2020 United States Speedgolf Championships

In 2016, Dawley founded Speedgolf USA, which grew from seven events in 2017 to nine in 2018 to 12 in 2019. And on Sunday, he won his organization’s flagship event, the 2020 U.S. Speedgolf Championships, at Spring Valley Country Club.
 

“It feels really good,” he said. “I started Speedgolf USA, I started this tradition. I put out a post on social media where I said, ‘I bought this trophy, but I don’t own it. It belongs to history. We’re building a history with this sport.’ I bought the trophy but I wanted my name on it. It’s important to me.”

Dawley, 42, the national runner-up last year, entered the final round of the 36-hole tournament in third place. But he made up ground on the leaders by running the 18 holes – a distance of 4.35 miles – in 43 minutes 21 seconds while shooting a 5-over 75. That gave him a total score of 118:21 (43:21 plus 75) and a two-day total of 243:24.

Wes Cup of Rome, N.Y., finished second in 244:51 and first-round leader Jason Hawkins of Prospect, Ky., slipped to third place in 251:57. Hawkins, the defending national champion, shot a 78 in 43:40 on Saturday but slipped to an 86 in 44:18 in the final round.

Spring Valley stepped up to host the national championships just weeks after the event, originally scheduled to be held at the Bing Maloney Golf Complex in Sacramento, Calif., was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions in California.

Twenty competitors entered the 36-hole open competition, but there also were divisions for women, seniors and amateurs. Courtney White won her 2nd consecutive national championship, while Gary Sobczak won his first senior division national championship, and local Speedgolfer Adam Mannetter brought home the amateur division title. There also was an 18-hole division, which was won by Michael Lewis from the Chicago area.

After a successful 2018 championship in upstate New York - followed immediately by the Speedgolf World Championships and ISGA Team World Cup, Speedgolf USA brought the national championship back to its inaugural host city of Houston, Texas for the 3rd annual competition.

Inclement weather always seems to play a significant role in the national championship. In 2017 competitors dealt with a 2-hour frost delay at the Golf Club of Houston, followed by a heat advisory just a few hours later. In 2018, participants trudged through the rain drenched fairways of Rome Country Club as the windchill dropped well below 40 degrees. 2019 may have been the most extreme. as Speedgolfers at Blackhorse Golf Club were met with historic highs during the afternoon Round 1 tee times. The heat index broke 100 degrees during play, forcing several players to withdraw.

This was also the first year the national championship moved to a 36 hole, 2-day format. After round 1, two players at the top of the men's leaderboard were separated by a mere 31 seconds. Overnight leader Jason Hawkins turned in his second round score and waited for Scott Dawley to complete his round. As they congratulated each other off the side of 18 green, scores were tallied. Dawley had made up 16 seconds on Hawk, not quite enough to overtake the overnight leader, and the tournament was decided. Hawkins had capture his first national championship title by 15 seconds over two rounds and 10+ miles of play.
 

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Speedgolf USA proudly joined the ranks of other prominent National SpeedGolf Organizations (NSGO's) around the world hosting a Speedgolf national championship in 2017: including Speedgolf Australia, New Zealand Speedgolf, British Speedgolf, Japan Speedgolf, Speedgolf Sweden, and Speedgolf Finland.

The inaugural 2017 United States Speedgolf Championships was held on Monday December 11th, with official practice rounds taking place Sunday, December 10th. A weather front passing through caused a 2-hour frost delay, yielding to record high temperatures in the afternoon.

New to competitive Speedgolf was the Men's Finals, where the top 4 qualifiers played 9 holes of Sprintgolf (hole-by-hole Speedgolf). The action was captured by Jomez Productions, and groundbreaking highlight coverage of the national championship was released in February 2018.
 

The inaugural national championship was contested at the prestigious Golf Club Of Houston - Member Course. A former host course for the PGA Tour's Shell Houston Open ('03-'05), this Jacobson-Hardy design required an equal amount of endurance and golf skill from the competitors. The rough was penal, the greens demanding, and the course length was fitting for a national championship track - nearly 6 miles from 1st tee to 18 green. 

Players from the Amateur and Women's Championship divisions averaged 92 strokes in 72 minutes. The men's championship division averaged 82 strokes in 58 minutes.  

Mack McLain and Lauren Cupp set the pace in 2017 and became the first to etch their names on the national championship trophy. Larry Levinson and Brian Noble captured the Amateur and 50+ division awards.

Come be a part of Speedgolf history at the 2018 United States SpeedGolf Championships.

SpeedGolf USA attracted the strongest field in professional Speedgolf in 2017, 6 of the top 10, 11 of the top 20 in the men's Speedgolf Power Rankings, and 2 of the top 5 in the women's rankings were on hand to chase down the inaugural US national championship trophy. Players traveled from 4 countries and 17 US States to participate in this history-making Speedgolf event.

In addition to the championship divisions, this marquee event offered non-elites, novices and amateurs new to the sport of Speedgolf an 18 hole division including amateurs and masters (50+) flights, as well as a shorter 9-hole option.