New sport FootGolf launches Dutch Championships.

On September 6th, the Nederlandse FootGolf Bond (NFGB) will organize the first national FootGolf Championships. FootGolf, a combination of football and golf, is played on official golf courses, with holes having a diameter of 53 centimeters. The tournament hosted by the prestigious 'Het Rijk van Nijmegen' golf course, is attracting players the likes of Roy Makaay (Feyenoord), Mario Been (Head Coach Feyenoord), Danny Koevermans (PSV), Kenneth Perez (Danish internatonal), Nourdin Boukhari (NAC Breda), Bryan Roy (ex-Ajax) en Bas Sibum (NEC Nijmegen).

The Netherlands have the honor of being the first FootGolf country to operate under the auspices of the IFGA (The International FootGolf Association), the international governing body. In addition to organizing the Dutch Championships in September, the NFGB is building a nationwide network of NFGB affiliated golfcourses, enabling NFGB members to play a variety of courses the coming season.


'I think it's a great sport' explains NEC Nijmegen player Bas Sibum. 'The fact that the short grass doesn't offer as much resistance to a football as it does to a golf ball, is the biggest challenge though. No green is completely flat, so once the ball starts rolling, there's no stopping it. Taking into account the slope of the playing field, is very new to us footballers'.
Driving force behind the new sport is ex-footballer Willem Korsten (Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur). What started as a lighthearted game played by him and his teammates on their way back to the changing room door, has grown into an official international sport with its headquarters in Geneva.

The website www.nfgb.nl is under construction.