One of the great things about playing in Fun Golf events is you can make them pretty much anything you want. Do you like to play the ball up in the fairway? Go for it. Utilize the foot wedge from time to time? No problem. Maybe scoop up those pesky 4-footers?
It’s all good in Fun Golf, where you don’t even have to keep score. The only requisite is right in the name. We want you to have fun!
Since we started the Fun Golf Series in 2015, thousands of TGA Members have jumped in to participate in these casual outings that celebrate recreational golf. For many, it’s just what they want from the sport. A chance to enjoy being outdoors with like-minded people, playing compelling courses – possibly for the first time – at a discounted fee is pure bliss for most golfers. At Fun Golf outings, there are no eagle-eyed Rules Officials watching you mark your ball. You don’t need to measure two club lengths to take a drop.
Heck, you don’t even have to finish a hole if you decide you’ve had enough.
“It’s absolutely so much fun,” said Richardson’s Jenny Turner, who has played in several Fun Golf events. “It beats being in the office. You’re out here among all the trees, the greenery, friends, making new friends. It’s just an awesome experience.”
Turner and her husband Ed were two of 65 players who cruised around Lantana Golf Club in mid-March at a TGA Fun Golf Play Day. For only $65 – less than the private club’s normal guest fee – TGA Members had the golf course to themselves. They were treated to 18 holes, tee gifts, lunch and prizes in the semi-competitive Low Gross and Low Net contests.
The Turners are big fans of Fun Golf. They paired up at Lantana with a couple they met a month earlier at a Fun Golf event in Galveston at Moody Gardens Golf Club.
“I’d tell anyone to just come out here,” Turner said. “It doesn’t matter what their handicap is or where they’re from. They have tournaments all over the state of Texas; you can join in anytime. It’s a great time.”
Wayne Meckley from Fort Worth agreed with Turner. He was a Fun Golf first-timer at Lantana, and he said he had a blast. He learned about the event from the TGA website, and it fit right into his agenda.
“I wanted to see the courses around Texas, and I thought this would be a good way to get around and play different courses,” Meckley said. “This is my first round of golf since last November. So I’m just trying to get back into playing again.”
Meckley’s favorite part of the day? “I’m not in the office,” he said. “I enjoy the sport. I enjoy hitting a good shot occasionally and being out in the fresh air.”
Then there are more serious golfers like Kevin Casas from Irving and Lewisville’s Brad Selvey. Like the others, they attended the Lantana event to have fun. But they also used the one-day outing to sharpen their games for future tournaments.
Casas, who sports a 3.6 GHIN Index out of Trophy Club Country Club, is a competitive golfer who last year played in the North Texas Amateur, the Fort Worth City Championship and the Club Championship at Trophy Club. He treated the day at Lantana like a one-day tournament and a chance to refine his skills in a no-pressure situation.
“I wanted to win,” Casas said. “But it was also an opportunity to work on some things. I don’t normally play from tees that far up, so I was hitting driver into spots where the fairways get narrow. I tried some riskier shots, too, hitting over trees and feeding driver into some narrow fairways.”
Casas said he had a great time at Lantana. He’ll play in more Fun Golf events, too. A couple double bogeys kept him from winning his division, but he reveled in the opportunity to get on a new course and work on his game.
“I was able to hit some different shots,” he said. “I’m always looking for good courses to play, and the set up at Lantana was great. It wasn’t like we were out there grinding over putts for a paycheck. We were all trying to play our best, but it was fun. At the end of the day, there was a burger waiting for us at the clubhouse, too. That was a nice bonus.”
Selvey said much of the same. He learned about the event through his Men’s Golf Association at Lake Park Golf Course in Lewisville. He loves the social aspects of Fun Golf: playing good courses, meeting new people and networking.
Selvey, too, likes to tee it up in competitive events. The chance to play a well-bunkered, strategic course like Lantana in a structured outing created a canvas for some low-pressure practice.
“It gives you a chance to work on some things you might be working on for tournaments or games outside of a relaxed atmosphere,” he said. “For me, I’m kind of playing the ball down a little bit, but hitting those shots I’ll need in a tournament.”
So far this year, we’ve brought recreational golfers – even non-TGA Members are welcome – Fun Golf events at TPC San Antonio’s Oaks Course, home of the PGA Tour’s Valero Texas Open, Moody Gardens in Galveston and Lantana in Dallas-Fort Worth. Other highly anticipated Fun Golf stops in the upcoming months are places like Old American, which will host this year’s Volunteers of America LPGA Texas Classic, Walden on Lake Conroe, TPC San Antonio’s Canyons Course, Bentwater Country Club, Brookhaven Country Club, Golf Club of Texas and a host of others.
The 2018 Fun Golf Series calendar has a total 17 outings, including the season-ending Texas Shamble in November, a multi-day event at Riverhill Country Club in Kerrville with flights for men’s, women’s and mixed teams.
Whether you’re a casual player, a beginner or a competitive golfer looking for places to hone your game, there’s a Fun Golf outing with your name written all over it. Just imagine: golf the way you want it. Doesn’t that sound like fun?
For more information on how you can get involved with Fun Golf, click here.