Golf Meets Soccer
Sports Pulse: Footgolf explained by the national champion
SportsPulse, USA TODAY
Looking at trying a new outdoor recreational activity this summer?
As July turns to August, there’s still plenty of time left to expand beyond the beaches, hiking trails, courts, links and trails and try out a new outdoor activity, whether by yourself or with family and friends.
Here are five of the more unique outdoor sports opportunities to explore in Massachusetts and how to get involved:
Disc golf
Disc golf is a sport nearly identical to golf, except that participants throw a disc golf disc with the aim of getting it into a basket in as a few throws, or strokes, as possible. As with traditional golf, there is a tee box to start from and stroke penalties for throws that go out of bounds. While teeing off, it’s possible to get a running start, but the disc must be released before the disc golfer crosses the tee line, while any disc that lands in a tree can be spotted on the ground directly below where it landed. In order to complete a hole, every player’s disk must be completely in the basket.
Massachusetts is home to over 100 disc golf courses all across the state, including many state forests such as Borderland State Park in Easton, which is home to the 36-hole Borderland Disc Golf Club. No extra fee is required to play disc golf at Borderland, just the $5 (or $20 for out-of-state residents) parking fee. Other disc golf courses include Maple Hill Disc Golf in Leicester, the Webster Fish and Game Disc Golf Course in Webster and Dacey Field in Franklin.
Footgolf
Like disc golf, this sport also follows much of the rules and regulations of traditional golf, except that participants kick a soccer ball with the goal of getting it in the hole in as few strokes as possible. Participants must wait for their ball to come to a complete stop before kicking again and stopping the ball on one’s own is prohibited. Proper golf attire with indoor or turf soccer shoes, as regular outdoor cleats can damage the playing surface, are almost always required, as well as a regulation size 5 soccer ball.
Four Kicks Sports Complex in Natick offers Footgolf daily, with rounds costing $20 for nine holes with a chance to play additional nine for $5 more. Other courses in the state include the Quail Ridge Country Club in Acton and Red Farm Golf in Upton.
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Orienteering
This sport tests participants both physically and mentally, combining cross country running with map reading, route routing and problem solving. Participants are given a map with different checkpoints they need to find over a set course, with the fastest person to find all checkpoints in order being declared the winner. In less competitive spaces, the game can be made into more of scavenger hunt. Participants can use a compass, but no forms of GPS or other modern location technology.
The City of Newton operates five orienteering courses located in Auburndale Park, Cold Spring Park, Kennard Park and Conservation Area, Nahanton Park and Edmands Park, with Auburndale being the easiest and Edmands the most challenging. The New England Orienteering Club organizes events throughout Massachusetts as well as Rhode Island and eastern Connecticut. It may also be headed to a high school near you, as orienteering is one of four sports being considered for recognition by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) as a varsity sport for the 2025-26 school year.
Kayak Bass Fishing
The joys of paddling out and casting a line in your local pond or lake have been turned into a sport all of its own. Kayak Bass Fishing is the national organization behind the sport, organizing its rules and putting together tournaments. Anglers set out in kayaks and are tasked with catching members of the Black Bass species, which includes Largemouth, Spotted, Guadalupe, Shoal and Smallmouth bass. Once reeled in, the angler must measure the fish, take a photo and then release it back into the water. In tournaments, scoring is determined by length, with is measured in quarter inch increments, with the five longest verified lengths totaled for the individual angler’s score.
Massachusetts Kayak Bassin’ is the organization that runs the sport locally, putting on competitions for members across the Commonwealth. Membership for MAKB costs $25 and is required for entry into any tournament put on by the group. For young anglers, it can even provide a pathway to competing athletically in college, as it has for one recent Taunton High graduate.
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Ultimate
Ultimate, previously known as ultimate frisbee, is a sport that’s long been common at colleges and high school campuses but has been growing beyond in recent years, with USA Ultimate boasting over 60,000 official members as of 2019. Players compete as teams of seven, with the goal being to get the disc into your team’s respective end zone for a point. Played on a field that’s similar but more narrow than a traditional football field, players must move the disc by passing, but their feet must be firmly planted to make a pass. A non-contact sport, there are also no officials in Ultimate; rather the responsibility for fair play and sportsmanship is put upon the individual players as part of the “Spirit of the Game.”
USA Ultimate is the sports’ national governing body, with the Boston Ultimate Disc Association (BUDA) organizing and putting on events, pick up games and tournaments in and around Greater Boston and Worcester (BUDA West) while Valley Ultimate, based out of Northampton, handles western Massachusetts. Playing in BUDA pickup games is free, but those looking to play in official USA Ultimate tournaments must purchase an official membership on their website. With over 150 registered high school club teams across the state, Ultimate is also being considered for recognition as a varsity sport by the MIAA.