Aly Bright “tees” off at Sun Valley Golf Course (Photo by Tori Hahn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIan Cook said he fell in love with the easy-to-learn sport right away and encourages everyone to try it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good for all ages. That\u2019s the really important part,\u201d Ian Cook said. \u201cIt\u2019s great for communities because it brings people together and takes them outside.\u201d<\/p>\n
Footgolf works similarly to a normal game of golf, except feet act as clubs, soccer balls replace golf balls and the holes are almost five times the size. Scores are counted with birdie, par and bogey, and players are still entitled to play the ball where it lies.<\/p>\n
Like traditional golf, footgolfers are encouraged to abide by a particular dress code outlined by the United States FootGolf Association, though it may not always be enforced for casual play. The code includes a flat cap, collared shirt, golf pants or shorts, knee-length argyle socks and indoor soccer shoes. No cleats \u2013 or, surprisingly, soccer jerseys \u2013 are typically allowed on the course.<\/p>\n
Footgolf serves as a cost-effective alternative to golf for both the players and course owners.<\/p>\n
It provides a chance for lower-income individuals to get out on a golf course when they otherwise wouldn\u2019t have the opportunity, according to Fajerman. At Sun Valley, footgolfers can play one round of nine holes for $6 and two rounds for $10.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in the wake of California\u2019s devastating drought, small golf course owners were forced to figure out a way to save water and keep their courses afloat; and smaller and more relaxed courses like Sun Valley are perfect places to add footgolf, according to Fajerman.<\/p>\n
Shannon made the decision to bring footgolf to the La Mesa course because of the decreasing popularity of golf at the youth level.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe golf industry as a whole is suffering … We had to think of a way to bring in more revenue,\u201d Shannon said. \u201cAt first I laughed hysterically at the idea [of adding footgolf] and thought it was preposterous, but then I eventually liked the idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
After seeing a dramatic increase in traffic to the course from the addition of frisbee golf almost eight years ago, eventually footgolf didn\u2019t seem so crazy to Shannon.<\/p>\n
Footgolf began popping up 10 years ago across Europe, and made its way to America five years ago, according to Fajerman. Today, there are more than 400 footgolf courses nationwide and six courses in San Diego County.<\/p>\n
Although the \u201cTiger Woods era\u201d of golf might be over, noted by Mary Jane Gonzales, wife of Sun Valley co-owner Johnny Gonzales, a new, light-hearted era of golf is emerging.<\/p>\n
\u2013Tori Hahn is an editorial intern for SDCNN, the parent company of the La Mesa Courier. Reach her at torihahn@cox.net<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Por Tori Hahn | Pasante SDCNN<\/p>","protected":false},"author":803,"featured_media":222618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11548","_seopress_titles_title":"Footgolf wedges its way on to Sun Valley Golf Course","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11548,11551,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-223530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-la-mesa-courier","category-news","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/803"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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