{"id":6564,"date":"2016-04-27T15:21:23","date_gmt":"2016-04-27T21:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/?p=6564"},"modified":"2016-09-17T13:08:15","modified_gmt":"2016-09-17T19:08:15","slug":"alternate-versions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/golf\/6564\/alternate-versions","title":{"rendered":"Alternate Versions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"GolfBoards<\/a>

GolfBoards in use at Westin Kierland in Scottsdale, Arizona<\/p><\/div>\n

The future arrived toward the end of last season at the Brattleboro County Club in Vermont. Wandering over to the modest pro shop I discovered three gleaming new GolfBoards, all ready for locals to \u201csurf the earth\u201d of the course. The club closed before I had a chance to mount up. But come spring\u2026.<\/p>\n

I survived an attempt a few years back riding a Segway at the Westin Kierland Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, and I\u2019m told the GolfBoards are easier to maneuver. You can still ride a Segway at Westin Kierland, but you can also cruise around on a GolfBoard, the nearest thing to a skateboard on grass. And if neither of those appeal, there\u2019s always the self-propelled Golf Bike, which can whisk you around nine holes in about an hour. They appear willing to try anything at Westin Kierland\u2014they\u2019ll even let you walk the course\u2014and anything may be what golf needs.<\/p>\n

\"And<\/a>

And if none of these appeal you can even walk the course at Westin Kierland<\/p><\/div>\n

It costs too much, it takes too long and it\u2019s too difficult.<\/em> It\u2019s easy enough to invoke the Holy Trinity of Golf\u2019s Problems to suggest why the heady days of 2005\u2014when 30 million Americans played golf at least once\u2014have given way to 2014, when a mere 24.7 million teed it up in the U.S., the lowest number of players since 1995, the year before Tiger turned pro.<\/p>\n

The hand-wringing over declining rounds and fewer players has been chafing the purveyors of the sport for years, leading to countless studies and what seem like endless throw-it-up-against-the-wall programs to grow the game. As recently as November the U.S.G.A. announced a new five-year $2.5 million \u201cmaster research partnership\u201d with the University of Minnesota to find ways to cut costs and bring in new players, with the thought that golf can\u2019t afford to lose the millennial generation.<\/p>\n

\"FootGolf\"<\/a>

FootGolf<\/p><\/div>\n

Meanwhile, any number of alternate versions of the game have arisen, the most popular easily being FootGolf, essentially soccer on golf courses, played toward a 21-inch cup. There are some 500 courses in the U.S. now offering some form of FootGolf, and a growing number of national and international tournaments.<\/p>\n

\"FlingGolf\"<\/a>

FlingGolf<\/p><\/div>\n

FlingGolf is hoping for similar success. This variant, which launched in the summer of 2014, requires no course alteration, and only one \u201cclub\u201d that has evolved from a jai alai cesta or lacrosse stick. With it players can hurl golf balls all around the fairways as in this video. (Players who have been routinely tossing balls out of bunkers for years should find this a natural adaption.)
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