Lacrosse + Golf = FlingGolf
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minnesota golfers are taking a swing at new type of golf game.
Three courses around the state now offer FlingGolf. It can be played alongside the traditional game, but there are some big differences.
Think of the game as golf meets lacrosse. The rules are the same, the execution is not.
"FlingGolf is something I think anybody can play. Once you see it, once you try it, it's a lot of fun," Ben Disch, golf operations manager at Brookview Golf Course, said.
Golfers shouldn't be fooled by its simplicity; there is a learning curve. Ryan Thompson realized that when he tried FlingGolf for the first time at Brookview.
"I think it's good, something different, and it's easy to pick up," Thompson said.
In the tee box, golfers place the ball in a club called the fling stick and throw the ball.
"There's a side arm method and an overhand where you fling it," Disch said.
"I definitely played a lot better doing this than the first time I played golf," Thompson said.
Since the fling stick replaces the bag of clubs, chipping is now more of an underhand lob. Putting is more of a perfect push rather than tapping the ball towards the hole.
"It appeals to everybody. We've seen golfers and non-golfers alike," Disch said.
It may be a different way to play the game but some aspects of golf never change.
"There are definitely places where you can improve your game so it's not completely amateurish," Thompson said.
Brookview introduced the new style of play at a time when many golf courses are seeing players lose interest in the game. By adding new alternatives to the traditional game, golf courses are finding a new group of people who are interested in spending time on the course.
"It's a way to see the golf course from a different perspective," Disch said.
Anyone wanting to play the Brookview course has to pay the normal greens fee; the club is $2 to rent.
Centerbrook Golf Course in Brooklyn Center and Pebble Creek Golf Club in Becker also offer FlingGolf.
And now for a blooper reel from Rachel Slavik's first attempt at FlingGolfing.
