FootGolf comes to Olde Homestead
If you're a soccer enthusiast or simply looking for an intriguing hobby, Olde Homestead golf course in New Tripoli might have what you need.
In addition to its beautiful 18-hole championship golf course, Olde Homestead now has a FootGolf course, which was expanded onto its nine-hole pae-3 course.
FootGolf is big sport in Europe and South America. Two years ago the American Football League brought it to the United States and it's now an growing sport here with the American FootGolf League (AFGL) as its governing body.
The goal of FootGolf is to kick the soccer ball into a much larger golf hole in the least amount of attempts possible. The lowest score wins.
Justin Smith is the general manager at Olde Homestead. Smith has been active at the golf club for 10 years and even helped build the course almost 20 years ago.
"About a month ago we added a FootGolf course onto the short course. Now you can play either golf or foot golf on the same course," said Smith. "We had to get accredited with the AFGL and get the course layout approved, which went through a few revisions until we got everything right."
The fact that both sports can be played on the same course may raise an eyebrow or two, but everything appears to be running smoothly at Olde Homestead.
"It's easy to put golfers out at one tee time and foot golfers out at another tee time, which fits well into our business model," Smith said. "The pace of play of the foot golfers is a little faster than regular golfers, which is what we want.
"A ton of local soccer teams of both the high school and collegiate levels come to practice and have some fun on the new course," said Smith. "First and foremost we're a golf course and we don't want to alienate any of our current customers. If they had to wait for foot golfers they might not like that, but the FootGolfers never interfere with them. We've had feedback from the golfers and there are no issues."
The new course is fun and affordable for participants of all ages.
Rates are $12 for adults, $7 for kids during the weekend and $14 for adults and $7 for kids on the weekends. Soccer balls are also available for rent.