NZ Herald golf reporter Will Toogood is taken through the ins and outs of one of the fastest games around by former World Champion Robin Smith. Video / Alex Cairns
The domination of New Zealand flags atop the leaderboards at the World Speedgolf Championships is clear evidence of a single fact - Aotearoa is a powerhouse in the sport.
Five men in the top five, a podium in the seniors and the individual and team double for the women saw the Kiwi contingent stamp their mark on the tournament at the Seven Hundred Club in Tochigi, Japan.
Liz McKinnon extended her unbeaten streak to a decade in claiming gold in her individual event at her first world championships appearance and then backed it up in taking out gold once more with her pairs partner Amy Linton to set another landmark in speedgolf’s journey.
Speaking to the Herald upon arrival back home, McKinnon said she couldn’t help feeling like Lydia Ko standing on the podium with a medal around her neck.
“Standing up on the podium, we’ve watched Lydia at the Olympics this year, I had my own little moment.”
Speedgolf tournaments are gruelling in their formats, none more so than the world championships with golfers playing both individual and team events getting through 27 holes a day and running more than 10km.
This can be a blessing as well as a curse, with those that do play both events having more time on the course than those only playing in pairs but adding more running to an already demanding schedule - McKinnon said her and Linton couldn’t resist the opportunity of joining forces.
“It just seemed like it would be a shame for Amy and I as two strong individual players to not combine and try and get a team - we just knew we had to be fit enough.”
Liz McKinnon (left) and Amy Linton. Photo / Japan Speedgolf Association
Making McKinnon’s achievements all the more remarkable was the fact she was playing and running with an injured patella tendon in her right knee, with the injury flaring up on the second morning.
“What was going through my mind was my running probably wasn’t going to be any fun and probably wasn’t going to be any good, so I needed to score really well.”
And score well she did, her second round of 72 was five shots lower than her first round of 77 and came just 17 seconds slower at 55 minutes 39 seconds - seeing her take out the title over Japanese 17-year-old Meguna Haga.
With the tournament split over two days, McKinnon finished her individual event before taking to the course to finish the second nine holes in the teams event. She therefore knew before she’d set off in pursuit of gold that she had already won one.
“That probably made it easier going through the pain for the teams,” she said.
Liston told the Herald being able to share the moment and the podium with her partner and seeing her brother, Robin Smith, take bronze in the men’s event was a proud moment.
“It was just so nice to know what we had trained for for the last year had come to fruition, to be able to give Liz the double win was just awesome. Just proud to have been able to do that with her and see her reaction.”
In the men’s division, Bernie Smith narrowly missed out on gold by one shot and two minutes of running time as the Kiwis placed second through fifth.
Silver too for the New Zealand team in the seniors category as Damian Mills shaved eight shots off his first round to go home with a medal.
Spare a thought for New Zealand champion Jamie Reid who too battled through a knee injury, his an ACL tear that put Kiwi resilience on full display for the world to see in his fourth placed finish.
Brad Hayward and Brad Dippie: 6th place. Scored 79 in 42 minutes 29 seconds
Will Toogood is an online sports editor and golf reporter for the NZ Herald. He enjoys watching people chase a ball around on a grass surface so much he decided to make a living out of it.
