Golf course properties are introducing the game to new players through initiatives such as FootGolf and other variations that have little effect on course conditions and upkeep.
“Grow the game” has become a rallying cry in the golf industry—but significant change rarely comes without innovative thinking and bold execution of new ideas. From new ways to play, to flexible layouts, to alternative modes of transportation from tee to green, many golf course properties have stepped up their search for new approaches that can increase participation in the sport and/or add business through its new variations.
Some liken the introduction of FootGolf, FlingGolf and other “radical” alternatives on golf courses to when snowboarding first came to ski slopes and was frowned upon by traditionalists. As it turned out, the mountains did have room for both skiing and snowboarding—and the golf stakeholders who are now pushing these new twists to the game have similar faith that their landscapes can also accommodate additional new activities just as comfortably and profitably.
Summing It Up
• New innovations such as FootGolf, FlingGolf, reversible golf courses, and the use of GolfBoards, Golf Bikes and Segways can be added to a property’s amenities without having a major effect on golf course maintenance operations. • Alternatives such as FootGolf or FlingGolf, which take less time than a round of traditional golf, can introduce new people to golf and generate additional revenue for properties during off-peak hours or slow seasons. • Concerns that golf alternatives will cause disruptions or create a “miniature golf” atmosphere are proving to be unfounded. While initial reactions from traditional golfers seem to be mixed, golf personnel believe that, with time and education, they will be accepting of new innovations as they continue to grow in popularity. |
Getting Off On the Right Foot
One of the most meaningful ways many industry stakeholders have been upping their game is by introducing FootGolf at their facilities. The efforts behind FootGolf took a giant step forward two years ago, when The PGA of America formed a task force to grow the game through nontraditional means. “It’s been a long time since the PGA has [explored] something this significant,” says Darrell Souza, Director of Golf Operations and PGA Professional at Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert, Calif.
A combination of soccer and golf, FootGolf is played with a regulation, size-5 soccer ball at a golf facility on shortened holes. Players attempt to kick the ball into 21-inch-diameter cups in as few shots as possible, and the rules largely correspond to the rules of golf.
The origins of FootGolf date back to 2001, but the first nine-hole FootGolf tournament on a golf course, played as the sport is known today, was organized in the Netherlands in 2008. Today, nearly 500 golf courses in the United States offer FootGolf, and more than 150 American properties added the sport in 2015 alone.
Desert Willow built its FootGolf course last year and has offered play since June 2015. The resort facility, which is owned by the city of Palm Desert and managed by KemperSports, began to aggressively promote the sport at the start of this year. “FootGolf has really given us the opportunity to be creative and think outside the box,” reports Souza, who has been at the club for almost 17 years. “It has added value and business with no impact on [traditional] golfers whatsoever.”
In spring 2015, Chesapeake Bay Golf Club in Rising Sun, Md., became that state’s first golf course to offer FootGolf. “The reason was two-fold,” says Tom Brown, CGCS, Director of Maintenance and Head Superintendent. “We wanted to introduce new people to our course and the game of golf, because the rules are similar. The other reason was revenue.”
Chesapeake Bay doesn’t promote FootGolf heavily, according to Brown; people find out about it primarily through word of mouth. The game appeals to a variety of groups, he says, ranging from children who might play three to nine holes at a birthday party to corporations that hold FootGolf tournaments as team-building exercises for their employees.
“You can play the entire 18 holes in about two to two-and-a-half hours,” Brown says. “Most golf courses are dead in the afternoon, so we restrict FootGolf to [that time period].”
FootGolf can be played seven days a week at Chesapeake Bay, and from time to time, FootGolfers and regular golfers are on the course at the same time. However, notes Brown, he hasn’t heard any complaints from the regular golfers. “Regular golf and FootGolf can co-exist,” he says.
‘Fun, Fair, and Challenging’
Two or three FootGolf holes can fit on one regulation golf hole, depending on its length, and the holes are cut in out-of-the-way places that shouldn’t interfere with traditional golf. At Chesapeake Bay GC, for example, three FootGolf holes occupy the first golf hole, which is a par-4 for regular golfers. The FootGolf holes are cut on the edge or in the middle of the fairway or in the rough. If a regulation golf ball lands in a FootGolf hole, the golfer gets relief for the shot.
“FootGolfers start on the tee surfaces, and they finish up at the clubhouse. We have par-3, -4, and -5 holes,” reports Brown. “The entire 18-hole FootGolf course is played on the first seven golf holes.”
The Chesapeake Bay staff lets regular golfers know when FootGolfers are on the golf course, but they haven’t heard of anyone being hit by balls (of either type). Some people play both FootGolf and regular golf, notes Brown, and a lot of families and young people are trying the sport.
“Initially, members were concerned, but that passed,” he says. “They were afraid of a ‘miniature golf’ atmosphere, but they’ve gotten used to seeing FootGolfers out there.”
Souza and staff members of the American FootGolf League (AFGL), which is the governing body of the sport in the U.S., designed the FootGolf course at Desert Willow. “I wanted it to be similar to a golf hole, where there was some risk-reward,” Souza explains. “You want your course to be fun, fair, and challenging.”
During the design process, some hole locations had to be changed, after it was realized that some pin locations were too hard or didn’t make sense. Water features on the golf course also help to frame some FootGolf holes, Souza notes.
Minimal Maintenance
Golf course superintendents certainly are mindful of best-maintenance practices, and those who are at properties where FootGolf is played are finding that it integrates into their operations with minimal effect on golf course upkeep.
“We wouldn’t want something that would have a negative effect on the golf course [just] to bring in new customers,” Souza explains. “We want to bring people throughout the community to the golf course. We want to grow the sense of community and the game of golf.”
Mike Tellier, Desert Willow’s Certified Golf Course Superintendent, says his crew spends two to three hours a week maintaining the FootGolf course. The maintenance staff cuts the FootGolf holes on the edges of the fairways or in the rough, and mows those areas with tee mowers. Tellier only had to train his staff to install and clean the cups.
Dos and Don’ts for Launching Golf Alternatives
Golf stakeholders are constantly looking for ways to grow the game, and many have begun to explore nontraditional avenues to bring new people to the sport. However, the execution of the new ideas is just as important as the planning. Golf industry professionals who have expanded into new areas have these tips for those who are considering alternative means for people to learn or enjoy the game of golf: |
“The setup is relatively easy, and the cleaning of the cups is on a weekly basis,” Tellier says. “The edging of the cup is something that Darrell [Souza] wanted to handle himself, because he wants a certain edge. We typically use a string trimmer with a steel edge, but he wanted to take some of the handwork out of it by developing a pressurized tool to edge the cup.”
Souza and his staff use a scissors-type tool to edge each cup. The tool leaves a straight edge around the cup, rather than the beveled edge left by a string trimmer. Souza also oversees tee-marker placement.
While FootGolf is still relatively new at the property, notes Tellier, it has created minimal disruption and cost. The property spends between $15 and $18 per hour to maintain the FootGolf course, he says. Because the FootGolf holes are confined to one golf course (Desert Willow has a total of 36 holes), the logistics have minimized costs as well, he notes.
“The only thing that alters the golf course is the FootGolf cup,” says Souza. “The FootGolf greens are off to the side of the fairway, and we put lids on the holes when they aren’t being used.
“The FootGolf course doesn’t come into play near any of the greens complexes,” Souza adds. “There’s no disruption, so it makes it feasible to introduce it to any facility. It doesn’t downgrade the golf experience. There are other man-made things, like sprinkler boxes and clocks, that can interfere [more] with play on the golf course.”
It’s also important to get feedback and input from those who play the new sport, Souza says. “You can’t just throw cups out there, or FootGolf will be perceived as an afterthought,” he believes. “Don’t take FootGolfers for granted. They’re just as relevant as your golfers.”
At Chesapeake Bay, FootGolf has also had little effect on regular golf course maintenance, says Brown. “The biggest ongoing issue is water collecting in the holes from irrigation or rain,” he notes. “We police that on a regular basis.”
Maintaining the FootGolf course takes up little of his crew’s time, Brown reports, and has required no additional training. The maintenance staff spends about two hours a week on the FootGolf course. One of their additional duties is to mow in a circle near the hole, to keep the grass shorter around it.
“On many holes, we use the same tee surface—it’s just a different color marker, to denote FootGolf,” Brown reports.
Chesapeake Bay has FootGolf signage on the holes to designate the hole number, par, and distance from the green. “We also have directional signs to holes, if they can’t see the next one,” Brown says.
Brian Kramp, Chesapeake Bay’s Golf Professional, says a property that offers both sports needs to be aware of the FootGolf course setup and hole locations. “You have to realize where your sight lines are, and place the flags and holes where regular golfers don’t hit,” he reports.
“When I play golf, I don’t even realize that the [FootGolf] flags are out there anymore,” Kramp adds. “The hole signs for FootGolfers at each tee box make them feel like they’re getting the experience of regular golfers. The directional signs to the next holes help people who are new to the golf course.”
At Chesapeake Bay, he adds, FootGolf holes don’t come into play unless a regular golfer hits a ball off-line.
One Step at a Time
Before building Chesapeake Bay’s FootGolf course, Andrew Barbin, PGA, the club’s General Manager/Director of Golf, visited a New Jersey property that offered FootGolf and then contacted the AFGL. “We winged it off what he learned,” says Brown. “We dug the holes by hand or auger. You need a flat tee surface to kick the ball from.”
Desert Willow looked into FootGolf for two-and-a-half years before bringing it to the property and embracing the sport with enthusiasm, according to Souza. The property is now the home course of the AFGL, which is headquartered in Palm Springs, Calif., and also the exclusive U.S. member of the Federation for International FootGolf, which regulates FootGolf worldwide. This November, Desert Willow will host the U.S. National FootGolf Championship finals.
Partnerships with the AFGL give properties access to resources such as the FootGolf course-certification process. “If you’re interested, contact the American FootGolf League [www.footgolf.us] and let them assist in getting FootGolf integrated into your facility,” Souza recommends.
Desert Willow has two golf courses—Firecliff and Mountain View—and its FootGolf course is on all 18 holes of Mountain View. The par-72 FootGolf course has three sets of tees, with forward tees set at 1,600 yards, middle tees at 2,800 yards, and championship tees at 3,600 yards. Both FootGolf nines have two par 5s, five par 4s, and two par 3s.
FootGolfers at Desert Willow can play any time—morning or afternoon—based on space and availability. “The programming is set up so we can offer it at any point, 365 days a year,” says Souza. “It’s easy to administer for the golf course. The golf course is a great environment to spend time, and we hope FootGolf will inspire people to take up golf.
“We’re also offering it as an alternative to corporate events where golf may not work because of time constraints,” Souza reports. “FootGolf takes about half the time as a round of golf. It’s also an opportunity to bring people out to the golf course who may not come because golf is a pretty intimidating sport [that can be] hard, expensive, and time-consuming.”
Desert Willow is partnering with the local Convention & Visitors Bureau to promote FootGolf. The property, which has incorporated FootGolf into its summer junior golf program, is also trying to involve the Southern California Section of The PGA of America with its junior FootGolf program.
“There are 10,000 kids who play soccer here in the desert, but only a couple hundred who play golf actively—and we have 140 golf courses [in the area],” Souza notes. “The [golf] industry says a lot about growing the game; we’re looking for ways to keep our perspective fresh.”
As part of that, Desert Willow has programming that allows people to learn about golf through its FootGolf programs. The property offers group clinics and activities on the golf course that will introduce FootGolfers to traditional golf.
Such outreach is important, Souza believes, because he has found that people who grew up in country-club environments aren’t necessarily buying memberships. They’re busy working, he says, or they prefer to play a variety of golf courses. A few regular golfers have taken up FootGolf, Souza reports, but Desert Willow hasn’t yet offered FootGolf long enough to see if the reverse can also be true, to get a significant number of FootGolfers to transition to regular golf.
As for the reaction to FootGolf by traditional golfers, he states, “It’s a process of integration and education. A lot of them are just inquisitive. They’re curious.”
Souza is excited to introduce FootGolf to regular customers. “It is fun with a capital F,” he says. “I think that FootGolf brings fun back to the regular golf course. If you can kick a soccer ball, you can play FootGolf. There is enough of a challenge from the tees for any skill set.”
Compelling Economics
Souza finds that the learning curve and economics of FootGolf—in time and expenses— are a draw to the sport as well.
“FootGolf is great exercise. It has a faster pace, and you’re just kicking a ball,” he says. “You don’t lose balls, and you aren’t constantly investing in new artillery.”
While FootGolf doesn’t require a steady purchase of new balls, it is proving to be an additional source of revenue for golf courses during off-peak hours or slower seasons.
At Desert Willow, the two golf courses are extremely busy during the fall and winter, notes Souza. But during the off-season, he adds, “We have a surplus in the spring and summer of unused inventory.”
From January through early September of this year, Souza says more than 1,000 rounds of FootGolf were played at Desert Willow, bringing in about $20,000 in revenue. His goal is to generate more than $100,000 in FootGolf revenue annually.
Desert Willow’s initial investment in FootGolf cups, flags, and markers, which were purchased through the AFGL, cost less than $5,000, Souza says. The property’s peak rate for FootGolf is $65, which doesn’t undermine the traditional golf rate. Desert Willow also rents size-5 soccer balls to FootGolf players, and everyone, including children, plays with the same-size ball. “The soccer ball is relative to the FootGolf hole as a golf ball is to the golf hole,” Souza explains.
Chesapeake Bay brings in about $500 a week from FootGolf, Brown reports. Players can bring their own balls, or Chesapeake Bay rents balls of assorted sizes. To start the sport, Chesapeake Bay purchased FootGolf cups, and flags came with the package as well. The golf course uses blue flags for FootGolf holes and yellow flags on the golf greens.
“It’s been a bonus for us; it has helped to generate revenue,” adds Kramp. “It has filled in some of those slow times when we didn’t have regular golfers.”
Tee times for regular golfers and FootGolfers are typically nine minutes apart at Chesapeake Bay—and “90% of the time, FootGolfers actually play faster than regular golfers,” Kramp notes.
While golf cars are available for FootGolfers, Kramp says 95%of them walk the course. According to Kramp, two separate groups of people generally play FootGolf and regular golf. “A few FootGolfers have played regular golf,” he adds. “That’s how they found out about FootGolf.”
Chesapeake Bay has also set up some rules for FootGolf. Players must wear sneakers or indoor turf shoes. While they cannot wear tank tops, FootGolfers are allowed to wear soccer club-type shirts at the property. However, many players like to show their enthusiasm for the new game by fully dressing for the occasion—typical FootGolf attire often consists of a collared shirt; knee-high socks (preferably argyles); a flat, “Hogan-type” cap; and spikeless turf shoes. Cleats are not allowed. “We try to have people follow the same dress code as regular golfers,” notes Kramp.
The biggest issue with FootGolf, Kramp adds, is that younger players are sometimes not as familiar with golf etiquette, requiring more efforts to have them “keep the noise down.”
Having a Fling
Other properties have introduced alternative forms of golf such as speed golf, which is scored by adding the number of strokes and the minutes it takes to complete the course, and lighted golf, which allows people to play at night. Golf courses in more than 40 states, along with other countries around the globe, now also offer FlingGolf, which was started in 2014 and combines elements of lacrosse and golf. (For the uninitiated, information and Vimeos abound at www.flinggolf.com.)
Shenvalee Golf Resort in New Market, Va., recently started to offer FlingGolf at the suggestion of Golf Course Superintendent Tim Donnelly. FlingGolf is played on a golf course alongside traditional golfers and scored the same way as golf. The only equipment required is a regular golf ball and a FlingStick, which is used for every type of shot, including putts.
Shenvalee has offered FlingGolf since July, says Marketing Director Katie Walthall, and 30-plus people tried the sport on the driving range during a FlingGolf grand opening on Labor Day weekend. The property rents FlingSticks for $7, and the cost to play, including a cart, is less than $20.
“We wanted to try something new because [participation in] golf all over is slowing down,” Walthall reports. “We want to bring in the younger generation and families, and we want to give more people an opportunity to enjoy the course in a way that they haven’t before.”
FlingGolf is now offered on the oldest of Shenvalee’s three nine-hole layouts, which also receives the least amount of play, after 3 p.m. each day.
Because the shots are not as long as a regular golf shot, notes Walthall, the property pushes up the tees to accommodate FlingGolf. Otherwise, she says, “No real modifications were done to the golf course, and FlingGolf causes less damage around the tee boxes, greens, and fairways.”
Shenvalee considered adding Frisbee golf, Walthall says, but that would have required more changes to the course. Shenvalee staff members also consulted with personnel at Massanutten (Va.) Resort, which has offered FlingGolf for about a year, before introducing it at their property.
Reaction to FlingGolf from Shenvalee’s members has been mixed, Walthall reports. Still, she adds, “We’d love to see it grow in popularity. It’s something fun to do, and it’s not super-competitive. It’s not as serious as golf, and it’s not meant to be. It doesn’t take much to set it up and get it going.”
Reversing Course
Properties are also devising innovative ways to enhance the experience of traditional golfers. At Forest Dunes Golf Club in Roscommon, Mich., for example, golf course architect Tom Doak built a reversible 18-hole layout called “The Loop” to accompany the property’s 18-hole, parkland-style course.
The Loop, a walk-only golf course that is in the final stages of grow-in, is still maturing, notes Director of Agronomy Brian Moore, but it opened for limited play in late June.
Modeled after The Old Course at St. Andrews, The Loop has 36 tee areas and 18 greens that can be approached from different angles. Featuring two distinct layouts on relatively flat, sand-based earth in the Huron National Forest, the golf course plays clockwise (Black routing) one day and counterclockwise (Red routing) the next day on the same piece of land. The ninth and the 18th holes remain the same, but they play just as differently as the remaining 16 holes.
“You have to have the right land for it,” Moore says. “It can start a new trend. People get more out of their property.”
According to Moore, the driving force behind the reversible layout was to attract more overnight guests to the property. When people would come to the remote location to play Forest Dunes’ original golf course, he says, they usually didn’t spend the night.
After Forest Dunes built a 14-room lodge three years ago to accompany the 75-plus beds already available, says Moore, “another golf course was the next step, but we wanted something different.”
During construction Moore, who has been at Forest Dunes since May 2015, worked with the on-site associate architect every day. They coordinated daily events, determined the equipment that was needed, discussed what they each needed to do to accomplish their goals for the day, and kept track of the status of the project.
Moore was intrigued by the concept of the reversible golf course when he saw maps, drawings, and renderings of the layout. “It had the potential to be cool and different,” he says. “When I was involved in the construction phase, I realized in the first week that this was something that could be pretty special.”
He also discovered that the project was a work in progress. “You have to be open,” he explains. “Not everything you work out in your mind or on paper is necessarily going to work. You have to be able to adapt.”
So far, Moore says, golfers seem to enjoy playing the reversible layout. Typically, they’ll play it on two consecutive days—once in each direction. “One course has a tougher opening and an easier finish, and vice versa,” he says.
However, attracting new golfers is not the only advantage of the reversible course. Moore has also seen maintenance benefits to the layout. More holes can be maintained with fewer natural resources on the reversible golf course—a benefit that will only increase in importance in the future with potential droughts, battles over water rights, and more restrictive use of pesticides on the horizon.
“Essentially, we have an 18-hole golf course, but yet it can be played as 36,” Moore says. “We use less water and fewer resources, pesticides, and inputs. And our crew can be smaller. Less is more.”
Moore has seen other maintenance advantages to The Loop as well.
“It really spreads the wear through the golf course and from a divot standpoint. It spreads the foot traffic on and off the greens,” he reports. “We didn’t have to build extremely large tees, because they’re only getting half as much play.”
While maintaining The Loop is “pretty similar to maintaining a normal golf course,” notes Moore, the grounds crew has had to make some adjustments to its maintenance schedule. “The daily route through the golf course is different every other day,” he explains. “We need to focus on certain holes rather than others, so we’re not getting caught by play.”
About the only drawback he finds in maintaining the golf course is that the staff has to move the tee markers 80 yards, instead of 5 to 10 yards, each day.
Moore has separate grounds crews for the regular golf course and for the reversible layout. He hired 11 people for the maintenance staff when The Loop opened, but only three of them had previously worked on a golf course. And that was fine by him. “It could be a challenge when people had worked on a golf course before,” he notes. “All these crew members know is a reversible golf course. With time, we’re getting better and better.”
Ninety-five acres of the layout of just under 200 acres are seeded fairway, to account for teeing areas and multi-angle approaches to the greens. While all of the greens are bentgrass, the fairways are fescue, which requires less mowing and fewer chemical applications. The fairways are wide open, Moore says, and The Loop has no rough.
“It is extremely different from what a Midwest golfer is accustomed to. It plays firmer and faster. It promotes more of a ground game and creativity,” he notes. “Golfers can keep the ball low and run it. They don’t just fly the ball at the pin. They have a lot of shot options.”
Moore believes it is important to try different things to encourage interest in golf. “Everybody talks about growing the game, and this will potentially draw someone in,” he says. “There are people that have always come here and know and love Forest Dunes, but we’re giving them a reason to stay longer. We are always attracting new clients and different clients, but this has sparked interest in Forest Dunes.”
Along for the Ride
Properties such as Westin Kierland Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., are making a difference in how they present golf by offering golfers different ways to get around the golf course. Kierland has four Segways, four GolfBoards and four Golf Bikes for golfers to use as alternative modes of transportation on its three nine-hole courses. The property has had Segways since 2006, and it added the GolfBoards and Golf Bikes in 2015.
“We’re always looking for a unique and different experience at Kierland,” says General Manager Nancy Dickens.
The GolfBoards probably get used four days a week during the peak season, Dickens says. “[They] have probably been more popular than anything else because they’re new and super-easy to ride,” she says. “They offer a unique experience that people have never had before. I thought that they would attract the millennial age group, but the GolfBoards have been popular among all generations.”
Kierland’s Acacia Golf Course has more elevation changes than the Ironwood and Mesquite courses, Dickens notes, so the Golf Bikes definitely give the riders a workout on that course. Otherwise, she says, “The terrain is easily traversed.”
The golf bag is strapped onto the front of the GolfBoards, and the Golf Bikes have two bags on the back for clubs. Golfers hook their bags onto the Segways.
Before venturing out onto the course, golfers receive GolfBoard and Segway training on the driving range. Dickens says it takes them about 10 minutes to get the hang of using a GolfBoard. However, golfers who use a Segway, which require more balance, are asked to arrive for training an hour before their tee time.
“Generally speaking, golfers using GolfBoards, Golf Bikes, and Segways are allowed to go anywhere,” says Dickens. “As with all transportation, we ask them to stay out of native areas and off of tees and greens. We ask them to follow basic golf cart etiquette, although there is a little more leeway.”
Kierland has a TV video feed that shows the different amenities the resort has to offer, and many people first learn about the golf transportation options by watching the video.
“We don’t have many people walk the golf courses,” says Dickens. “Golf carts have become such the norm, and people gravitate toward them if they’re available.”
However, the alternative modes of transportation can be more than a novelty. “I think in today’s environment, golf has lost the fitness aspect, but the Golf Bike certainly offers that,” notes Dickens. “Cyclists who also love golf think the bikes are great.”
Golfers can play nine holes in about an hour on a Golf Bike, she says, but they get less use than the GolfBoards or Segways. “People who are here are on vacation, so they want to take it easy and relax,” she notes.
According to Dickens, the alternative modes of transportation also receive less use in the hot Arizona summers because “we have misted golf carts, so people prefer them.”
Dickens, who served as a golf course superintendent for 20 years—including eight years at Kierland—says the alternative modes of transportation have had virtually no effect on the property from an agronomic standpoint.
“The Golf Bikes are great because they were designed to create minimal impact on the golf course,” she says. “They are designed for being on turf. They have a lot less weight, wear and compaction than a golf cart.”
In the Westin Kierland pro shop, the staff needs to schedule the person who will make sure the reservations for the alternative transportation modes are booked and then train groups on using them.
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