Reid and Johnson

“Grow the game” is the hot-button phrase currently bandied about ad nauseam in international golf circles. Sports nerds need only skim their social media feeds for confirmation.

In far less questionable and controversial surroundings, the precision sport of FootGolf also aims for increased participation and popularity here in Alaska and elsewhere. Palmer’s Jeremy Johnson and Anchorage’s Jo Reid keep doing their part by excelling professionally on the world stage.

Longtime high school and youth soccer coaches, Johnson and Reid recently helped Team USA defeat Team United Kingdom to earn the Jansen Cup in Orlando, Fla. Like golf’s team-oriented Ryder Cup, the third iteration of FootGolf’s Jansen Cup featured five rounds of play in three days of competition, May 30-June 1.

Locally, interested players were invited to a free FootGolf Kick-Off event on Friday at the executive Fox Hollow Golf Course in South Anchorage. The course was open to FootGolfers young and old for six hours and included a barbecue.

“We’ve been encouraging all (soccer) teams to give it a try,” said Johnson, the Colony boys coach and Anchorage Youth Soccer Club director of coaching. “It’s an off-practice day activity, and we’ve got to see that next generation get it going.”

The Jansen Cup featured four rounds with two-person teams (four/better ball and alternating shot) and one of singles match play. Johnson posted a 3-1-1 match rand Reid went 3-1.

Team USA won the Cup by a 55-29 count.

Anchorage’s Jo Reid (center) celebrates with Team USA after winning the Jansen Cup.

“For most of us coming from soccer, we’re used to the idea of team competition,” Reid said. “The challenge of going into golf is that it’s all you.”

“You and your brain, which can often destroy you faster than any opponent. But in team play, it was super easy to go into coach mode and work with my partner. We did an amazing job together.”

The international tournament followed the 2022 U.S. Open, where Reid finished fourth. The East High girls coach and Anchorage Youth Soccer Club technical director won national titles in 2020 and 2017.

Johnson, 48, first started playing the combination of soccer and golf on the big stage in 2015. Reid, 47, is in her sixth pro season.

“What was nice about this Jansen Cup was it being held on our soil, which seems to make a difference,” said Johnson, who’s played in two of the three Cup events. “The home course advantage, I guess you would call it.

“I loved being part of Team USA.”

In addition to the Jansen Cup, Jeremy Johnson also helped Team USA win a bronze medal at the 2018 World Cup.

Generally, FootGolf follows an established golf course’s design with some adjustments to pars 3, 4 and 5s. Reid said par 3s play at 80 yards, sometimes a little shorter, par 4s between 120-140 yards and par 5s anything longer. She said the longest par 5 she played was at 240 yards.

FootGolfers find pins just about anywhere but on actual golf course greens. The 21-inch diameter cups and flags can be positioned behind putting surfaces or to the side. The game features the same trouble – woods, water hazards and sand traps.

Oh, and wildlife. Much like seeing a bear or moose in Alaska, Reid watched gob-smacked as an alligator tried to devour pricey soccer balls hit waywardly into Florida waters.

“I was done with my round, watching other people out at the big water hole where the gator got a ball on the first day,” Reid said. “It wasn’t a huge one, but it was super curious. Balls were going in and he was poking at them.

“Once he figured the balls weren’t food, he left them alone. Some of us were freaking out because we didn’t want to lose our $500-$600 balls.”

While seemingly obvious, soccer players with the strongest of legs can’t kick a futbol as far as a golfer can blast a Callaway Soft Chrome Truvis off the tee. Strategy – a skyward kick versus staying on the ground, for example – is a large part of FootGolf.

Jo Reid executes a skyward kick.

“You gauge the wind or the rough, or a putting green for a soccer ball is like landing on concrete,” Johnson said. “Like swinging with a different club, something you’ll strike the ball with the other foot.”

Reid hears a lot of similar comments from golfers while practicing FootGolf at Fox Hollow. She encourages them to get involved.

“The par 3 layout is perfect for the sport,” Reid said. “Also, a lot of the golfers out there are new to the game. I play through a lot of people who are very receptive and intrigued.

“We coexist very well, and I enjoy the hoots and hollers maybe when I sink a long putt. It’s also hilarious to hear the ‘I might have to try this because I suck at golf.’”

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