FlingGolf Wins: WV Innovator of the Year and National Seniors Champion

Last month, the West Virginia Tourism Office asked businesses and individuals around the state to submit their best ideas for a first-ever “Innovators Showdown” as a featured presentation at their annual Governor’s Tourism Conference.  Of all the entrants, 6 were chosen to pitch their ideas after the opening session.  One of those selected was Capon family member, Jonathan Bellingham, whose submission was the growing sport of FlingGolf and how WV is perfectly positioned to be the premier destination.

On September 11, at the conference held at Canaan Valley State Park, the finalists used their 5-minute time limit to share their innovative concepts with the 300+ attendees of the conference.  In his presentation, Jonathan stepped away from the panel table and used his Flingstick to demonstrate this fast-growing sport, flinging foam golf balls into the amused crowd.  He went on to explain what the sport was, how it had blossomed after being on SharkTank and ESPN and how geographically WV is in the center of the FlingGolf playing universe.  The key selling point is that you only need to use one “club” and golf courses don’t have to change anything about their facility.  Then, after declaring how easy it is to get started and how great is the support team at New Swarm who manage the sport.  He concluded by playing a video greeting from the World League FlingGolf commissioner, who shared his commitment to WV with the donation of a starter set to the Canaan Valley resort golf club.

Once all finalists shared their ideas, all attendees were asked to vote on which pitch would win the “Innovator of the Year” award. After all the ballots were cast, the early buzz was that FlingGolf was the crowd favorite as many came up to Jonathan to ask more about the sport and share their enjoyment of his talk.   Later, at the “Stars of the Industry” award show, the Secretary of Tourism, Chelsea Ruby, did indeed declare Jonathan the winner and presented him with a wooden plaque shaped like the state of WV with the instruction of returning it next year to pass along to the next winner of this award.

Several tourism, golf and PR leaders shared their enthusiasm for introducing FlingGolf to their area of influence including WV State Parks and Recreation leader Brad Reed, who declared having FlingGolf in all the state parks was “a no-brainer”. This was even before the clinic and demo later that day, when he tried it for himself along with Dept. of Natural Resources director Brett McMillion.  The Innovator Showdown panel moderator, John Klemish, immediately saw the value of introducing it to the Greenbrier Sporting Club, of which he helped start and serves as the Advisor to the President.

“I think the key to making WV the premier FlingGolf destination in the country is to have champions on the ground who share the passion and fun that FlingGolf brings to a resort, state park and all private and public golf courses”, offered Jonathan. “Through ambassadors like myself, once the spark takes hold, there is no reason why, FlingGolf could not evolve into the state sport, being enjoyed on the over 100 golf courses around the mountain state”.

The day after the conference ended, Jonathan headed up to Amesbury, MA to participate in the 4^th stop on the World League FlingGolf tour.  This New England Open (NEO) site was chosen since it is the headquarters of the sport, where all the FlingSticks are made and distributed and the three leaders of the company reside.  As the professional side of the sport continues to grow, new divisions are added as evidenced by the first ever, senior category (60+), at the NEO competition.  After breaking into the top 20 US rankings in the open division, Jonathan took his first shot at this inaugural older grouping with a respectable 6th place in the team event (qualifying for the playoff round).  He used that momentum the next day in the individual event by hitting 13 out of 18 greens in regulation to be crowned the first ever senior champion!

When not competing in the pro tour, Jonathan can be found on his home course at his family resort in Capon Springs, which has become a leader in both the recreational and competitive side of the sport.  If you would like to try the sport for yourself, arrange a clinic/demo at your neighborhood course, or be part of the development of FlingGolf WV, you can reach Jonathan at [email protected].  For more information about FlingGolf in general, visit the company website www.FlingGolf.com.