{"id":21896,"date":"2023-10-30T17:52:22","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T17:52:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/golfnews.co.uk\/?p=21896"},"modified":"2023-10-30T17:52:58","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T17:52:58","slug":"willett-sprints-to-third-place-in-us-speedgolf-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/golfnews.co.uk\/features\/willett-sprints-to-third-place-in-us-speedgolf-open\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunningdale Heath pro sprints to third place in US Speedgolf Open"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Sunningdale Heath Golf Club PGA teaching professional Luke Willett is taking a well-earned breather after finishing third in the 2023 US Speedgolf Open held in Kentucky earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Willett, a youthful and super-fit 39-year-old, recorded the fastest rounds of the 36-hole competition, playing Oldham County Country Club in just 41 minutes in the first round, and then going even faster over the second 18 holes, which he completed in just 38 minutes.<\/p>\n

However, despite being called ‘Speedgolf’, the sport isn\u2019t just about speed \u2013 it\u2019s also about your score \u2013 with a competitor’s \u00a0total score being a combination of their scratch score with their time in minutes. Sadly, Luke said that his putting wasn\u2019t up to its usual high standard, and his scores of 81 and 83 meant that he finished third behind eventual winner Jin Ota of Japan.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Luke being interview during this month’s US Speedgolf Open in Kentucky<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt was just the putting that let me down,\u201d Willett explained. \u201cThe conditions were perfect and my pace was fast, but the equally fast greens caught me out. My goal next year is to carry on the trajectory of performance and go for the ultimate world record \u2013 to play 18 holes in 18 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given that the length of the golf course where the title is contested can vary, but has to be a minimum of 6,000 yards (around 5km), this will be no small feat. But Willett is putting 100 per cent into his training, combining early morning sprint sessions, trips to the gym and following a strict diet to ensure the speed side of things get taken care of. Alongside that he practices like a tour professional to ensure he has the game required to shoot the lowest score.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpeedgolf is a beautiful sport and one that works perfectly for me with a young family,\u201d Willett added. \u201cIt\u2019s also improved my coaching. I\u2019d love for more PGA Professionals to give it a try. It\u2019s not hard to convince golf courses to give up the first tee time of the day to speed golfers. I\u2019d be more than happy to take anyone interested under my wing and take them out for the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Willett\u2019s strong performance in the US Speedgolf Open is the culmination of an incredible season. He started off with a 10th place in the New Zealand Open, followed by a third place in the Irish Open, before reaching the pinnacle of his pace at the end of the summer when he was crowned British Open Speedgolf champion<\/a> in front of home crowds at Sunningdale Heath in August, sprinting around the 3,705-yard, 18-hole course in just 25 minutes and 39 seconds and shooting a nine-over 67 on the par-58 layout.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sunningdale Heath Golf Club PGA teaching professional Luke Willett is taking a well-earned breather after finishing third in the 2023 US Speedgolf Open held in Kentucky earlier this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":21897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[445,9],"tags":[657,815,2096],"class_list":["post-21896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-golf-news","tag-british-open-speedgolf-championships","tag-luke-willett","tag-speedgolf"],"yoast_head":"\nSunningdale Heath pro sprints to third place in US Speedgolf Open - Golf News | Golf Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Willett sprints to third place in US Speedgolf Open\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/golfnews.co.uk\/features\/willett-sprints-to-third-place-in-us-speedgolf-open\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sunningdale Heath pro sprints to third place in US Speedgolf Open - 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