This, my friends, is a footgolf course.
And this is my son about to whack the ball.
And this is a selfie of me also playing footgolf.
That’s right. It’s blank.
That’s because the temperature was near 100 degrees. You
could ring water out of my shirt, my make-up had melted onto my shoes, and my
hair gave the illusion that I may have been electrocuted.
Not pretty.
If you’re not familiar with footgolf, Wikipedia says it is,
“a precision sport where players kick a soccer ball into a cup in as few shots as possible.”
We’ll get back to
that word precision a little later.
Wikipedia goes on
to explain that footgolf is, “played the same way as golf, except players use a
football (soccer ball) instead of a golf ball, and the ball is kicked rather
than struck with a club, working towards a 21-inch "cup" in place of
the usual golf hole.”
The way I wound
up playing footgolf is my lifelong soccer-playing son found out about the
course when we were vacationing last year and now our family plays any time
we’re in the area.
What I do for my
son.
Back to
precision. So, as you might guess, the scoring is done in much the same way as
regular golf. There’s a par for each hole and lowest total score wins. When the
pictures above were taken at around the seventh hole, the par for the course was
about 32.
I had a score of
60. Yes, you read that right. I was 28 over par.
And I thought
that was good. You see my son would kick the ball, and it would take me three
shots to equal his one.
I’ve been going
to physical therapy for a back condition. I can’t wait to hear what the
therapist has to say this week.
I didn’t take a
picture of Jerry either. He wasn’t doing much better than I was with one
replaced knee and the other knee needing work, too.
Again, what we do
for our son.
An experience
like this reminds me that if I am willing to embarrass myself like this for my
kid, how much more God out of His great love for us has moved and continues to move on our
behalf.
“. . . immense in mercy and with an
incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive
in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us
up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah”
(Ephesians 2:4-5 The Message).
My morning of perspiration
and humiliation was a big nothing compared to the lengths God goes to for his
children.
Good to remember
on days when it seems like we’re 28 over par and no way we’re going to win this
game. No matter what, your heavenly Father has already gone to the greatest
lengths possible to express his love for you.
Golf among young
people is declining and hundreds of courses are closing every year. Over the past
few years, Footgolf has helped save many courses that are struggling.
Well, all I have
to say about that is footgolf may be saving golf courses, but I’m praying it doesn't do me in.