Howdy speedgolf family! You're reading This Week in Speedgolf.
It's the final countdown! I'll be publishing power rankings next.
Here's what's happening in speedgolf this week.
World #1 Robin Smith is back on top as the big dogs duke it out in Taranaki
If New Zealand is the gravitational center of the speedgolf world, then Taranaki is ground zero. Four of the five top finishers at the 2024 World Championships were Taranaki speedgolfers. So a Taranaki event just a month before Worlds is about as good a preview as you can get.
Robin Smith won the Taranaki Speedgolf Open at Manukorihi on October 3-4 with 226:00, overturning Brad Hayward's 4:39 overnight lead to win by 1:32. Robin closed with 72 in 37:35. Harry Bateman finished third at 234:32, seven seconds ahead of Jamie Reid, with Bernie Smith fifth at 240:17.
Taranaki Speedgolf Open | Waitara, New Zealand | October 3-4 | (results)
Open Men: Robin Smith (NZL) | 79/72 in 37:25/37:35 | 226:00
Open Women: Lucinda Searle (NZL) | 77/82 in 47:52/50:02 | 256:54
Masters Men: Damian Mills (NZL) | 81/76 in 45:18/42:56 | 245:14
Masters Women: Felicity Paterson (NZL) | 100/100 in 61:37/62:00 | 323:37
With Glenn Coughlan and Liz McKinnon the glaring exceptions, this was about as close to a New Zealand Worlds preview as we could ask for.