NETHERLANDS: Dutch farmer Peter Weenink claims to have invented the biggest growing outdoor sport in Holland and Belgium

Cheese Farm "Weenink" lies just a few clicks from German border, surrounded by lush green cow fields. Its owner, farmer Peter Weenink, has invented a biggest growing outdoor sport in Holland out of frustration. : "I thought, take a lot of money and play golf, but that is not possible in Holland, because first you have to pass an exam, then you have to become a member of the club and sometimes you have to fit a little bit inside the club, so that was difficult and we thought, some farmers sitting together afterwards - why don't we do it ourselves, because land is not a problem, we have land enough. Only [problem is] the small balls in the fields where cows are walking. You spend the whole day searching for the ball, so we took a bigger ball." To hit such a big ball, you need a big club, so Peter's neighbor came with an idea to stick a child's clog on a pole. And so the famous farmersgolf club was born. It gave a fresh meaning to a wooden clog, being still the most "Dutch" artifact on the market, although it is rarely used as footwear, while overused as a souvenir for tourists. Farmersgolf is played in groups or alone, mostly on weekends but never in the heat of summer. Every player has to put the ball in each of ten designated holes, using as less hits as possible. The first upcoming farmersgolf Open championship will take place on August 26, in central Netherlands. In the last few years, interest for farmersgolf has multiplied almost geometrically. During Easter 1999, Peter and his neighbors played farmersgolf for the first time, on the first farmersgolf course in the world, behind Peter's Cheese Farm. Therefore, what St. Andrews in Scotland is for golf, Cheese Farm Weenink is for farmersgolf - its historical ground. By the end of 2005, there were 85 cow fields transformed into golf courses. In 2006, Peter Weenink opens a new farmersgolf course every week, as farmers nationwide realize they can use their cow fields (without disturbing the cows) to make an extra income by renting the fields to a growing number of golf players. "When you look back, three years ago there were no people playing farmersgolf and the next year, some four- up to five hundred thousand people (400.000 - 500.000) in Holland will play farmersgolf, Peter Weenink added. Farmersgolf can be played by anyone who is not afraid of cow dung.

ITN Source | August 5, 2006

Tags:. .sitting. .almost. .whole. .ground. .famous