By Bailey Lucero-Carter
If you wanted to try a new sport, one with the speed of Jai alai, the skill of golf and the physicality of lacrosse, try all three at once this weekend at Forest Greens Golf Club.
This Saturday at noon, Forest Greens Golf Club hosts a free demo of FlingGolf, a sport that combines golf and lacrosse to create an entirely unique experience.
Once FlingGolf creator Alex Van Alen discovered the fun of slinging a golf ball with a jai alai basket, he created the new sport and prototypes for its equipment in his barn in 2012. Since then, the patent pending FlingStick has been crafted specifically for the sport. It resembles the shape of a golf club combined with the mouth of a lacrosse stick, although the basket of a FlingStick is not woven.
With a FlingStick, players can swing underhanded or over their shoulder to try and fling their golf ball across the course. Like in golf, players must get their ball from tee to hole in the least number of swings—or flings. Players can fling the ball near or far and, when the ball is in the green, players can push their ball towards the hole in a manner similar to putting. The game takes place on a golf course and can be played in company with traditional golf.
While this new and innovative sport can be enjoyed for its own merits, FlingGolf’s semblance to golf—from the initial, high-powered fling/swing, to the game objective—can also encourage a wider audience interest in the sport of golf.
For those who shy away from the golf course, “maybe because they were intimidated about the actual game of golf itself, … this may be a step towards getting onto the golf course,” says Tom Coffman, general manager at Forest Greens Golf Club. Coffman also says that FlingGolf can be a great way for children and teens to begin an invested interest in the sport of golf. Furthermore, FlingGolf may be enjoyed by athletes who play other stick-oriented sports like lacrosse or field hockey.
The free demo at Forest Greens Golf Club will cover the basics of FlingGolf, including its rules and a presentation of the swing. Afterwards, people are welcome to rent a FlingStick and try the sport out for themselves. While FlingGolf has taken residence in courses around the northeast and overseas, Forest Greens Golf Club is the first Billy Casper Golf course to offer FlingGolf.
Expand your horizons with a FlingStick and a new sport that sends golf flying in a whole new direction.
FlingGolf at Forest Greens Golf Club
4500 Poa Annua Lane, Triangle
Noon, Oct. 25
Free demo
