Part Soccer, Part Golf, Footgolf

Part Soccer, Part Golf, Footgolf is Gaining Converts Among Players and Golf Course Owners 

Footgolf. No one seems to know exactly where it started, but now that it’s here, it’s starting to pop up everywhere on golf courses across the United States. And we mean everywhere.
 
“It took us six months to organize the first tournament in the U.S. back in 2011,” said Roberto Balestrini, co-founder of the American Footgolf League (AFGL), the national governing body of the sport in the United States. “Since then, we’ve opened 200 footgolf courses across the country. By the end of the year, our goal is to have 500.”
 
It’s still golf, played on a real golf course, with all of the same rules. But instead of swinging a club at an often frustratingly finicky golf ball, players kick a soccer ball from the tee box to the pin, which features a 21-inch diameter cup. Each kick is a stroke, and, yes, you better avoid the beach and the water.
 
The first organized footgolf tournament took place in the Netherlands in 2009. The Federation for International Footgolf (FIFG), created in 2009, represents 22 countries worldwide, including the U.S. Today, footgolf is played on courses in 37 states.
 
“Our main goal is to promote the sport, introduce more people to golf and help existing golf courses generate more money,” Balestrini said. Another goal, he added, is to make sure that the AFGL is in place to set a standard and promote the game in the right way.