Local Golf Course Offers First 'Footgolf' Course In Western Pa.
FREEPORT (KDKA) -- There was a record Pittsburgh crowd at Heinz Field last weekend as America's interest in soccer continues to grow.
Meanwhile, the popularity of golf continues to decline.
The answer just may be found in the burgeoning sport of "footgolf."
Jim Bowser owns the nine-hole Cabin Greens golf course in Freeport. It soon will switch over, two days a week, to the first footgolf course in western Pennsylvania. Bowser says it takes half the space, and half the time of "small ball" golf.
"People are a lot busier. Everybody's involved in everything, you know," he said. "So they don't have four, four and a half hours to play a round of golf. You can play 18 holes of this in two and a half hours."
He also says he can put 18-foot golf holes into his nine-hole course.
Son-in-law Ricco Sosa digs a hole for a cup that spans 21 inches. But the game's not as easy as it looks.
"It's definitely a challenging sport, especially on a golf course such as Cabin Greens," Sosa said. "Because of the hills and the way everything rolls. So you really have to put thought into where you place your ball. Because your ball's definitely going to roll."
The course will be open for footgolf on Mondays and Saturdays. As for the rest of the week, all they have to do is put the lid on the footgolf hole and play golf the old fashioned way.
Young soccer player Natalie Doerr says experience helps.
"It helps, like, aiming for kicking. You have to be really close for kicking. You have to be precise."
To be precise, footgolf at Cabin Greens begins Aug. 23.
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