The story of the idea behind FunFlight™ Golf
by Laura Patrick, Creator of FunFlight Golf
You could say it took me 36 years to conceptualize FunFlight Golf, you could say it came from a challenging period in my life, or you could also say that it occurred in a brief moment while driving alone through Iowa on a 550 mile journey. I do my best thinking on the road – especially when I've lost my voice from blasting my radio and singing so loudly that my ears and throat hurt. Silence combined with the open road in front of you, being alone in a car for hours, and having limited cell service is a pretty powerful thing. I was driving near Nashua, Iowa wondering how I got to this point in my life. My Mom was recovering from having cancer surgery earlier in the year and I was thinking about my direction in life after just visiting home.
You could say it took me 36 years to conceptualize FunFlight Golf, you could say it came from a challenging period in my life, or you could also say that it occurred in a brief moment while driving alone through Iowa on a 550 mile journey. I do my best thinking on the road – especially when I've lost my voice from blasting my radio and singing so loudly that my ears and throat hurt. Silence combined with the open road in front of you, being alone in a car for hours, and having limited cell service is a pretty powerful thing. I was driving near Nashua, Iowa wondering how I got to this point in my life. My Mom was recovering from having cancer surgery earlier in the year and I was thinking about my direction in life after just visiting home.
I had been thinking about all the great memories I had created with my family over the years, and many of those had revolved around golf. I grew up playing a lot of sports, but golf was the only sport I actually played with my parents – especially now that they are older. The day prior to my Mom's cancer surgery, we all played a round of golf. Mom played a few holes, hit a shot here and there, and finally just rode in the cart. Knowing this could be our last round (and day) as a family, we truly cherished every moment of it. I got to thinking about how what you shoot really doesn't matter, and it was really the times I spent with friends and family in my golf career that meant the most to me.
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Yes, I do remember some really awesome scores, shots, and tournament wins that turned into defining moments that helped take me where I am today. I also look back and chuckle at some tough rounds, and ridiculous things that happened on the golf course. But truthfully, if my friends and family weren't there to share in those moments (or help me create or get though those moments) it would have been a completely different experience. So ultimately, the game of golf not only helped me become the person I am today, but it also strengthened the bond I had with my family and friends. I thought about how unfortunate it was that so many people ruin such wonderful experiences (or never have the opportunity to have those experiences) because they are worried about their score or if they are good enough to even play golf. I truly believe “there are the rules of competitive golf, and then there are the rules of fun golf”. If you are out there to have fun, enjoy the day, and be with friends and family – your approach to the game should compliment those priorities instead of interfering with them.
I began to think about what golf programs I would create if I had to start over in a new market. In 2013, I had read an article in an industry magazine called the Pellucid Perspective about how FootGolf (a golf soccer hybrid) was to golf as snowboarding was to skiing. From the moment I read the article, I was so excited about this new addition to golf. Some people thought I was crazy for thinking it was a good idea to let soccer players on the golf course, but I saw the bigger picture. Wouldn't it be great to have young kids play FootGolf while their parents played golf – all in the same group? Actually, anyone could come out to play FootGolf while their golfing friends were playing golf. What a great way to bring friends and families together on the golf course. No one would get left at home and golfers with non-golfing friends and family could bring the non-golfers to the course instead of opting for other activities outside of golf. Heck, when these FootGolfers come to the course, they may even become interested in learning to golf!
The golf professional in me came out, and I started thinking about how I was going to teach FootGolfers to play golf. Like any sport, it takes a lot of time to be really good at something, but to play FootGolf at a recreational level is pretty easy. All you need is a soccer ball and the ability to kick it. Grab a ball and you are playing right away. Then I thought about the current model of how golf is taught in the industry. Even with great programs like Get Golf Ready, the concept is that you learn four basic skills (putting, chipping, full swing irons, and driving), etiquette, basic golf lingo, and then you go out on the course. The problem is that most people struggle to recall everything they've learned in such a short period of time. They have fun, but truthfully a lot of people are terrified to go out on the course. Once they are out there they realize that they need to invest a lot of time practicing to be good enough to meet their own expectations, and they still need to purchase golf clubs. Most new golfers are excited but overwhelmed. So how can I convert participants in a sport with incredibly low barriers to entry (skills, equipment, fear) into golfers who need money to buy clubs, time to practice, and are worried about their skill level and all the rules/etiquette in golf?
Then the thought hit – while driving toward Mason City. What if we made a bigger ball? Not a little bigger, but a lot bigger. What if we could use the FootGolf hole? What if we could use just one club? What would that look like? Well, it's pretty easy to find one club – Goodwill, old demo mid-irons, and unclaimed lost and found from years back that will never be reclaimed. It would be easier to make contact with a bigger ball. Everyone is terrified of missing – that would help people to hit it every time. It would also help people get the ball into the air because it's easier to get under. Not getting the ball in the air is the second worse fear in golf once people stop missing. With some very basic instruction – grip, ready position, aim, and swing concepts – we could get someone on the course right away and having fun. Awesome!
Nearing Mason City I thought, how do I transition someone to golf? Well, I could start them with FootGolf so they would be comfortable being on a golf course. Then I could teach them basic swing concepts with one club, the oversized ball, and how lengths of swings affect distance while hitting it into the FootGolf Hole. Then transition them to a smaller ball doing the same thing and continuing to learn about course strategy, terrain, etc. Then we could start making the hole smaller using an oversized 8” or 15” golf cup which would add putting. Then we could transition down to a real golf ball into the oversized cup. Then we could start integrating more clubs – like a driver, 9, 7, 5, and wedge. Woah – why isn't this the way we teach golf? Wait – if anyone can play right away, that means that rounds of golf would go up. People could invite non-golfers to play with them and might choose a day of golf instead of another activity. Parent's won't need babysitters because they can bring their kids – even kids too young for traditional golf. During the rest of my journey to Minneapolis, I started sorting through how this would be different than the current learning model.
Non-golfers, new golfers, and ex-golfers I've come across in my life generally fall into a few groups:
1. I don't want to learn to play golf
2. I don't want to learn to play because golf is _______ (hard, complicated, time consuming, expensive)
3. I'm really interested in learning golf, but I don't have the time, money, or patience
4. I used to play (or tried it) but just never got good enough to enjoy it – it wasn't what I thought it would be (aka frustrating).
5. I had kids/family changes and I had to give up the game.
How could this solve the problems of those groups:
1. No way to solve the problem unless they are actually in group 2 without knowing it.
2. I'd be breaking down their barriers to entry – making it easier, less complicated, learning a little over time, pace of play would be faster, people wouldn't have to spend so much time practicing, you could play with one club and wouldn't lose as many balls, and you could play right away. By the way, many golf courses are really inexpensive and cost the same (or less) than a ticket to the movies and a bucket of popcorn.
3. Same answer as number 2 but this group already has interest.
4. I've talked to many people over the years and expectations (watching golf on TV) are not typically in line with how beginning golfers actually play. The bigger ball would allow people to have success sooner and challenge themselves as their skills improve at each level. They would also be less overwhelmed with trying to learn everything at once.
5. Babies do present challenges, but this system could get younger kids out quicker so parents wouldn't have to take such a long break from the game – or they would only need babysitters for one child. Plus having more young kids at the course would create a welcoming culture to other families so people can get back to golf sooner – and introduce golf to kids at an age similar to tee ball and soccer when kids are beginning to sample sports.
Wow, so why aren't we doing this again? Well, it will never work at some courses. Some Golf courses are meant to be competition level championship golf courses. But there are a ton of short courses and layout friendly regulation courses (municipal, family owned) that already cater to recreational golfers that could do this. What about all the small courses that are going out of business? What if we could introduce this model to at least one golf course in every market – we could save struggling golf courses by selling more rounds of golf, creating/retaining more golfers, and all while doing it with a better way to learn. That would also create more golfers for championship courses over time. Golf should be fun TODAY...not tomorrow when you get good enough to play (enjoy it, etc.).
What would this mean for golf instructors like myself? Well, I could offer clinics to new golfers teaching them the basic information they need to hit a ball around a golf course. Then I could get them on the course right away and show them what golf is all about. That might create less anxiety about going on the course because they go out right away. Wait, less anxiety and a bigger ball means they are less likely to miss. That means they will be more willing to make an athletic, flowing swing rather than trying to manipulate and control their swing in order to make sure they make contact (eliminating humiliation). Kids want to play golf before they are course ready. With some forward tees or telling them to start closer to the hole, the oversized ball, and a big hole, we could get them on the course more quickly – allowing them to actually play golf instead of getting bored waiting to be old enough or good enough to play. What if the ball was soft? That means if someone got hit with a crazy shot or if they were accidentally standing ahead of other golfers, it wouldn't have the potential to injure them. It would be easy to reach a large number of people through clinics, and on-course lessons could be given to groups of 4 golfers at a time. These group coaching strategies would reduce the cost for quality instruction. People love on-course instruction of how to actually play the game. What if we spend more time on how to play the game rather than having perfect mechanics in the golf swing? This truly employs the coaching model that the instruction industry has proven to work best.
I'm sold, I'm doing this! The big question is...are you?
I began to think about what golf programs I would create if I had to start over in a new market. In 2013, I had read an article in an industry magazine called the Pellucid Perspective about how FootGolf (a golf soccer hybrid) was to golf as snowboarding was to skiing. From the moment I read the article, I was so excited about this new addition to golf. Some people thought I was crazy for thinking it was a good idea to let soccer players on the golf course, but I saw the bigger picture. Wouldn't it be great to have young kids play FootGolf while their parents played golf – all in the same group? Actually, anyone could come out to play FootGolf while their golfing friends were playing golf. What a great way to bring friends and families together on the golf course. No one would get left at home and golfers with non-golfing friends and family could bring the non-golfers to the course instead of opting for other activities outside of golf. Heck, when these FootGolfers come to the course, they may even become interested in learning to golf!
The golf professional in me came out, and I started thinking about how I was going to teach FootGolfers to play golf. Like any sport, it takes a lot of time to be really good at something, but to play FootGolf at a recreational level is pretty easy. All you need is a soccer ball and the ability to kick it. Grab a ball and you are playing right away. Then I thought about the current model of how golf is taught in the industry. Even with great programs like Get Golf Ready, the concept is that you learn four basic skills (putting, chipping, full swing irons, and driving), etiquette, basic golf lingo, and then you go out on the course. The problem is that most people struggle to recall everything they've learned in such a short period of time. They have fun, but truthfully a lot of people are terrified to go out on the course. Once they are out there they realize that they need to invest a lot of time practicing to be good enough to meet their own expectations, and they still need to purchase golf clubs. Most new golfers are excited but overwhelmed. So how can I convert participants in a sport with incredibly low barriers to entry (skills, equipment, fear) into golfers who need money to buy clubs, time to practice, and are worried about their skill level and all the rules/etiquette in golf?
Then the thought hit – while driving toward Mason City. What if we made a bigger ball? Not a little bigger, but a lot bigger. What if we could use the FootGolf hole? What if we could use just one club? What would that look like? Well, it's pretty easy to find one club – Goodwill, old demo mid-irons, and unclaimed lost and found from years back that will never be reclaimed. It would be easier to make contact with a bigger ball. Everyone is terrified of missing – that would help people to hit it every time. It would also help people get the ball into the air because it's easier to get under. Not getting the ball in the air is the second worse fear in golf once people stop missing. With some very basic instruction – grip, ready position, aim, and swing concepts – we could get someone on the course right away and having fun. Awesome!
Nearing Mason City I thought, how do I transition someone to golf? Well, I could start them with FootGolf so they would be comfortable being on a golf course. Then I could teach them basic swing concepts with one club, the oversized ball, and how lengths of swings affect distance while hitting it into the FootGolf Hole. Then transition them to a smaller ball doing the same thing and continuing to learn about course strategy, terrain, etc. Then we could start making the hole smaller using an oversized 8” or 15” golf cup which would add putting. Then we could transition down to a real golf ball into the oversized cup. Then we could start integrating more clubs – like a driver, 9, 7, 5, and wedge. Woah – why isn't this the way we teach golf? Wait – if anyone can play right away, that means that rounds of golf would go up. People could invite non-golfers to play with them and might choose a day of golf instead of another activity. Parent's won't need babysitters because they can bring their kids – even kids too young for traditional golf. During the rest of my journey to Minneapolis, I started sorting through how this would be different than the current learning model.
Non-golfers, new golfers, and ex-golfers I've come across in my life generally fall into a few groups:
1. I don't want to learn to play golf
2. I don't want to learn to play because golf is _______ (hard, complicated, time consuming, expensive)
3. I'm really interested in learning golf, but I don't have the time, money, or patience
4. I used to play (or tried it) but just never got good enough to enjoy it – it wasn't what I thought it would be (aka frustrating).
5. I had kids/family changes and I had to give up the game.
How could this solve the problems of those groups:
1. No way to solve the problem unless they are actually in group 2 without knowing it.
2. I'd be breaking down their barriers to entry – making it easier, less complicated, learning a little over time, pace of play would be faster, people wouldn't have to spend so much time practicing, you could play with one club and wouldn't lose as many balls, and you could play right away. By the way, many golf courses are really inexpensive and cost the same (or less) than a ticket to the movies and a bucket of popcorn.
3. Same answer as number 2 but this group already has interest.
4. I've talked to many people over the years and expectations (watching golf on TV) are not typically in line with how beginning golfers actually play. The bigger ball would allow people to have success sooner and challenge themselves as their skills improve at each level. They would also be less overwhelmed with trying to learn everything at once.
5. Babies do present challenges, but this system could get younger kids out quicker so parents wouldn't have to take such a long break from the game – or they would only need babysitters for one child. Plus having more young kids at the course would create a welcoming culture to other families so people can get back to golf sooner – and introduce golf to kids at an age similar to tee ball and soccer when kids are beginning to sample sports.
Wow, so why aren't we doing this again? Well, it will never work at some courses. Some Golf courses are meant to be competition level championship golf courses. But there are a ton of short courses and layout friendly regulation courses (municipal, family owned) that already cater to recreational golfers that could do this. What about all the small courses that are going out of business? What if we could introduce this model to at least one golf course in every market – we could save struggling golf courses by selling more rounds of golf, creating/retaining more golfers, and all while doing it with a better way to learn. That would also create more golfers for championship courses over time. Golf should be fun TODAY...not tomorrow when you get good enough to play (enjoy it, etc.).
What would this mean for golf instructors like myself? Well, I could offer clinics to new golfers teaching them the basic information they need to hit a ball around a golf course. Then I could get them on the course right away and show them what golf is all about. That might create less anxiety about going on the course because they go out right away. Wait, less anxiety and a bigger ball means they are less likely to miss. That means they will be more willing to make an athletic, flowing swing rather than trying to manipulate and control their swing in order to make sure they make contact (eliminating humiliation). Kids want to play golf before they are course ready. With some forward tees or telling them to start closer to the hole, the oversized ball, and a big hole, we could get them on the course more quickly – allowing them to actually play golf instead of getting bored waiting to be old enough or good enough to play. What if the ball was soft? That means if someone got hit with a crazy shot or if they were accidentally standing ahead of other golfers, it wouldn't have the potential to injure them. It would be easy to reach a large number of people through clinics, and on-course lessons could be given to groups of 4 golfers at a time. These group coaching strategies would reduce the cost for quality instruction. People love on-course instruction of how to actually play the game. What if we spend more time on how to play the game rather than having perfect mechanics in the golf swing? This truly employs the coaching model that the instruction industry has proven to work best.
I'm sold, I'm doing this! The big question is...are you?