Urban Golf, Cross Golf, Street Golf. Whatever you choose to call it the sport is growing around the world with new organisations showing up almost daily. Locally a group known as Urban Golf Australia have been tirelessly promoting the sport for the last decade through events, urban challenges and the development of a full range of Urban Golfing equipment and accessories.

World Urban Golf Day IX   <<<<Much more info and pictures; Click link

What, you may ask, is urban golfing all about and how do they manage to play through the streets without everyone being arrested? Well, the birth of Urban Golfing came about through students and golf lovers who were being held back from their enjoyment of the game by barriers such as green fees, club memberships and access to decent equipment. What resulted was a culture who shirked the long standing traditions of the game, preferring to play in a more modern, more street influenced style. They have borrowed a lot of their ethos from sports such as skateboarding and adopted a soul surfer attitude preferring to concentrate on the shot itself rather than the overall score. This adaptation of the game has taken off internationally as more people are living in higher density suburbs and access to traditional golfing facilities becomes more difficult and more expensive. Busier lifestyles also lend themselves to Urban Golfing as players can throw a ball down almost anywhere and at any time to enjoy the sport whether they are at a backyard bbq or waiting for a bus. Even in the slums of Mumbai Urban Golfers have sprung up exposing a brand new generation of players to a game that was essentially inaccessible to people below a certain class.

For the last 9 years groups from around the world have come together to hold the World Urban Golf festival which is a series of events held around the world to promote and celebrate the sport.

As a first for Australia, events this year are being held in multiple locations from as far North as Cairns and as far west as Perth and the flagship event in Newcastle. The sport has even been adopted by the Toowoomba Regional Council who are now holding regular events and raising money for great causes such as in their recent Putt and End to Homelessness Event.
Playing Urban Golf is a great way to re-involve yourself in the game. If your own busy lifestyle has resulted in you not being able to get on the course as much as you used to by simply hitting around the park or in your front yard you can capture again the love you had for hitting the ball while helping to introduce others to the game. For information on getting involved in some of Urban Golf Australia’s events head to their website www.australianurbangolf.com or www.facebook.com/australianurbangolf

The World Urban Golf Day events will this year be held in October as part of National Playgolf month and interested clubs can also contact the guys at Urban Golf Australia if they are interested in getting involved or holding their own event.

People can register for the event at facebook.com/australianurbangolf