The Socratic Speedgolf Coach

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

In the land of the free, the home of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Scottie Scheffler, the US men’s soccer team just won a World Cup match, begging the question: is the United States better at soccer than it is at speedgolf?

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

The first part of 2026 belonged, unmistakably, to the Southern Hemisphere.

New Zealand spent the early months treating the rest of the speedgolf world like a practice squad: world records kept falling, the New Zealand Open gave us Jamie Reid’s return to the top, and every other week seemed to produce another Kiwi performance that required a calculator, a stopwatch, and a moment of silence for everyone else who thought they had a shot at the Worlds podium.

The Australian Speedgolf Open kept the momentum alive and reinforced a point that now feels impossible to ignore: if you want to understand where the sport is heading this year, you’d better keep one eye on Auckland and the other on whoever is currently chasing the New Zealanders.

Since then, things have been quieter (despite Rob Hogan’s best efforts to liven things up!). Public results have slowed down, but the underlying questions have not. What kind of growth does speedgolf actually want? What makes an event feel legitimate? What makes it watchable?

But now June is here, and the calm part is over. We’ve got the Irish Open on June 20, Golf Park Tervuren the next day, the Scandinavian Open on June 26-28, and the French Open right behind it on July 3-4.

In other words, I’m about to stop twiddling my thumbs because we’ll be getting some real stories again. Speedgolf is about to get busy.

We all give advice. We all get advice. How much of that advice is actually any good?

The sport of speedgolf is young enough that a lot of our “strategy” is vibe-based folk wisdom (I say this lovingly to my podcast co-host Luke Willett, who will undoubtedly reply that I’m overthinking… again.)

Introducing Socratic Speedgolf Coach, a new series on the new speedgolf.baby site where a coach and student work through speedgolf strategy questions from first principles. No folk tales. Just testing assumptions using the math of speedgolf score.

Try one of these new pieces and let me know what you think.

• Socratic Speedgolf Coach: Off the Tee
• Socratic Speedgolf Coach: Approaching the Green

Is this surprisingly useful? Or is it “duh”?

Thanks to everyone who is supporting my trip to cover the Speedgolf World Championships in New Zealand. We’re already 32% of the way to a plane ticket! If you want to help, you can buy me a coffee on Ko-Fi.

• Nick “The Pink Streak” Evans — Indy Speedgolf Open 2026 full round
• Kyle Peyton — he decisively beat last week!

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

• 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 »