Intro

What is MG:SR course speedrunning like?

• Speedrunning this game is primarily done in the Solo Challenge mode (except for Story Mode runs), where environmental and placement conditions are set for you. Further categorical differences exist between Score and Time Attack modes, but the most popular speedrunning categories are done in Score Attack. Here, you can speed up shots by roughly 4x speed by holding the B button the moment you hit the ball, so it is incredibly fast-paced shot after shot, requiring good knowledge and quick thinking when seeing how your next shot sets up. You also have access to special shots that give you 10% more power, or 20% depending on your character, of which there are a few different types.

Primary Strategy

• The primary strategy is to play as little golf as possible, as fast as possible, while dealing with as little luck/RNG as possible (mostly found in the uncontrollable accuracy arrow mechanic). Thus, the playstyle emphasized is one of risk mitigation, where you aim to minimize the impact of randomized accuracy while maintaining the best possible stroke count on each hole. This is typically done by playing shots with power that stops short of the wider risk area/red zone and adjusting as necessary.

All-Star Summit 11, risk mitigated drive with standard spin and an ending raise to return the distance lost to a full power drive

• However, there are numerous instances where you'll need the full power or closer to that of your character and thus will have to rely on good enough luck to make the shot work. In some cases, you can use a special shot to mitigate the need for a lucky full power drive, like on Bowser Highlands 5:

but, you can only refill your special shots in Score Attack every 4 holes outside of All-Star Summit and Shelltop Sanctuary, so routing where you want to use them is important in light of mitigating the most RNG. An example of this follows Highlands 5, as hole 8 is eagle-able from the tee with a full power shot and good shot-shaping and will not have a special shot available.

This same idea is true for another special shot type as well. Par 3 courses New Donk City and Shelltop Sanctuary thrive on getting the most holes in one possible, so even the slightest bit of accuracy shift can mean the difference between a birdie and an ace; therefore, stinger special shots reign supreme here on holes without a change in elevation as they can attack the pin and drop in the hole for a much easier ace.

Shelltop Sanctuary 10, Pauline's special shot rolling in for an ace

Characters

• There is not a huge difference across the board for characters in terms of speedrunning optimization, but it is known that some characters have much faster putt animations, meaning they hit the ball sooner every time you putt. Bowser just happens to be the second strongest character in the game in addition to having three segments, allowing him to drive greens that other characters rely more on RNG to do, while also having a very fast putt animation and a good special shot; therefore, he is a popular all-rounder choice for speedrunning. Another character with a fast putt is Luigi, but Luigi's stats are basically entirely outclassed by other characters with no detriments, rendering Luigi effectively useless as he would rely on more full power shots that introduce more risk.

• For par 3 courses, a character change is in play due to stinger specials. Pauline, Toadette and Waluigi are all decent characters with stingers, with very little time difference between them.

• There is potential for Koopa to be used on some courses due to his special shot being the strongest in the game at 326 yards. Blustery Basin and Spiky Palms, and perhaps Wildweather Woods 15 may benefit from this, as his special would guarantee eagles and possible par 4 aces on a few holes; however, his standard drive is also 16 yards weaker, so instances where Bowser could drive a green without an available special may come as a detriment to Koopa. He also has a slightly slower putt, so this option remains open but largely unexplored.

• Generally, courses in an All Courses run should be lumped together (par 3 courses together) to minimize menuing time spent backing out to change characters.

Special Shots

• Special shots require a bit of attention to master. In Score Attack, the frame of power you hit on a special shot corresponds to the power on the frame after the last visible frame. So, a full power special shot will look like it stopped on the frame before the meter was completely full.

Some characters' special shots are specifically impacted by wind, and others not. The following table summarizes known wind effects, but does not have data for Shy Guy and Wiggler (though generally these characters aren't used in speedrunning):

Koopa's, and presumably Ninji's, bouncing special shots are affected by wind. Note that Bowser's special shot is affected by wind!

• The amount a special shot will be influenced by wind is roughly 10-15% of what a normal drive's displacement would be in the same wind with perfect accuracy. You can use this estimation to derive a feel for how much to move your shot for lateral displacement, as well as whether to aim to add or subtract a frame of power. All stinger specials are not affected by wind, so you do not need to aim these shots due to wind. Rain does not seem to have a noticeable effect on special shots.

• Your shot's lie (i.e., if the meter is curved to the left or right, and/or if your simulation arrow is blue or red versus white) will have the greatest effect overall on your special shot. Generally, you'll only come across this with characters that hit lob specials—I'm unsure how much lie affects a stinger shot, but it is not a situation that should arise often in a run of a course or All Courses. With lobs, you'll need quite a bit of finesse to accurately change your special shot's power and positioning. A light-mid blue arrow may require 10-20 yards more of power, or 4-6 frames, due to your lie being uphill, while a mid red arrow may require a reduction in yardage as your special shot's angle is translated more forward than up due to it being hit off a downslope lie.

Special Shots with the Driver

• Special shots vary heavily between using a driver and a different club. The driver is a weird club that behaves more differently than its neighboring 3W than any club and its neighbors do, by a decent amount. Special shots with the driver need to be adjusted down 3-4 frames of power for what would work with a 3W or other clubs. Here's an example:

This shot on Wildweather Woods 16 went too far, despite being stopped well before the pin icon and not having an elevation difference or a downslope lie.

Shot Mechanics

Shot Meter Graphics

• Now that you're looking at the pin icon, it's important to note what this means. The way green and the cup are shown on the shot meter only takes into account the horizontal plane—meaning the Z axis is not accounted for in the amount of power you need on your shot to reach the green or the cup; therefore, some of the heaviest memorization in shot routing in MG:SR comes from knowing how to adjust your power for elevation differences. A lot of these instances will be subtle, while others will be more obvious (many holes in New Donk City, for example).

There is no good, visually apparent guideline to follow for how many yards to drop or add for elevation changes, but one thing is certain: don't use the range finder in a speedrun, you'll lose time! Figuring out how to adjust on each hole and in different conditions when you get different shot accuracy is an important part of developing your feel for the game and your ability to handle any situation.

Shot Shaping

• Shaping your shot is synonymous with adding an impact point in previous Mario Golf games, although there's more of a fantasy element here with multiple segments the higher your character's spin is. Adding 1-3 arrows per segment will change in sensitivity depending on how many segments there are, so find your comfort zone or reach outside of it with a new character that has more segments. You can move the arrows around once you select a direction adjacent to that direction, noting the apparent inertial affect in doing so. You can also hold the opposite of the initial direction to cancel out arrows.

• The optimal shot type for gaining distance without elevation change is called a riser. This involves sending the ball down with the initial segment of your shot, increasing its forward velocity, then raising it up at the end of the shot to maximize its time spent in the air with the increased forward velocity. Characters with two, three and four segments can all do risers. The optimal riser at full power for a three segment character is usually 3 down, 0, 3 up, or possibly 1 up in the middle with strong tailwind. A four segment character generally gets the most distance on a full power shot out of 3 down, 1 down, 1 up, 3 up, but this is heavily subject to elevation.

Performing a riser—down arrows first, then raising at the end, to hopefully tackle this longer par 4 on the Rookie Course.

With a risk-mitigated drive or other shot, the arc of the shot will not match the time spent in each segment, so you'll need to change your shot slightly if you want to maintain a similar flight path. This is true for two, three and four segment characters alike.

A risk-mitigated riser, with one up arrow in the center segment to maintain loft.

You can also do the opposite of this by using down arrows at the end of your shot to drop the shot more quickly—this is good if you overhit power.

• Sidespin—arrows to the left or right—is incredibly volatile and requires a bit of memorization in where you aim your shot to effectively employ, otherwise you will be off by a mile. Shots that need sidespin, like the aforementioned Highlands 8, are good holes to learn and practice visual cues for where you want to set up in order to create the easiest shot. Sidespin does not lose distance on your shot overall, but will begin to change the distance if there is an up/down component on the spin.

• I recommend using a Gamecube Controller for shot shaping in particular due to the notches on the control stick making it very easy to stick cardinal directions and roll for slight angle adjustments. You can also use the dpad on a joycon or pro controller to shot shape.

Putting

• There is no fantastic way to learn to putt, it's the hardest part of golf IRL and in game. Putting is an entire skillset like muscle memory that is necessary to learn and remember in how each green behaves from every angle you attempt. Eventually, doing this will give you the ability to improvise your putts effectively. The pin helps in this game, since it remains in the cup when putting. I find that once you start hitting over 50% additional power, the ball will have a much greater chance at hitting the pin and bouncing off of it without going in, especially on sloped surfaces, so keep this in mind when developing your strategy for dealing with curved putts.

Spins

• For speedrunning purposes, backspins are much faster due to how they stop the shot in this game. Backspins should be used in every situation where it isn't necessary to gain enough distance for a second shot to be easier, or for an easier chip to roll in. Be careful with how you use regular and super backspins though—super backspins can be too effective when hitting a higher iron or wedge shot and cause you to roll backwards quite a few yards if you use them carelessly. This is because higher irons and wedges already impart natural backwards spin on the ball, so you're exacerbating this effect with additional artificial spin. Similarly, regular backspin on a wood may not be enough to stop its approach to the cup on the green.

Weather

Wind and rain effects on your shot are outwardly simple, but inwardly complex if you care to delve into the minor details.

• Since all shots are straight in this game (no fades/draws), wind will start out pushing your ball in the direction it points toward. As it pushes it toward that direction, it will become increasingly effective, as it is aiming to force the ball along with it—in doing so, the shape of the shot changes gradually toward the wind pushing the ball with it. This effect only really compounds in the strongest conditions in this game, but it is still important to note if you want to understand every inch/centimeter in an error.

• Wind is especially powerful the shorter your shot is. Chips need to be adjusted for their airtime quite a bit, and this is due to the physics engine in the game: the shorter shot travels much more slowly forward, and thus is more subject to an inclement force like wind changing its velocity. A good approximation to use is the edge of your simulation line and the edge of the cup for a short chip—I line the edge of the cup or the beam of light up with the edge of my simulation line for a 7 mph, 3 m/s crosswind.

• Rain is fairly simple in this game. It has minor effects on the loft of your shot, so in threshold situations you may need an extra up arrow to clear a tree you otherwise wouldn't, but for the most part other factors have much greater influence (i.e., accuracy RNG). The largest thing to know is the effect rain has on putts. You'll need to add extra power to your putt to combat a wet grassy surface that has more friction—generally around 50% more power starting with shorter putts, and less power the longer your putt is. Note that this effect will stack, perhaps exponentially, with elevation changes in putting!

Wrap-up

No matter how much textual or visual information you absorb, mastering a golf game will always come down to a massive amount of experience and practice. As of writing this guide, I have 1065 hours in MG:SR according to my Switch profile. These are the guidelines I follow mentally as I speedrun, play ranked matches or go for score attack records! Good luck out there :)