September 14, 2021 • 38 mins
The current World Champion; American Gretchen Johnson explains that Speedgolf is a relatively new sport in which the USA is leading the way and her main goal this year is to defend her title. British newcomer Kathy Leppard talks about her introduction to the sport and its accessibility for women of all ages to participate at some level.
Host: Chris Stafford
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
Host: Chris Stafford
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hi becomes bright nour golf, running, cycling. I've recently picked up table
tennis, trying getting for yoga orplodies or kind of functional weight training.
You do a lot of stretching formobility and flexibility. That was American Gretchen
(00:26):
Johnson, who is currently the worldspeed golf Champion. Hello, and welcome
to WHISP Sports Sport in Focus,in which we take a closer look at
speed golf. And we'll be hearinga little bit later on from Gretchen.
But first of all, Kathy Leppardfrom the UK joins us. Kathy took
up speed golf just a year agonow and she tells us how she got
(00:47):
involved and what it is she mostenjoys about playing this game a little bit
faster than traditional golf. Kathy,welcome to the program. Thank you.
Now you're joining us from the southof England. Tell us a little bit
about yourself before we talk about yournewborn passion in speed golf. Sure.
Well, I'm from from from theUK in Sussex, and I'm a lawyer
(01:12):
by profession, but i have alwaysbeen very sporty and I've always had friends
who play golf and who have saidyou need to get into this sport because
it's great fun. I've never reallyhad the time to spend, you know,
a whole weekend day on the golfcourse. So when I did start
(01:34):
taking golf lessons, I looked up, you know how what other things they
were in golf, and I foundspeed golf, which I have absolutely fallen
in love with. And we recommendto anyone. Okay, you had not
then played golf prior to this,then you weren't a baton ball kind of
person before, were you? Ordid you play other sports before you got
(01:59):
running and chasing little ball? I'vebeen involved in other sports, we're really
prior to you know, during schooland university. So I'd always been fairly
sporty, not done anything majorly competitive, but always been involved in some sort
(02:21):
of sport. And golf I tookup this time last year, so January
last year, and I had afew lessons with my friend, he's a
golf instructor, and I was like, I just playing just playing golf regularly,
you know, on the driving range, and I thought, actually,
(02:45):
this is a really interesting sport becauseit's very technical and I like that.
So I thought, but how amI going to flip this in to my
very hectic schedule and then I cameacross speak Off gave it a go.
So technical, yes, because youobviously you need the accuracy as well,
(03:05):
but you've also going to be prettyfit. So you're combining two sports here,
Cathy, you know, kill twobirds with one stone. Literally.
Now, first of all, tellus where can you play this anywhere?
At any golf course will they willthey let you run around while the others
are you know, taking a leisurelystroll around or a ride on a golf
(03:25):
cart. That can be difficult.There are many golf clubs who will who
will accommodate UM. And the bestway to do it actually is to go
early in the morning, so I, you know, get one of the
first slots um to or tea timesto go to go out because then you've
(03:47):
got no one in front of youand you can keep on playing through.
UM. The club that I goto, so my local club, which
is Boy's Head in Obrahm, isvery accommodating and will um let me go
out at any time, and themembers very aware and will let you play
(04:10):
through. So that's not too muchof a problem. UM. And then
there is an increasing interest in thesport certainly across the UK and therefore you
know, increasing recognition of um ofit as a sport in its own right.
Really, so, do you haveto do the whole you know,
(04:32):
the course? I mean, allcan you do? I mean how many
holes do you have to play?I mean I'm just thinking there's this at
nine or eighteen, you're going tobe pretty fit to do the whole course.
Yeah, yeah, Well, thethe you can well, you can
do what you want. But thecompetitive um or the competitions are eighteen holes,
(04:53):
um so, and in the WorldChampionships it's actually two days of eighteen
holes, so both of your scorescount towards the title. So yeah,
it is. It is most definitelya very physical sport and in that sense
(05:14):
quite different to the way that youwould play golf ordinarily. Um you can
imagine, instead of taking your timeand you still need to prepare for your
shot, but instead of having leisurelywalked up to the ball, you're standing
over that ball with your heart pumping, breathing really fast, thinking I've got
(05:36):
to do the best golf shot ofmy life right now. That's that's a
pretty hard thing to do. Buta lot of people who I know who
have played golf before having played speakgolf have said that actually improves their game
(05:58):
because they their regular golf game becausethey put themselves ape themselves under this extra
physical pressure, which means that they'rehaving to produce shots under this extra pressure.
So when they take that pressure away, it becomes much easier. And
also that the you you take awaywhat I think golfers often find, you
(06:19):
know, the mental side of golf, as in, you know, the
way that you can kind of overthinkshots sometimes and spend too long preparing for
a shot. Speak golf doesn't allowyou to do that, so you have
a situation where you have no choicewhich you just play the raw golf shot.
(06:43):
And when you take that back tothe regular game, golfers I know
have said that actually improved the waythat they played their regular game. This
is rather like biathlon, isn't it. Yeah? Oh, absolutely, actually
very that's that's a very good point. It's a very similar sport because you've
got the combination, which is whatI like, of the speed and the
(07:05):
intensity of the energy that you haveto apply to the sport and the athleticism
of it, along with that precisionand accuracy and control that's required at the
golf shot, which I guess absolutelyis the same when you go to um,
you know, line up your rifleand your hands are shaking. Um.
(07:26):
You know that that that makes itthat extra bit hard. Yeah,
So there's a little bit of pressurethen on your on your accuracy. But
there's also the opportunity to to getfit as well doing this, and there's
no chance of jumping on a ona golf buggy along the way. You
know, there are certain rules ofcourse. Just let's talk through those basic
rules then, because I know youdon't want to be carrying too many clubs.
(07:48):
How many are you allowed maximum?I suppose you'd want to hone it
down to maybe a couple just tomake it easier. Wre how many do
you typically carry? Well, I'mvery distinctly a novice in this sport,
so my club selection is based solelyon the clubs that I'm most comfortable with,
to be honest, and probably notthe best at the moment, although
(08:11):
that's what I'm going to be workingon over the winter. So you can
have a maximum of seven clubs,you don't have to take seven, you
can take less. In fact,someone in the British Championships this year took
one club, which I thought wasmost impressive and very brave. But you
(08:33):
know, for example, some peopledon't take a putter at all because they
use another club, you know,the face of the driver or the back
edge of another club. And whereasI do take a putter because I'm used
to using a putter and I thinkI'd be scared that I'd hinder the results,
(08:56):
you know, by by not usinga putter. And then in terms
of the other clubs, you probablywant a range that you're able to play
the most varied amount of shots with. So for example, most people don't
bother taking a driver because that's kindof the one trick pony you can only
(09:18):
really use off the team, whereasother people will take you know, a
high wood and then a couple ofirons, and others may only take you
know, three clubs, but beable to use those clubs to hit different
(09:39):
lengths. So that's another part ofthe skill, really is is it's not?
It is choosing the right clubs andmaking sure that you can get the
right distances out of those clubs atthe right times. So you set off
with your tea time then and you'reon your own right, You're right as
you would be in regular golf.Yes, that's right. Although you you
(10:00):
are allowed a runner to come withyou. It's called a pacer, so
they are in theory sort of settingyour pace at the right speed to achieve
a certain time. So you areyou are allowed a pacer, although I
(10:20):
didn't have one because I don't thinkit would have made a great deal of
difference to my school this time around. But if you're very experienced, then
in the elite categories that allows youto focus on your goalf while letting someone
else take care of making sure youget to the finish line at the right
(10:41):
time. Okay, but no golfcaddy, No, you have to absolutely,
you have to carry. You haveto carry all your own clubs,
make all your own decisions and judgedistances and that sort of thing, all
in your own absolutely and in typicallyyou say you can get into your local
(11:03):
golf club often as not that therewill allow you to play at times that
fit in with the regular members there. But do you have to pay the
full membership or is there some separatekind of membership to speed golf? Because
a great Britain has its own speakoff association as well. So what kind
of affiliation do you have to pay? A subscription membership do you have to
(11:24):
pay, Kathy, It's usually onthe same basis as a as as membership
of the club. There's not necessarilya separate a separate speed golf membership.
However, the clubs that are runningcompetitions will usually allow you to sort of
(11:45):
what's called pay and play, sopay for one round rather than a full
membership in the lead up to competitionsor taster events, so that you have
the opportunity to have a go atthe course before you actually can pete on
that course. So there's certainly adegree of flexibility and an interest I think
(12:05):
by the clubs about this emerging sportum and it's certainly a keenness to entertain
people who are who are interested inin furthering the sport. Now, what
about coaching, Cathy. Is itone of those games I mean tebularly golf,
If you really want to improve,you need a coach, don't you.
(12:28):
But with speed golf, is thatthe same does it does it require
coaching or you know, is itthis kind of plug and play kind of
approach? You plug it in andhave a go and just to speed up
on the running and get a littlebit more accurate with your pudding. I
think I think coaching can can helpin any sort of sport. Um.
(12:52):
So absolutely yes, um. Fromfrom my perspective, primarily speak golf is
about golf, So I think thestarting point is getting golf competent or golf
course competent, um. Getting gettingyour training in that sense in the usual
(13:13):
way that you would for golf,and then adding the running and the ability
to play golf you know, inthat athletic way. UM. I think
the golf shot as a in theregular game must be the starting point for
any beginner because that really is,you know, the basis of the sport
(13:39):
and also very important I think forthe credibility of the sport. You know,
we've got to have people playing speedgolf who were good at golf um.
And that's reflected in the scores.Um. You know you can have
um well just by the way thesystem works. The more shots you play,
(14:03):
the longer it takes you to getaround the course. So you know,
you you have to have a goodgolf score as a starting point,
and then you know the you asyou become quicker, and then you start
to improve your score in that way. But I think definitely the golf is
(14:26):
the starting point. Separately, Cathy, do you go running to improve your
fitness off the golf course? M? Yes, yeah, I mean I
like running anyway, um, butI have I've introduced slightly different training for
for speed golf because your stop goall the time, so you don't you're
(14:48):
not just running the whole course,which you know you would think, actually,
if I can run the whole course, then I must be fine.
But actually you've got to run andshorter distances, quicker, stop, compose
yourself and go again. So it'salmost it's almost a little bit more like
(15:11):
sprint training in a way, becauseyou've you've got to be able to keep
a much faster pace up and thenalso be able to compose yourself for the
shots. So the overall appeal andto you, you said you've become addicted
to this now being still being anovice. What is that overall appeal that
that's that's hooked you and doesn't makeyou automatically competitive? Or is this just
(15:35):
a leisure pursuit at the weekend togive you the exercise and the challenge It's
definitely that that combination of of beingathletic and quick along with the composure and
the technical side of goals, bothof which are appealing to me, and
(15:56):
that you know, the combination togetheris is is what keeps keeps me interested.
I'm the sort of person that willrun anywhere I need to go anyway,
um, you know, from thecar into work a goal run.
So to walk around a golf courseis a little bit frustrating for me,
(16:17):
to be honest, So unless ofcourse you have excellent company, which you
know one always does on the golfcourse. But playing playing speed golf and
running between shots just naturally makes sensefor me, um. So, so
(16:37):
hence UM I will continue to beinvolved in that. And it can also
be a social thing. You don'thave to play speak golf on your own,
um. You know, you canplay speak golf with UM, even
with one or two others, eitherhitting alternative shots or um which I think
(16:57):
is the way that it's done incompetition, in pairs, or just for
fun, you know, just joggingbetween shots anyway. So you know,
it's it's it's something it doesn't haveto be a sort of singular sport.
It's still good fun to enjoy withothers. Yeah, I'm just going to
ask you that because obviously the regulargolf is a very social event too,
(17:18):
when you know you can take yourtime and take as long as you like
within reason, of course, butif you can speak golf, it can
be as much a social event asyou know as a personal fitness challenge and
the competitive opportunity too. Yeah,that's right, and this this the speed
golf community are very very friendly.Um, so you know it's there's always
(17:42):
someone who's um, you know,who's keen to, who's keen to going
around with you, And it's certainlyfrom training perspectives, it's really useful to
go out with somebody because, um, you know, you get to talk
to them about club selection, aboutsilly things that you might think about you
(18:07):
might you might not think about inin regular golf. Where do you keep
your teas so they're easily accessible?How are you writing your score down?
Um? You know those sorts ofthings which you know if you if you
add them all together, can addminutes to your to your time. So
you know, it's it's helpful toshare those sorts of ideas and you know,
(18:33):
and basically becoming more efficient and aboutyour round and then hence improving your
time hopefully. Yeah, so competitiveambitions now, Kathy, you've been added
a year, so you're obviously honingyour skills here, speeding it up even
more. Are we going to seeyour in competition? Well, my my
first trick hopefully is going to beto improve my golf score, because that
(19:00):
needs quite a lot of work mthe time. As as I say,
you know, I run ordinarily anyway, so I think my time will naturally
reduce when I get my goal scorea bit better. So so that's my
My aim this year is simply tocompete again in in in the British Kinships,
(19:26):
um, and to hopefully improve onmy score from last time. If
I do that, I'll be happy. Excellent. Well, very best of
luck with it, Kathy. AndI'm sure you'd say to anybody who's listening,
you know, give it a go, because absolutely combining two sports here
at least two sports, yes,absolutely, and it is you know,
(19:48):
there are taste of days out therethere to do. Um. Certainly there's
there's a lot in the UK,and I'm sure there's lots worldwide as well.
So getting contact with your local Britishspeed Golf representative and and go from
there and just give it a go, because it's something that is great fun
(20:12):
even to try. And even ifyou're you play golf regularly, um,
you know, say to your localcaptain that you know, we've got this
as an idea, do you wantto give it a go? And they
might say, setting after noon theside on the golf course and let people
have a running around and see howthey feel. I like the idea of
(20:32):
pairing up with somebody you know andbeing competitive between Yeah, it sounds a
lot of fun, all right,Kenny, Well, thank you so much
for coming on the program and tellingus about your newfound passion in the very
best of luck this season. JustI'm sure get faster and more accurate,
and who knows, we might berecording your results here on the show one
day. Yes, we'll keep ourfingers crossed for that. Thank you very
(20:56):
much, Chris. And now GrettonJohnson joins us. She's been an athlete
her entire life. Growing up,she focused on soccer, basketball, and
squash, and in recent years she'sbecome an avid runner and golfer. She's
also completed ten marathons and she startedgolfing in her final year at university,
competing on the NYU women's golf team. Her enthusiasm for both sports led her
(21:19):
to participate in speed golf. Sheis currently the women's World speed golf Champion.
Gretchen, Welcome to the program.Thanks so much for haring me,
Gris. We'll tell us a littlebit about your background. How you got
into this sport and became as successfulas you are has been quite a journey.
But when did it all begin?Sure? Sure, so, I've
(21:40):
been an athlete my whole life.I grew up playing soccer, basketball,
baseball, squash for a few years. I always thought i'd get golf,
but sorry be something i'd get intoa little later in life when I couldn't
run and jump anymore, and endedup getting into golf. My last year
of university was dating a guy thatwas on a golf team, and we're
(22:03):
on a holiday and he wanted toplay, and I was tagging along and
grabbed a grabbed a nine iron andstarted swinging, swinging a little bit,
and the ball was going up inthe air and pretty straight. And got
out on the course and decided totee it up and dropped one in the
fairway, wrote up dropped on thegreen to putt it, and he basically
(22:27):
said, it's it's time for meto start playing golf. So I went
to Chicago that summer for I forwork opportunity and had a great coach who
basically taught me, taught me agreat set of fundamentals to work with,
and I played my last year ofuniversity and ever since then, I've been
(22:47):
a weekend warrior, grinding, tryingto get better. Just started playing in
some of the usg events this summer, which is really exciting. And a
couple of years ago, it wastwo thousand and twelve, I met a
man named Christopher Smith, who's thespeed golf goold record holder. And I've
(23:07):
been a marathon runner um for thepast probably seven or eight years, done
over ten marathons, and Christopher said, hey, you know you're pretty good
at runner, pretty good runner,and pretty good at golf. Why don't
you try this this thing called speedgolf, combining your your golf score and
(23:29):
in your running time, so youplay with your clubs and the rules are
the same essentially, and it's justit's a great way to take a game
that WI loves and is and isalready incredibly challenging as it is, uh,
and to take it to an evenmore intense, um more extreme level.
So I tried it out a fewtimes that fall. We met in
(23:53):
August or September, and then Iplayed in the Speed Golf World Championship down
Abandoned Dunes October and I played againstthe men and the professionals and finished eighth,
which was which is really exciting,and I was super thrilled with with
how I did. And since then, I've had some opportunities to to play
(24:15):
speak golf around the US, andthe last couple of years I've been able
to capture the women's Speak Golf WorldWorld title, which is which is great
and I'm super stoked that. Um. We're looking to invest more and and
winning in the game and getting somemore competitors. UM. But you know,
(24:37):
to be honest, a lot ofmy golf is is normal and the
roles slower. It's it's walking.But whenever I have an opportunity to get
out early in the morning before everyoneelse, or pick the last forty five
minutes of daylight and combine two hugepassions that I have running in golf,
it's it's super fun. And Ithink there's a bit of a misconception around
(24:59):
it it that it is this extremesport and that you're sprinting between every shot
and you're totally out of breath andand really it's it's it's not I mean
the kidding EASi I said it waseasy, but um, I find that,
um, you know, you you'rerunning quickly, but you you still
(25:22):
have to run slow enough so thatyou can hold your composure and put a
good put a good swing on theball. And I find that it's also
something that you can do social least, you could play with with other people
that can you run a little bitslower to make sure that you're being safe.
But it's it's super fun. AndI think people are most surprised by
(25:47):
how well they play, especially tto green. I think honestly, when
you speed up a little bit,you are minimizing the amount of doubt that
they can creep into your mind thatyou have to make a decision quickly and
commit to uh, your your processand your shot, and you end up
actually hitting in the ball pretty greatto the green and and the touch around
(26:11):
the greens. You know, sinceyour your heart is racing in one hundred
and fifty eats a minute and you'renot taking time to thoroughly read the greens.
I can be be a little bitchallenging, but if you can too
put as much as possible, um, you'll you're gonna're gonna score pretty well.
So I find it to be alot of fun and I'm excited to,
(26:33):
yeah, to see it grow inthe coming years and um and just
humbled to kind of be a partof a group of leaders that's that's out
trying to kind of push this thinga little bit. Have you found that
it's growing then, Gretchen, sinceyou started playing, what kind of opportunities
are there for women to compete together? Yeah, I've noticed there's a lot
(26:59):
of golf League leagues that are poppingup around the US and all over the
world. In fact, you know, whether it's it's the UK or Australia
or Italy or you know East Coast, West coast. Uh, people are
are definitely interested. You know,there's there's so much energy around uh,
(27:19):
you know, having a more activelifestyle and you know, maybe combining different
passions and just trying new and differentum activities. So I've I've been excited
by you know the amount of differentleagues and different events that are starting to
pop up, and I think forfor women especially, you know, it's
(27:42):
it's still quite niche, you know, so like went around at an event,
you know, it's definitely dominated byby the guys, but it's encouraging
to see, um, slowly there'sreally more women get out. And I
think a big hurl is just um, you know, introducing it to two
women in maybe smaller doses, soyou know, to go play eighteen holes
(28:07):
could could be a bit intimating,right, Like how about we we offer
a six hole loop or nine holesor even three holes, or maybe create
other variations like if you're just startingout, maybe you you run the odd
holes and you walk the even holes. So I think I think that's a
big opportunity to overcome some challenges.And then I also think with leveraging some
(28:32):
other innovations, whether it's you know, the golf board or other ways to
help people you know, play fasterand have have more fun doing it.
And in terms of prize money,then Gretchen, what are you looking at
then, and what a number oftournaments would you have of for women in
(28:52):
in the course of a year,well, for me as someone that's uh,
just looking to keep my amateur status. I'm not I'm not as concerned
with the prize money. But Ithink if you had, potentially it's you
know, four bigger tournaments you knowkind of align with uh, you know,
the major structure at the professional level, UM, it could be a
(29:15):
good a good way to get peoplefocused and m just building more you know,
more momentum and more excitement towards towardseach event versus having you know,
dozens of different, um, kindof bigger or medium sized tournaments. So
(29:36):
I kind of like, um,I kind of like four you know,
four or a handful of bigger eventsthat are maybe maybe are part of a
you know, a series with pointaccumulation, um. But you know,
ultimately, like you got to startsomewhere. So for each of the little
chapters that are starting leagues, youknow, if they they host one tournament
(30:00):
a year, I think that wouldbe a huge a huge one in them
itself. And is the sport embracingwomen in the way as you say it's
male dominated, as so many sportsare. But are you find finding that
men are you know, are beingvery accommodating and encouraging women to participate generally
at the level that you're competing at. Yeah. Absolutely, I feel like
(30:26):
I feel like there's a lot ofguys that have been inviting, um inviting
you know, women that they knoware good players or passionate players and are
also you know, pretty fit orpretty active. They've been encouraging them to
to come try it out. Youknow, clearly, you know, women's
growth, whether it's golf or anyother sport is a huge opportunity, and
(30:51):
more women than ever before, youknow, are looking to you know,
be more more active and live howyour lifestyles and and they're looking for activities
that they can do with their girlfriendsand it can be socials. So yeah,
I definitely think the men are encouragingand we just have to continue to
(31:15):
highlight how the opportunity that's in fromthem. All. Right, now,
what does your schedule look like then, in terms of competitions this year,
how much do you have to travel? Well, right now, I'm recovering
from foot surgery that I had atthe end of October, so I'm not
going to be running probably until March. But my intention is to do a
(31:38):
charity speed golfer and at the endof April in Napa, California. Last
year I could just participated in Iplayed one hundred and seventy one holes over
a twelve hour stand. So I'mlooking to something unhealthy, looking to play
two hundred goals this year and raisemoney for I cancer patient services in research.
(32:02):
And then I'll be looking perhaps toplay in a speed golf tournament or
two maybe this uh, this summer, I'd love to potentially head over to
Delver, Australia and play an eventdown there, which I heard just fantastic
things about last year and and uhI was supposed to go but had had
(32:25):
a business conflict. Um, andthen the World Championships in the fall you
tited to to get and defend thattitle. So, you know, just
just a few speed golf tournaments.Um, there's one in Portland in August
which is h which is pretty goodevent, it's been going on for a
(32:45):
number of years. But also besprinkling in just some some regular amateur tournaments.
Just trying to keep my game gamesharp under that that competitive environment.
And where is the Championships this year, Gretchen, And what are the dates
for that? You know, I'mnot sure it's been announced yet. Generally
(33:06):
it's in October Middaly October, andthis past year it was in Chicago,
Illinois at the Glenn Club, SoI think it might be there again this
year, but I don't think it'sbeen announced formally yet, right So obviously
an important one for you, thatwould be your main goal this year.
(33:28):
I'm curious when you said you're goingto Melbourne, how does the sport in
this country then compare two other countries. You know, if you if there
was a go to place for speedgolf for women, where would it be.
I'd say, honestly, right now, it's probably still the US,
just because it's uh, you know, it was the start of year in
(33:50):
eighties down southern California, UM forsome former professional runners who are also super
passionate about golf, and they've alwaysbeen a super strong kind of following here
in the States. But you know, what Virginia and team are doing down
in Australia, just what they've beenable to do is in the last you
(34:14):
know, eighteen to twenty four monthsis super impressive and you know, a
participation and engagement that they have downthere, it's something that you know others
should be should be looking at interms of best practices and for inspirations,
so you know, the pads couldbe shifting pretty quickly. But um,
(34:37):
I think there's still you know,still still from some good routes here here
in the States, but watch outoverseas is coming strong. That sounds like
Australia is going to be contending forthat top notch pretty soon. Then if
they're growing the sport the way thatthey are down there, and so in
(34:58):
terms of your overall goals and sport, Gretchen, just finally summarize that what
that would look like for you?I mean, being a world champion repeating
that obviously is a tremendous niche onyour belt. But what else would you
be looking to achieve in the sportand for the sport to achieve as you
develop in it. That's a greatquestion. Um, I think I'd I'd
(35:20):
love to see more more juniors,more use to get involved. I think
just you know, kind of capturinga younger generation they can help drives and
sustained growth for the sport would bewould be key. So I think for
me, a key legacy I'd liketo work toward and tell to me leave
(35:44):
behind is helping inspire and enable younggirls to the really teenagers, to to
comminute, to be superactive and toI guess developed. You know a lifestyle
that that revolves around U be golfand and other great activities. I think
(36:07):
golf is golf is wonderful in andof itself and the life the life lessons
that it that it teaches you.Um are artists priceless and I think when
you can layer on some some exerciseand just continue to be healthy in your
lifestyle, it's it's a double wind. So do you get time for any
(36:30):
other sports now or not? Isit entirely a golf world for you?
My big words are now are golf, running, cycling. I've recently picked
up table tennis as a great winteractivity. Uh if it of those are
my top activities right now. Somecross training as well. Do you do
(36:52):
jim work to strengthen your upper bodyand cool? Of course? Yeah.
I trying to get in for yougo or plodies or kind of functional weight
training. Do a lot of alot of stretching for mobility and flexibility,
just try and trying to stay healthy. I think a lot of the work
(37:15):
is is preventatives just to try andavoid overuse or strain stream my body.
But clearly I have a tendency toperhaps be a little bit too active as
as as I mentioned with the footserver. You're back in October, so
(37:37):
got to be careful, but yeah, I love love being active, So
slowly back onto the golf course andheading in October two we gain that title
that you won and be a worldchampion for a bit longer and maybe some
other titles to add to your CV, Gretchen, So the very best of
luck with your career, and thanksagain for coming on the program. Yeah,
(38:00):
of course, thanks for for havingme suppliers, and you'll find links
to the governing bodies for speed golfin the UK and the US on our
show notes accompanying this episode. Youcan post any comments and questions you have
about the programs here at WHISP Sports. On our Facebook page just look for
WISP sports and also follow us alongon Twitter at WHISP sports. And until
(38:23):
the next time, I'm Chris Stafford. Thank you for listening, Goodbye for now.
Hi becomes bright nour golf, running, cycling. I've recently picked up table
tennis, trying getting for yoga orplodies or kind of functional weight training.
You do a lot of stretching formobility and flexibility. That was American Gretchen
(00:26):
Johnson, who is currently the worldspeed golf Champion. Hello, and welcome
to WHISP Sports Sport in Focus,in which we take a closer look at
speed golf. And we'll be hearinga little bit later on from Gretchen.
But first of all, Kathy Leppardfrom the UK joins us. Kathy took
up speed golf just a year agonow and she tells us how she got
(00:47):
involved and what it is she mostenjoys about playing this game a little bit
faster than traditional golf. Kathy,welcome to the program. Thank you.
Now you're joining us from the southof England. Tell us a little bit
about yourself before we talk about yournewborn passion in speed golf. Sure.
Well, I'm from from from theUK in Sussex, and I'm a lawyer
(01:12):
by profession, but i have alwaysbeen very sporty and I've always had friends
who play golf and who have saidyou need to get into this sport because
it's great fun. I've never reallyhad the time to spend, you know,
a whole weekend day on the golfcourse. So when I did start
(01:34):
taking golf lessons, I looked up, you know how what other things they
were in golf, and I foundspeed golf, which I have absolutely fallen
in love with. And we recommendto anyone. Okay, you had not
then played golf prior to this,then you weren't a baton ball kind of
person before, were you? Ordid you play other sports before you got
(01:59):
running and chasing little ball? I'vebeen involved in other sports, we're really
prior to you know, during schooland university. So I'd always been fairly
sporty, not done anything majorly competitive, but always been involved in some sort
(02:21):
of sport. And golf I tookup this time last year, so January
last year, and I had afew lessons with my friend, he's a
golf instructor, and I was like, I just playing just playing golf regularly,
you know, on the driving range, and I thought, actually,
(02:45):
this is a really interesting sport becauseit's very technical and I like that.
So I thought, but how amI going to flip this in to my
very hectic schedule and then I cameacross speak Off gave it a go.
So technical, yes, because youobviously you need the accuracy as well,
(03:05):
but you've also going to be prettyfit. So you're combining two sports here,
Cathy, you know, kill twobirds with one stone. Literally.
Now, first of all, tellus where can you play this anywhere?
At any golf course will they willthey let you run around while the others
are you know, taking a leisurelystroll around or a ride on a golf
(03:25):
cart. That can be difficult.There are many golf clubs who will who
will accommodate UM. And the bestway to do it actually is to go
early in the morning, so I, you know, get one of the
first slots um to or tea timesto go to go out because then you've
(03:47):
got no one in front of youand you can keep on playing through.
UM. The club that I goto, so my local club, which
is Boy's Head in Obrahm, isvery accommodating and will um let me go
out at any time, and themembers very aware and will let you play
(04:10):
through. So that's not too muchof a problem. UM. And then
there is an increasing interest in thesport certainly across the UK and therefore you
know, increasing recognition of um ofit as a sport in its own right.
Really, so, do you haveto do the whole you know,
(04:32):
the course? I mean, allcan you do? I mean how many
holes do you have to play?I mean I'm just thinking there's this at
nine or eighteen, you're going tobe pretty fit to do the whole course.
Yeah, yeah, Well, thethe you can well, you can
do what you want. But thecompetitive um or the competitions are eighteen holes,
(04:53):
um so, and in the WorldChampionships it's actually two days of eighteen
holes, so both of your scorescount towards the title. So yeah,
it is. It is most definitelya very physical sport and in that sense
(05:14):
quite different to the way that youwould play golf ordinarily. Um you can
imagine, instead of taking your timeand you still need to prepare for your
shot, but instead of having leisurelywalked up to the ball, you're standing
over that ball with your heart pumping, breathing really fast, thinking I've got
(05:36):
to do the best golf shot ofmy life right now. That's that's a
pretty hard thing to do. Buta lot of people who I know who
have played golf before having played speakgolf have said that actually improves their game
(05:58):
because they their regular golf game becausethey put themselves ape themselves under this extra
physical pressure, which means that they'rehaving to produce shots under this extra pressure.
So when they take that pressure away, it becomes much easier. And
also that the you you take awaywhat I think golfers often find, you
(06:19):
know, the mental side of golf, as in, you know, the
way that you can kind of overthinkshots sometimes and spend too long preparing for
a shot. Speak golf doesn't allowyou to do that, so you have
a situation where you have no choicewhich you just play the raw golf shot.
(06:43):
And when you take that back tothe regular game, golfers I know
have said that actually improved the waythat they played their regular game. This
is rather like biathlon, isn't it. Yeah? Oh, absolutely, actually
very that's that's a very good point. It's a very similar sport because you've
got the combination, which is whatI like, of the speed and the
(07:05):
intensity of the energy that you haveto apply to the sport and the athleticism
of it, along with that precisionand accuracy and control that's required at the
golf shot, which I guess absolutelyis the same when you go to um,
you know, line up your rifleand your hands are shaking. Um.
(07:26):
You know that that that makes itthat extra bit hard. Yeah,
So there's a little bit of pressurethen on your on your accuracy. But
there's also the opportunity to to getfit as well doing this, and there's
no chance of jumping on a ona golf buggy along the way. You
know, there are certain rules ofcourse. Just let's talk through those basic
rules then, because I know youdon't want to be carrying too many clubs.
(07:48):
How many are you allowed maximum?I suppose you'd want to hone it
down to maybe a couple just tomake it easier. Wre how many do
you typically carry? Well, I'mvery distinctly a novice in this sport,
so my club selection is based solelyon the clubs that I'm most comfortable with,
to be honest, and probably notthe best at the moment, although
(08:11):
that's what I'm going to be workingon over the winter. So you can
have a maximum of seven clubs,you don't have to take seven, you
can take less. In fact,someone in the British Championships this year took
one club, which I thought wasmost impressive and very brave. But you
(08:33):
know, for example, some peopledon't take a putter at all because they
use another club, you know,the face of the driver or the back
edge of another club. And whereasI do take a putter because I'm used
to using a putter and I thinkI'd be scared that I'd hinder the results,
(08:56):
you know, by by not usinga putter. And then in terms
of the other clubs, you probablywant a range that you're able to play
the most varied amount of shots with. So for example, most people don't
bother taking a driver because that's kindof the one trick pony you can only
(09:18):
really use off the team, whereasother people will take you know, a
high wood and then a couple ofirons, and others may only take you
know, three clubs, but beable to use those clubs to hit different
(09:39):
lengths. So that's another part ofthe skill, really is is it's not?
It is choosing the right clubs andmaking sure that you can get the
right distances out of those clubs atthe right times. So you set off
with your tea time then and you'reon your own right, You're right as
you would be in regular golf.Yes, that's right. Although you you
(10:00):
are allowed a runner to come withyou. It's called a pacer, so
they are in theory sort of settingyour pace at the right speed to achieve
a certain time. So you areyou are allowed a pacer, although I
(10:20):
didn't have one because I don't thinkit would have made a great deal of
difference to my school this time around. But if you're very experienced, then
in the elite categories that allows youto focus on your goalf while letting someone
else take care of making sure youget to the finish line at the right
(10:41):
time. Okay, but no golfcaddy, No, you have to absolutely,
you have to carry. You haveto carry all your own clubs,
make all your own decisions and judgedistances and that sort of thing, all
in your own absolutely and in typicallyyou say you can get into your local
(11:03):
golf club often as not that therewill allow you to play at times that
fit in with the regular members there. But do you have to pay the
full membership or is there some separatekind of membership to speed golf? Because
a great Britain has its own speakoff association as well. So what kind
of affiliation do you have to pay? A subscription membership do you have to
(11:24):
pay, Kathy, It's usually onthe same basis as a as as membership
of the club. There's not necessarilya separate a separate speed golf membership.
However, the clubs that are runningcompetitions will usually allow you to sort of
(11:45):
what's called pay and play, sopay for one round rather than a full
membership in the lead up to competitionsor taster events, so that you have
the opportunity to have a go atthe course before you actually can pete on
that course. So there's certainly adegree of flexibility and an interest I think
(12:05):
by the clubs about this emerging sportum and it's certainly a keenness to entertain
people who are who are interested inin furthering the sport. Now, what
about coaching, Cathy. Is itone of those games I mean tebularly golf,
If you really want to improve,you need a coach, don't you.
(12:28):
But with speed golf, is thatthe same does it does it require
coaching or you know, is itthis kind of plug and play kind of
approach? You plug it in andhave a go and just to speed up
on the running and get a littlebit more accurate with your pudding. I
think I think coaching can can helpin any sort of sport. Um.
(12:52):
So absolutely yes, um. Fromfrom my perspective, primarily speak golf is
about golf, So I think thestarting point is getting golf competent or golf
course competent, um. Getting gettingyour training in that sense in the usual
(13:13):
way that you would for golf,and then adding the running and the ability
to play golf you know, inthat athletic way. UM. I think
the golf shot as a in theregular game must be the starting point for
any beginner because that really is,you know, the basis of the sport
(13:39):
and also very important I think forthe credibility of the sport. You know,
we've got to have people playing speedgolf who were good at golf um.
And that's reflected in the scores.Um. You know you can have
um well just by the way thesystem works. The more shots you play,
(14:03):
the longer it takes you to getaround the course. So you know,
you you have to have a goodgolf score as a starting point,
and then you know the you asyou become quicker, and then you start
to improve your score in that way. But I think definitely the golf is
(14:26):
the starting point. Separately, Cathy, do you go running to improve your
fitness off the golf course? M? Yes, yeah, I mean I
like running anyway, um, butI have I've introduced slightly different training for
for speed golf because your stop goall the time, so you don't you're
(14:48):
not just running the whole course,which you know you would think, actually,
if I can run the whole course, then I must be fine.
But actually you've got to run andshorter distances, quicker, stop, compose
yourself and go again. So it'salmost it's almost a little bit more like
(15:11):
sprint training in a way, becauseyou've you've got to be able to keep
a much faster pace up and thenalso be able to compose yourself for the
shots. So the overall appeal andto you, you said you've become addicted
to this now being still being anovice. What is that overall appeal that
that's that's hooked you and doesn't makeyou automatically competitive? Or is this just
(15:35):
a leisure pursuit at the weekend togive you the exercise and the challenge It's
definitely that that combination of of beingathletic and quick along with the composure and
the technical side of goals, bothof which are appealing to me, and
(15:56):
that you know, the combination togetheris is is what keeps keeps me interested.
I'm the sort of person that willrun anywhere I need to go anyway,
um, you know, from thecar into work a goal run.
So to walk around a golf courseis a little bit frustrating for me,
(16:17):
to be honest, So unless ofcourse you have excellent company, which you
know one always does on the golfcourse. But playing playing speed golf and
running between shots just naturally makes sensefor me, um. So, so
(16:37):
hence UM I will continue to beinvolved in that. And it can also
be a social thing. You don'thave to play speak golf on your own,
um. You know, you canplay speak golf with UM, even
with one or two others, eitherhitting alternative shots or um which I think
(16:57):
is the way that it's done incompetition, in pairs, or just for
fun, you know, just joggingbetween shots anyway. So you know,
it's it's it's something it doesn't haveto be a sort of singular sport.
It's still good fun to enjoy withothers. Yeah, I'm just going to
ask you that because obviously the regulargolf is a very social event too,
(17:18):
when you know you can take yourtime and take as long as you like
within reason, of course, butif you can speak golf, it can
be as much a social event asyou know as a personal fitness challenge and
the competitive opportunity too. Yeah,that's right, and this this the speed
golf community are very very friendly.Um, so you know it's there's always
(17:42):
someone who's um, you know,who's keen to, who's keen to going
around with you, And it's certainlyfrom training perspectives, it's really useful to
go out with somebody because, um, you know, you get to talk
to them about club selection, aboutsilly things that you might think about you
(18:07):
might you might not think about inin regular golf. Where do you keep
your teas so they're easily accessible?How are you writing your score down?
Um? You know those sorts ofthings which you know if you if you
add them all together, can addminutes to your to your time. So
you know, it's it's helpful toshare those sorts of ideas and you know,
(18:33):
and basically becoming more efficient and aboutyour round and then hence improving your
time hopefully. Yeah, so competitiveambitions now, Kathy, you've been added
a year, so you're obviously honingyour skills here, speeding it up even
more. Are we going to seeyour in competition? Well, my my
first trick hopefully is going to beto improve my golf score, because that
(19:00):
needs quite a lot of work mthe time. As as I say,
you know, I run ordinarily anyway, so I think my time will naturally
reduce when I get my goal scorea bit better. So so that's my
My aim this year is simply tocompete again in in in the British Kinships,
(19:26):
um, and to hopefully improve onmy score from last time. If
I do that, I'll be happy. Excellent. Well, very best of
luck with it, Kathy. AndI'm sure you'd say to anybody who's listening,
you know, give it a go, because absolutely combining two sports here
at least two sports, yes,absolutely, and it is you know,
(19:48):
there are taste of days out therethere to do. Um. Certainly there's
there's a lot in the UK,and I'm sure there's lots worldwide as well.
So getting contact with your local Britishspeed Golf representative and and go from
there and just give it a go, because it's something that is great fun
(20:12):
even to try. And even ifyou're you play golf regularly, um,
you know, say to your localcaptain that you know, we've got this
as an idea, do you wantto give it a go? And they
might say, setting after noon theside on the golf course and let people
have a running around and see howthey feel. I like the idea of
(20:32):
pairing up with somebody you know andbeing competitive between Yeah, it sounds a
lot of fun, all right,Kenny, Well, thank you so much
for coming on the program and tellingus about your newfound passion in the very
best of luck this season. JustI'm sure get faster and more accurate,
and who knows, we might berecording your results here on the show one
day. Yes, we'll keep ourfingers crossed for that. Thank you very
(20:56):
much, Chris. And now GrettonJohnson joins us. She's been an athlete
her entire life. Growing up,she focused on soccer, basketball, and
squash, and in recent years she'sbecome an avid runner and golfer. She's
also completed ten marathons and she startedgolfing in her final year at university,
competing on the NYU women's golf team. Her enthusiasm for both sports led her
(21:19):
to participate in speed golf. Sheis currently the women's World speed golf Champion.
Gretchen, Welcome to the program.Thanks so much for haring me,
Gris. We'll tell us a littlebit about your background. How you got
into this sport and became as successfulas you are has been quite a journey.
But when did it all begin?Sure? Sure, so, I've
(21:40):
been an athlete my whole life.I grew up playing soccer, basketball,
baseball, squash for a few years. I always thought i'd get golf,
but sorry be something i'd get intoa little later in life when I couldn't
run and jump anymore, and endedup getting into golf. My last year
of university was dating a guy thatwas on a golf team, and we're
(22:03):
on a holiday and he wanted toplay, and I was tagging along and
grabbed a grabbed a nine iron andstarted swinging, swinging a little bit,
and the ball was going up inthe air and pretty straight. And got
out on the course and decided totee it up and dropped one in the
fairway, wrote up dropped on thegreen to putt it, and he basically
(22:27):
said, it's it's time for meto start playing golf. So I went
to Chicago that summer for I forwork opportunity and had a great coach who
basically taught me, taught me agreat set of fundamentals to work with,
and I played my last year ofuniversity and ever since then, I've been
(22:47):
a weekend warrior, grinding, tryingto get better. Just started playing in
some of the usg events this summer, which is really exciting. And a
couple of years ago, it wastwo thousand and twelve, I met a
man named Christopher Smith, who's thespeed golf goold record holder. And I've
(23:07):
been a marathon runner um for thepast probably seven or eight years, done
over ten marathons, and Christopher said, hey, you know you're pretty good
at runner, pretty good runner,and pretty good at golf. Why don't
you try this this thing called speedgolf, combining your your golf score and
(23:29):
in your running time, so youplay with your clubs and the rules are
the same essentially, and it's justit's a great way to take a game
that WI loves and is and isalready incredibly challenging as it is, uh,
and to take it to an evenmore intense, um more extreme level.
So I tried it out a fewtimes that fall. We met in
(23:53):
August or September, and then Iplayed in the Speed Golf World Championship down
Abandoned Dunes October and I played againstthe men and the professionals and finished eighth,
which was which is really exciting,and I was super thrilled with with
how I did. And since then, I've had some opportunities to to play
(24:15):
speak golf around the US, andthe last couple of years I've been able
to capture the women's Speak Golf WorldWorld title, which is which is great
and I'm super stoked that. Um. We're looking to invest more and and
winning in the game and getting somemore competitors. UM. But you know,
(24:37):
to be honest, a lot ofmy golf is is normal and the
roles slower. It's it's walking.But whenever I have an opportunity to get
out early in the morning before everyoneelse, or pick the last forty five
minutes of daylight and combine two hugepassions that I have running in golf,
it's it's super fun. And Ithink there's a bit of a misconception around
(24:59):
it it that it is this extremesport and that you're sprinting between every shot
and you're totally out of breath andand really it's it's it's not I mean
the kidding EASi I said it waseasy, but um, I find that,
um, you know, you you'rerunning quickly, but you you still
(25:22):
have to run slow enough so thatyou can hold your composure and put a
good put a good swing on theball. And I find that it's also
something that you can do social least, you could play with with other people
that can you run a little bitslower to make sure that you're being safe.
But it's it's super fun. AndI think people are most surprised by
(25:47):
how well they play, especially tto green. I think honestly, when
you speed up a little bit,you are minimizing the amount of doubt that
they can creep into your mind thatyou have to make a decision quickly and
commit to uh, your your processand your shot, and you end up
actually hitting in the ball pretty greatto the green and and the touch around
(26:11):
the greens. You know, sinceyour your heart is racing in one hundred
and fifty eats a minute and you'renot taking time to thoroughly read the greens.
I can be be a little bitchallenging, but if you can too
put as much as possible, um, you'll you're gonna're gonna score pretty well.
So I find it to be alot of fun and I'm excited to,
(26:33):
yeah, to see it grow inthe coming years and um and just
humbled to kind of be a partof a group of leaders that's that's out
trying to kind of push this thinga little bit. Have you found that
it's growing then, Gretchen, sinceyou started playing, what kind of opportunities
are there for women to compete together? Yeah, I've noticed there's a lot
(26:59):
of golf League leagues that are poppingup around the US and all over the
world. In fact, you know, whether it's it's the UK or Australia
or Italy or you know East Coast, West coast. Uh, people are
are definitely interested. You know,there's there's so much energy around uh,
(27:19):
you know, having a more activelifestyle and you know, maybe combining different
passions and just trying new and differentum activities. So I've I've been excited
by you know the amount of differentleagues and different events that are starting to
pop up, and I think forfor women especially, you know, it's
(27:42):
it's still quite niche, you know, so like went around at an event,
you know, it's definitely dominated byby the guys, but it's encouraging
to see, um, slowly there'sreally more women get out. And I
think a big hurl is just um, you know, introducing it to two
women in maybe smaller doses, soyou know, to go play eighteen holes
(28:07):
could could be a bit intimating,right, Like how about we we offer
a six hole loop or nine holesor even three holes, or maybe create
other variations like if you're just startingout, maybe you you run the odd
holes and you walk the even holes. So I think I think that's a
big opportunity to overcome some challenges.And then I also think with leveraging some
(28:32):
other innovations, whether it's you know, the golf board or other ways to
help people you know, play fasterand have have more fun doing it.
And in terms of prize money,then Gretchen, what are you looking at
then, and what a number oftournaments would you have of for women in
(28:52):
in the course of a year,well, for me as someone that's uh,
just looking to keep my amateur status. I'm not I'm not as concerned
with the prize money. But Ithink if you had, potentially it's you
know, four bigger tournaments you knowkind of align with uh, you know,
the major structure at the professional level, UM, it could be a
(29:15):
good a good way to get peoplefocused and m just building more you know,
more momentum and more excitement towards towardseach event versus having you know,
dozens of different, um, kindof bigger or medium sized tournaments. So
(29:36):
I kind of like, um,I kind of like four you know,
four or a handful of bigger eventsthat are maybe maybe are part of a
you know, a series with pointaccumulation, um. But you know,
ultimately, like you got to startsomewhere. So for each of the little
chapters that are starting leagues, youknow, if they they host one tournament
(30:00):
a year, I think that wouldbe a huge a huge one in them
itself. And is the sport embracingwomen in the way as you say it's
male dominated, as so many sportsare. But are you find finding that
men are you know, are beingvery accommodating and encouraging women to participate generally
at the level that you're competing at. Yeah. Absolutely, I feel like
(30:26):
I feel like there's a lot ofguys that have been inviting, um inviting
you know, women that they knoware good players or passionate players and are
also you know, pretty fit orpretty active. They've been encouraging them to
to come try it out. Youknow, clearly, you know, women's
growth, whether it's golf or anyother sport is a huge opportunity, and
(30:51):
more women than ever before, youknow, are looking to you know,
be more more active and live howyour lifestyles and and they're looking for activities
that they can do with their girlfriendsand it can be socials. So yeah,
I definitely think the men are encouragingand we just have to continue to
(31:15):
highlight how the opportunity that's in fromthem. All. Right, now,
what does your schedule look like then, in terms of competitions this year,
how much do you have to travel? Well, right now, I'm recovering
from foot surgery that I had atthe end of October, so I'm not
going to be running probably until March. But my intention is to do a
(31:38):
charity speed golfer and at the endof April in Napa, California. Last
year I could just participated in Iplayed one hundred and seventy one holes over
a twelve hour stand. So I'mlooking to something unhealthy, looking to play
two hundred goals this year and raisemoney for I cancer patient services in research.
(32:02):
And then I'll be looking perhaps toplay in a speed golf tournament or
two maybe this uh, this summer, I'd love to potentially head over to
Delver, Australia and play an eventdown there, which I heard just fantastic
things about last year and and uhI was supposed to go but had had
(32:25):
a business conflict. Um, andthen the World Championships in the fall you
tited to to get and defend thattitle. So, you know, just
just a few speed golf tournaments.Um, there's one in Portland in August
which is h which is pretty goodevent, it's been going on for a
(32:45):
number of years. But also besprinkling in just some some regular amateur tournaments.
Just trying to keep my game gamesharp under that that competitive environment.
And where is the Championships this year, Gretchen, And what are the dates
for that? You know, I'mnot sure it's been announced yet. Generally
(33:06):
it's in October Middaly October, andthis past year it was in Chicago,
Illinois at the Glenn Club, SoI think it might be there again this
year, but I don't think it'sbeen announced formally yet, right So obviously
an important one for you, thatwould be your main goal this year.
(33:28):
I'm curious when you said you're goingto Melbourne, how does the sport in
this country then compare two other countries. You know, if you if there
was a go to place for speedgolf for women, where would it be.
I'd say, honestly, right now, it's probably still the US,
just because it's uh, you know, it was the start of year in
(33:50):
eighties down southern California, UM forsome former professional runners who are also super
passionate about golf, and they've alwaysbeen a super strong kind of following here
in the States. But you know, what Virginia and team are doing down
in Australia, just what they've beenable to do is in the last you
(34:14):
know, eighteen to twenty four monthsis super impressive and you know, a
participation and engagement that they have downthere, it's something that you know others
should be should be looking at interms of best practices and for inspirations,
so you know, the pads couldbe shifting pretty quickly. But um,
(34:37):
I think there's still you know,still still from some good routes here here
in the States, but watch outoverseas is coming strong. That sounds like
Australia is going to be contending forthat top notch pretty soon. Then if
they're growing the sport the way thatthey are down there, and so in
(34:58):
terms of your overall goals and sport, Gretchen, just finally summarize that what
that would look like for you?I mean, being a world champion repeating
that obviously is a tremendous niche onyour belt. But what else would you
be looking to achieve in the sportand for the sport to achieve as you
develop in it. That's a greatquestion. Um, I think I'd I'd
(35:20):
love to see more more juniors,more use to get involved. I think
just you know, kind of capturinga younger generation they can help drives and
sustained growth for the sport would bewould be key. So I think for
me, a key legacy I'd liketo work toward and tell to me leave
(35:44):
behind is helping inspire and enable younggirls to the really teenagers, to to
comminute, to be superactive and toI guess developed. You know a lifestyle
that that revolves around U be golfand and other great activities. I think
(36:07):
golf is golf is wonderful in andof itself and the life the life lessons
that it that it teaches you.Um are artists priceless and I think when
you can layer on some some exerciseand just continue to be healthy in your
lifestyle, it's it's a double wind. So do you get time for any
(36:30):
other sports now or not? Isit entirely a golf world for you?
My big words are now are golf, running, cycling. I've recently picked
up table tennis as a great winteractivity. Uh if it of those are
my top activities right now. Somecross training as well. Do you do
(36:52):
jim work to strengthen your upper bodyand cool? Of course? Yeah.
I trying to get in for yougo or plodies or kind of functional weight
training. Do a lot of alot of stretching for mobility and flexibility,
just try and trying to stay healthy. I think a lot of the work
(37:15):
is is preventatives just to try andavoid overuse or strain stream my body.
But clearly I have a tendency toperhaps be a little bit too active as
as as I mentioned with the footserver. You're back in October, so
(37:37):
got to be careful, but yeah, I love love being active, So
slowly back onto the golf course andheading in October two we gain that title
that you won and be a worldchampion for a bit longer and maybe some
other titles to add to your CV, Gretchen, So the very best of
luck with your career, and thanksagain for coming on the program. Yeah,
(38:00):
of course, thanks for for havingme suppliers, and you'll find links
to the governing bodies for speed golfin the UK and the US on our
show notes accompanying this episode. Youcan post any comments and questions you have
about the programs here at WHISP Sports. On our Facebook page just look for
WISP sports and also follow us alongon Twitter at WHISP sports. And until
(38:23):
the next time, I'm Chris Stafford. Thank you for listening, Goodbye for now.
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