Three four-man teams of golfing pros have been battling it out to take the Guinness World Records title for the Fastest hole of golf by a team of four.

The European Tour recently invited some of its star players to attempt the record, in celebration of the Turkish Airlines Open which concluded on Sunday 5 November.

Three countries were challenged to beat the record, set in Spain last year, by French teammates Raphael Jacquelin, Alex Levy, Gregory Havret and Romain Wattel.

The official attempt, which was held at night on the 501-yard par five 15th hole at Turkey's Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort in Belek Antalya, involved a trio of four-man teams vying to complete the hole in the fastest time possible as a relay.

Levy returned as captain for the French participants, this time joined by Wattel, Matthieu Pavon and Mike Lorenzo-Vera but they failed to better the mark of 34.87 seconds set in 2016.

Next up was the South African squad – consisting of captain George Coetzee, Brandon Stone, Haydn Porteous and Dylan Frittelli – who achieved a speedy 32.96 seconds and gave 'Team England' a tough time to beat. 

Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick and Matthew Southgate, with the renowned Ian Poulter as captain, demonstrated their golfing skills and narrowly nudged South Africa off the leader board with an incredibly fast time of 32.70 seconds.

Official Guinness World Records adjudicator Seyda Subasi Gemici was on hand to announce the title, under the floodlights on the lawn which added to the drama.

Fastest hole of golf by a team of four: Adjudicator Seyda announcing the results

"This was a particularly exciting record attempt to adjudicate, a real test of both skill and teamwork. I'm pleased to confirm that the team did indeed manage to set a new Guinness World Records title for the fastest hole of golf by a team of four, which now stands at 32.70 seconds. My congratulations to all those who took part," – Adjudicator Seyda.

"It feels amazing," said Poulter. "I didn't think I'd ever set a Guinness World Records title. But it's there, with the lads, and it's awesome."

Hatton commented: "It was good fun and great to be a part of Team England. It's pretty cool to be a Guinness World Records title holder!"

Fastest hole of golf by a team of four celebrating

"I'm quite surprised we won, but it was a great feeling when they revealed we had done it,” added Southgate.

"The final celebration showed how it felt. We said if we won, we'd go mental. We kind of didn't expect it, but it's nice to walk away with this certificate, rather than a trophy," – Matt Fitzpatrick.

The teams will be going back to their regular-speed golfing now, with the final two events in the European Tour's Rolex Series coming up.