Need for Speed
Go!
Shi!
San!
Ni!
Ichi!
Iku!
My opening tee shot rides an icy right to left wind and trickles into the golden semi rough that lines the fairways of The Seven Hundred Club - the host venue for the 2025 Japanese SpeedGolf Championships.
As I bound down the first hole, I scan the horizon for a partially obscured ball amongst the glowing turf.
By the time I grind to a halt on the second tee my body, trained over decades to make patient, considered golf swings, already feels alien. As I turn away from the ball my constricted torso gasps for oxygen. I make a short and snappy lunge toward the ball that feels less like a swing and more like an involuntary twitch, producing a low left trajectory that clips the branch of a dark green pine just 150 yards off the tee.
The steep incline to the 3rd hole exacerbates my condition. I’m only 10% of the way through my round and the 4 agricultural ball flights that take me to the back of the sloping green are serious cause for concern. As my bogey putt races past the hole I glance to my throbbing hands with confusion. I’m trying to brush in a 4 foot putt but my inflated heart rate is telling my brain that I’m on the run from a woolly mammoth.
The adrenaline flowing through my body is only enhanced by the expectation that was laid out three days before.
On the rolling fairways of the nearby Nishinasuno Country Club I got to grips with the nuances of speed golf. Aided by local enthusiast Sean Ohno, we tinkered with my bag set up and strategised about club selection. Over short bursts of 3 holes my learning curve was sharp and steep. The following day I tested my cardio in the hills of Nikko to accustom my legs to the rolling terrain of the course I would be navigating. As separate entities, my running and golf are competent. As such, the target score of level par for my upcoming tournament round was laid out like a gauntlet.
At 4 over after 5 holes, I start to hit the panic button. That familiar feeling of golfing embarrassment rears its ugly head and tricks me into pushing even harder. I play more aggressively off the tee, run putts past the hole that would make the bullet train appear glacial and tire my legs out with a gradually more determined running speed.
Errant shots increase my running distance, which increases my frustration, which decreases the quality of my next shot, which increases my running distance, which increases my frustration… as I stumble my way up the final hole I reach the bottom of the downward spiral. Baffled by what has just unfolded, as if waking up from a daydream, I hand in my score to the officials.
Throughout the video James competed in the Manors Tour Polo and Tech Cap, both of which are stylish and comfortable enough for a simple walking 18, but can also perform for an athlete under the testing conditions of speed golf. Check them out HERE.
My journey to the Japanese SpeedGolf Championship was fuelled by curiosity. If we remove the baggage of technical thought, do we set our golf games free? During my stay, I spent my nights in our ryokan reading Rob Hogan’s book ‘Speedgolf: A Brief History of Time and Score’ where he exalts the immediate benefits that speedgolf had on his game. Previously overcome with the driver yips, his first attempt of running and hitting produced one of his lowest ever scores. Rob had been liberated by speed. Maybe the same could happen for me?
Whilst my score didn’t reflect an uptick in performance (in fact, quite the opposite) it did reveal some home truths about the connection between thought and action on the golf course.
As I hacked my way around The Seven Hundred Club it was the lack of all thought (good and bad) that was most striking. Sure, I had to sacrifice genuinely helpful analysis like slopes and yardages, but that revealed something powerful. With only action to carry me forward, I played with the same freedom I had as a child - before the bureaucracy of making a proper golf swing made it all a little too serious. I decided the direction of my shot at the top of my swing. I looked at the target once before pulling the club away. I had zero swing thoughts for all 57 minutes I spent on the course.
Speedgolf might not produce your best scores, but if you need to tip the balance back in favour of action, it might be worth lacing up your running shoes. Sometimes the mind needs to be outrun.