A Review of Footgolf

After hearing about a new activity called footgolf, Brandon and I knew we wanted to try it at one of the local golf courses. It's pretty much the same rules as golf, trying to get from the tee box to the flag in the least amount of strokes, but you kick a soccer ball instead of dealing with clubs and trying to find that perfect and elusive swing. Although, a perfect soccer kick can be pretty elusive as well...

Maple Hill in Grandville is the only golf course that offers footgolf that we found in the area, so we headed over there. They offer it Sunday and Monday evenings, likely because those aren't as popular times for real golfers to tee off. You show up with your own soccer ball, though if you don't have one they do rent them out, and pay for 9 holes, 18 holes, or 2 hrs of unlimited play. We paid for 18 holes, but quickly kicked through them and the manager was kind enough to let us continue for 2 hrs and pay the difference when we were done. We would definitely recommend the 2 hr play time. It gives you a chance to get through 36 holes (so you can pretend the first 18 was just "practice"), is a better value, gives you more time to hangout with fellow players, and makes the drive more worthwhile. 

There were two footgolf courses set up, an intermediate and advanced. We started with the intermediate, because we were new to the game and because the Aquinas College soccer team was starting the advanced course. I am new to soccer, much less footgolf, and did not want them following me and seeing all my blunders. I didn't need to worry though. As we played, I heard them despairing over their shots as well. 

The course turned out to be different than we expected. We had assumed we'd just be kicking down a normal fairway following the normal path of a golfer. Instead, the distance from "tee" to flag was shorter, ranging from 39 to 215 yards, usually crossed a couple fairways width-wise rather than using the length of just one, and was chosen to highlight the topography of the land. The manager explained that the focus was on kicking skill and reading the course topography rather than distance, because kicking a ball straight down a long fairway would get boring quickly. This was nice for me as I don't have a very strong or long kick. Not that I have a ton of kicking skill either, but I definitely improved as we played. And, thankfully, the topography did not include water traps! 

The courses filled up as the evening progressed, but play moved well and we never had to wait for a group in front of us or felt like we were holding others up. The manager was also super accommodating and friendly, driving around in a golf cart and checking up on us and each group several times to answer any questions and gather feedback. 

So, how did we do? Brandon did infuriatingly well. He's always beats me in anything sport related. Grrrr. So, I feel justified in saying "infuriatingly". But, really he just has skillz and years of well earned soccer experience to fall back on. It is a small comfort that I can at least beat him in Scrabble any day. But, once I made it my goal to just try to be within one kick of Brandon for each hole (a fair handicap I believe), I was able to better contain my frustration and have a ton of fun. He impressively finished the advanced course only 4 kicks above par. If you let me have my handicap (please be merciful and do), I was only two kicks behind him. 

So, what's the verdict? 

1) It was just Brandon and I playing, so we definitely want to go back again and experience it with a group of friends. 

2) The manager was awesome and definitely a selling point to go back. 

3) Once we've had the group experience, we may not need to go back again, because we could just make up our own course. Our own course may not be as fancy and professional (think a park with tree traps and cone markers), but it would save some money and present its own fun!