Howdy speedgolf family! You’re reading This Week in Speedgolf.
News reports say the United States is preparing for war. Personally, I don’t think that’s the proper reaction when a non-American rightfully earns the speedgolf World Record. But I’m not in charge of that.
Here’s what’s happening in speedgolf this week.
» Mailbag
Mailbag time!
Harry Bateman broke the speedgolf world record and the community has thoughts! Some of these were long. Some were spicy. I’ve anonymized and paraphrased to protect the guilty and the long-winded.
You said Fitzroy Golf Club wasn't eligible for the World Record, but then you never told us the measurements of Carterton. This is lazy reporting. Keep up the mediocre work.
- Anonymous
A: If you rely on this newsletter to serve you “the news”, you will be continually disappointed. Long time readers know, this newsletter is more like Adam’s grab bag of speedgolf stories he feels compelled to comment on. But to answer your question:
Carterton Golf Course by the numbers
- Par 71 (played as a par 70 at the Wairarapa Speedgolf Open)
- Course rating 68.5
- 6,129 yards (5,604m)
- Unmapped on SpeedScore, but according to Jamie Reid’s Strava it’s a 4.3 mile run (6.9km)
Bottom line: Carterton is a world record-friendly venue, which is one reason the Wairarapa Open is the second most prestigious event on the NZ calendar.
I’d prefer it were common practice to map the course on SpeedScore before the event. And finally, I generally trust my readers to look up details like this. Google delivers search results in 0.2 seconds; in that time, the impulse to reach for my coffee mug has barely traveled from my brain to my arm.
I believe Harry now also holds the 2-day total speedgolf record. The new mark would now be Harry's at 217:14.
- Jason Hawkins, 2019 & 2021 US Open Champ
A: If my inbox is any indication, PlaySpeedgolf.com servers are currently buckling under the weight of every score anyone has ever recorded. Scott Dawley’s phone is ringing off the hook. Someone submitted a record from 2007 they calculated using MapMyRun and a TI-83 calculator.
Sure, the single-round record is the most relatable, but the two-day record is twice as hard! Submit your two-day records too.
Could we graduate to a 'World Best' system that recognizes differences in courses and conditions?
- Anonymous
A: World Record vs. World Best? To me, they mean the same thing. But what I DO want to see is better accounting of course records!
Like you said, every course is different. The Taranaki crew might be the best all-around players in the game, but I bet it would take them more than a few tries to break Jason Hawkins’s record at GlenOaks in the July heat + humidity. Just like Jason would be hard-pressed to shoot 98 at Fitzroy. Just like Liz McKinnon would likely struggle to break the record at Rome CC.
Right now, there is no source of truth for course records — or even past tournament performances. That’s something I’d like to see change. I know Chris Hundhausen (SpeedScore) and Kyle Peyton (SpeedgolfApp) keep some records, and I do too, but it’s a big undertaking and we all have day jobs.
Why do we have start/finish lines in speedgolf all of a sudden? Is this all a conspiracy by Scott Dawley to keep hold of the record?
- Anonymous
A: This question went from yearning for the good old days to tin foil hat in a hurry.
I like start/finish lines in speedgolf and here’s why.
- I think a start line forces you to flow through the first tee shot instead of lining it up like an artillery operator.
- A finish line keeps the green clear for the next player.
- Start/finish lines make it easier to use timing chips, which I think would improve the integrity of timing.
If this was all a diabolical plot by the Director, I have to give him credit because his diabolical plot is coincidentally what I think is best for the sport.
Why didn't Ville Heinonen move up in the World Ranks? And why does the ISGA say the Senior World Record is for age 55+ when Worlds used 50+?
- Anonymous
A: These are valid questions, and I want to hear the answers too! My role here is somewhere between concerned citizen and guy yelling at clouds. The ISGA makes the rules. I just write snarky commentary about them.
But seriously, I think we can all agree that in 2026 “Senior” means age 50+.
Could speedgolf support a single unified, inclusive world ranking, where everyone appears on one leaderboard and the algorithm adjusts for gender and age?
- Filip "SpeedStache" Beerens, Director of Speedgolf Belgium
A: Are you trying to get me to cancel myself???
In all seriousness, a unified world rankings system would be cool AND it would answer a real question I have: Who was the best speedgolfer alive in 2018?
- Mikko Rantanen was the world champ.
- Jamie Reid was widely-regarded as the best.
- But what about Lauren Cupp? What about Liz McKinnon?
Would I support creating a unified world rankings? Sure!
Would I support a unified world rankings as the ONLY or DEFINITIVE ranking in the sport? No, and here’s why.
The most important job of a world rankings system is credibility. The rankings have to pass the sniff test. Why do I complain about the current world rankings? Because the rankings from the current system seem detached from reality.
Imagine a hypothetical 12 year old girl. This girl is a golf prodigy and hits puberty earlier than a typical 12 year old. The algorithm that adjusts for age and gender could easily make her the #1 speedgolfer in the world. I don’t think I could say with a straight face that she’s “the best in the game”.
Any system that adjusts for age and gender is baking into their system a theory of human performance. Applied to a broad population, those theories would be credible. Applied to an individual athlete… maybe not.
But I think the most serious risk here is that a system like this, which is supposed to promote more inclusiveness, actually does the opposite. Right now we publish the top 20 men and the top 20 women. If you publish a unified top 100, then would you really be elevating women? You’d have a tough time even finding them.
Anyone who wants to make their own speedgolf world rankings, using any methodology they want, has my complete blessing. I’d love to review it in this newsletter, just like I do with the current world rankings!
The #1 thing I want to see for inclusiveness today is expanding the current world rankings to:
- Top 20 Senior Men
- Top 20 Senior Women
- Top 20 Juniors
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» Guinness
You thought the ISGA was bureaucratic? Hold my 3-wood.
Astute reader Brad Kearns wrote in with a world record story of his own. This is Brad’s account, lightly edited by me.
I had a run-in with Guinness folks after my fastest single hole record was broken.
Observing the video where Thomas Detry broke my record, it was obvious the hole had a steady downhill slope. I surveyed it using Google Earth and discovered that the hole dropped 65 feet from tee to green.
That made sense why all four players who attempted the record all hit it 330+ off the tee. They were hitting punch 5-irons onto the green on a 500 yard par 5.
I filed a lengthy written protest to Guinness saying that the hole needs to have standards besides the 500 yd length. Must be flat. Must be straight 500 yd.
These Guinness people were so stuffy. It took about 3 months to get my record attempt submission approved for greenlight and then another 3 months after I set the record for them to ratify it.
Anyway, they accepted my presentation and declared that you cannot break the record on a hole that drops more than 65 feet in elevation from tee to green.
Breaking the record was a great highlight in my life because I hit four great shots with a three wood to make a birdie, and I arrogantly speculated that no one would ever break the record.
Adam: Thanks to Brad for sharing this story. Convoluted processes like Guinness has don’t happen by accident. I’m sure thousands of people over the years have tried to cheat the system because holding a Guinness World Record is amazing publicity. All those rules and safeguards are there to protect the people who have worked so hard to earn their records.
And you know what? If speedgolf keeps growing like we think it should, then someday we’ll have to have those kind of protections as well!
» Upcoming speedgolf
Looking for tournaments? Looking for casual speedgolf? Speedgolf Directory is where you find them.
New this week: Course Preview. Only for courses mapped on SpeedScore. If you’re coming to the US Open this year, here’s what it looks like.
Hit ‘Reply’ and tell me what you think. I read every reply.