Backpacking In England: Playing Footgolf⚽️⛳ In Whitley Bay

Backpacking In England: Playing Footgolf⚽️⛳ In Whitley Bay

Have you ever heard of Footgolf? Now you have. It’s a mixture of football and golf. 😂⚽️⛳And I played it in Whitley Bay with famous Rafał Kowalczyk aka Big Bird. We were backpacking and overlanding here and we came across this by accident! On the same trip, we backpacked in Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland in England! This included watching AFC Bournemouth draw 1-1 away at Newcastle United. It also included a visit to The Angel of The North and Hadrian’s Wall, at Birdoswald.

What Is Footgolf?

Exactly as its name suggests! It’s a mixture of football and golf! But instead of using golf clubs, a golf ball, a football pitch and football nets, roles are reversed. Footgolf entails kicking off with a proper size 5 football and trying to get it in the hole, which obviously is bigger than a normal golf hole!

Where To Play Footgolf?

Many places have it but the first time I ever saw it was in the seaside resort of Whitley Bay, England. But let me tell you this is as spontaneous as life gets. I was backpacking northern England and Scotland in September. This trip encompassed Hadrian’s Wall, Edinburgh, Sunderland, Dundee and Loch Ness. I was here with two Polish friends, Rafał and Kamil.

We had not planned to play Footgolf. In fact, the only reason we went to Whitley Bay was to see the crushing waters of the English North East coast in a famous seaside town on route to a potential reunion with my former flatmate, Clare Tweedy. Due to logistics and bad organisation on my part, the reunion didn’t occur but as a bonus ball, we got to play footgolf!

 

We parked by the coast in Whitley Bay and we saw the lighthouse, beach and golf course. I thought it was a normal golf course but as we walked across it, we noticed the holes were bigger. We also noticed a group of 4 people with footballs in front of us. They were footballs but this group were not playing football, I asked them wildly, ” Are you guys playing Footgolf?” The answer was yes.

Prices of Footgolf in 2022

It was a 9 hole course but realistically you could go round twice as they won’t check. We just did the 9 holes. It’s £4.50 each and card payment only. The kiosk also sells some drinks and snacks and you can also play pitch and putt or putting golf.

We did the 9 holes and in the end Rafal beat me by ONE shot. I was the only one to get a birdie though and it was an even game in gusty north east winds. It was really good fun, I recommend it!

Details of the Legendary Footgolf at Whitley Bay:

Here are a brace of videos of the Footgolf in Whitley Bay, England: