Unique golf game played by millions in USA and Japan set to come to Fife club

Park Golf is played by millions in Japan and the United States, but is virtually unheard of in Scotland.

Despite being the home of golf, the game which is played with just one club and a ball, and can take place anywhere there is a decent-sized piece of grass, has never reached this country.

But that is all set to change following the bumper grant to the Lang Toun club which will introduce it initially to adults aged over 16 as a way of improving their physical and mental health and wellbeing whilst having fun.

The project has been supported by the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund through Fife Voluntary Action and the Scottish Government with the money being used to buy equipment and help publicise and run various events.

The initiative, which will be called Park Gowf, will meet Dunnikier Park’s key outcomes of raising self-esteem and confidence, supporting healthier lifestyles, strengthening community engagement and will help to build a successful pathway to enjoyable participation in golf.

Martin Christie, club chairman, said: “As far as we know, Park Golf has never been played in Scotland, the rest of the UK or Europe, and we are really excited to have the opportunity to introduce and grow the game here.

“Ken Smith, who is one of our board members and is heavily involved with the junior section at the club, came across the game and thought it would be an ideal fit with our charity’s aims.

"To give the new game a distinctly Scottish flavour, we have decided to call it Park Gowf, with it’s ‘hame’ at the 2019 course at Dunnikier.”

The game is played using just one mallet-style club and a hard, medium-sized ball.

Like normal golf, the aim is to hole out, and larger-than-normal holes are used on a custom course, but targets can also be used on any decent-sized piece of grass, meaning the game is truly portable.

Martin added: “The beauty about Park Gowf is that no experience or coaching is necessary – just give the ball a whack and that’s it. It’s really easy, great fun and doesn’t take hours to play a game.”

Thank you for reading this article on our free-to-read website. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a subscription to our print newspaper to help fund our trusted, fact-checked journalism.