Tournament host Sergio Garcia led a three-team, international challenge ahead of the Real Club Valderrama Open de España, as the Guinness World Records™ title for the ‘Fastest hole of golf by a team of four’ was broken in spectacular fashion.
The official attempt, which was held on the iconic par five fourth at the Andalucia venue, involved a trio of four-man teams from host country Spain, plus France and Denmark, vying to complete the hole – which played at 500 yards – in the fastest time possible as a relay.
Garcia led a Spanish squad featuring compatriots Rafa Cabrera Bello, Pablo Larrazábal and Nacho Elvira, while Thorbjørn Olesen captained a Danish team completed by Lucas Bjerregaard, Morten Ørum Madsen and Lasse Jensen.
But it was the French team led by Raphaël Jacquelin and featuring Alexander Levy, Grégory Havret and Romain Wattel, which set the fastest time in a blistering 34.87 seconds to smash the target time for this Guinness World Records title – which had been set at 68 seconds.
Jacquelin said: “I mean, 34 seconds, that’s unbelievable! It’s the best feeling ever and very cool to have the Guinness World Records title and hopefully get in that famous book. It was a big drive from Romain and an incredible three iron from Alex and then the putts from Grégory and me were very fast too, so it was a big team effort and the whole thing was a lot of fun. We knew it was fast but not quite that fast!”
Tournament host Garcia, added: “It was very close and we gave it a very good go but France deserved the record – that was amazing. The whole experience was exciting and all of us had a great time competing against each other and the clock!”
Guinness World Records Official Adjudicator Anna Orford said: “As the official adjudicator for Guinness World Records, I was able to witness the three teams from Spain, France and Denmark giving it their all to bring home the title, however Alex Levy’s superb shot which landed perfectly on the green secured the French team their Guinness World Records title for the fastest hole of golf in a very impressive 34.87 seconds. An officially amazing record breaking moment!”
European Tour www.europeantour.com