a national program instead of a top-heavy travel party. SG Australia rolled the team out one player at a time: Reuben Haley, Daniel Cann, Andrew Marmont, Luke Marotta, James McMaster, Allan Chandler, Troy Levier, Josh Fisher, and Michael Usher. We’ve got worlds debuts, athletes coming in from triathlon or broader endurance backgrounds, and a federation that now seems to know how to tell a story about itself.

Thanks to everyone who has chipped in to help me buy a ticket to Auckland for the World Championships. We are already 44% of the way there!

When I get to New Zealand, I am NOT planning to publish This Week in Speedgolf, because I’ll be publishing daily instead.

If you have some spare change, buy me a coffee on Ko-Fi and help me write the news up-close and personal!

Thanks to everyone who wrote in with comments on my new Socratic Speedgolf Coach series! A few highlights:

“Luke [Willett] may call this ‘overthinking’, but I call this ‘prepared’. Of course, most of this is second nature if you’re the kind of person driving to the course at dawn. But at least you’re not talking about blood glucose or whatever crazy numbers Luke is on about.”

— Anonymous

Whoa, sorry Luke! You’re catching strays in my inbox.

“I want to see the Socratic Coach take on putting! How much time should you ‘invest’ preparing for a putt, given the distance from the hole? If, let’s say, an 8 foot putt has a 50% make probability, should we spend 30 seconds reading it? I recently played my first speedgolf event, and on reflection I missed some putts that were borderline tap-ins because I was mentally half way to the next tee box.”

— Anonymous

By popular demand, I’ll have the Coach take on the short game next. But I can go ahead and answer this one for you! The question you really need to be asking is: how much does an extra 5 seconds of analysis change the probability of making the putt? (Or for longer putts, guaranteeing you DON’T 3-putt?)

For most golfers, most of the time, I recommend you have two ‘modes’:

• Standard read for most putts: 2-3 seconds, focusing more on speed than line
• Longer read for difficult putts: If you think “gee, this could get out of control”, then take as much time as you need (up to 10-12 seconds) to get comfortable with the putt.

“A question for the Coach: is there any value for ‘hybrid’ speedgolf workouts? I’m thinking threshold rounds, precision focussed rounds at low effort, or interval rounds switching between fast and slow holes. Or is it better to treat the golf game and the running engine as things that are trained independently and only brought together for tune ups and events?”

— Anonymous

Great question. This is where the Socratic Speedgolf Coach’s purely mathematical approach will break down.

But from the perspective of top sport scientists, you want to think of progressing your training from ‘general’ to ‘specific’ as you approach an event.

‘General’ training in this context would be:

• Aerobic development, via mostly easy running/biking with 10-20% speed/quality work
• Ball striking
• Short game touch

‘Specific’ training in this context would be:

• Practicing the exact motion you’ll use to place your tee, line up your tee shot, retrieve your tee, etc.
• Practicing sand shots on the golf course you’ll be playing
• Developing your speedgolf pre-shot routine
• Practicing how you get the golf ball out of the hole
• Doing these things at ‘race effort’

The closer you get to your event, the more ‘specific’ training will benefit you.

Thanks to everyone who read and commented! More to come.

• Lauren Cupp: golf scores should be reported like the weather
• Kyle Peyton: birdie in 1.5 minutes
• Robin Smith on the “black line” of rehab

Find your next speedgolf tournament or meetup on Speedgolf Directory.

• 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 »

• Jun 21 — Golf Park Tervuren Speedgolf
  Golf Park Tervuren · Tervuren, Flemish Brabant
  A wooded 9-hole dash inside Brussels’ green belt, built for players who like quick transitions, tidy shotmaking, and a relaxed club atmosphere. Sign up »

• Jun 26 — Scandinavian Open Speedgolf
  LinksGolf Öland · Grönhögen, Kalmar County
  A big-swing Scandinavian showcase where wild links land, heavy wind, and a headline prize pool give the event instant gravity. Sign up »

• Jul 3 — French Speedgolf Open
  Golf International de Roissy · Roissy-en-France
  One of Europe’s more established national opens, pairing Paris access with a real championship feel and a deep recent history. Sign up »

• Jul 11 — Kentucky Speedgolf Open
  GlenOaks Golf & Country Club · Prospect, KY
  A two-day GlenOaks showdown for players who want one of the toughest, most established tests on the U.S. speedgolf circuit. Sign up »