Bussy Sinford and his wife, Tela, own the Great Cove Golf Course in Roque Bluffs and Tela said they have been interested in getting some “young people out here.”
They think they have found a way by opening a course for footgolf, which is a combination of soccer and golf.
They have created a nine-hole course alongside the golf course.
The Sinfords discovered footgolf in a Superintendent Magazine article and opened dialogue about its feasibility with friends Bill and Deb Eckart.
“We checked it out online and it sounded interesting,” said Bill Eckart. “We thought it could work here. We talked to some of the people involved with the soccer programs in the area and they thought the kids would participate.
“Bussy and Tela were interested in offering more activities for the youth. There aren’t a lot of opportunities here in Washington County. They wanted to bring more people to the golf course,” said Eckart. “We had confidence it would be successful.”
There will be an open house at the course on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m.
Eckart and his wife are retired and started helping the Sinfords with the golf course a year ago. Bill Eckart used to teach recreation management at the University of Maine-Machias.
The footgolf course has nine holes and they range in distance from 91 to 220 yards.
“The holes are 21 inches in diameter,” said Eckart.
A regular soccer ball is 8.65 inches in diameter but the course also uses two smaller-sized balls for younger kids.
There are three separate tee boxes for different age groups.
It costs $5 to play nine holes and $8 to play 18 holes. There are also family rates.
“We’re family-oriented,” said Tela Sinford.
It costs $5 to rent a soccer ball but competitors can avoid that fee by supplying their own.
Bill Eckart said the course is challenging. Players take turns kicking their soccer balls toward the hole and the lowest score wins, just like golf.
“We had some college soccer players here trying it out and they had trouble on the greens. They aren’t used to dealing with slopes. You’ve got to play the slopes,” said Eckart. “In soccer, the fields are flat.”
He also noted that there is strategy just like there is in golf.
“The topography and the wind and other things make it interesting, just like golf,” he said. “Sometimes you have to lay up.”
Footgolfers have to place their shots just like golf and read the course, which is a par 36.
The startup expenses were minimal “because the Sinfords already had the land, lawn mowers and equipment to make the holes.
“All they had to buy was the fiberglass poles to put into the ground, the flags and soccer balls,” said Eckart.
The footgolf course and the golf course are far enough apart so that both sports can be safely played at the same time.
“But some are a little concerned about getting hit by a golf ball and we don’t want them to stay away because of that,” said Eckart. “So we have two times when the course is exclusive for footgolf: Wednesday and Sunday from 2 to 6.”
Eckart said the footgolf course gives people an opportunity to “get outside, do a physical activity and have fun doing it.”