Former Major League Baseball pitcher Eric Byrnes has turned from being a professional athlete always on the move to encouraging families and children to do the same. That drive led Byrnes to set a new Guinness world record for the most number of golf holes played in a 24-hour period.
Setting the new mark of 420 holes at his home club of Half Moon Bay Golf Links in California, Byrnes, who has become an endurance athlete since retiring from MLB, began his quest at 7 a.m. Pacific on April 22, 2019, and had a full day to complete as many holes as possible. Byrnes, who played for the Oakland Athletics and Baltimore Orioles among other teams, has learned to play quickly by often not making full, time-consuming swings and spending little time actually plotting out hole strategy. Some of the swings were one-handers just looking to advance the ball like in polo. The idea of this kind of speed golf is simple: hit it straight and hit it quickly. Byrnes used a single club, a women's 8-iron he dubbed "Hot Lucy," for all the shots.
.@byrnes22 coming in on Hole #18 for the first time! πββοΈβ³οΈ
WATCH LIVE: https://t.co/czISC7mDYf pic.twitter.com/YuVf8OosNO
— Let Them Play Foundation (@LTPFoundation) April 22, 2019
Half Moon Bay's Ocean Course was not lit for the record-breaking day. Byrnes continued playing through the night, racking up round after round. In between rounds, Byrnes would replenish his energy with avocados and Reese's peanut butter eggs. He would drink shots of mustard during the rounds, too. Approximately 17-and-a-half hours into his quest, Byrnes had played 16 rounds of golf.
16 Rounds (295 Holes) Completed...
Currently on Round #17, Hole #7 β³οΈ
WATCH @BYRNES22 LIVE: https://t.co/czISC7mDYf
(Current World Record = 401)#Chasing402
— Let Them Play Foundation (@LTPFoundation) April 23, 2019
Then at 5:31 a.m. Pacific on April 23, Byrnes completed his 402nd hole of golf, setting a new Guinness world record. The previous record holder belonged to Australian Ian Colston, who played 401 holes in 24 hours in 1972.
Itβs Official!
We have a new 24 Hour Speed Golf @GWR World Record holder... πββοΈβ³οΈπ₯
At 5:31AM PST, @byrnes22 completed his 402nd hole with 1 hour and 29 minutes left to play! #LetThemPlay
— Let Them Play Foundation (@LTPFoundation) April 23, 2019
From there, Byrnes played another 18 holes to wind up completing 420 holes of golf in a 24-hour period. To put those 420 holes into some perspective:
- Byrnes played 23-and-a-third rounds of golf in 24 hours, meaning he played nearly a round per hour
- It took Byrnes 2.57 minutes (or 2 minutes, 34 seconds) on average to complete a hole
- The average PGA Tour final group on Sunday can take two players nearly 5 holes to complete 18 holes
- In the average 3-hour baseball game, Byrnes played nearly 3 rounds of golf
- In total, Byrnes covered more than 100 miles of ground by walking and running his rounds
If you want to watch some (or all) of Eric's incredible 24 hours, here you go: