This Week in Speedgolf | Mailbag #2 - This Week in Speedgolf

This Week in Speedgolf | Mailbag #2

Feb 20, 2026 9:00 pm

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.

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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.

Q: You said Fitzroy Golf Club wasn't eligible for the World Record, but then you never told us the measurements of Carterton (where Harry set the new record). 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 (I've never played Carterton, which is why I'm not doing it myself).

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.

Q: I believe Harry now also holds the 2-day total speedgolf record which I believe I held previously with 221:23. I’m not sure anyone cares about that or if it’s accurate. The tournament where Scott broke the World record he finished 2nd to my 221. So 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.

Q: I think all this debate about records comes from the fact that every course is different -- not to mention the conditions. I think a 115 in the rain is more impressive than a 107 on a perfect day -- but it's never going to be called a "World Record". Couldn't 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 (Lauren Cupp's home course).

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. Still, there's reason to think somebody will crack it. And when they do, I think we'll be better able to celebrate amazing performances.

Q: Why do we have start/finish lines in speedgolf all of a sudden? Not that long ago, we all agreed first tee to 18th hole timing was good enough. 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 (slowgolfer). It's also a small advantage if you're efficient in the shot box
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 (especially since the traditional method is 'bored person baking in the sun with a stopwatch and a clipboard')

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.

Q: Why didn't Ville Heinonen move up in the World Ranks after finishing 5th at the European Open? Before, he had 57 points. After, he still has 57 points. When are we going to see the methodology? When are we going to see the detailed calculations? - Anonymous

Q: Why does the ISGA say the Senior World Record is for age 55+ when the Senior category at Worlds was 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+.

Q: You and Luke called your podcast Rainbow Unicorns. The rainbow is the symbol of the LGBTQ community and stands for inclusiveness. So I have to ask… 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? There's a strong argument that one of those two was actually the most dominant at that point.

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. If your rankings are based on theory, you are inviting endless debate about the underlying theory. I think that’s a waste of time.

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 (even though speedgolfers are 90% men). 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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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.

Brad Kerns: 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 to 65 feet from tee to green.

That made sense why all four players who attempted the record (granted they were European Tour players) all hit it 330+ off the tee. They were hitting punch 5-irons onto the green on a 500 yard par 5 - I was like "Holy crap!"

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. (There’s probably a dog leg par 5 somewhere where you could hit it over the trees and run a 300 yard shortcut.)

These Guinness people were so stuffy. It took ~3 months to get my record attempt submission approved for greenlight and then took another 3 months after I set the record for them to ratify it.

You need 10 people there – two timers, a photographer, a videographer, two strangers you’ve never met before as independent observers, a golf expert like a PGA pro, all this BS. I even had to submit a letter from the northern California golf Association verifying their most recent survey that the yardage plates on the course were accurate!

Hilariously, they challenged my submission, asking for more background information as to verify the expertise and qualifications of my lead timer. Well, that amused my brother-in-law so he wrote on his California Highway Patrol letterhead about how he has clocked speeding drivers for a 30 year career on the force! Hopefully that should suffice that he can hit start and stop on a watch!

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! They explained that they already approved the previous record attempt so they could not deny the record. I immediately applied to attempt the record at the exact hole used - at Real Club de Guadalmina in Malaga Spain. They approved application but, well, Covid happened and I haven’t been over to try yet!

It is pretty cool to see Detry appear on the leaderboard in recent Majors. At least my record is in good hands.

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! There are not many golfers that can run faster than I can. Not to mention, getting a birdie with a single club is pretty legit too. I trained for months, putting with a three wood and chipping with a three wood so I was pretty serious about this challenge.

Detry wasted time holding and dropping several clubs and even missed a putt en route to his record, but it didn’t hurt to have the downhill.

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 (ridiculous as some of them sound) 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!

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