Way out in the west of Ireland, standing in a stream, a TikTok golf guru is changing the way that people around the world think about the sport.
38-year-old Rob Hogan has built himself a devoted army of golf fans through his unique approach to the mechanics of the sport, as well as his eccentric persona, fantastically bushy beard, and habit of calling everyone ‘Maroochi’ – for reasons that are as-yet-unknown.
Online golf coaching is big business, so it's extraordinary that amongst the mostly staid cohort who spend their wages on green fees, a wildman in Co. Mayo has emerged as one of the most beloved online coaches in golf.
A prophet in the wilderness, so to speak.
Hogan's run
Hogan himself was a promising junior golfer from Co. Wicklow, rising through the Irish ranks alongside household names such as Rory McIlroy, but after years of soul-searching discovered that his true calling lay in a different format – speedgolf.
Speedgolf was barely recognised as a sport until it received backing from wealthy businessman Mike Kaiser, who owns a number of courses around the USA.
That influx of cash meant that Rob – who discovered the sport during a particularly difficult time in his career – could gain sponsorship, travel the world, and start breaking records.
Soon, he left the doldrums and started his way to the summit of speedgolf. Hogan has twice been crowned world champion of the sport.
The idea is simple enough – it’s golf, but you run the whole course.
Before Rob got involved, the balance was more in favour of the golf than the speed, but his gung-ho attitude saw him knocking 10 minute increments off the times of his fellow competitors, as well as having a transformative effect on the way the sport was played by everyone.
He was crowned Irish and British speedgolf champion in 2022, and last year, Hogan self-published a book about his experiences in the sport called Speedgolf: A Brief History of Time And Score.
Having changed the sport of speedgolf, Hogan has begun to fixing the golf swings of people all around the world, in his own inimitable style.
'Skim the stone Maroochey'
In the last year or so, Hogan has experienced extraordinary success on tiktok and instagram with videos that feel like a mix between a golf coaching and shamanic exertions.
@speedgolf another online lesson #marooch ♬ original sound - Speedgolf
The radical approach works because Hogan often implies that the secret to good golf is already inside us – anyone who has ever thrown something, skimmed a stone, or waved a stick can – in theory – hit a golf ball well.
It has proven an unbelievably popular style, and has seen Hogan gain 90,000 followers on TikTok and 181,000 on instagram, with his videos receiving 1,500,000 likes.
Along the way, he mixed once again with McIlroy – amongst others – after being invited along to last year's Irish Open at the K-Club.
@speedgolf #maroochandmcilroy Of course with Rory its all about the Driver sometimes but he was hitting some tasty bunker shots and I asked him about some of those slightly longer and very tricky greenside bunker shots. Cheers #rorymcilroy ♬ original sound - Speedgolf
Speaking to Balls.ie, Rob said: “I like to approach something in my own way – there was no instruction manual for speedgolf.
“There’s loads of ways to do it – at the beginning of golf, the techniques and ways of working were devised by fellows just like me and you,
“It’s great to look at the history of the game, but it’s great to look at things anew as well, get out into the open and let the dust settle on your instruction manuals, free your mind, and think about it yourself sometimes.”
In this case, ‘freeing your mind’ can mean waving around a garden hose to learn about the grip, or using a large shovel as a training aid.
It comes out of leftfield, and sits at odds with much of the traditional methods of golf theory.
However, Rob doesn’t buy the ‘guru’ moniker.
“It’s important to isolate yourself from the golf swing [which can be] so full of mystique,” Rob continued.
“It’s important to realise the practical element of simply picking something up with your hand, then absorbing that into the golf swing and continuing on to enjoy your golf.
“The thing is – it’s about stepping aside from persona and mystique and ‘guru’ to something more practical.
“If a persona or system gets built up around that, it just gives someone else the opportunity to break that down in future.
“We’re all operating with a particular persona, and that’s working out fantastically for some of us, but sometimes it’s possible that people can step aside from the forces around them and change their persona.
“For me, I’m delighted with my persona.”
As for the ‘Maroochi/Marooch’ nickname, which features heavily in all of his videos, Rob is tight-lipped.
In true zen fashion, perhaps it’s not important that we have all the answers that we crave.
One thing that we do know is that Hogan’s videos are going from strength to strength, and he’s finding himself increasingly prominent in the crowded market of golf content creation.
That’s good news for both Rob, and for the sport of speedgolf.
He said:
“I’m very passionate about golf and I’ve been making videos for years, but in the last year people have been really enjoying my thoughts on golf and it’s been brilliant.
“I love making videos and talking about golf, being passionate about something positive, so to share that with people is a match made in heaven.
“I want to make sure that I try to get back to as many people as possible, and make sure that I appreciate everyone that follows along – the support has been incredible.
“The true joy and purity of thinking about golf – it sounds corny – but I love that.
“The excitement, jumping over the walls in your thought about something, it’s brilliant.
“To learn and transmit that as best as possible to others, that’s brilliant as well.
“That’s the main thing.
Hogan is clearly made up with his fanbase, and doesn’t take any of his online success for granted. Recently, Hogan released a collaboration with from LPGA pro and golf coach Carolin Pinegger. It was an unusual marriage of styles, but somehow it worked.
However, there are always those who want to be negative.
He explained: “It’s pretty much all positive, but sometimes things can hinge on our good form and good spirits, and it comes down to that.
“Hopefully I can contribute to that positive spirit and positive form.
“Sometimes if you miss the fairway and make a double bogey, that mightn’t be your favourite hole on the course that day, but the next day you might make birdie and it’s back to being the favourite.
“If you’re on good form, you can interpret a lot of the things positively.”
There’s something in that for us all to learn, not just the high handicap hackers out there.
