80 players turned out to play at Addington Court Golf Club.
AFTER weeks of waiting, Footgolf finally arrived in Croydon on Sunday as 80 players turned out to play at Addington Court Golf Club.
The course is the first to open in London and representatives from the UK Footgolf Association were on hand to oversee the day’s competition.
A special 18-hole course was prepared by the club’s greenkeepers and the winning score was a 62 by hotshot Nick Iron – although he admitted to playing the sport before.
He said: “I play at a course near me called Burstow but it’s not official there yet. I just go down there and practice by going into the field and kicking a ball about.
“I enjoyed this though. It’s been a great day and we’ve had nice weather for it.”
Paul Killick, Southern Events Manager for the UK Footgolf Association, said more and more clubs are expressing an interest in opening up a course and they hope to have places all over the capital soon.
The sport has its own television channel in Argentina and major tournaments have been held in the UK, Holland, the USA and Hungary.
But it was Michael O’Connor, managing director of the UK Footgolf Association, who first had the idea on our shores when he saw an injured Michael Owen on television.
He said: “He was talking about being injured and how frustrated he was that he was missing game time and how he hadn’t kicked a ball in a long time.
“The idea dawned on me of kicking a football around a golf course.”
Addington Court Golf Club are planning on holding another Footgolf open day later this month. For more information, visit http://www.addingtoncourt-golfclub.co.uk/
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