Just a decade ago, pickleball was a smaller sport that was only quietly known. Over the years, interest grew, and now pickleball is played all around the world and seen on TV.
Another sport, FootGolf, hopes to be the next pickleball. The sport was founded in the Netherlands in 2008, making it to the United States in 2011. FootGolf found its way to Michigan around 2014 and since then, people from all over the nation have been flocking to get in on the action, particularly at Royal Scot Golf & Bowl in Lansing.
Michigan hosted its first tournament of the year from April 12-17 during the 2025 Northeast FootGolf Tour. The two-day, 100 point tournament started at Fox Hills Golf & Banquet Center in Plymouth and finished at Royal Scot.
The game itself is similar to golf. The only difference is the players kick a soccer ball into a wider cup. The point system is split between 100 and 250 point tournaments, with the bigger tournaments drawing larger crowds. Players will be back in July for a 250-point, three day tournament at Fox Hills and Royal Scot. One day will be at Fox Hills while the other two will be at Royal Scot.
Richard Matteoli is the reigning national champion on the individual side as well as the team side with the Memphis FootGolf Club. He traveled from his hometown of St. Louis to partake in the two day event, ultimately finishing second at -10 in a thrilling playoff round. Matteoli has been making the trip to mid-Michigan for the past six years. He holds the course record at Royal Scot, but it’s not the game that keeps him coming back, it’s the people.
“Michigan always puts on my favorite event,” Matteoli said. “All of the people who put it on come from Michigan. They do a really good job and we always have a good time. The course is fun and unique. It is cut tightly and plays fast. If there’s a tournament in Michigan, I’m coming.”
Oswaldo Gallegos won the title with an impressive kick on hole 18 sitting right next to the net beyond the green. The Minnesota native knew the winning shot was going to be tough, but he had to play it aggressively.
“I just wanted to get it done,” Gallegos said after the victory. “I was telling myself that it ends here. It’s a great feeling to have accomplished that in front of my peers on hole 18 to walk out of here with first place.”
Jon Aron is the founder of one of the original teams in the country, the Michigan FootGolf Club. Aron has seen the sport continue to rise each year. With the league returning to Michigan in a couple months, bigger crowds are expected due to the weather and the severity of the event. It will be the only 250-point tournament of the season.
“We're growing organically,” Aron said. “It's really cool to see all these people from all over having a good time. It's a lot of camaraderie. Some people are always towards the top and some people are always towards the bottom, but everyone just has fun hanging out and playing. There's definitely a lot of competitiveness. There's chances to earn spots on the U.S. team or Canada.”
Paul Rusu, a Canadian FootGolfer, made the near four hour trip across the border to Lansing. Geographically, Michigan sits in the middle of the Northeast tour locations that are held in Canada and West Virginia. This makes the trip less stressful for players like Rusu since they have to pay their own travel expenses. Rusu credited the management of the events, as Michigan is the only state to host two individual tournaments.
Royal Scot has played host to international events like the World Cup qualifiers before, but now the course is trying to expand for FootGolf’s biggest tournament, the U.S. Open. A new 36-hole, championship style course is expected to break ground in the coming weeks.
“There are a few good factors for Michigan,” Gallegos said when talking about the U.S. Open expansion. “One of them is that Michigan foot golfers are amazing people. They are very warm and accommodating in many different ways. And then the courses are receptive to the sport. We have our own space here. This could be a great location for more future national events.”
A lot of golf courses in the country still are not very receptive to the idea of allowing FootGolf to mix in with regular golfers. American FootGolf President Laura Balestrini knew that Royal Scot should be involved with Michigan FootGolf after hearing about the course's willingness to expand.
“When Royal Scot came on, they were big enthusiasts of the sport,” Balestrini said. “We wanted to get them involved because they are a course that values FootGolf. The Lansing Sports Commission is also a big supporter. Both of them have been great partners of the sport.”
The rise of the sport was actually boosted by the pandemic, while many other sports faltered. Golf was utilized because of the social distancing aspect, and FootGolf followed in those footsteps.
“Luckily for us, the boom of golf during COVID also helped our sport due to the fact that we play on golf courses,” Balestrini said. “We only had to cancel one tournament throughout the pandemic, and that was the U.S. Open. Every other tournament we were able to play through.”
The Michigan FootGolf Club has yet to bring home a national championship, but Aron is motivated to prove to the FootGolf world that Michigan is ready to silence the doubters.
“I’m from Detroit, we’re used to being the underdogs,” Aron said. “We had chances to form other clubs, I said no. We lost some of our top players because they wanted to do other stuff. It might be in ten years, but the day we win with Michigan is the day we are going to celebrate.”