No clubs needed: foot golf is in

Clarks Grove Golf Course isn’t your typical golf course. 
You might notice this by the moneybox on the front door to the club house, asking you to drop in $10 if you want to golf and no one is in the club house. Or you might notice the foot golf course parallel to the golf course. 
Owner Mark Klatte is proud of his par 32 course and said that at $10 per 9 holes, he has one of the cheapest quality courses in the area. However, despite the low prices, Klatte said times haven’t been the greatest recently. 
“I’ve been kind of struggling,” said Klatte. “I’m trying to do something to help businesses.”
Klatte’s answer to that question was not what he expected. While in speaking to his son on the phone over the winter, Klatte was told he should consider opening a foot golf course. 
“I’d never even heard of it,” said Klatte. However, Klatte stated that as the months passed, he began to hear more and more about golf courses, especially in Minnesota, adding foot golf to their courses. 
The idea of the game is very similar to regular golf, except instead of swinging clubs to move the ball, you simply kick it. 
“You don’t need golf skills to play golf,” said Klatte’s twin brother, Mike. “You just kick a soccer ball.”
After consulting a course-owning friend of his son’s in the Carlton area, Klatte began to think that maybe this was something he would do after all. So, the week of the Fourth of July, Klatte purchased some soccer balls, 21-inch flower pots and some more flags. 
After deciding where to place the tee-off or “kick-off,” Klatte then measured his distances, dug a hole in the ground and placed the flowerpot in it to complete each hole. After eight more of these, Klatte had completed his course in time for the holiday weekend. Each foot golf hole runs parallel to the each golfing fairway, but Klatte said groups can play both at the same time without worrying about getting in each other’s way. 
“Just watch out for each other,” said Klatte. 
After finishing his course, Klatte used the few days before the holiday weekend to promote his course in the local paper and radio station. Then, he waited. 
The holiday weekend came at last, and with it, a host of golfers, and to Klatte’s surprise, many of them weren’t bringing clubs. They were bringing soccer balls. 
“There was a group of 12 people that showed up just to play foot golf,” said Klatte. After foot golf, the group decided to golf regular as well, a best-case scenario in Klatte’s mind. 
Klatte said the weekend continued to go well, and people have been showing up on a consistent basis ever since. 
“What’s happening is people are coming out here who aren’t familiar with Clarks Grove Golf Course,” said Mike. “They come (to foot golf) and find out that the golf course is in good shape. It’s exposing the golf course.”
As the only foot golf course in Freeborn, Mower or Steele County, Klatte hopes people will not only come out and enjoy the foot golf, but that they will be attracted to the inexpensive golf course as well. 
The foot golf course is a par 36, with distances ranging all the way from 67 feet to 156. The course is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The cost is $5 for golfers 16 and under, $7 for adults and $2 for soccer ball rentals, although golfers are allowed to bring their own ball. 
For more information, those interested can contact Klatte at 507-256-7737.