Jamie Reid and Liz McKinnon both elite world speedgolfers

By Neville Idour

Jamie Reid and Liz McKinnon reinforced their standings as elite world speedgolf exponents when they retained their Toro New Zealand Speedgolf titles recently.

Played at the New Zealand home of speedgolf, the Fitzroy Golf Club in New Plymouth, it attracted a healthy field of 51 players.

The pair have dominated the event, winning the last six.

McKinnon has won all nine she has played in the last 10 years. Reid is the world No 1 and created history in the first round in unpleasant conditions with heavy rain having made the course difficult.

He shot speedgolf’s first ever sub 100 score. He shot a remarkable 68 in 31 minutes and 3 seconds. Adding the score and time he scored 99.03. He went close again in the second round firing another 68 in 32 minutes 35 seconds for a winning score of 199.38.

Unfortunately this may not be recognised as a world record as the course does not conform to the world record requirements. Scott Dawley of the USA holds the official world record which he scored on September 5, 2021, with 65 plus 42.15 minutes to total 107.15. This gives an idea of just how good Reid’s effort was.

Reid said: “I knew I had it in me. It was just a matter of putting the score and time together. In the first round I played really well with five birdies so I am really happy.

``Now people can stop asking me when I am finally going to break 100. To do that, then back it up today with another great score is very pleasing. ”

He was a reasonably comfortable winner from Bernie Smith on 208.05 with PGA professional Harry Bateman third on 215.52. Reid’s 2022 World Pairs' Championship winning partner Robin Smith was fourth with 216.23.

DP World Tour player Sam Jones finished sixth with 220.12. Interestingly there were only five golf scores under 70 and Reid had two of them. Jones had the best with a second round 66.

Reid spoke warmly about his home club Fitzroy saying it has been “incredible supporters of the speedgolf format, creating a Wednesday night social speedgolf league” to help their members train so they are ready to compete in events across New Zealand.

“We have a great community and we get up to 20 players every Wednesday, so getting very good players to play against every week helps me with my training. It has also helped me prepare for the Toro New Zealand event and the up coming world championships later in the year.”

Men and women both play from the white tees and in the women’s event Liz Mc Kinnon was pushed by Amy Linton, actually trailing narrowly after the first round.

McKinnon scored 82 in 46 minutes 37 seconds to trail Amy Linton by 20 seconds (83 in 45 minutes 18 seconds.) McKinnon has been playing speedgolf for 10 years and has never lost in any event either in New Zealand or overseas. So with that record on the line her winning mentality took over and she smoked her second round with 76 in 46 minutes 9 seconds, a score of 122.09 for a winning total of 250.46, ahead of Linton’s 260.13.

Although only five women competed, McKinnon said the strong field pushed her to the end.

“I emptied the tank -- had nothing left at the finish, but the adrenalin buzz kicked in after a few minutes.,’’ McKinnon said.

``All I could do was focus on one shot at a time and just keep running. I knew Amy had been working really hard on her fitness and golf, so that motivated me to be better and give it everything. The win is the icing on the cake and knowing I did my best.”

Reid and McKinnon each won a $3000 grant from Parkland Products to go toward their World Championship preparations. This year's event will be held in Japan from November 13-15 at the 700 Golf Club near Tokyo. This will be a great opportunity for both players and for Reid to cement his place as world No 1.

For McKinnon, to compete against USA’s Lauren Cupp, who erroneously claims the world record with 122.00. McKinnon in fact holds the world record with a score of 72 plus 49.25 minutes for a total of 121.25, set on September 20, 2020 at Tauhara Golf Course in Taupo. She was close to that mark in her second round so a mouthwatering clash with Cupp is in prospect in Japan.