About this time last year I came back from the Dominican Republic for my Study Service Term. It was within those next few days that I knew I was going to receive all the new information about what happened while I was gone. After my friends told me about new music, and the NCAA tournament, they mentioned they had recently started playing a new game on campus. They called it “Campus Golf,” and they couldn’t stop ranting about how fun the game was. Luckily for me they couldn’t have been more right and soon I was hooked onto “Campus Golf.”
To play Campus Golf you only two items, a golf club and a tennis ball. I would recommend you buy the club from Goodwill or Salvation Army, as you’re likely to beat it up as you hit of both grass, and pavement. As the rule says “Play it where it lies.” With the tennis ball I also suggest you grab a permanent marker and put your name on the ball so it doesn’t get confused with other competitors.
The rules of Campus Golf are also very simple. First, no practice swings. Once you lay your ball down you only get one swing and if you whiff the ball you’ll likely hear the phrase “No practice swings” from all your competitors. We do allow you to swing again, but its fun to say the phrase.
Second, you can only use the club that you brought to the competition and if you have a partner you can use their club. I recommend one teammate has a club in the 3-5 irons and the other has a club in the 6-9 irons. Also if you play with a teammate, which is common, you play “best ball.” This means you always play the better of the two balls that your partner and you just hit.
Another popular phrase and rule is “Replace your divots.” As Campus Golfers we respect the college land that we play on and we always try to replace any divots that we made during our time here. The sixth rule is, “Play it as it lies.” If your ball lands in the water either swing at it or take a mulligan. The regulars never take a mulligan.
The final rule is all competitors are part of the course. If you’re hitting towards a “hole” and you happen to hit another competitor who is near the “hole” shooting it the opposite way, then tough luck. Competitors are not allowed to purposely run into opponent’s tennis balls though.
Other than that the game is quite simple and surprisingly fun. We usually get a group of 10-15 people to play, and the game can last anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours. Granted there are no prizes given out for winning, but Jake Miller did receive the “Rookie of the Year” award last year. For the rest of us regulars in our second season I think Michael Beck put it best, “This year were all in our sophomore slumps.”
