FootGolf, a mixture of soccer and golf, requires a regulation-sized soccer ball and is played on a golf course following the rules of golf. A player tries to kick the ball into a hole (21 inches in diameter) with the fewest shots. Unfortunately, as in golf, bogeys and double bogeys still exist - and sand and water hazards, and foliage still get in the way.

When he stepped up to take his second shot on the seventh hole last week at Table Rock Golf Club, Vic Romanelli knew exactly what he would use to advance the ball: his right foot.

�That�s the best thing about FootGolf: There�s only one club you ever need,� the Westerville resident, 42, said at the Centerburg, Ohio, club.

FootGolf, a mixture of soccer and golf, requires a regulation-sized soccer ball and is played on a golf course following the rules of golf. A player tries to kick the ball into a hole (21 inches in diameter) with the fewest shots. Each kick equals a stroke.

The holes range from par 3 (less than 100 yards) to par 5 (160 to 230 yards). Unfortunately, as in golf, bogeys and double bogeys still exist � and sand and water hazards, and foliage still get in the way.

�You want to kick the crap out of it, but you can�t,� a laughing Romanelli said during his first round of FootGolf.

The sport, new to Romanelli, is also new to central Ohio.

Last month, Table Rock became the first golf course in the surrounding area to offer the burgeoning sport when it added 18 FootGolf holes to the land of its front-nine golf holes.

Five other courses in Ohio (two in Cincinnati and one each in Cleveland, in Hinckley and at the Kent State University Golf Course) boast the sport.

Courses are set up to allow golfers and FootGolfers at the same time, although Table Rock plans to schedule most FootGolf tee times in the afternoon, with fewer golfers around.

The concept of the game isn�t a novelty, said Laura Balestrini, president of the American FootGolf League, the national governing body for the sport � based in Palm Springs, Calif.

�It�s a form of the game soccer players have played forever,� she said.

The modern version, however, began in 2009 with a Dutch marketing company and arrived 21/2 years ago in the United States.

Since then, the sport has spread nationwide to golf courses ranging from renowned country clubs to family-owned small-town venues.

Only a little renovation � the digging of the 18 large holes � is required, and a course otherwise invests only in soccer balls, cups and special tees.

It also pays a fee to be affiliated with the national league.

About 145 golf courses in the United States provide the hybrid, with more expected to add it every week, Balestrini said.

Ted Bishop, president of the Professional Golfers� Association of America, has endorsed the sport as an avenue to expand the game of golf and even added it to his course, the Legends Golf Club in Franklin, Ind.

�The timing is right,� Balestrini said. �Golf is looking for ways to bring new blood to the golf courses. They�re all looking for ways to increase traffic and revenue.�

Jim and Kathy Butler, the owners of Table Rock, see FootGolf as doing just that for their 41-year-old Knox County course.

�Another golf course wrote me to congratulate us on doing this, for having the guts to do it,� Mrs. Butler said.

For the Butlers, though, FootGolf is a no-brainer.

�There are a lot of golf courses but not a lot of golfers,� Mr. Butler said. �You have to try to make a living on the land you have. You have to think outside the box.�

Domenic Romanelli and son Antonio helped the Butlers design and test the course.

Domenic, older brother to Vic, this year founded the Ohio FootGolf Association, which on Saturday will host its first tournament at Table Rock.

As the boys soccer coach at St. Francis DeSales High School, Domenic Romanelli views FootGolf as a fun way for his players to bond or for families to stay active.

�My daughter, she had to stop playing soccer because of concussions, and she loves it,� said the 49-year-old Westerville resident.

�Women in their 70s and 80s who have never kicked a ball can be out there.

�No one we�ve taken out here hasn�t been back.�

The new sport is easier to learn, less expensive to play (with a round of 18 holes for $12, or $9 for children) and less intimidating than golf, Mrs. Butler said.

Yet, after people become comfortable with the course environment, they might be prompted to pick up a golf club.

Mrs. Butler has fielded a few complaints from golfers � as when members of a group said that some FootGolfers didn�t let them finish � but begun working with her staff to educate FootGolfers on etiquette.

One recent Monday, the course had almost two dozen people playing FootGolf in addition to the large group that the Romanellis had brought to try the game.

Corey Hunn and Adam Reitz �scouted out� the activity for friends a few weeks ago. They returned with four friends for a second round of FootGolf.

�You don�t have to be good at soccer,� said Hunn, a 20-year-old student at Ohio State University. �It�s a backyard kickball type of thing, and that�s what I really like about it.�

His buddy Kevin Kwiatkowski, an avid golfer, felt confident that he would make the long �putt� on the second hole � but missed wide right.

Amid the jeers of his friends, his next kick was successful � for par.

�It�s a really cool premise,� he said. �There�s a lot of strategy to it.�

Although his foursome all hit balls into the water, Trey Lehman enjoyed the time he spent with his 8-year-old son, Christian, on the course.

Plus, he scored an eagle on the par-5 sixth hole.

�It�s great to play with the kids,� he said. �It�s hard to go golfing with the kids.�

Christian also sees an upside to FootGolf:

�Being able to beat my dad.�

award@dispatch.com

@AllisonAWard