J-League Supporters FootGolf Cup ends successfully in rainy Gunma

The 14th J-League Supporters FootGolf Cup wrapped up on July 19-20 at Phoenix Golf Club in Gunma despite rain that tested every group on the course. Thespa Gunma’s president turned up as a special guest and left with best eleven honors, giving the event a direct tie to the football club culture that continues to push FootGolf forward in Japan.

That connection mattered as much as the result list. Thespa Gunma is a professional club based in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, and its presence at Phoenix Golf Club underlined how J.League supporters are turning fandom into a sport they can play, not just watch. The club backdrop also fits the timing around the team’s next chapter, with Hosogai Hajime set to serve as acting president and general manager next season.

The tournament’s success was not measured only in finishing despite the weather. Organizers and teams, including ARSP FootGolf, celebrated the turnout and the engagement around the 14th edition, which has become a regular fixture linking football supporters with the FootGolf circuit. In a rain-hit weekend, that matters: bad conditions usually separate the casual entrant from the committed one, and Gunma still produced a full event with enough energy for teams to leave satisfied.

The broader context explains why the Cup has real weight in Japan’s FootGolf calendar. The Japan FootGolf Federation was established in 2014, giving the sport a formal base just as club-linked events like this one began to widen the audience. With Thespa Gunma now a visible part of that ecosystem, the line between supporter culture and active competition has only gotten thinner.