SPEEDGOLF
As long as people have played Golf the idea of playing faster than normal or as fast as possible has been an oft tried novelty. With this in mind and recognising the merits of faster play for all of golf, John Bell, a PGA pro in San Diego at that time, formulated the scoring format of Time + Score in the mid 1980's. Modest tournaments with this format occured continually from the the mid 90's up until 2012, when, Mike Keiser sponsored the Speedgolf World Championships and effectively the development of the activity throughout the world for a five year period. Tournaments are now run in many different countries in all corners of the globe.
SPEEDGOLF in Ireland
Partly inspired by Jim Carville having set the Guinness World Record for the fastest round of golf ever played at Warrenpoint golf course in 1987, Rob Hogan played Speedgolf rounds in Ireland in 2008 and 2009 in the form of charity exhibitions. Hogan first travelled to the USA to play Speedgolf tournaments in 2012 and from 2013 - 2016 was the undisputed World No. 1 in Speedgolf taking 2 World Championship titles in the process (2013 in Oregon and 2015 in Chicago).
In 2013 he began running Speedgolf evenings weekly at the Cregmore Park Golf Club in Galway and he hosted the first SPEEDGOLF IRISH OPEN at Galway Bay Golf Course in 2016. The 2nd Irish Open was at Dundrum House, Tipperary and the 3rd event took place in Castlebar Golf Club, Co. Mayo in 2023 with Hard Metal Machine Tools providing the main sponsoship. The 2024 tournament is set for Castlebar Golf Club on August 2-3rd 2024.
Notable elite International players who have played in the Speedgolf Irish Open include:
Lauren Cupp (USA)
Wes Cupp (USA)
Scott Dawley (USA)
Liz McKinnon (NZ)
Luke Willett (ENG)
