FlingGolf: The Fast‑Growing Sport Changing the Game | Garry Callis Jr

Here comes part 2 of my conversation with Garry Callis Jr to dive into one of the fastest‑growing alternative sports in America: FlingGolf. We explore how the sport is evolving, why it’s attracting golfers and non‑golfers alike, and what its rise means for the broader golf and recreation industry. Garry breaks down the culture, the community, and the business opportunities emerging around this new hybrid sport.  He also happens to own my favorite FlingGolf franchise, The River City Rogues! If you’re curious about where golf‑adjacent sports are heading, this conversation is a must‑listen. 

Transcript

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Jesse Stakes: Fantastic. Now I want to switch gears, because there's something sitting behind you, and we talked about it a little bit, you touched on it, but you are the number 17 fling golfer in the world right now. Yes?

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Garry Callis Jr.: Correct. Correct.

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Jesse Stakes: So, tell everybody, because some people… I have seen it out in the wild, I think it's pretty cool, but tell… tell everybody what Fling Golf is.

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Garry Callis Jr.: Alright, so, fling golf is effectively a combination of lacrosse, high lie, and golf.

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Garry Callis Jr.: So, rather than hitting a ball from tee to hole, you are throwing it from tee to hole. You are literally putting this ball inside of what's known as the channel of a fling stick. I have a 51-inch, fling stick behind me, known as a ballistic.

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Garry Callis Jr.: And you are throwing this bad boy as hard as you can. We are still playing on traditional-sized courses. I typically play anywhere from, like, 5,500 to 6,500 yards, typically, and we're playing the same par, same, you know, same holes as everybody else.

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Garry Callis Jr.: And to kind of freak everybody out a little bit, I shot my lowest score

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Garry Callis Jr.: period, a couple months ago, I shot a 66 on a 6,000-yard course. So we're putting some pretty good numbers up there. We've been picked up by ESPN for the last 4 years. We were on Shark Tank.

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Garry Callis Jr.: You know, to kind of pitch this thing out. Mark Cuban even said that this would be the only way to get him on a golf course, and we've kind of been milking that a little bit. We just started, our, what, fourth professional season, for World League Fling Golf, which is the, the professional league. Our Pro Series starts next week.

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Garry Callis Jr.: down at Old South Golf Links down in Bluffton, South Carolina. So, I'll be there, as well as a few, you know, as well as a lot of the pros. And the final grouping is actually going to be on a tape segment for ESPN that'll be aired later this year.

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Jesse Stakes: That's awesome. So, I've never had the opportunity to play. Like I said, I've seen some people doing it out when I've been playing at other courses. Like, how's it received by the golf courses? Are golf courses cool with it? Are they good with it when people come out there with a flank stick rather than a bag of clubs?

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Garry Callis Jr.: We pay money like everybody else. Yeah. But, the… God, I'll tell you a story. So, I walk up to the first tee box on a golf course known as the Hollows down in Hanover, and the starter points at that and goes, what the heck is that? Pointing at my,

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Garry Callis Jr.: you know, the fling sticker goes, what the heck is that? Give him a little elevator pitch, and he goes, alright, bud, let's see it. I send a ball 210 yards down the middle of the fairway. You thought that thousands of flies could have just been in his mouth, because his jaw was so far to the ground.

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Garry Callis Jr.: And from there on, I have not gotten a single, you know, snarky comment from that specific starter.

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Garry Callis Jr.: It's been… it's been really cool, it's been received really, really well, especially when we're showing that we are capable of not only playing and navigating the course well, but we play faster than traditional golfers. I've played in a fling golf foursome, and it took us two and a half hours to go through 18 holes.

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Jesse Stakes: Nice. And so, do you just use… you use one stick, correct? It's not… you're not using multiple… multiple clubs, nothing, it's… you putt with it, you… you drive with it, you throw your… your approach shots, everything, it's with the same… with the same…

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Jesse Stakes: But the same tool, yes?

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Garry Callis Jr.: Correct. So, a little thought experiment for you. Let's say you're on a par 3, 170 yards, slightly downhill, so it's playing, like, 160, and there's water in front. What club are you using?

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Jesse Stakes: So, you said par 3, 160 yards, water in front, downhill, so I'm probably hitting a 7-iron.

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Garry Callis Jr.: Okay. So, with that in mind, 160 is my 8-iron.

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Garry Callis Jr.: Maybe my 9-iron if I really smoke it.

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Garry Callis Jr.: But, in the fling golfer's case, number one, you only are using your fling stick, and now it's, crap, I don't have a specific club to take out, I need to feel this shot out.

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Garry Callis Jr.: It's all feel, all course management, all between the ears. You don't have a system to fall back on in terms of gapping, you know what I mean? So every throwing technique that you have in the bag is its own golf club.

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Garry Callis Jr.: And that's what makes Fling Golf so special, because it is all field-based.

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Garry Callis Jr.: And you have to be willing to critically think your way out of certain situations.

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Jesse Stakes: Because you're throwing the ball. What made you get involved with that? How did you find it?

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Garry Callis Jr.: So, I was on my way out from Dick's, and a buddy of mine walks out to me and goes, hey, I know you do social media stuff, would you mind, you know, doing some recording for me at a tournament in Massachusetts?

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Garry Callis Jr.: I don't mind, let's go. So, you know, he's telling me about fling off, and I'm like, alright, my interest has peaked, so we drive 12 hours.

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Garry Callis Jr.: To Amesbury, Massachusetts, where, Fling Golf is headquartered.

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Garry Callis Jr.: And we're, you know, we're on the course, I'm meeting all the pros, and, you know, I get a chance to meet Alex Van Allen.

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Garry Callis Jr.: And John Prulage. Alex is the creator of Flingolf, and John is the commissioner of the World League Fling Golf Tour, and the president of Flingolf. And so, you know, we go to a brewery, we're drinking, chilling, having a good time, and I ask them, so…

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Garry Callis Jr.: I'm a golfer, I'm a content creator in Richmond, you know, the same as a couple of your other guys. Would you guys mind if I help, you know, market this thing?

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Garry Callis Jr.: They look at each other, they look at me and say, come with us. We walk across the street from the brewery to their headquarters, they hand me my very first fling steak and go, do your thing.

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Jesse Stakes: Nice.

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Garry Callis Jr.: And so now, 3 years later, I'm ranked 17th in the world. I was on ESPN 2 years ago, where I was the MVP of their All-Star Skills Challenge. I've had the honor of going to multiple, like, Beat the Pro events as the pro in multiple states. I've done charity events.

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Garry Callis Jr.: And my top finish was third at last year's Empire State Open down in New York.

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Garry Callis Jr.: this game has given me so much. I'm a global ambassador for the brand, so I'm able to, you know, go around and create tournaments and opportunities for Fling Golf, and you know, have the opportunity to sit down and do podcasts with awesome guys like yourself. So it's been…

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Garry Callis Jr.: it's been a really cool thing, and I own my own team, the River City Rogues were based here in Richmond, and a little exclusive for you guys listening, I'm actually creating my own league with my dad, known as the, the River City Athletic League. We're, you know, we're trying to get more kids and, you know, parents involved.

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Garry Callis Jr.: and just getting people onto a golf course so, you know, kids are no longer afraid of the, you know, kind of twists and turns of what the golf course has. And, you know, my dad is 62, he's a former Air Force veteran.

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Garry Callis Jr.: And, you know, he's got, you know, rotator cuff issues and all that, but he can still not only play with me, he can keep up. You know, it's something I get to do with my dad, it's something that we both really enjoy doing together, and

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Garry Callis Jr.: the moment I told him about fling off, he was immediately excited. It's to show you how easy this is, I gave my dad maybe an hour of instruction on, like, a par 3 course.

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Garry Callis Jr.: He got his first birdie in the first, like, 3 holes of, like, this par 3 course we were on.

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Jesse Stakes: Nicely.

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Garry Callis Jr.: It's… it's that easy. I can teach somebody to be pretty proficient in fling golf in about 30 minutes.

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Jesse Stakes: I'm interested. So, if I… let's just say for myself, if I was… if I'm interested in getting involved in it, number one, where do I start? How do I… where do I buy one? How do I buy one? What does it cost?

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Garry Callis Jr.: So, if you go to flinggolf.com, we do have our shop there, so, yeah, head to flinggolf.com, take a look at the products,

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Garry Callis Jr.: Our most expensive fling stick, funny enough, is gonna be, like, the ballistic that I have behind me here. It's, like, 220. That's it. That's the only thing you need, but then we have fling sticks coming in at, like, 129, 130, something like that. It's, the launch is our entry-level model.

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Garry Callis Jr.: I do have my own promo code, it's gonna be, what is it? It's GCALIS20, I believe is the, the promo code I got for these guys.

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Garry Callis Jr.: perks of being an ambassador, you get, you know, discounts.

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Jesse Stakes: No doubt, as you should.

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Garry Callis Jr.: But if, you know, if you're looking to get involved, specifically, Jesse, what I'll do for you is, I'll contact the guys at Fling Golf, I'll let them know that I was on a podcast with you, you're looking to get involved, and I'll have them send you one.

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Jesse Stakes: Very cool. Now, I've got the website up on the other side of this right now. It's really cool. Like I said, I've seen some people playing…

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Jesse Stakes: I think that, you know, the point that I was trying to make, too, is the fact that

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Jesse Stakes: This is a way for people to get involved in the game of golf.

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Jesse Stakes: the price point, even at the highest level right now, like you said, is $220. You're not buying thousands of dollars worth of equipment.

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Jesse Stakes: And you're able to… you're able to lower those barriers of entry, no matter what economic status you come from, no matter where you live, if you're interested in getting involved in the game and just getting outside, having a good time with your friends, this is a fantastic way to enter the game of golf.

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Garry Callis Jr.: Absolutely. I, you can probably tell a recurring theme for me is equality and equity. The same way that AI SEO is kind of the equalizer in terms of brands being out there.

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Garry Callis Jr.: Fling golf, for me, is that equitable layer on the golf course. It doesn't matter who you are, doesn't matter where you come from.

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Garry Callis Jr.: I just want you to have a good time. In our, professional league, our master's division, our senior division, is 55 and up, and these dudes are killers!

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Garry Callis Jr.: Like, these dudes are wild. Shoutouts to my boy Hardcore, Jeff Harvey, he's a, what, 3- or 4-time champion now on tour? He just got into the sport, like, professionally last year.

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Garry Callis Jr.: came in like a bat out of hell and just started winning everything. And he's shooting, you know, like, he's breaking par to, you know, to win these tournaments. And so, the scoring pace is pretty good, for professionals now.

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Jesse Stakes: Yeah, that's pretty… that's pretty cold.

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Jesse Stakes: I think it's, go ahead.

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Garry Callis Jr.: Yeah, if you would do me a favor, if you're on the Flinggolf site, could you go to the Where to Play on, on Flinggolf?

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Garry Callis Jr.: If anybody in the audience is looking to get into the game, but you don't know where to start, you don't know who to talk to, on the Where to Play tab for Fling Golf, you can see a map of golf courses that are either A ready to play.

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Garry Callis Jr.: fling-off friendly, or as we like to call, liberated. So, you know, if someone plays a fling-off round on a golf course for the first time, and, you know, we don't know if that course has ever had fling-off on it, you can submit it.

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Garry Callis Jr.: And it's now liberated. Someone has played this course before. I've liberated a few courses, you know, in the Richmond area, it's been really cool.

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Garry Callis Jr.: But you can also see ambassadors that live relatively close to their area. We've got, you know, their contact info, whether it's their phone number, Instagram, whatever, and you can hit these ambassadors up, and they will

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Garry Callis Jr.: come to you, or they'll, you know, answer questions and all that about how to get into the game, so…

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Garry Callis Jr.: We want to try to spread this game as much as possible, because we believe in it, we love the game, we love what the game can do for people. It's extremely adaptable, so we, you know, do a lot of things with veterans and, you know, those with disabilities and things like that, because, again, you may not have the, you know, range of motion to swing a golf club anymore, but you can still probably throw something.

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Garry Callis Jr.: So again, we want you, regardless of anything that might prevent you, to just be on the golf course and just have a good time, because you deserve it.

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Jesse Stakes: No, I think that's fantastic, and I think that, you know, people talk about it all the time. How do you get more people involved in the game? How do you grow the game?

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Jesse Stakes: This is a fantastic way to grow it for people who don't have access to, you know, to the finances to buy a full set of golf clubs. I think it's great because it gives you access to the people who may not be able to play anymore for whatever physical reason that they can't.

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Jesse Stakes: People talk, you know, you talk about getting veterans involved, and people involved from all walks of life. This is awesome. I think it's fantastic, and I think it's, you know, I really appreciate you, kind of.

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Jesse Stakes: teaching me and kind of sharing with me what's available on that side of things. It's very cool.

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Garry Callis Jr.: Absolutely. So you're in, you're in Jacksonville, right?

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Jesse Stakes: I am in Jacksonville, yes sir.

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Garry Callis Jr.: Well, I'm in Virginia, so from here to Jacksonville, it'll be, like, what, 3 hours? On a, you know, on a plane? Like, 3 hours, something like that?

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Jesse Stakes: I was about to say, maybe on a plane, I was about to say, if you drive it, it's gonna be a lot longer than that. I have done that on Thanksgiving, and it was not fun.

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Garry Callis Jr.: Yikes!

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Garry Callis Jr.: Yeah, for the PGA show, went to Orlando, it was like an hour and 50 minutes or so.

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Jesse Stakes: Yes.

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Garry Callis Jr.: Non-stop, so, you know, if you want to get together and, you know, we play around, I would be honored to fly down to you, and we can absolutely continue, you know, this conversation on the golf course, maybe do a little bit of content together or something.

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Jesse Stakes: I like it.

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Garry Callis Jr.: You know, it's oh, by the way, anybody in the audience, if you guys want to sponsor an athlete in an emerging sport, hit me up, you know? I will gladly wear logos if necessary.

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Jesse Stakes: That's awesome. That's awesome. So, Gary, I wanna… I will absolutely take you up on that. Just so you know, my answer is always yes, and anybody who asks me who's played golf, my answer is yes, so we will figure that out, and we will… we will… to be determined on the date and time, but I look forward to that.

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Garry Callis Jr.: Absolutely.

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Jesse Stakes: I want to thank you very much. This has been a lot of fun. I think that, you know, if people have listened to both parts of this, they're learning a lot about a lot of things. If you love golf, if you're in the business of golf, if you're around the game, there's so much that's coming… that's up and coming, and it's just, you know, it's just stay tuned, because there's so much more to come.

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Garry Callis Jr.: Heck yeah, man. Jesse, thank you again for having me, brother. I really appreciated the time.

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Jesse Stakes: Yeah, we'll make sure that everybody has links to your socials, because you are absolutely a fun follow, so I'll make sure that that's linked on everything that we… everywhere we put this out, but… but again, I thank you for your time as well. We'll catch you down the road.

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Garry Callis Jr.: Alright.