The game we play, Rob Hogan
World Speedgolf Champion
For a small country, Ireland really punches above its weight as as golf goes. Some of the best courses i the world are here and some of the worlds leading players are from here. Speedgolf is variant and a combination of golf and running. You score is shots played plus minutes taken. Rob Hogan, from Kinvara in Southern Galway , is a professional golfer and two time speedgolf world champion.
In an interview with Steve O'Rourke. Rob explained : I'd read about SGI - who orgabsie tournaments - and it was something that immediately appealed to me and so around that time (2009/09) I held a couple of exhibitions in front of people te raise a few bob for charity. My background is golf, but I played a load of soccer and tennis as a youngster and kept going with a bit of running here and there so it was a good fit.At his first big event, the 2012 world championships, Rob realised he didn't have the fitness required to take on the world's best.I realised I needed to improve my running so I started training with Craughwell Athletic club in Galway. "I hadn't been in the condition I needed to be to do the times I ran so , on the greens, I wasn't able to operate properly with where my heart rate was.""I was more confident in my golf but big part of winning was that I was much fitter so I was able to run the times I wanted and keep my concentration."An added bonus for Rob has been that his regular golf game, "slow golf" he calls it, has improved along with his speed golf." I found that, even though I don't play tournament golf any more, just with my dad and friends, It has improved my slow golf game. I guess that spending 30 seconds over the ball was as good as 90 seconds as it doesn't allow any doubts to creep in."
Running or golf... Which is more important? As the profile of speed golf continues to rise, the scores being shot by the worlds best players continues to fall. Rob now has work cut out winning a third title, finishing second in 2017. "There are advantages to being really fast, but there are even more to playing good golf and picking really good golf shots," he says. "A really good golfer can get out and train to become a quicker runner but it's much more difficult for a quick runner to become a good golfer." On the surface, speed golf is a sport , like Rob, looks a little intense, and not all the relaxing. But given most players complete a round comfortably within one hour (and at the elite level in under 45 minutes) it does give you a big chunk of the day back. married with kids and struggling to get to the course? Maybe it's a format to consider.
For more information about Speed Golf get in contact with Rob :
Facebook : SpeedgolfRob
Blog : SpeedgolfRob Blog