According to the American Foot Golf League there are 12 courses in Ohio that are open or will open by the end of this month, including two in Liberty Twp.: Vista Verde Golf Club, 4780 Millikin Road and Green Crest Golf Club, 7813 Bethany Road.
Roger Fields, FootGolf coordinator for Vista Verde Golf Club, said he and his team spent three months transforming the traditional golf course to foot golf. The course opened July 10.
“We got a sign up sheet 10 pages long for interest,” said Fields. “It’s something young people are excited about.”
His parents own the golf course, which opened in 1988, but recently revenue has declined, according to Fields.
“We weren’t getting a lot of people in the evening,” said Fields. “Hoping this sport takes off and we get more business.”
Fields says it costs $10 for nine holes of foot golf. The course currently has 18 holes, but Fields says they plan to add an additional 18 holes later this year.
Vista Verde Golf Club will have its official FootGolf grand opening on July 26 at 4 p.m.
“It’s free and AFGL (American Foot Golf League) representative will be there (teaching) instructions and (providing) league information,” said Fields. “It’ll be fun for the whole family.”
On July 12, Green Crest Golf Club held a preview night, and approximately 120 people played the new sport, according to Jeff Piatt, co-founder of Greater Cincinnati FootGolf Association.
“It was a lot of fun, a big turnout. We had people as young as 5 years old to 60-year-olds,” said Piatt.
He says FootGolf is proof that “innovation plus tradition can co-exist.”
He says overall golf courses have seen revenue decline and believes this new sport will rejuvenate struggling businesses.
Ian Allen played foot golf for the first time on July 13 at Vista Verde Golf Club.
Allen admits it’s a challenging sport, saying it took him seven kicks to finally get the soccer ball into the cup on a par four hole. But he plans to return to Vista Verde Golf Club.
“It’s a fun sport and more people should come out and try it. I’m planning to get a few friends out here to come play,” said Allen.
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