# Ground golf

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_golf
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{{Short description|Form of golf invented Japan}}
{{Expand Japanese|グラウンド・ゴルフ|date=December 2025}}
{{Infobox sport
| name       = Ground golf
| image      = File:GroundGolf(Playing).jpg
| imagesize  =
| caption    = A ground golf player in a park who has just taken a swing
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| olympic    = No
| paralympic =No
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{{nihongo|'''Ground golf'''|グラウンド・ゴルフ|guraundo gorufu}} is a form of [golf](/source/golf) played in a [park](/source/park) that was invented in the village of [Tomari](/source/Tomari%2C_Tottori) (now part of [Yurihama](/source/Yurihama%2C_Tottori)) in [Tottori Prefecture](/source/Tottori_Prefecture), [Japan](/source/Japan), in 1982.<ref name="Guidebook"/><ref name="Yurihama"/>  It is similar to and a forerunner of [park golf](/source/park_golf) and is one of Japan's [new sports](/source/new_sports_(term)).

The "ground", from the Japanese use of the word ''guraundo'' ({{lang|ja|グラウンド}}) for "school playground" or "sports ground", emphasizes anyone can play in any place at any time on nearly any surface.<ref name="Guidebook"/>  Unlike golf and even park golf, ground golf does use a formal course or require [holes](/source/Glossary_of_golf) (cups).  Instead, the ball is hit into a holepost, a basket-like cage at the base of a moveable post.

Aesthetically, ground golf resembles a sport somewhere between golf and [croquet](/source/croquet).  As with golf, the competitive object of the game is to hit the ball, in this case into the holeposts, in the fewest strokes.

The courses have eight holes and a standard course has holes at a distance between 15 and 50&nbsp;meters.  Each player has one ball of his or her own and players take turns hitting.  Players tee-off from a manufactured start mat and count the number of strokes taken.  To finish a hole, a player's ball must come to rest within the bottom ring of the holepost.  This is called a "tomari", named for the village where the sport was invented.  There are no restrictions on the time or number of players.<ref name="Rules"/>  Informally, the number of holes and their distances can vary.

The sport has grown in popularity in Japan since its invention as an alternative to [gateball](/source/gateball) for younger senior citizens who may have reacted to the image of gateball as a "silver sport".<ref name="Manzenreiter"/>  By 2024 there were three million participants in Japan,<ref name="Yurihama"/> with over 155,000 players registered to clubs throughout Japan,<ref name="Players"/> and players in other countries from Malaysia, to the Maldives, to Mongolia to Spain.<ref name="Yurihama"/>

Standards for the sport are set by the Japan Ground Golf Association and the Japan-based International Ground Golf Federation.  The [World Masters Games](/source/World_Masters_Games) have recognized the sport, and it is scheduled to be played at the [2027 Summer World Masters Games](/source/2027_Summer_World_Masters_Games) in [Kansai](/source/Kansai), Japan.<ref name="Guidebook"/>

<gallery>
Image:GroundGolf(HolePost).jpg|A ground golf ball and a holepost
Image:GroundGolf(StartMat).jpg|A ground golf start mat
Image:GroundGolf(Ball).jpg|A ground golf ball with a 52&nbsp;mm camera lens cover for comparison
Image:GroundGolf(Club,Ball).jpg|A ground golf ball and club
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Yurihama">[https://www.yurihama.jp/uploaded/attachment/14046.pdf Ground Golf, a Sport Born in Yurihama."] ''Yurihama'' town handbook. 2024. p. 6.</ref>
<ref name="Guidebook">[https://www.groundgolf.or.jp/Portals/0/International/English/Ground%20Golf%20Guidebook.pdf Ground Golf Guidebook.] International Ground Golf Federation. 2025.</ref>
<ref name="Manzenreiter">{{cite book|first=Wolfram |last=Manzenreiter |title=Sport and Body Politics in Japan |location=New York |publisher=Routledge |date=2014 |page=[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Sport_and_Body_Politics_in_Japan/HliLAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT154&printsec=frontcover 154] |isbn=9781135022341 }}</ref>
<ref name="Players">{{cite web |title=Registered Player Figures |url=http://www.groundgolf.or.jp/profile/tabid/103/Default.aspx |website=Japan Ground Golf Association |access-date=10 December 2025 |lang=ja}}</ref>
<ref name="Rules">[https://www.groundgolf.or.jp/Portals/0/International/English/The%20Rules%20of%20Ground%20Golf%202025.pdf The Rules of Ground Golf.] International Ground Golf Federation. 2025.</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Ground golf}}
* [https://www.groundgolf.or.jp/International/tabid/243/Default.aspx International Ground Golf Federation] official website
* [http://www.groundgolf.or.jp/ Japan Ground Golf Association] official website {{inlang|ja}}

{{sport-stub}}

{{Golf}}

Category:Park golf
Category:Sports originating in Japan
Category:Sport in Tottori Prefecture
Category:Games and sports introduced in 1982
Category:Yurihama, Tottori

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ground golf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_golf) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_golf?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.