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This Week in Speedgolf | A star is born at EU Open!
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Howdy speedgolf family! You're reading This Week in Speedgolf. Reading this newsletter is like sitting ringside for a heavyweight boxing match, except the visuals are all in your head and you're at no risk of getting blood splattered on you. Here's what's happening in speedgolf this week. Putter Lost, Title Found: Carl Palmberg Conquers Espoo Ringside, Mollard’s Magic, and a Senior Duel for the AgesBy all accounts, the first ever European Speedgolf Open at Espoo Ringside was a smashing success. Carl Palmberg stole the show. After setting the Swedish national record earlier this year, we knew he was capable of great things, but nobody saw this coming. Carl shot a mind-blowing 69 (-4) in 42 minutes, taking a 10 minute lead into round 2! Carl even lost his putter midway through round 2 (no penalty?), but still managed to fire an 81 on the second day to become the first ever European Open Champion.
Luke Willett used every tool in the bag to try to chase Carl down. He was the only player who ran under 40 minutes, but even with his signature bicarb burp, Luke needed a few more putts to drop. He settled for silver. The Rollercoaster Award goes to Lauri Alakuijala, who shot a world-class 74 in 46 minutes day 1, leaving him just 2 minutes behind Luke. Then — in his hour of need — Lauri’s golf game abandoned him and he plummeted down the leaderboard, opening the door for France’s Alex Arguel, who lost consciousness and woke up to a level-par 73 in 47 minutes, good for Bronze! In the Women’s division, Emily Mollard was untouchable. She shot 78-77 and posted the only sub-50 minute effort in the field. According to a rumor I made up, there was a fire extinguisher on hand to cool her down after the second round. 2022 World Champion Milla Hallanoro cruised to silver, shooting 81-78 in her home country. And even though Senior Women weren’t granted full equality in Finland, I have to give it up for Bev Fentiman, who knocked off Senior Women’s World Champion Runa Pettersson and earned a bronze medal, with run times that would’ve beaten several in the Senior Men’s field. Finally, it seems like everywhere he goes Joakim Wikland ends up winning or losing by less than a stroke. This time, it was a duel for the ages. Day 1, Joakim shot 77 in 46, sleeping on a 3 shot lead. But as they say — If you come at The King, you’d better not miss. Marko Kuningas “The King” dug deep on day 2. He made up one stroke on the golf course and 90 seconds on the run, giving Joakim the Senior title by just 23 seconds! Behind them, 2018 World Champ Mikko Rantanen shot back-to-back rounds of 74, but he lost 9 minutes a day to the ‘young guns’, finishing with bronze. Mikael "Carl's Dad" Palmberg battled but finished off the podium, while Olympic medalist Jari Isometsä made a strong speedgolf debut with an 87 in 52:41 on day one. — After the dust settled, I caught up with Carl, Emily, and Joakim to gather a little more flavor and color. Our (lightly edited) conversations follow. Carl “Carl” PalmbergAdam: Carl, a golf score of -4 in speedgolf is going to turn heads! Be honest — did you think you had that kind of performance in you, or was this just one of those magical days? Carl: Well -4 is always a great round, but lately I’ve been playing good and a score below 70 felt in reach if I’d make a couple of putts. But of course, it’s not something that I expected Adam: Your golf game came back to earth on day 2. What did that feel like, knowing Luke Willett was going to do everything in his power to chase you down? Carl: Luke is a great speedgolfer and it’s never easy having someone like that chasing you. But thankfully I had quite a big advantage which made me a bit more relaxed. Even though my game wasn’t good I still felt quite calm just trying to do my best. Adam: Tell us about your preparation for this event, and for speedgolf tournaments in general. How do you get your body, your golf game, and your mind into championship form? Carl: The best way for me to prepare for a tournament is to play as much golf as I can, even competitively, as well as running a few times a week at quite a high intensity. During summer it’s hard being able to speedgolf so I just have to make do. Adam: What’s one thing people won’t see on the leaderboard that tells the real story of your round? Carl: probably me losing my putter on the 6th hole which made it a little interesting to say the least. That lead to around 5-6 three putts in the last 13 holes. I didn’t know if I’d be disqualified, but it went well in the end at least! Adam: You’re one of the first true ‘second generation speedgolfers’ to come on the scene. We know your dad has been playing for years. How has your opinion of speedgolf evolved over the years? Did you always think it was cool, or have you come around recently? Carl: To be honest, when my dad first started I thought he had lost it and was going through a mid-life crisis. But lately I’ve come around to see how amazing it is as well as competing at a high level again Adam: Now that you’re the European Open champion, what’s next on your speedgolf journey? Carl: I’m going to practice for next season. I’m planning to play the World Championships, and a few European competitions as well. Adam: Amazing, good luck! — Emily “The French Phenom” MollardAdam: Contrast this year’s EU Open with Worlds in Japan. You came away with Bronze there (after I picked you to win!). Did this feel like redemption, or just another step in your golf journey with its inevitable ups and downs? Emily: I would say no. You may have picked me as number one for worlds, but I went into the competition knowing that there was serious competition and I didn’t necessarily expect to win, even though I was obviously trying my best to. I didn’t feel like coming third was a disappointment. I was very happy with my performance there. So no, I didn’t feel that this was redemption. I’m obviously thrilled with this performance at the European champs, but like you put it, it was just another step on a long journey. Adam: How did the course set up for speedgolf? Emily: I thought Espoo Ringside was as good as it gets for speedgolf. It was a good test of golf — a proper golf course. It played quite long, longer than the French open. I definitely had longer clubs for my second shots. However, the, the running distances in between holes were quite short. Really ideal for speedgolf — great conditions, the greens were really good. It was quite soft, which I think is a nice thing for speedgolf. When you’re playing with only a few clubs, being able to stop the ball on the green, despite maybe not having a wedge in hand, is a nice thing. Adam: Was there a hole or stretch where you really felt yourself get into a groove? Emily: No. I felt like I was very, very focused from the first hole of round one to the 18th of round two. It was hard work! It was a grind. If you look at the scorecard, it was a lot of like, birdie, par, bogey, par, birdie, par, bogey. It wasn’t very consistent. It never felt very smooth or easy. Adam: What’s one thing people won’t see on the leaderboard that tells the real story of your round? Emily: I would say really good tee shots. I’m not sure I missed a single fairway off the tee with my 3 wood, so that was awesome. A lot of creativity: I only went with three clubs (3W, PW, Putter). However, I did have quite a lot of 130, 140 meter shots, which I’m not long enough to hit with my pitching wedge. So I hit a lot of what I call chippy 3 woods. I was quite successful with those. It was quite fun, quite unusual! Very creative round of golf. I putted one handed like I usually do. And I think that was pretty successful too, especially with the longer putts. I did a very good job, often leaving myself an easy putt back. One other thing: the second round, I felt like I was going to be a lot slower than day one, yet I ended up being a minute and a half faster, with a similar golf score. And I find that’s quite often the case. The second round always feels like harder work, but ends up working out quite nicely. Adam: Did you approach this week differently, mentally or physically, compared to Japan? Emily: I’d say yes. When I went to Japan, it was my first time really comparing myself to the rest of the world. I’d only played in the French champs before then, so I had a lot more questions. I was a bit less confident going to Japan, whereas… I don’t know, I felt good coming into the Europeans. I knew what I was worth. I knew Milla was big competition and that it would take two good rounds of golf to beat her. But I also felt like my golf game was in a good place. I’d played lots of golf over summer, and I felt fit. I spent a lot of time in the mountains running around these last few weeks. So I felt quietly confident coming into the European Championships, which wasn’t the case going going into the world champs in Japan. Adam: Women’s fields are growing! Do you feel like you’re a role model for other women coming into speedgolf? (Because you are 😄) Emily: No. I find it hard to see myself as a role model. I think also everyone’s experience in speedgolf is very different. You don’t have to be a pro golfer or scratch golfer to play speedgolf. And that’s what I try to tell people, and I hope that in the future we will help people understand that — that you don’t have to go in with super high expectations or having to shoot level par. Anyone can give speedgolf a go. Adam: Looking ahead, what’s next on your speedgolf journey? Emily: I will be playing in the British Speedgolf Open the first weekend of September. I’m really looking forward to that. After that, the goal is to play more and more speedgolf. I’ve decided to put aside competitive golf, because the lifestyle — being on the road all the time — is not something that I’ve enjoyed very much, so I’m starting my golf teaching qualification in September! So that’s the next step for me, which I like to hope will give me a lot more time to play and practice speedgolf, but also to compete since I won’t have to juggle competing in speedgolf with competing in normal golf. And finally, one thing I’d like to add is how well organized the European Championship was. I think it was a fantastic event! Very professional. And as usual, a lovely bunch of people in this awesome community. Adam: You rock, Emily! — Joakim “The Slender Swede” WiklandAdam: The Senior field at this year’s Open was one of the strongest ever. And you beat World Champion Marko Kuningas by just a few seconds. Close finishes always seem to happen when you’re involved. What does it take to win on a stage like this? Joakim: It was a great field in Helsingfors this year. After a great first round where I felt strong both in the running as well as in my golf game, I knew that the others, with Marko and Mikko in the lead, would do what they could to catch me. Sleeping on the lead is no easy feat, but in the end, it’s all about keeping the golf as simple as possible and trusting in the preparations that have led up to the tournament. For me, this was enough for this time, and with a strong finish in the last holes, I managed to come out on top with 23 seconds to spare. I really look forward to next year, where I can promise that both golf and running will need to be improved to beat Marko and the others. Adam: Was there a moment when you felt like you were ‘in the groove’, or did it feel like a battle all the way through? Joakim: After my first round, I felt really strong in the running. I actually think I could have pushed harder and cut a minute or two off the time. Going out on day two, I had Marko going out 5 minutes after, and I knew that he was going to try to catch me. Seeing him getting closer and not having the same energy in my running as during the first round, it became a struggle from hole 7 onwards. I tried to keep the golf simple but made some easy mistakes on the back nine, resulting in both bogeys and doubles. Having Marko the King on the hunt made me push what I had in the last holes, and in the end, this is really what made a difference. I actually came in a few seconds faster on round two. Adam: What’s one thing people won’t see on the leaderboard that tells the real story of your performance? Coming in as a first-year senior and fairly new to the game of speedgolf, it’s hard to set relevant goals in the senior division since you don’t really know how good the competition is and where you stand versus that group of players. I have had the opportunity of having Carl Palmberg and Andreas Finn competing in the last tournaments in Sweden. This is a great bar to measure yourself against to understand if a performance in a certain local competition is good enough versus the best in the sport. For me, making sure I put my goals versus the best rather than aiming to beat the seniors is a mindset that I believe will help me going forward and stay relevant when younger players move into the senior group as I did this year. For me, speedgolf was just a way of having more fun running on the golf course than doing interval training in the woods until I realized that there were competitions both on local and international levels where I could go and have fun. Adam: Tell us about your preparation for this championship. How do you get your body, your golf game, and your mind into championship form? Joakim: The golf game is unfortunately something hard to change at my age. I have to rely on old habits and unfortunately shots getting shorter year by year. What I do have is the ability to play more strategically and make the mistakes fewer and less severe. Sometimes this works. Running is a different story. I have only been running 5-10k per week to stay fit, but before worlds last year I started to increase and focus on my running. In the last 6 months, I have been able to get the running up to around 50k/week with more focus on speed, intervals, and threshold running in combination with really slow running. I think this is still where I can improve and where my preparation before the championship really has made a difference. I have basically improved my running by 5-6 minutes during the last year, and as long as I can stay away from injuries, more improvements will come. Adam: What was the moment from this event you’re going to remember the longest? Joakim: Seeing the smile on Carl Palmberg’s face when he came in after his amazing 111 SGS on Thursday was amazing! Seeing that there really is a younger generation outperforming us old guys is great but also lights a spark that if they can shoot the low scores, so can we! All great smiles and people who care and help each other perform better is something that amazes me with the sport and the community! Adam: What keeps you motivated to compete at this level? And after this win, what’s next on your speedgolf journey? I have just started to compete in speedgolf, so for me, there are still lots of learnings to be made. I improve in every tournament, and this is what makes me motivated. If I can get my running on the 10k down to 37-38 minutes, then I will be able to compete against the juniors for a few more years, as well as stay at the top in the senior division. Sweden will next year, at the end of June, have a new tournament (Scandinavian Masters - speedgolf) with good prize money on the table. It will be a great event, and more upon this will be released shortly. We hope to gather the best to Sweden in June as a good test before the worlds in New Zealand in November. Adam: You are a beast! Thank you. 💬 From the commentsLast week, we learned the British Speedgolf Championship is sold out, with a wait list as long as the entry list. I asked "What is British Speedgolf doing right?" One astute commenter said: They should never turn away interested players for British Speedgolf. Get more tee times!! do a novice event the next day! If you wanna grow the sport there is no way you should be turning people away. Why can't they just fill up more tee times all day long? I'm not qualified to answer that question, but if I had to guess: tournament organizers book their venues months in advance, blocking (let's say) 2-3 hours of speedgolf tee times. After that, the golf course takes reservations for the remainder of the day as usual -- usually at a higher price per head than they're getting for speedgolfers. Asking the course to take more speedgolfers would require the course to (a) call those golfers and tell them their tee times have been cancelled, (b) refund their money if they paid in advance, including eating credit card fees, and by doing so (c) accept less money for the day than they would have made otherwise. If my guess is correct, then it's a rational business decision for the venue to forego the hassle and expense of adding more speedgolf tee times, just so we speedgolfers can say "BIGGEST EVENT EVER!!!". Your comments and corrections encouraged, dear speedgolfer. Upcoming Events
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Speedgolf baby, let's go! Follow speedgolf news and improve your own game by learning from the best speedgolfers in the world.
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