For you avid golf lovers, there’s another way to get more of your friends interested in golf.
Ever wonder what would happen if soccer and golf had an unexpected love child?
Well, foot golf is exactly that. The rules are the same as golf, but instead you kick a soccer ball into larger holes.
For some reason, our newspaper advisor thought it’d be worth sending two of her editors to play a game of foot golf to find out if it’s the younger more millennial-friendly golf. While teens and young adults alike wish for a mini-golf course in Stockton, this is the next best thing.
Opinion Editor Vivienne Aguilar and I set out on Fri. Oct. 19 to Swenson to face off in what would be the most intense foot golf game that Stockton has ever seen (at least including players who were under the age of 35).
While neither of us are very sports oriented, the rules and goals of foot golf were easy to pick up.
Each player has their own identifiable soccer ball and you start about six feet behind the tee marker.
Wind and gravity will be your worst enemy, as a player cannot stop the ball after the first kick. The ball landing in water will warrant a one stroke penalty or an added stroke to your overall amount for that particular hole.
Players are also prohibited from using the front or top of the foot.
Did Vivienne and I follow all of these rules to a tee? Probably not, but it’s not like we were at the Olympics.
Honestly, it’s also far more fun to play while not keeping the score. Our voluntary embarrassment on Swenson Park golf course was fueled by journalistic curiosity.
However, if you’re competitive by nature, definitely invite people who are just as competitive to go with you.
And if you have no interest in any type of golf whatsoever, Swenson Park also has many squirrels roaming the course as they’ve made homes there. Animal lovers rejoice!
The only off putting element was that neither of us realized how important the caddy and a golf cart is to play golf until it was too late: carrying all of our own equipment and personal belongings while keeping score and playing foot golf was not an easy task.
We soon realized why so many folks shelled out the $70 to rent a golf cart when they played.
With our fleeting youth and college student budgets, however, we made it through all nine holes on foot. Viv only kicked the ball into a pond once and by some miracle I won 27-31. Considering each hole was Par 3, I’d say the score was actually measuring who sucked less, but we both found the whole ordeal a fun success.
Listen, if I can win a game of foot golf anyone can.
Is foot golf the new mini golf? No.
Does it beat Wii sports? Absolutely.
While foot golf does require you to venture out into the world and make you actually sweat, I’d recommend it to college students.
If you’re looking for a new date idea or your group of friends are tired of seeing movies and going to the mall, scrape together the $7.50 per person and play a game of foot golf at Swenson.
Swenson also has disc golf along with foot golf, nine-hole and eighteen-hole golf. They’re open seven days a week, from sunrise to sundown. For more information go to stocktongolfcourses.com or call (209) 937-7360.
