By Julie Buehler
FootGolf: Equal parts soccer and golf. The name describes perfectly the concept behind one of the fastest growing sports in the United States, but it doesn’t come close to describing how much fun the new sport is. Frickin’ Awesome is a little closer.
FootGolf is a collision of the Coachella Valley’s favorite sports: soccer and golf and the only place to play locally is Shadow Mountain Golf Club in Palm Desert.
The rules are very similar to golf, but rather than a club and small white ball, you just need your foot, a tennis shoe or turf shoe and a soccer ball. And rather than swing a club to hit the ball closer and into the hole, you simply swing your leg, kick the soccer ball and record the number of kicks, as you would your strokes, required to sink the soccer ball. And in FootGolf, just like golf, striking distance isn’t always your friend, but accuracy always is.
FootGolf is played on the average golf course, but over the span of 9 golf holes you will find all 18 FootGolf holes. The traditional Scottish attire is expected, so FootGolfers look particularly sharp with the Kangol hats, tall, argyle socks, collared shirt and golf shorts or skort for the ladies.
The holes are 21 inches in diameter and found generally in the rough of a course, off to the side. So at some courses around the country and internationally where the sport has simply exploded, it’s very common to find traditional golfers teeing off just before FootGolfers kick off.
And because of the shorter distance for the 18-hole span, a round of FootGolf only takes between 75-90 minutes.
Founder of the FootGolf club at Shadow Mountain, Charis Romano, who describes herself as “obsessed” with the new sport, has been diligently working with her team to build the course at Shadow Mountain and discover the perfect combination to allow avid FootGolfers and avid traditional golfers to co-exist.
Shortly after discovering the sport and playing her first round, Romano decided the Coachella Valley was the perfect place to launch a FootGolf course.
Shadow Mountain Golf Club, just at the top of San Luis Rey in Palm Desert, opened to FootGolfers in August and is open until overseeding season in October.
As it’s the first season of being open, Romano and her team are testing the waters to discover what kind of demand local soccer enthusiasts and outdoor enthusiasts, in general, will generate while still respecting the wishes of golfers.
And while it’s new in the Coachella Valley, this sport is spreading like wildfire nationally and of course Europe has already been jumping on board for years!
According to Romano, when she became aware of the sport some 6 months ago, she said there were 35 courses nationally. Last checked, there were more than 200 courses.
There are growing international tournaments, an official governing body for the “Federation of International FootGolf” or FIFG and the American FootGolf League, or AFGL, which has been officially sanctioned by the PGA and MLS, boasts it’s office just off Taquitz in Palm Springs.
So if you’re looking for something new to do on a weekend, get out to Shadow Mountain Golf Club soon, before reseeding, because this sport is such a blast, I guarantee if you try it once, you’ll want to go again. And it’s a great challenge for all athletes, but easy enough for those who aren’t too athletic to find their own pace and ability on the FootGolf course. As a long-time soccer player, short-time golfer, I found FootGolf so compelling I can’t wait until the next time I get to hit, or kick, the links.
The course is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 1pm-dusk, but if you have a group, just call the course and see about booking a time. They’re very flexible to accommodate new players. Take a couple buddies, jump into the stylish duds and enjoy the coolest sport everyone will be talking about.
MORE INFO:
WHERE: Shadow Mountain Golf Course
73-800 Ironwood Street, Palm Desert
PHONE: (760) 346-8242
COST: $14 per adult per round
WHEN: Fri-Sun 1pm-Dusk, until Oct reseeding period
Julie Buehler hosts the Coachella Valley’s most popular sports talk radio show, “Buehler’s Day Off” every day from 3-6 on 1010 KXPS, the valley’s all sports station. She can also be seen every morning between 6-7am on KMIR sharing the coolest stories in sports. She’s an avid gym rat, slightly sarcastic and more likely to recite Steve Young’s career passing stats than American Idol winners. Tune in M-F 3-6 pst at www.team1010.com or watch “Buehler’s Day Off” on Ustream and KMIR.com for her sports reports.
