A group of Irish lads have combined their interest in golf and football to create a brand new sport. Footee takes all the rules of golf, with each hole having a par, and blends it with football. They say it is a "skillful and addictive game that mixes the passion and strength of football with the elegance and tradition of golf."
Ireland's only Footee course is located at Dublin City Golf Club, Ballinascorney, Firhouse, Dublin 24, and is just five minutes from Exit 12 of the M50. The course is due to open this Saturday, May 4, and judging by the response online, they will be inundated with players wanting to test their skills. It will also be more affordable than a traditional game of golf where green fees can be anything above €30. A round of Footee is played over twelve holes, will take just over two hours to complete, and has a standard price of just €10. That price will even be reduced to €6 if you are a student or unemployed.
The guys running Footee call it a novelty sport, but it seems to be a great day out, and their website says, "get active, get outdoors, get involved." As well as the massive interest on their Facebook and Twitter accounts, there has been some controversy brewing online. One disgruntled Facebook user posted this message on their wall: "AAFG -The Asociación Argentina de Footgolf - Footgolf not Footee!" The charge seems to be that Footee is a rip-off of FootGolf; a sport set up in 2007 which uses an identical concept.
The exact origins of FootGolf are not clear, but it is thought to have come into existence in a number of different countries in 2007, and in 2009, the International FootGolf Association was established. FootGolf is now played in over thirteen countries, including England, and each nation have their own association or governing body. FootGolf even has its own World Cup, and the first staging of the event was held in Budapest in June, 2012. Eight different nations were represented, with over eighty competitors taking their chance, and Hungarian Béla Lengyel was crowned champion after two days play. Here is a promotional clip from the event below:
You would have to say that both sports look very similar, but it seems to be the first time anything like this has been introduced to Ireland. It is unclear if there are any plans to introduce more custom-made courses anywhere else in the country, and for now Firhouse is the one-stop shop for Footee, or FootGolf, or whatever you want to call it. It does look like it would be a good day out, and I even gave it a go myself. Check out the video below of me trying my best to hone my limited skills of both golf and football in trying to land the ball into a basket about the size of the Footee holes -- Maybe it is a little bigger!
Ireland's only Footee course is located at Dublin City Golf Club, Ballinascorney, Firhouse, Dublin 24, and is just five minutes from Exit 12 of the M50. The course is due to open this Saturday, May 4, and judging by the response online, they will be inundated with players wanting to test their skills. It will also be more affordable than a traditional game of golf where green fees can be anything above €30. A round of Footee is played over twelve holes, will take just over two hours to complete, and has a standard price of just €10. That price will even be reduced to €6 if you are a student or unemployed.
The guys running Footee call it a novelty sport, but it seems to be a great day out, and their website says, "get active, get outdoors, get involved." As well as the massive interest on their Facebook and Twitter accounts, there has been some controversy brewing online. One disgruntled Facebook user posted this message on their wall: "AAFG -The Asociación Argentina de Footgolf - Footgolf not Footee!" The charge seems to be that Footee is a rip-off of FootGolf; a sport set up in 2007 which uses an identical concept.
The exact origins of FootGolf are not clear, but it is thought to have come into existence in a number of different countries in 2007, and in 2009, the International FootGolf Association was established. FootGolf is now played in over thirteen countries, including England, and each nation have their own association or governing body. FootGolf even has its own World Cup, and the first staging of the event was held in Budapest in June, 2012. Eight different nations were represented, with over eighty competitors taking their chance, and Hungarian Béla Lengyel was crowned champion after two days play. Here is a promotional clip from the event below:
You would have to say that both sports look very similar, but it seems to be the first time anything like this has been introduced to Ireland. It is unclear if there are any plans to introduce more custom-made courses anywhere else in the country, and for now Firhouse is the one-stop shop for Footee, or FootGolf, or whatever you want to call it. It does look like it would be a good day out, and I even gave it a go myself. Check out the video below of me trying my best to hone my limited skills of both golf and football in trying to land the ball into a basket about the size of the Footee holes -- Maybe it is a little bigger!
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