The hybrid sport combines golf and lacrosse, and the property allows players to use its 18-hole championship golf course for the game, which requires no modifications to the layout.
Fling Golf, a game in which players trade the often-frustrating task of hitting a golf ball for the much simpler task of throwing it, is now being offered at Pipestem (W. Va.) Resort State Park, the Bluefield (W. Va.) Daily Telegraph reported.
Using a long-shafted “club” called a Fling Stick, accomplished players can hurl a ball as far as 200 yards, the Daily Telegraph reported.
“It’s basically a cross between golf and lacrosse,” said Kim Hawkins, activities coordinator at Pipestem Resort. “The Fling Stick has a grip on one end and a little basket on the other. You put the golf ball into the little basket, swing the stick and let the ball fly.”
Pipestem has a tradition of offering unusual recreational activities, so when park officials learned of the game, they didn’t hesitate to make it available. The park’s two courses—an 18-hole championship layout and a nine-hole par-three track—recently began offering guests the opportunity to play Fling Golf, the Daily Telegraph reported.
“The great thing about Fling Golf is that it can be played on the same course as regular golf, without any modifications, and without any adverse impact on the course itself,” Hawkins said. “It’s sort of like skiing and snowboarding—two different ways of doing the same thing on the same course.”
Hawkins and Casey Ord, Pipestem’s recreation assistant, demonstrated the two games’ compatibility by grabbing a pair of Fling Sticks and hitting the fairways of Pipestem’s championship course. Conventional golfers gave them a few curious looks, but seemed genuinely intrigued by the new game when Hawkins and Ord explained it to them, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Alex Van Alen of Massachusetts invented Fling Golf a few years ago. According to his company’s website, Van Alen took a jai alai player’s cestus out to a local driving range and, after throwing a few balls with it, figured he had the makings of a fun new pastime. “I had been a high school lacrosse player. I’ve been a golfer all my life. I just put the two together,” Van Alen said.
He spent more than three-and-a-half years developing Fling Stick prototypes before arriving at a design he liked. He started marketing them in the summer of 2014. The sticks come in three lengths—41 inches, 44 inches and 47 inches. Players usually choose a length that corresponds to their height. Shorter players often opt for a 41-inch stick, while taller players (or players who wish to throw for greater distance) choose a 47-inch model, the Daily Telegraph reported.
An estimated 7,200 golf courses nationwide now offer Fling Golf as an option. Hawkins said Pipestem jumped on board earlier this summer when Sam England, parks chief for the state Division of Natural Resources, emailed a link to Hawkins about the game, the Daily Telegraph reported.
“A couple of weeks before that, he had sent me a link to a video of some really far-out game called ‘Use It and Lose It,’ more as a joke than anything else,” Hawkins said. “But then he sent me a link to Fling Golf. I took a look at it and said, ‘Hey, we could do this. All we’d have to do is get in a few Fling Sticks and we’d be in business.”’
Hawkins took the idea to Dave Caplinger, Pipestem’s superintendent, and to Bob Biroscak, the park’s golf professional. “They got on board immediately,” Hawkins said. “We ordered 10 sticks, and on July 26 we started offering the game to our guests.”
The sticks cost about $150 each. Pipestem doesn’t charge rental fees for the sticks; guests simply pay their greens fees for the course of their choice, put down a deposit on a stick and play away.
Hawkins said she would be adding Fling Golf to the course’s weekly activity list, the Daily Telegraph reported.
“Not many people are familiar with it yet,” Hawkins said. “We figure that if we expose folks to it, they’re going to want to try it. After 15 minutes on the practice range, most folks are ready to hit the course. I’m not a good golfer, but I’ve played a lot of softball. It didn’t take me long to get the hang of Fling Golf.”
As interest builds, Hawkins plans to start holding Fling Golf tournaments. “We’ve even talked about getting some of those golf balls that light up at night and playing night tournaments,” she said. “We think that once we get Fling Golf on our weekly schedule and get people exposed to how much fun it is, it’s going to get really popular.”
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