 Marco Caricato in the middle Marco Caricato was the winner of the second stage of European FootGolf Trophy Tour (EFTT). The Italian handled the weather conditions and the pressure well and he was the only one, who finished the course under par in Malacky, Slovakia.
You were the only one who have finished under par in Slovakia. How have you done it? In the last 12 months I have increased my level of concentration. On this type of FootGolf course is very important to remain focused on every single shot. Keep calm on the tricky holes (5th, 7th, 13th, 18th) was the most difficult thing, because it was easy to lose points there. Why was it a tricky one? There were some holes put in very difficult positions. Personally I don’t like this type of holes because I think that difficulties and hazards should be before the green and if you miss a putt you should be stay near the hole, not far from it because of the hills. For this reason I want to say thanks to Slovakian guys who changed some pin positions and did a good work to have a more playable course than it was designed before. How did you manage the strange weather conditions, like the hail at the beginning? I lost two shots during the drift, but I tried to maintain concentrating for the rest of the holes and I did it. The bigger problem was the high wind but I shot very low when it was opposite to my shot and I took advantage when it was blowing behind me. You have to keep calm and play safely in conditions like these. Was it difficult to be in the final flight, and seeing, that your teammates not doing so well? It was my second time in a final flight, first was in Hungary last year. This Sunday was different and I think that seeing my opponents doing not so well, gave me a little advantage because I didn’t have to risk and I could play safety. But on the last putt on the tricky 18th hole they played before me and all went very far from the holes with their approach, so in this case they didn’t give me the calm that I needed, but luckily the ball went in by the second shot and I could celebrate with my friends of AIFG. Oh, it was a beautiful moment! Was concentrating the most important part of the game in Slovakia? Absolutely yes! As I said before on this type of course you can’t lose focusing for a moment, otherwise you can lost a lot of shots. But I personally think that this game is 80% mental, not only in Slovakia, but in every course of footgolf. After two stages, what are your expectations from yourself about the Trophy Tour? I’m very happy winning a stage of European FootGolf Trophy Tour. That was my first international win. But I think this is not the point of arrival, but only a starting point. The hardest part is to reconfirm these results, and with a lot of strong players of every nation, will be very difficult. I still plan to do at least 9-10 stages of the European trophy, next time I am going to play in Norway at the end of May. I will be happy if I’ll get some more useful results to improve the 10th place of last year.
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 The second round of the European Footgolf Trophy Tour (EFTT) was held in Malacky, Slovakia. The Italian Marco Caricato was the only one, who could kick under par.
The latest stage of the EFTT was held in Slovakia this weekend with almost seventy players from all around the country. After the first day, only the former national football player, Jan kozak from Slovakia could have produced the par (72). On Sunday, Marco Caricato was concentrating better than anyone, and won the tournament before Alex Kober (Germany). Paul Oliver (UK), Peter Papp (Hungary) and Nick Iron (UK) finished with the same result in the third place. Oliver won the play-off among them, and grabbed the bronze medal. Papp was the 4th and Iron was the 5th after the 9-6-3-1 rule. The UK team was the best in Slovakia, while Italy and Hungary reached the podium. The national team ranking was counted by the best four footgolfers from each country. The next two stages of the EFTT are going to hold in Norway and in France at the same time on 30th-31st May.  Demetrio Albertini A FootGolf challenge organised by the AIFG (Italian FootGolf Association) took place at the Monate Lakes (Varese) between two protagonists from this weekend’s Milanese derby. Hernanes and Beccalossi (FC Internazionale) took on De Sciglio and Albertini (AC Milan). The Nerazzurri pairing of Hernanes and Evaristo Beccalossi took on their Rossoneri counterparts Demetrio Albertini and Mattia De Sciglio. It was a taster for what's to come this Sunday at the San Siro, when Inter play AC Milan in the Derby della Madonnina (kick-off 20:45).  Evaristo Beccalossi  Eleven country joined the FIFG in 2014. As we wrote it before, Czech Republic could be the first this year. Slovenia made steps also to meet the requirements of the FIFG.
Another European country wants to join to the international federation (FIFG). Slovenia’s leaders have met one of the FIFG Board member in Hungary to get familiar with the sport’s requirements. Gábor Gelencsér, vice-president of the FIFG had a meeting with the representatives of the Slovenians. This weekend they will be in Slovakia to play in the European Footgolf Trophy Tour’s second stage, and see, how a big tournament is look like.  The second stage of the European FootGolf Trophy Tour (EFTT) 2015 will be in Slovakia this weekend. The organizer, Tomas Dittinger promises the trickiest course in the world. The best competition result is plus 14 until now. Who will be the winner in Malacky?
Tomas Dittinger, president of the Slovak FootGolf Association talked about the first steps of FootGolf in his country. “We started to play footgolf in Slovakia at the end of 2013. I was searching for beach soccer events, and I found something about this new sport on the facebook page of Genova beach soccer club. It looked a very nice sport. I got connected with Gábor Gelencsér via FIFG.ORG, because Hungary is the the nearest country. We started to chat, and he invited me to Kisoroszi to try it. One week later I was there, and played this amazing game.” Slovakia created a non-profit organization at the beginning of 2014 (Slovak FootGolf Association), and started the process of being the member of the Federation for International FootGolf (FIFG). “We have a lot of golf courses here, and found one in Malacky, which became the first home of footgolf in Slovakia. In last September we opened the first FootGolf course, and the first tournament was there in October in 2014. It was the first and until now the only competition in the country. That’s why the European FootGolf Tour round this weekend will be the second tournament in our history. It is a very big step for us. I hope everyone will enjoy it besides our short history of footgolf.” Tomas Dittinger promises a very tricky course designed by the Hungarian friend, Gábor Gelencsér. “Now, the best competition result was 86, it is plus 14. I believe it is the hardest course in the world with a lake and some bunkers, but a lot of holes are on the hills. I am so curious, who will be the best.” There will be a famous local player, Ján Kozák. The former national team player and captain of FC Artmedia Petrzalka is the new ambassador of FootGolf in Slovakia. Slovakia is preparing for the World Cup also, their national championship is qualifying for the big tournament.  The system is ready. The Hungarian FootGolf Championship qualifies for the World Cup. After holding the first World Cup which was won by Béla Lengyel, Gábor Gelencsér promises a very strong squad, and wants to defend the crown. The next World Cup is coming soon, and all the countries are preparing for the big tournament. The first one was on the course of the Hungarian Golf Club in Kisoroszi, Hungary. Gábor Gelencsér, the president of the Hungarian federation and vice-president of the FIFG talked about the historical moment. “It was a privilege for Hungary having the chance to hold the very first World Cup. We are already in the footgolf history book for that, and for winning it by Béla Lengyel.” Hungary’s national championship is the way to select the best players to represent them on the biggest occasion, in the next World Cup. It is an eight-round tournament with two courses available (Kisoroszi and Zirc). The best six results count. The medalists of the men’s competition, the winner of the senior category, and the following best players on the full ranking list have the chance to go to World Cup (their number depends on the WC-participants), and a team leader is chosen also. If someone can not go to the cup, the next footgolfer on the list gets the quota. Hungary has a plus player for the tournament. “Béla Lengyel won the first World Cup in 2012, he has secured his place in the WC automatically, because the title defender does not have to qualify for the next World Cup. I hope, the winner will be Hungarian again, I promise, the strongest team goes to the cup.” Gábor Gelencsér added.  During the first World Cup in 2012 |
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