West Kingsdown’s Steve Baker is hoping for international glory after being selected to represent the UK at the 2016 Footgolf World Cup.

Baker, who only picked up the sport in June, qualified automatically for the squad after finishing in the top 10 of the UK Footgolf Association order or merit.

The 27-year-old is part of a 16-man squad which will travel to Argentina in January to battle at the Pilar Golf Club in Buenos Aires.

“I was over the moon to get the news. I started playing back in June and since then it has escalated into a real passion of mine,” Baker said.

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“I started going over to the local course with a few friends at work, and now I’m going to Argentina representing the UK – it’s amazing.

“I came back from a golfing trip to Portugal to play in an event in York, after that I knew I had qualified and I was thrilled.”

Footgolf is a rapidly expanding sport and January’s World Cup is expected to be almost double the size of the last event which was held in Hungary.

“The game is growing massively,” Baker said. “This event will have 24 countries and around 280 players from across the world – the last one was half the size.

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“I think we’ve got a great chance of winning – the UK is the European champions so we’ll go there full of confidence.

“We are going over there to win, it’s not about the experience for us. We want to win the tournament and grow the game.”

While Footgolf, which involves kicking a regulation-sized football from tee to cup in as few kicks as possible, may not be a mainstream sport, Baker can see no reason why it cannot expand further and build on the momentum it has gained in recent years.

“It’s open to everyone and just a lot of fun,” Baker, who works in Sidcup, added.

“Hopefully in four years’ time it will have grown even more and be even bigger.”

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