Alternative golf invades Prospect Ave. Saturday

"Everything's a target," Rob Peterson, inventor of the AlmostGolf ball, said yesterday. That's what the eating clubs might be afraid of Saturday, when the 2003 Unprofessional Almost-Golfers Tour kicks off on Prospect Avenue. Peterson hopes to revolutionize golf with a brand new ball to be unveiled at Princeton tomorrow. The ball makes it safe to shoot at everything — even near windows and cars — without having to worry about the consequences, Peterson said.

Red Bull and 'The Onion' — a humorous newspaper — are sponsoring the Princeton AlmostGolf Open. Using the new ball, Peterson said he hopes to spread the game of golf by making it more accessible to golfers in nontraditional golf settings. In that spirit, the course will consist of the lawns and balconies of several eating clubs, Peterson said.

"It's golf like you've never seen it before — if it lands in the water you have to hit it out because it floats," Peterson said. The course will have five to six holes with water hazards, he said, though the course was not completely mapped out as of yesterday evening.

The AlmostGolf ball, which will begin full production on May 1, is a "synthetic polymer so it comes off the clubface, and it actually simulates a golf ball, but it doesn't go as far and it doesn't break things," Peterson said. "It fades; it draws; it backspins, just like the big boys, but it can't kill you."

The appeal of the new ball lies in its versatility. "Golf has never been able to get off the golf course, because they've never been able to engineer the ball," Peterson said. He looked to fill the gap left by normal golf balls, which he calls "lethal projectiles," and wiffle balls, "which just don't work."

Peterson said that he expects "zero" damage due to the balls, which are about a quarter of the weight of a regulation ball, though he has insured the tournament for "errors and omission" such as errant backswings from careless golfers. Peterson asserted, "You can't break a window with this thing unless you're four feet away."

Despite the safety of the balls, Peterson said he does not want the event to turn into "frat golf." He is only appealing to serious golfers who know how to play the game, hoping to secure the quality of play, while simultaneously drumming up support for the balls.

Peterson said he is planning to take the tour to schools including Ole Miss, the University of Kentucky, the University of Indiana, Stanford, UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara.

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The first-prize winner receives a weekend trip to the Red Bull Flgtag Championships, which is "a human-powered flight championship, where basically people try to strap all kinds of stuff on their back and try to fly into water." The second and third prizes are gift certificates. 'The Onion' is offering a free subscription to the eating clubs of the top three finishers, who will also receive complementary balls.

The event is open to all students, and a registration party will be held tonight at Tiger Inn.