HANGER Lane pitch-and-putt golf course has a new attraction. FootGolf, like peanut butter and jelly, pairs two ingredients that shouldn’t complement each other, but somehow work.

Also, like the American staple, it succeeds where golf fails by appealing particularly to children. It is being touted as the fastest-growing new sport in the UK.

The brainchild of Dutch marketeer Michael Jansen, FootGolf began life in Holland in 2009, combining elements of football and golf, with each player having to kick a football into a hole in as few shots as possible.

The sport got its big break when it was taken to America where it gained wider appeal, leading to the creation of the International FootGolf Association (IFGA) last year.

I had no prior knowledge of this hybrid sport and arrived at Hanger Hill Park with an open mind about what to expect.

I was greeted by the course’s first key selling point in the form of Tyran Adam. A former PGA professional himself, now specialising in junior golf training, Tyran and his business partner, Ewelina, have taken it on themselves to spread the gospel of FootGolf to the masses.

His enthusiasm and belief in the future of the sport was evident from the start.

“Golf is a game where you need golf lessons to get into it and for it to become enjoyable,” he said, “ whereas with FootGolf anybody can kick a ball and it’s fun.”

He made a convincing argument. While the likes of Rory McIIroy are drawing young people to traditional golf, there is still a stigma that it’s expensive to play and too concerned with its own antiquated traditions.

The Hanger Lane centre, however, dispels these notions allowing clients to wear what they please, as long as it doesn’t damage the grass, and costs only £5.50 a game.

Adam describes his course as a “fun day out for the football team” where 11 people can go and play as a team-building exercise.

My personal experience of FootGolf was a pleasant one.

While I enjoyed bumbling round the course, trying to save par, I was innately aware that my eye for precise kicking on the greens was becoming more acute with each hole.

With the outline of Wembley Stadium on view from the crest of the second hole, I could understand the game’s practical use in the development of grassroots football.

The cliché of learning while having fun couldn’t be more applicable in describing the experience.

Jonathan Doran, 19, who I met on the course, thought FootGolf would be bigger than football. He thinks it is value for money.

With a new website to be launched next week and 55 official sites set to be registered with the UK FootGolf Association by the end of the month, the future looks bright for the sport.

Like peanut butter and jelly, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. More information can be found on http://www.ukfootgolf.com/