FlingGolf in The Town Common 9-2014

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Fling Golf Brings New Excitement, Fun to Golf Courses
September 10 - 16, 2014 Vol. 10, No. 45
AMESBURY – Blame it on the four to five
hours it takes to play a round of golf. Blame it
on the cost of buying 14 expensive golf clubs,
plus a bag to carry them in. Blame it on the
Millennial generation members who prefers
computer games and gym workouts.
For these and probably several other
reasons, golf courses, which once totaled
about 16,000 nationwide, are closing at an
alarming rate. Last year was the eighth in a
row that saw more courses close than open.
Since 2005, 300 golf courses have closed.
National retailer Dick's Sporting Goods
in July laid off more than 500 in-store
PGA professionals as it struggles to sell golf
equipment during the past year.
Teeing off on this rough last week was what
may prove to be the savior of golf courses.
Alex Van Alen, founder and CEO of Fling
Golf, shipped his first fling sticks to retailers
in 16 states and Nova Scotia. Prior to starting
PlusOne Sports and developing Fling Golf,
Van Alen was CEO of an organization that
brought the first sled dog race in 30 years
to eastern Massachusetts, attended by over
10,000 people.
A cross between Jai-alai, lacrosse
and golf, Fling Golf may be to golf
what snowboarding is to skiing.
"I saw snowboarding inject a new energy and
spirit to the snow industry and revive many
resorts and retailers globally,” said Mike
Abbott, former COO of Burton Snowboards
and an adviser to PlusOne Sports, which
is producing the fling sticks. “Fling Golf,
because it is fun and exciting to play, will
attract a new and younger generation of
players and have that same effect on golf
courses."
Where golf is expensive and time
consuming, Fling Golf is fast paced, easy to
learn and inexpensive. Players need only one
fling stick to play a round. A fling stick will
cost $179 at retail stores ($135 on the web
site) and is not likely to break anytime soon.
Fling Golf, one of the newest tenants at
By Stewart Lytle, Reporter
–––––––––––––––––
Photo provided by Fling Golf
the Chestnut Innovation Center, a greenbusiness incubator here, was Van Alen's
brainchild in 2012.
“I bought a used Jai-alai basket, grabbed
some golf balls and took them out to a
soccer field for a throw. I knew right away
that, with the spins and arcs of the flying
ball, and my ability to make all kinds of
swings and shape the shots, I had a fun new
sport in my hands,” he writes on his web
site.
Fling Golf can be played on existing golf
courses. It can even be played in a foursome
with other golfers hitting the ball in the
traditional manner.
Van Alen, 46 years old and a 16handicapped golfer, said he can walk and
play nine holes of Fling Golf in an hour,
while 18 holes takes probably two to two
and a half hours.
A player, who can drive a golf ball 220
yards, can fling a golf ball 170 yards, he
said.
Scoring is the same as in golf, relying on
accuracy and staying out of the rough. If the
ball lands in a sand trap or water hazard, it
costs a one-stroke penalty.
The difference between the two games is
that a player can use the fling stick to shape the
shot. For longer throws, spin around before
releasing the ball like a baseball batter's swing.
For shorter, more accurate shots, the player
can throw the ball overhead or underhand.
On the green, the player uses the stick to putt
or push the ball in the hole.
Van Alen, the father of two sons who lives
in Ipswich, said a lot of men his age are not
playing golf as much because it takes too
much time away from the family or work.
With Fling Golf, he takes his boys with him.
They learned the game in about 10 minutes.
The biggest question for Van Alen was:
Will golf, which traces its roots to the
Scottish highlands in the Middle Ages, allow
a different sport, particularly one that looks
like the Native American game of lacrosse, to
be played alongside it?
Van Alen had got good feedback from
several Northshore course owners. Then he
met Walt Lankau, the former president of the
National Golf Course Owners Association,
which counts more than 7,200 courses in its
membership.
When presented with Golf Fling, Lankau
said, “Fling Golf is an amazing addition to
the game of golf. And the fling stick is just a
blast to play with.”
Lankau understood how snowboarding
brought millions of young, athletic riders out
to the slopes, Van Alen said. Golf courses are
looking for that same boost.
That support put Fling Golf into high
gear. As he and general manager Steve Bloom
work to iron out production issues and build
distribution networks, high schools, colleges,
young adults and families are signing up for
Fling Golf leagues.
Don't expect to see fling sticks at your
sporting goods stores right away, Bloom said.
“This is a very young company.”
You'll "flip" over the digital edition at T h e To w n C o m m o n . c o m
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