RESTON, Va. — Golfers have been using their feet for generations — just not legally.
The “foot wedge” has become a byword for kicking out of trouble when the rest of the foursome looks the other way.
Now, there’s footgolf — and it’s all about kicking.
“The premise is exactly the same as regular golf,” says Mark Wesolek, regional manager for Billy Casper Golf.
“You kick the ball off the tee as your tee shot, make an approach shot and ideally two-putt to make a par on a par-4 hole.
Footgolf is, essentially, a hybrid of soccer and golf.
“You play it down,” Wesolek says. “Regular golf rules apply.”
Two footgolf courses opened this spring in Northern Virginia: General’s Ridge, in Manassas, and Lake Ridge Golf Course, in Woodbridge.
“The excitement is huge. It’s going to be the sport of the year,” says Marcy Janet, general manager at General’s Ridge Golf Course.
The courses are on existing golf courses. Often, two footgolf holes exist in a single golf hole. Distances per hole range from about 70 yards to 200 yards. The diameter of the hole is 21 inches.
Because the cups are much bigger, to accommodate a soccer ball, the holes are not on the actual greens — they’re in the rough or next to the green.
The cost of a round of footgolf is about $20, or roughly the cost of playing nine holes of traditional golf.
But the appeal of this new sport may be more broad.
“I think a lot of the appeal for footgolf is that it is casual, it is less stressful, it is a lot of fun to play,” Wesolek says.
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