Swing-in-style golf at Levi’s Stadium

Article posted by Coliseum, April 11^th, 2023

Image: Costa Kladianos of San Francisco 49ers (LinkedIn)

The Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California (US) got transformed into a nine-hole golf course on April 8^th.

A ‘LinkedIn’ post by Costa Kladianos, Executive Vice-President, Head of Technology, San Francisco 49ers, stated that “Levis Stadium is where we work and we play! This afternoon (April 8^th) we replaced the gridiron with the 9 iron and tried out the Upper Deck golf event with our San Francisco 49ers employees.”

The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) is a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league’s National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play their home games at the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, located 38 miles (61 km) Southeast of San Francisco, US.

The 68,500-capacity Levi’s Stadium is an American football stadium located in Santa Clara, California, just West of the much larger City of San Jose, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has served as the home venue for the National Football League’s San Francisco 49ers since 2014.

Upper Deck Golf

‘ktvu.com’ stated that on April 8^th, instead of NFL football, golfers were saying “fore”. When you tee off at most golf courses, the 50-yard line seven floors down is not the usual target. However, when you’re teeing off from high in the stands at Levi’s Stadium, trying to hit one of the pins in the middle of the field far below is not easy.

Said golfer Ed Blom, “I am really up here high.”

Blom said he’s really more of a 49ers fan than a golfer but says the challenge is certainly unique – “You have got to take into account how far it is to the hole and, because you are up here, how hard you need to swing to get it there.”

‘ktvu.com’ further stated that for golfer Rocky Reyes and his friends, there’s some good-natured ribbing but his love of the 49ers is also part of the appeal – “I love being in this stadium…I like the fact that we can be here when no one else is here and hit golf balls out onto the field…that is the allure.”

This event is called ‘Upper Deck Golf’. The organization travels to pro sports stadiums around the nation to bring a twist to the golf experience.

The Upper Deck Golf is a once-in-a-lifetime golfing experience inside the most legendary stadiums and ballparks across United States. During one’s Upper Deck round of golf, one will be able to hit tee shots from the upper deck around the stadium down to the custom greens on the field below.

Informed Brian Graham, the Co-Founder of Upper Deck Golf, “You literally will hit the ball, and it will be in the air for six or seven seconds before it lands. So we do have the adjusted slope distances posted at each hole.”

Nobody expected a hole-in-one at this golf course.

Shared golfer Dave Gonzales, “I have never golfed at levels like this from the bottom to the middle to the top.”

Hit inside the circle and that’s a birdie, get on the green, and you have par, anywhere else is considered a bogie.

Put in golfer Victor Robledo, “This is our first time doing this, and we are like we are definitely going to do this again next year.”

The Upper Deck Golf event costs $89 dollars which gives one 18 balls and nine holes of golf. Clubs are also included and are positioned at each of the nine holes.

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