Sports Media Report
FlingGolf, the hottest new sport to hit the links at golf courses around the globe, will tee off in America’s Finest City when the World League FlingGolf (WLF) New Swarm Tour makes a stop at the Twin Oaks Golf Course in San Marcos for the San Diego Open, this Sunday, Feb. 26.
Fifty (50) of the top FlingGolfers from around the country will show off their skills while competing for cash and other prizes. A shotgun style qualifying round will be played from 7:30-11:30 a.m. with the Top 5 finishers from the qualifying round advancing to a five-hole playoff to determine a champion. The playoff round is slated for 12:30-2:00 p.m. It will be recorded and shown on ESPN at a later date. Sunday’s World League FlingGolf San Diego Open is open to the media and the public and admission is FREE. It’s a great chance for San Diegans to watch the top FlingGolf professionals compete at the highest level at Twin Oaks.
Combining the elements of golf, lacrosse, baseball and even jai alai, FlingGolf is an action sport for golf courses where players use a single FlingStick to hurl a golf ball to shape every shot from tee to hole. The sport is easy to start, fun to play and a challenge to master. It can be played on any golf course, but instead of hitting a golf ball with a club, players use a single FlingStick thrower.
“It is really exciting to bring many of the top FlingGolf players from around the world to San Diego to compete in this weekend’s San Diego Open,” said FlingGolf Founder Alex Van Alen. “We’re thrilled to have nine of the World League’s Top 10 FlingGolfers in San Diego for our first event of 2023. FlingGolf has been growing in popularity in San Diego, which is only natural considering the number of golf courses in the city, San Diego’s young and athletic population, and its laid-back approach to recreation. That all fits perfectly with the FlingGolf vibe. We are especially grateful to be able to capture the event in San Diego for ESPN and look forward to a great crowd joining us at Twin Oaks on Sunday to watch the best players compete.”
FlingGolf’s rules are fairly similar to golf. On the tee a player can take as many steps as they like while hurling the ball toward the hole, they just have to make sure to launch their shot before reaching the tee marker. In the fairway, players must take note of where their ball lies and from that spot they can retreat up to 5 paces away from the hole and take their shot any time before reaching their previous lie. On the green, players can either position the ball alongside the striker pad on the FlingStick head and putt the ball like traditional golf, or they can use a variety of other techniques to complete the hole.
In FlingGolf, any ball that lands in a sand bunker or water hazard can be a one-stroke penalty. If the ball lands in a sand bunker, the player has two options. They can remove their ball from the bunker, take a one stroke penalty, and retreat up to 5 paces from the bunker away from the hole and from there, they can take a FlingShot before reaching the edge of the bunker. The second option is that they can take a shot from the bunker without penalty as long as they do not pick up the ball. And for balls hit into a water hazard or out of bounds, the player can retreat up to 5 paces back from where the ball entered the hazard, went out-of-bounds or was last seen, no closer to the hole, and take a FlingShot from that position.
FlingGolf can be played right alongside traditional golf and since its inception, it has been played by thousands of players on nearly 2,000 golf courses in more than 30 countries. In 2021, FlingGolf was featured on Shark Tank and in 2022, the World League FlingGolf New Swarm Classic was featured on ESPN.
