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Jamie Young likes to play his golf fast
25 Nov 2016
by Sam Dostaler of AmateurGolf.com

see also: Speed Golf World Championship, The Glen Club

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2016 Champion Speedgolfer of the Year Jamie Young <br>(Photo courtesy of Jamie Young)
2016 Champion Speedgolfer of the Year Jamie Young
(Photo courtesy of Jamie Young)

(November 25, 2016) -- When the sun has barely risen or is barely hanging on that is when you are most likely to find Jamie Young on the golf course. Why you might ask?

Well really it's pretty simple, Young likes to play his golf fast.....very fast and the recent Speedgolf World Championship doesn't like to have people slowing him down.

"It is pretty unbelievable when you consider my age I guess," the 52-year-old Kenosha, WI resident said. "Most of the competitors are in there 20’s or early 30’s. I have played in four world championships before and finished in the top- 10 but a lot of the younger guys were running quite a bit faster than I was but to finally come through and put together some really good golf scores was a lot of fun and pretty exciting."

Young began playing speed golf in 2013 after watching a documentary about the now 14-year-old sport prior to that years Masters. A runner for a number of years competing in marathons (the Boston, Chicago and New York Marathons among others), iron man competitions and triathlons Young said, "going out for just a run got a little boring but ever since I have put golf together with running it has just been an absolute blast."

A University of Oklahoma golfer in the 1980's, Young does most of his practice at his home course, The Club at Strawberry Creek. The 2016 Champion Speedgolfer of the Year will often be the first player off in the morning, teeing off at 7:00 a.m. or he will play later in the evening when the course is less likely to be crowded.

When Young first began playing in speed golf events he competed as a professional, but as a longtime participant in Wisconsin Golf Association events and other local amateur tournaments he reinstated as an amateur. In fact in his first year as a a reinstated senior he won the Kenosha County Senior Amateur with a 7-under 63 in the final round. That round was his lowest career competitive round.

Over the years Young, a 1-handicap, has also won his club champion four-times.



For those of you wondering how speed golf works the competitors play as singles with no more than six clubs, and tee off eight minutes apart. The golfer plays alongside a timer/scorer that rides in a cart with the goal of course to play as quickly as possible while taking the fewest amount of shots possible because every second and shot counts.

Once the final putt drops the overall stroke count is added to the number of minutes the round took. So if you shot a 71 in 53 minutes your score would be a 124.

Playing through is also a bit interesting in speed golf. Unlike regular golf where the group in front controls the pace of play, in speed golf the player behind always has the right of way. If you're to slow you will be left behind.

With that said Young said he didn't start playing his best speed golf until he slowed down, a bit counterintuitive don't you think?

Well let Young explain, "When I first started I realized that you had to slow down a little bit because if you are going to fast and your heart rate is going to quick your golf game is going to suffer. So you have to even run a little slower so you aren’t as excited so to speak over the ball."

Since slowing down, Young has sprinted to the top of the speed golf world and with his fifth year of the sport just around the corner it doesn't look like he has a notion to take his foot off the accelerator anytime soon.

"I can’t wait a lot of days when I get to play speed golf," Young excitedly said. "Even people that are avid at working out, sometimes it is a struggle to get going but for me it is, 'hey I get to go play golf while I run.' It’s just a blast."

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