BATHURST Golf Club professional Mitch Williamson is officially Australia’s number one speed golfer after securing the Australian Speedgolf Open title at Yarra Bend Golf Course on Saturday.

He broke the world record in doing so, and was chosen to represent Australia at October’s World Speedgolf Championship in Chicago as well – although he conceded he probably wouldn’t compete this year.

Not a bad weekend by anyone’s standards.

“It was a pretty good weekend,” Williamson laughed.

“Honestly though, Rob Hogan from Ireland was there, he’s number one in the world and just coming up against him was a highlight in itself.

“Being able to actually beat him was icing on the cake really, and then the world record was another bonus.”

Williamson, who plays off scratch, claimed this year’s Wentworth Golf Club matchplay championship and is also an elite middle to long distance runner, produced the round of his career to claim the title.

He shot 77 off the stick in a time of 31 minutes to finish with a speedgolf score of 108. That broke the world record of 109 set by America’s Chris Smith in 2005.

Speedgolf is scored like traditional golf in terms of a scratch score, but the player sprints around the course with a maximum of seven clubs - Williamson uses four.

Their time is added to their score to determine a final tally.

“I hit it pretty well, much better than I normally do in speedgolf, although I still had five three-putts,” Williamson said.

“Three-putts are normal in speedgolf, you don’t line them up like you normally do, but five was still a couple too many I think. But I hit 12 greens in regulation, which is good through a normal round of golf.”

Williamson represented Australia at last year’s World Speedgolf Championship in America as well, but disappointingly was unable to finish his round. 

At this stage, he said he will not be able to better that performance, conceding this year’s world titles is probably slightly out of reach. 

Plus, he is still recovering from the weekend’s round.

“I don’t think I will go, the weekend just gone was in Melbourne and was the trip I’d planned for this year and it is tough to get to more than one, it’s all self-funded,” he explained.

“I’ve been looking at every two years, so next year hopefully. Plus, I’m injured from the weekend and not sure when I’ll be able to run properly again at the moment. It’s a pretty taxing sport when you do it properly.”

In a family affair, Williamson’s sisters Nicole and Carrie claimed first and second in the Australian Speedgolf Open women’s category, finishing with scores of 151 and 152 respectively.

“It does make it a little bit more special for all of us to do well,” Williamson said.

“Both Nicole and Carrie played really well.”