Cow Dung and Puddles Instead of Sand Traps and Hazards
I am giggling over this story that I discovered in my morning news google and must share it.You say mooooo when you hit an errant shot
Golf has come a long way since shepherds tending their flocks passed the
time by hitting rocks with their staffs to distant targets.
Much has been done to refine the game since Scotland became the birthplace of modern golf by introducing a hole in the ground.
And the Dutch contribution to the game, which they once called "Colf", has been largely forgotten.
That's about to be rectified.
A new version of the sport called "Farmer's Golf", invented in the northeast cow pastures of Holland in 1999, is spreading across Europe.
In Farmer's Golf, players strike a ball with a "clog club" - essentially a long stick with a wooden shoe at the end. The course consists of 10 holes on bumpy farmland filled with cow dung and puddles rather than sand traps and water hazards.
The game was originally played with traditional golf balls, but that proved to be a problem, according to Dutch Farmer Peter Weenink. "Using small (golf)balls in the fields where cows are walking, you'd spend the whole day searching for the ball," Weenink recently told the Reuters news service. "So we took a bigger ball."
Weenink added that the sport is gaining traction because of prohibitive green's fees and expensive, high-tech golf equipment.
"Farmer's Golf was born out of frustration," he said.
Still, he has been caught off guard by the sports success, which has spread to Belgium and Germany.
"We are very surprised," he said. "It just started as a bit of fun."
Now this is a sport I'd love to watch business men play.
"Careful, there, Mike. You are about to step in a patty."
"Oh, thanks, Jeff. Say, the puddles are pretty strong today, eh?"
"Yeah. Hey look! That one's still steaming!"
"#4 Clog, Brian?"
"No. I think I'll lay up given the grazing herd there on the right."
I could giggle myself silly over this!
