Turf

Summer 2016 - 7 www.turftrends.com decide to fi nd out how their golf swings translate to playing 18 holes. Yet that hasn't happened with FootGolf. And that's a worry. FootGolf is now played on 450 courses in 48 states and Washington, D.C., but it's not led to a bevy of paid golf rounds. FlingGolf is another sport that might attract young players and non-golfers to facilities across the country. FlingSticks are now on courses in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, New Zealand and several counties in Europe. Time will tell how much the sport grows this year. On July 30, 2016, the Virginia Commonwealth Games will feature FlingGolf at the Woodstone Meadows Golf Course at Massanutten Resort in McGaheysville. PGA pro Brett Mowbray introduced FlingGolf to the Woodstone Meadows course in 2015, and it quickly became one of the leading FlingGolf courses in the country, with hundreds of players playing more than 1,500 rounds. With the excitement over the upcoming Commonwealth Games, Mowbray expects many more players and rounds this year. That's a step in the right direction. A more tangible result is the work being done by Get Golf Ready. The game introduced more than 107,000 beginners to the game last year. In addition, Get Golf Ready had success in retaining golfers with about nine out of 10 students continuing to play golf in their fi rst year. More than 465,000 students have participated in Get Golf Ready since its inception in 2009. Now in its eighth year, Get Golf Ready is an industry-supported program designed to introduce golf to the millions of adults who have never played golf or have minimal experience. It offers a series of lessons in a group setting that focus on basic instruction on chipping, putting and full swing techniques, as well as information on how to navigate the clubhouse and golf course, etiquette and rules of golf. Last year 66 percent of participants were women; 24 percent were people of multi- cultural backgrounds; and 39 percent had never picked up a club. Those are numbers to build around—after all the demographic carrying golf—65 and older— won't be around forever.

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