VIDEO – Folz to Play eSports Golf Event at Augusta National

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James Folz will be playing golf at Augusta National this weekend.  It will be on TV.  But only his TV.  And he’ll be playing at his home.

The Hopkinsville High School junior is one of several high school golfers playing E-Golf, sponsored by the Kentucky Junior PGA. Golfers play golf on their gaming system from home.  For Folz, it’s the XBox.

The youth golf tour has set up online tournaments using the Golf Club 2019 featuring the PGA Tour video game. It’s genesis is traced back to 1990 when EA Sports first released the PGA Tour game for the Sega game system and an MS-DOS version for the computer.  In 1998, the game picked up the endorsement of Tiger Woods, and in 2013 it was released for the Xbox for the first time.  It’s generally regarded as the best golf game available on any gaming platform.

Golf Club is a game Folz is very familiar with, starting with the earlier Tiger Woods editions.

His first online tournament was April 24-26 at the virtual edition of the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville.  Folz shot a 4-over 75 to finish in fifth place.

Last weekend, Folz played the virtual edition of Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, North Carolina where Justin Thomas won the 2017 PGA Championship.  Folx improved his score to a 1-over 72 and finished in fourth place.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused spring events nationwide to be canceled and travel reduced to the immediate area in most cases.  While golf has been singled out as one of the most allowable sports due to acceptable levels of social distancing that comes with it, spring events have been canceled or moved to later dates.

Both the Kentucky Junior PGA and GO Golf Series have announced they look to begin their 2020 seasons in early June.  The series gives high school golfers a chance to play competitive golf leading into the high school season in August.

Folz is hoping to learn a few tricks, especially on the mental side and hole study, through the E-sports events that he hopes will translate to the real thing this summer as he prepares for his senior season on the golf course.

 

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