'Footgolf' Kicks Off At Afton Alps
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- As the golf season gets going, the sounds of the sport fill the air.
A little different sounds of a little different sport than we're used to. And we're hearing more and more of it in Minnesota.
The new footgolf course at Afton Alps just opened. Nestled alongside the fairways and bunkers lay 18 super-sized cups, just waiting for a soccer ball to be kicked in.
"I've been playing golf for a long time, I've been playing soccer for a long time," said Sampson Romain, who was trying the sport for the first time Saturday. "I might as well try to combine the two and play both at the same time."
According to FootGolf Minnesota, there are now 19 footgolf courses in the state. Eight of those are brand new this year, and there are plans for more on the way. Across the country, there are roughly 400 courses in 47 states, all installed in the last few years.
"You don't have to know how to play golf in order to play footgolf," said Afton Alps' Tony Olin. "You just have to know how to kick a ball."
The rules closely follow that of regular golf, with an added bonus. If you end up in a water hazard, at least the balls float and you can get them back.
"It's fun," Romain said. "It's a lot tougher than I thought it was gonna be."
The reason for the sport's rise is in direct correlation to the decline of regular golf, which has had a net loss of four million golfers in the last decade, and as a result, seen more than 600 courses close nationwide. In Minnesota, 15 courses closed between 2006 and 2014, while just one new one opened. The ones that have stayed open, are largely surviving on things other than golf -- weddings, catering, and other attractions.
Like footgolf. Afton Alps says its new course wasn't necessarily born out of that necessity, "but we definitely want to keep up with trends," Olin said. "And expand our opportunity for a broader audience."
Not everyone is thrilled with the new idea. Some traditional golfers have complained about now having to share the course with something they see as a gimmick. But most golfers that WCCO talked to simply shrugged their shoulders and said some of these courses simply need to make money any way they can.
"There really shouldn't be any issue with that," Olin said, "because all the footgolf holes are along the sides of the fairways, they're on the sides of the greens, so really very little impact for a golfer.
"That's our goal, is to make the experience for golfers and footgolfers alike to have a great time," he said.
