Soccer-mad Argentina has hosted a novel tournament that featured plenty of soccer balls, but no goals as such: the second-ever FootGolf World Cup.
Instead of dribbling, tackling and sliding around getting muddy, FootGolf players boot a soccer ball large distances into a 53cm-wide hole in as few kicks as possible.
Spectators follow the players around each of the 18 holes over a course complete with flags, slopes and bunkers.
Photo: AFP
Keeping to a golfer-like dress code, players wear harlequin-patterned socks and pristine white shorts and caps.
Said to have been invented in the Netherlands in 2009, the sport has spread worldwide.
Players from Australia, Britain, Ireland and the US joined their Argentine hosts in the tournament in Pilar, a posh suburb of Buenos Aires, that wrapped up at the weekend.
The first FootGolf World Cup was held in Hungary in 2012, with 77 players from eight nations taking part. This year, turnout multiplied, with 230 players from 26 nations.
“It far surpassed our expectations,” Argentine FootGolf Association president Javier de Ancizar said. “This was the first tournament we have played with spectator stand, and they were full.”
Argentine Christian Otero was crowned FootGolf World Cup champion on Sunday after topping the players’ table.
“I had to win. I felt a lot of pressure and I am very happy,” Otero said.
“This sport is incredible. There are not many sports that have such a lovely setting,” he added, speaking near the green expanse of the upmarket Golf Pilar Club.
A good FootGolf player “has to have a strong mind, a good touch and cool-headedness, because in this game, you make a lot of mistakes and the important thing is to get back into it quickly,” he said.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De
TOP OF THE TABLE: Evann Guessand put the visitors ahead early in the game and Flavius Daniliuc equalized before Youri Tielemans got the winner in the second half Aston Villa on Thursday extended their winning streak to eight games in all competitions with a 2-1 victory against Basel in the UEFA Europa League to secure at least a playoff spot. Villa were tied with Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Go Ahead Eagles 2-1, and Midtjylland, 1-0 winners over Genk, atop the standings of the second-tier European competition on 15 points with five wins from six games. They have bounced back from a poor start to the season and are third in the Premier League, including a 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal on Saturday. At St Jakob-Park in Basel, summer signing Evann Guessand
RSS