This story appeared in the Summer 2014 edition of Our Big Backyard magazine.
Footgolf is the newest addition at Metro's Glendoveer Golf Course. Tee times are available on Tuesday and Saturday afternoons on the West Course.
Standing at the top of the hill, with Glendoveer's west course in front of me, I admit – I was a bit nervous.
It's been at least 20 years since I last touched a soccer ball. I'm fairly sure I haven't participated in competitive sports since the Reagan administration. Hiking? I'm there. Sportsball? I'll just watch.
Metro News reporter Nick Christensen attempts a drive at footgolf at Metro's Glendoveer Golf Course.
And golf? Even when I was a sportswriter, my ideal day of covering golf was showing up at the end of a tournament and interviewing the winner. The last time I went to a golf course, in 2005, I got called to a meeting to find out my newspaper was all but closing. Golf and I don't have the best of relationships.
But I had to wing it if I wanted to witness the Pacific Northwest debut of footgolf at Metro's Glendoveer Golf Course. This wacky sports hybrid is just what it sounds like – golf course, golf rules, soccer ball.
It was showtime, my turn to tee off. I squared up with my borrowed soccer ball. I launched myself west and threw my leg forward.
I kicked the ball about 45 degrees to the right of where everyone else had gone.
Thus began a two-hour stroll through the Douglas firs of Glendoveer, one of the most scenic places in all of East Portland. I'd boot the soccer ball about 100 feet, go for a short walk, and repeat until I reached the putting green.
Putting, not surprisingly, was more of a challenge than driving. By the end of the first hole, I was already 4 over par and lagging the others in my group: Metro’s equity program manager, Pietro Ferrari, and natural areas program director, Kathleen Brennan-Hunter.
This was a trend for the rest of the day. My driving improved, but it wasn’t unusual for me to have a four-putt hole. It was usual for my drives to inadvertently end up sideways, in foot-high grass or nestled among Douglas-fir trunks. Playing pinball amid the massive evergreen trunks became part of the game's strategy.
A cold beverage at the Ringside awaits after a round of footgolf.
Meanwhile, in the group ahead of ours, Metro finance director Tim Collier was sinking eagles and birdies adorned in kilt and ghillie brogues. Why putt when you can just knock the ball in from the fairway?
We ran into traditional golfers only once – a group on the tee of their last hole as we were about to tee off on the fourth. A Glendoveer staffer kept us at bay while the traditional golfers made their drive shot. After that, all we saw were footgolfers, out to try the sport's debut in Oregon.
After 2,682 yards – that's the listed course distance, so we're really talking 3,000-plus – and about two hours, it was game over. I did not ask Pietro to look at the scorecard. I know I needed 10 shots to sink the par-5 11th hole.
It was great – and I never would have explored the grounds at Glendoveer otherwise. Despite living in East Portland, I'd never really spent much time there. The 19th hole on opening day was my first-ever visit to the Ringside Steakhouse.
Footgolf is a fun activity, it's an interesting sport. But more importantly, its promoters hope it's a way to open up golf courses to people who are intimidated by golf, who don't have time to learn the art of golf, who would never otherwise visit a golf course. That's a key in East Portland, where the growing number of families have few recreation options.
Most importantly, it was survivable, even for someone with absolutely zero athletic prowess. Until opening day of footgolf, I didn't even know I had muscles in my shins. The next morning, my right leg felt like it had been run over by a Panzer.
But if there's a better way to spend a few hours walking on the grass, beneath the old Douglas firs, with a cold beverage waiting at the end – I'm open to hearing about it.
Photography by Laura Oppenheimer Odom