This is my run of Mario Golf Advance Tour Singles Any% in 46 Minutes and 30 Seconds (46:30). The rules of this run are simple. Play all the tournaments as fast as possible. Time stops when you finish the Level up screen after placing 1st in the Mushroom Tournament While this won't be a hole by hole analysis, this will go further into the key factors and how I achieve this time.

Character Selection: There are 2 characters you can pick. The first one is Neil, second one is Ella. The main difference between the two is Neil has more Power but more height, while Ella has less POW, but less height. While Ella was presumed faster, it has now been shown that they are essentially equal in terms of how fast you can run with them. I have been a Neil main since I started running, as I have always used Neil as a kid. Also I was one of two runners who used Neil so he was an oddball choice, which fits me personally. Now 2 of the top 3 runners are Neil runners.

Language differences: The Japanese version of this game (which is known as Mario Golf: GBA Tour) is actually very much faster than the USA version. The text scrolls a lot faster than in the USA version. This, in terms, saves 25-30 seconds. Another time save is that resetting is about 1-2 seconds faster than the USA version. You do 8 resets in each full run. So in total, it saves around another 10 seconds. Meaning you save 35-40 seconds in the JP version over the USA version. Custom Clubs: Before I start a tournament and I gain control over my character, I go over to the blacksmith, grab the Custom Ticket A out of the closet, and then I get POW Clubs. This Club gives you extra yard distance, but takes a small shot at your Impact & Control (I&C) stat. While it takes about 40-50 seconds to grab, this saves 2-4 minutes in the run overall. So it's highly worth it. I keep this on the entire run.

Power Shots: Every tournament you play, you start with 6 Power shots. This gives you added Power beyond what your normal base shot would do. This could be used to get out of sticky situations or trying to make a huge drive to make your 2nd shot easier. This isn't used too much for the 1st tournament. However, it gets more use later down the line. Losing all of your POW shots could be a death sentence, so you have to be careful. While rare, I have lost all my POW shots in a tournament before, and I was screwed for the rest of that tournament.

Routing: Each Course, we have a number on what score we need to get to advance. For the first 3 courses, we just need to place 3rd to move on, however, for the last 2 courses, you need to place 1st in both. The scores you need to get to at least have a solid chance of moving on are as follows, +5, +2, 0, -4, -3. Note that the -4 and -3 are unmoveable. They will guarantee that you win, but any other score under that will be an auto loss. We also take give ups on each course. A give up is essentially taking a very small tee shot, then pausing and giving up the hole. Essentially skipping the hole. You automatically get triple par as your score. So a Par 3 gives you +6, Par 4 gives you +8, and Par 5 gives you +10. So example for Marion, I skip Holes 4 and 11. This skips 2 Par 5's. And we have many routes on each course to determine which holes we can skip. The hardest skip to get is skipping two Par 4's in links. It is something I have never achieved in a run.

Putter: The Putter is one of the most broken clubs in the game. And yes, I'm serious about it. Why is this the reason? Well, it's because the putter can hit through a lot of terrain with wacky friction levels. You will see it sometimes in runs where I putt from the rough to make a shot. This is actually the norm in this game. Top runners will take shots from the roughs or even bunkers and putt from them because it's technically faster than setting up a chip.

RNG Elements: There are a lot of elements of RNG (Its a golf game, what did you expect?). Wind, Power variable (the number in the bottom right corner gives you more or less power), terrain, pin location, and there are so many more. I could not explain all of it easily, but just know there is a lot, and I have to pay attention to every single one.

Obstacles: This kind of goes with the RNG elements, but I will mention that certain obstacles, especially in the last 2 courses, can be super dangerous and could completely screw over your run. Some examples are the thwomps and tall rocks in Mushroom, and the Heath combined with trees in Links.

Pressure Moments: This is more or less what was going through my head at the time of the run. I had done maybe 50 or so runs before this run in particular over the past few months. So I took this as any other run. I knew that my first 3 courses had improvement over my PB, so as long as I had a decent lead, then I had a shot. Once that was over, I headed to Links and going into it, I knew it had to be at LEAST above average. While Par 5 skip is great, I knew I needed a little more than that. Getting a Birdie at 17 and 18 was a nice way to round that out. Links 18 especially because that wind was terrible.

Going into Mushroom, I immediately failed and Par'ed hole 1. Theres a little thing in our community where if you are on pace to PB, and then you Par'ed Hole 1, then you ain't getting a PB. After the Par, I figured I would call this run dead. I had to aim for double par 4 skip. This requires every hole to be perfect. Now you are allowed one mistake, but then you would have to eagle the last hole instead of a birdie. So this means that unless I got a chip in or a Hole in One (HiO) somewhere, then I would have to play perfect for the next 17 holes. No one has ever done that.

So I go through Hole 2, then 3, then 4, then 5. All goes perfect. We get to hole 6. I hit my 3 Iron, and honestly, I was afraid because had the ball hit the green, I would have flown over the green and would be in position to get Par. Luckily, luck was on my side because I hit the rough right at the edge of the fringe, knicked the hill on the green and lands perfectly into the hole. This is where the run goes from nothing to a big thing. Now Im thinking that if I play holes 7-15 perfectly, then WR had a chance. I would say the pressure started ramping up after I got to 14. This was the last really hard hole. I had to make sure that my ball was on the fairway for my 2nd shot, So I didn't want to play anything fancy. Hence, I did a no spin shot that hit the bunker, came out cleanly, and was set up perfectly to hopefully make Eagle, which I did. The back right pin all but confirmed I was getting double par 4 skip.

Having that extra stroke came in handy for 18 because I didn't have to play risky. I knew I just needed to get to the last island in 2 shots. No matter where it landed, it just needed to be over there. The wind was luckily favorable, as it wasn't headwind. Then I just clutched up and then did the level up screen as fast as possible because to be honest, I wasn't totally sure if I had it during the level up screen. Until I actually hit the split button, and I saw 46:30, and I knew it was over. That was really when my heart was pounding with excitement

But yeah, that was probably the most pressuring heart stopping moment throughout this entire run.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I appreciate everyone who watched this run, and for the people who still give a crap of what I do today. I also want to thank the Mario Golf Advance Tour Speedrunning Discord/Community for sticking with me and helping me out during my early days as a runner!

Thanks again for watching!

Mario Golf Advance Tour Extraordinaire
carterferris07Â