2015 Speedgolf World Championship

speedgolf-header-imageHurry…waste no time…hustle over to The Glen Club to watch the 2015 Speedgolf World Championship on October 19th and 20th. It comes as no surprise that a facility managed by KemperSports would be the host site for the 2015 Speedgolf World Championship, as KemperSports is a premier sponsor of Speedgolf International, and KemperSports has hosted this event at its Bandon Dunes Golf Resort for the past 3 years.

“Hit, run, repeat” is both the motto and the strategy of Speedgolf. The score for speedgolf contestants is the number of strokes taken over the 18 holes of play added to the time in minutes and seconds to complete the round. The USGA Rules of golf apply to Speedgolf but with two exceptions: a) speedgolfers are allowed to putt with the flagstick left in the hole, and b) in the case of a lost ball or one that is hit out of bounds, players are permitted to play it like a lateral hazard because it was thought to be too severe of a penalty to have to also be penalized the additional time to run back to where the original shot was played.

Unless otherwise rescinded by the tournament rules committee, speedgolfers are expected to rake bunkers, fix ball marks and conform to normal golf course dress code. Aside from the traditional 14-club maximum, there is no rule about how many clubs a player is allowed to bring. As can be well imaged, to increase speed and lighten their load, speedgolfers wear running shoes in place of golf shoes and typically carry only 4–7 clubs.

speedgolf-runnerOctober temperatures are well suited for the rigors of two days of competitive speedgolf. The inaugural Speedgolf World Championship was held October 20-21 at Bandon Dunes in 2012 with Chris Walker being crowned champion in the Pro/Elite Division with a score of 263:28 (77-53:29; 76-56:29); the first round was ‘run’ on the Old MacDonald Course (October 20) and the Bandon Dunes Course (October 21) was played as the second round.

The event returned to Bandon Dunes in 2013, again using the Old MacDonald Course (October 26) and the Bandon Dunes Course (October 27); Rob Hogan, won the championship with a score of 236.55 (77-39:31; 79-41:24). The 2014 event, also held at Bandon Dunes, was beset with extreme conditions on day one; 50mph winds caused tournament officials to cancel the Old MacDonald Course round and reduce the championship to 18 holes on the day two course — Bandon Dunes. In Speedgolf’s closest competition ever, the 2013 runner-up, Eri Crum, scored a victory-by-a-fraction (76 + 46:01 = 122.01) over the 2013 champion, Rob Hogan (83 + 39:57 = 122.57).

Eri Crum, a Stanford University graduate and golf team member, is expected to defend his championship at The Glen Club against roughly 30 other Pro/Elite Division speedgolfers. Elite speedgolfers from Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, the United Kingdom and Canada are expected to participate and will compete for a purse worth $40,000. Additional divisions, by age, for amateurs will also feature fast and spirited competitions.

The dates for the Speedgolf World Championship are October 19 & 20 at The Glen Club in Glenview. There is no admission charge for spectators to attend and parking is free.

[schema type=”event” evtype=”SportsEvent” url=”http://speedgolfinternational.com/” name=”2015 Speedgolf World Championship” description=”The 2015 Speedgolf World Championship will take place at The Glen Club in north suburban Glenview, IL on October 19th and 20th.” sdate=”2015-10-19″ edate=”2015-10-20″ street=”2901 W Lake Avenue, Glenview, IL 60026″ city=”Glenview” state=”Illinois” postalcode=”60026″ country=”US” ]

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Greg Miles

Greg Miles has been a writer following golf in Chicago since 1990. For the past 30 years he has been a member of the Golf Writers Association of America and currently is classified as a GWAA "Life Member". He played his first round of golf on his 11th birthday, and since then has played more than 7,300 rounds of golf in his lifetime at 517 different courses. He has interviewed more than 280 golfers across all the professional tours along with famous celebrity golfers. Additionally, he is a member of several other competitive and honorary golf associations, as well as the Golf Nut Society.

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