I never thought it was possible to have fun on a golf course, but I was wrong.

Footgolf takes a sport famous for being fiendishly hard, and makes it slightly less hard and a lot more enjoyable.

Dartford’s Birchwood Park golf course is one of nearly 50 in the UK now offering this hybrid sport, with a newly minted nine-hole course.

Sales and marketing manager Graeme Humphries joined me for a round.

He says: "It’s an American concept - like everything.

"It’s still in its infancy but the footgolf guys have got big plans for it.

"They take it really seriously and have been out here measuring out the holes.

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Graeme Humphries looks on.

"I’m quite traditional with my views on golf and I was quite sceptical about it but it’s a really good laugh."

A good laugh it is too, especially when you finally middle a tee shot like you’ve never managed to do with a driver in your hand.

Striking the ball long and fairly straight shouldn’t be too much of a problem if you’re an ok footballer to start with.

But it’s when you get close to the greens that you suddenly have to start thinking less like you’re Joe Hart taking a goal kick, and more like you’re Rory McIlroy lining up a tricky chip.

Graeme said: "Footgolfers use the same greens as our golfers, but we do put the footgolf pins just off the greens.

"If you didn’t it would be way too fast - you would just tap it and it would fly past."

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A few sliced tee shots aside, my biggest problem was definitely my short game.

Playing five-a-side you’re used to trying to keep it zipping around at pace but this requires real delicacy.

You still get all the classic golfing frustrations like seeing your ball rolling back down the slope you’ve just tried to send it up, or taking the edge of the hole before inexplicably rolling out.

A couple of magnificent putts from range - one to make double bogey - were my highlights, and I went round in a respectable seven-over-par 43.

Still, with one 17-year-old reportedly carding a two-under 34 at Birchwood’s first footgolf open day on September 20, there’s definitely room for improvement.

Visit birchwoodparkgc.co.uk/ukfootgolf or call 01322 66203.