Gary did Ireland proud in Buenos Aires

We brought the sport of Footgolf to the attention of the Extratime.ie faithful a few weeks ago when we told you the story of Gary Mullin's quest for glory in the 2nd Footgolf World Cup in Argentina.

I caught up with Gary on his return from Buenos Aires where he played with distinction over the four round tournament.

"We played the tournament at the Pilar Golf Club, which is a truly spectacular course.  230 players from 26 countries took part over the four days."

Gary finished on 4 under in a tie for 14th place which was a great performance on his first venture into this level of play. It was generally a good tournament for the Irish as nine of the thirteen players made the cut with two more in the top fifty aside from Gary.

There was also a team competition, run on a complicated scoring system, which the United States won, while the most successful country where individuals were concerned, was the UK.

"The UK had eight players in the top twenty-three and they will be our bench mark in the near future," explains Gary

The game, being strong across the water in the UK, can be a great boost to Irish players as they won't have to travel far for quality opposition. The season is closed at present, with the new tournament season like to kick off in the March-April timeframe with events in Holland and England.

"One of the benefits for myself, for finishing in the top 20 is that I am likely to get some tournament invites in Europe and hopefully some sponsorship opportunities will open up also."

It is impossible to foretell how popular Footgolf will become in Ireland in the next few years but for the moment we are well and truly on the world map.

Now established as Ireland's number 1 player, Gary Mullin is now the guy the others will be aiming at when the Irish Championships are played later this year - he won't be easily knocked off his pedestal.