Backspin Volume 3, Issue 6 | Page 27

tee times online as examples of this technology push. According to Michelet, the organization introduced the community to footgolf, which one plays like golf, but while using a soccer ball. BREC’s City Park Golf Course and J. S. Clark Golf Course offer footgolf play, which uses a nine-hole course with holes roughly 21 inches across. This game is one way that the agency hopes to reach non-golfers and invite them to its golf courses. “No real golf clubs or lessons needed,” Raby said of the skill requirements of the game. He said that the easier game allows people to learn golf theory and still get the experience of playing the course. The holes for footgolf lie to the side on the fairway instead of the greens, but they follow the same track as the regular course’s greens. Raby said that because not many cities offer footgolf, it is another way that he tries to keep the golf program innovative. According to Michelet, The First Tee Program is a great way to introduce children to golf. She said that the program teaches children not only the rules of the game but also the character and perseverance that comes from playing golf. The most popular of BREC’s courses is Santa Maria Golf Course on the south side of Baton Rouge. This course, designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., also receives promotion from the state as part of the Audubon Golf Trail. Other popular courses under the supervision of the park system are the 10-year-old Beaver Creek Golf Course in Zachary and the Webb Memorial Golf Course, the closest course to downtown Baton Rouge, near Louisiana State University. Other new initiatives have also been key in BREC’s application for 27