Millennial Golf « Chase M. Russell

It’s a perfect summer Sunday afternoon, and you’re enjoying the sun and the company of your best friends on the golf course. Maybe you have a small side wager with someone in the group, and you’re all square heading to the 18th tee. Your competitor grooves one right through the heart of the fairway, but your driver fails you for the first time all day, leaving your tee shot directly behind a tree in the left rough.

So what do you do now: shape a three iron punch shot around the tree, play a bump-and-run safely into the fairway or … pull the foot wedge out of the bag? There are a million rules in golf, and the last option is a blatant violation of some kind. But what if it wasn’t?

In FootGolf, the trusty foot wedge is the only option on every shot. Founded in 2011, the American FootGolf League is one of the most rapidly growing new sports in the U.S. By combining the most popular sport in the world with the traditional game of golf, FootGolf has seen high participation rates among millennials.

Photos Courtesy of the American FootGolf League

According to Roberto Balestrini, founder of the AFGL, 18 to 35-year-olds enjoy the sport for its laid back, social atmosphere. Balestrini has also said that FootGolf participants generally seem more interested in popping the cork off a bottle of champagne than competing.

90-percent of players are between 18 and 35.
35-percent of millennial footgolfers are female.
There are FootGolf courses in 31 states.
In addition to the U.S., there are FootGolf courses in Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

With FootGolf on the rise, how does the synergy between this hybrid sport and the traditional game affect golf’s overall popularity? According to many accounts, FootGolf seems to be a gateway sport that is introducing many young people to golf.

“It is my job to get these young people to the course through FootGolf, and from there they naturally want to learn how to play golf,” Balestrini said passionately. “Once they are on the fairway, they never want to leave.”

Unlike golf, the majority of people — at some point in their lives — have played soccer on some level, making FootGolf a much easier sport to learn than golf. FootGolf has the potential to be golf’s bunny slope equivalent to skiing, which makes the sport much more inviting to new players.

In short, millennial golf seems to be rising in popularity alongside FootGolf.

Whether you’re an avid golfer, a recreational golfer or not a golfer at all, everyone has their own definition of the game. You might think that golf is the greatest game every played, but then again, you may argue that it’s not even a sport.

I’m not trying to change anyone’s opinion – in fact, I think that’s part of what makes golf great. We could ask all 25 million golfers in America what the game means to them, and I wouldn’t be shocked if we receive 25 million different answers. So rather than trying to brand the game with a single definition, we should ask: what is golf to you?

Next week marks the start of the inaugural GOLF 20/20 Ambassadors program, a network of 18 to 29-year-olds focused on determining what #GOLFIS to the millennial generation.

https://twitter.com/ChaseMRussell/status/476541586562899968

For me, #GOLFIS…

Challenging: I’m not sure if this is a good or a bad thing, but the pursuit of that illusive birdie makes it worth suffering through all the double bogeys, lost balls and pond shots.
Friendship: It’s the reason that I started golfing, and it’s the reason that I continue to play. So many of my favorite memories are on the golf course with my closest friends.
The game of a lifetime: You can start playing as soon as someone puts a club in your hands, and you can play until you can’t pick the club up. I might be the only college students I know who’s excited to get old and play golf everyday at 5:30 a.m.
A love affair: The only thing more intense than my passion for the game each summer throughout high school was my golfer’s tan. After 36 holes each day for three months, my left hand was probably whiter than my glove.
Fun: Whether I’m breaking 80 – which is a big deal for me – or riding the bogey train, golf is always fun. Four or fives hours to play a round of golf might seem like a long time, but the 18th-hole always comes too soon.

Join the conversation, and tell us what #GOLFIS to you.

Archives For November 30, 1999

Millennial Golf Benefits from FootGolf’s Rise in Popularity

What Makes Golf Different Makes it Great