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... Most of us have heard of Foot Golf, which is a combination of soccer and golf that requires a larger hole and an overall shorter course. It’s a nice idea, but there is another competitor that may become far more mainstream in the long run – that would be Fling Golf, a lacrosse style game played with the same exact conditions as traditional golf.
During a recent experimental round, this writer discovered it’s made for a social distancing world. Everyone has one stick and walking is the only way to play. As the name suggests, you put your golf ball into a plastic catcher at the bottom and throw it as far as you can, using whatever style of swinging motion you want. It’s hard to fling the ball far enough off line to get into significant trouble. When you reach the putting green, you turn the stick to putt with the flat end of the catcher.
It takes some time to get used to – your first few throws are usually spikes straight into the turf – but once you learn where to release it, the ball flies quite easily.
“Literally the only difference is if you throw it into a bunker, you take one penalty stroke,” said Austin Ebersole, the head professional at American Classic Golf Club in Lewes, Del. “And that kind of makes it fun when you get on a green with bunkers around it.”
Ebersole has been running a Fling Golf league for the past year and routinely will have 15-20 people come out to play on weekdays. The typical age of a player is in the late 20s or early 30s, meaning some in those demographics who may not play much golf are very interested in this form of the game. Because the average person can only throw the ball about 125-150 yards, it’s an interesting possibility for pitch and putt courses or executive nine-hole facilities.
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