NZ's best ready for national Speedgolf Champs
- 1 minute ago
- 3 min read
The biggest names in New Zealand speedgolf will converge on Taupo Golf Club this weekend for the 2026 TORO New Zealand Speedgolf Open.
.Defending champions Amy Linton and Harry Bateman headlining a field of approximately 100 competitors at one of the most anticipated domestic events in the sport's history.
LATEST HEADLINES:
Bateman, who claimed his maiden national title last year with a stunning final-round comeback - firing a 73 in just 38 minutes and 27 seconds to overhaul Brad Hayward and Robin Smith - arrives in Taupo as having held the official men’s world record score of 106.14 (70 golf score + 36 minutes 14 seconds).
That record was broken by Smith at the very next event on the speedgolf calendar. Smith’s blistering eight-under 64 at Waipu Golf Club in just 40 minutes gave him a score of 104.09 (64 + 40.09) as the official world record edges ever closer to the magic sub-100 mark.
"I've only ever shot under par once ever... he's actually shot eight under, it was just crazy," said Bateman.
The Charles Tour regular is under no illusions about the size of the task facing him this weekend, with the standard of the field having risen sharply since his breakthrough win.
"The levels probably got a bit higher from last year. The guys have been working pretty hard... I've just been working on what I can work on and we'll give it a go and hopefully defend. But yeah, I'm sure it'll be tough this year," Bateman said.
On the women's side, Linton's defence of her title comes with the added weight of history.
The Wairarapa athlete became the first competitor to defeat individual World Champion Liz McKinnon in the speedgolf format, edging her compatriot and Teams World Champion partner by just 1.39 points across two rounds with a combined speedscore of 253.17 at last year's Open.
"It feels pretty good [being defending champion]. I just try not to think about it too much, to be honest... it's just another tournament, another day out there. It's nice to have that on the card, but it becomes a bit irrelevant coming into a new tournament,” said Linton.
Linton will tee it up at Taupo Centennial having not only won her national speedgolf title at the venue last year, but this year's New Zealand Women's Masters title with Wellington, making the lakeside town something of a happy hunting ground.
"I love Taupo. I love the people there, and I just think the course is phenomenal. It's a really good run, very challenging with a lot of elevation. The course was presented incredibly well at Masters and I'm sure it will be the same when we get there,” Linton said.
Competition will take place on the Centennial Course at Taupo Golf Club, a parkland layout with tricky greens and strategically placed bunkers that has established itself as a premier speedgolf venue on the national circuit.
Speedgolf combines stroke play and elapsed running time into a single score. Players carry a reduced set of clubs, typically five or six, and run the course from first tee to final putt, with one stroke counting equivalent to one minute. Shoot a 72 in 40 minutes and 15 seconds, for example, and your speedscore is 112.15.
New Zealand is a global powerhouse in the discipline, with its athletes dominating the 2024 World Championships in Japan, where the men placed five of the top five finishers and the women claimed both individual and team gold.
The Open takes on added significance in 2026 as a direct qualifier via the Order of Merit for the Speedgolf World Championships, which will be staged for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere. Whitford Park Golf Club in Auckland will host the global event from November 3–6.
Around 120 competitors from 20 nations expected to compete in what organisers are billing as the most competitive World Championship in the sport's history. For New Zealand's elite players, the national title is more than silverware; it is a statement of intent ahead of a home Worlds.
The 2026 TORO New Zealand Speedgolf Open takes place April 18–19 at Taupo Golf Club (Centennial Course), before the season builds toward the World Championships in Auckland in November.