Footballgolf – The game sweeping the continent
They are two of the country’s most popular participation sports, but a new craze is providing an interesting combination of the two.
Footballgolf is a new game which is growing fast, with particular interest in Scandinavia and Germany. The foundations of the game are very simple, all the rules and ethics of Golf played in essence by kicking a football into a bigger hole than you would in golf. Instead of having to spend hundreds of pounds on golf clubs, all participants need in terms of equipment is a size 5 football and the relevant footwear.
If you think about it, a lot of the skills of golf are transferable to football. Firstly, there is an element of power required to strike the ball off the tee and down the fairway. Once you are on the fairway (or in the rough as the case may be!) you would need to use a delicate touch in order to land the ball on the putting surface and as close to the hole as possible. Once on the green, the player will need to use accuracy in order to pass the ball into the hole in as little shots as possible.
The WFGA (World Football Golf Association) is the world governing body for the sport and currently holds 6 annual tournaments dating from May through to October, with its World Championships ths year being held in Alunda, Sweden between 26th-28th July. Current world number 1 is Alex Kober of Germany who finished 3rd in last year’s World Championships but is a 2x World Champion having taken the title in 2011 and 2007.
There is currently very few Footballgolf venues in the UK but if its popularity continues to grow at its current rate it is surely only a matter of time before we start to see them popping up all over the UK. The law of averages would dictate that there are thousands of recreational footballers in the UK that would also play golf if it wasn’t for the expense of a set of golf clubs and all the fixtures and fittings that come with playing the sport. Footballgolf could provide the UK with a much more cost effective way of getting people out on the golf course of a Sunday morning, but best of all, with a football!
Aaron SharpFollow @ajs26061988
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