Footgolf

Footgolf is a hybrid sport in which players kick a football (soccer ball) into a cup in as few shots as possible.

The first shot has to be played from a tee box, and bunkers, trees, water and hills must be crossed or avoided in order to reach the hole.

[9][10][11] The sport of footgolf as we know it today (including attire, etiquette and general rules) was created in the Netherlands in 2008 by Bas Korsten and Michael Jansen, who loosely based it on a post-training game played by Korsten's brother—pro-footballer Willem Korsten—during his time at British football club Tottenham Hotspur from 1999 to 2001.

To officially launch this new sport, in which playing on a regulation golf course is fundamental, Korsten, Jansen and a team of colleagues set up a national and international bond and organised the first tournament (Nederlandse Kampioenschap FootGolf) at Golfbaan Het Rijk van Nijmegen on 6 September 2009.

This tournament, later televised on RTL7, was played by Dutch professional and ex-professional footballers and won by Theo Janssen.

[1] The first-ever footgolf tournament was organized in the Netherlands by Michael Jansen and Bas Korsten,[1] and played by a mix of Dutch and Belgian professional footballers.

Later, Belgium and Hungary switched from playing in parks to golf courses,[citation needed] and the game was introduced to Argentina in 2010.

By 2014, the game was offered at hundreds of courses in the United States[5] and was in the final stages of being recognized by Sport England.

[3] The game's emergence coincided with the decline of the popularity of golf among young people, with 643 courses closing between 2006 and 2014 in the United States.

'"[13] In March 2016, the LPGA golfer Paula Creamer said "Anytime you can do something differently in the game of golf, it's fun and I think we'll probably be out there (playing FootGolf) a little bit more now.

In January 2016, the second FootGolf World Cup was held in Argentina and 230 players from 26 FIFG member countries participated.

[25] The dress code for competition states a "classic golf style uniform with wearing indoor or turf football shoes" for tournament play, and notes that most golf courses have a dress code for golfers, which footgolf players would also have to follow.

[citation needed] UK, Argentina, USA and France tend to be seen as the biggest challengers in the National Teams competition followed by Italy, Slovakia and Netherlands.

[30] Due to a lack of players for a standard game of football Andreas Oligmüller and his friends decided to shoot at trees and road signs.