Golfer breaks world record for playing most number of rounds in a year

October 27, 2023

American golf photographer Patrick Koenig has broken the world record for the most number of 18-hole course rounds of golf played in a year.

Koenig set out in January to play 500 golf courses in 365 days to raise money for The First Tee program – an American program to get more kids into the game of golf. Koenig looks set to smash the 500 mark having ticked over the 450-round mark last week and setting a new world record in the process.

According to John McKessy at Golfweek, the record is still only deemed unofficial as the Guinness World Records are yet to take a look and confirm if Koenig has beaten the previous record off 449 set by a couple in 2009.

On Oct. 17, Koenig (unofficially) broke the record when he played his 450th course at Omni Interlocken in Broomfield, Colorado.

As of Wednesday, the record is still unofficial as Guinness World Records still needs to review all evidence. According to its website, the process of reviewing the application for a world record could take up to 12 weeks.

The photographer is not done yet with about a month and a half left in 2023. Koenig hopes to hit 500 golf courses by the time the year is over, making his world record even more unbreakable.

And if you go check out Roger Koenig’s website, you’ll see he has attempted this sort of thing before. In 2018, Koenig played over 400 rounds across 48 states. Dubbed RGV Tour 2.0, this new achievement has a few sponsors on board including Golf Gamebook and ECCO Shoes.

Despite breaking the record, Koenig is not stopping now. Posting on social media, Koenig has now set himself a new goal.

“I set a new goal today. I am going to play 10,000 different golf holes and 555 different 18 hole golf courses this year.”