Japan FootGolf Association launches AR putting app for iPhone users

Japan’s FootGolf Association has put a new twist on practice, releasing FOOTGOLF PUTT CHALLENGE on June 17 as what it calls the world’s first FootGolf game app to use a real soccer ball. The free iPhone-only release is built around augmented reality and is meant to let players work on FootGolf-style putting anywhere, not just on a golf course.

The app runs on LiDAR-capable iPhones, starting with the iPhone 12 Pro, and requires iOS 18.6 or later. Beyond the novelty of lining up a real ball in AR, the design leans hard into training. Players get distance guidance, cup placement controls, cup-in detection, shot counting, play history, and adjustable settings for distance, tolerance range, cup radius, par and ball size. Users can log in anonymously and start immediately, a setup that makes the app feel as much like an entry point for first-timers as a practice tool for experienced players.

The association has also tied the launch to Shibuya e Stadium, where a permanent play area has been set up for in-person trial use. The venue sits inside the eSports High School, which opened in April 2022, and is about three minutes from JR Shibuya Station. That location matters. It places FootGolf in front of students and a tech-oriented audience that may never walk onto a traditional course, while keeping the physical act of kicking a real ball at the center of the experience.

The release fits the broader arc of the Japan FootGolf Association itself. The nonprofit was founded in February 2014, joined the Federation for International FootGolf in November 2014 and is based in Tokorozawa, Saitama. Its president, Shinpei Matsuura, has also been a FIFG board member since February 2024, giving the Japanese group a seat in the sport’s wider global structure.

That global picture is growing, and Japan is trying to keep pace. The association says there are roughly 30 places to play FootGolf in Japan, while FIFG says the sport is now played in more than 60 countries. Modern FootGolf traces back to the Netherlands in 2008, and FIFG was founded in June 2012 near Budapest during the first FootGolf World Cup. By the 2023 World Cup, the field had expanded to 972 players from 39 countries, and the 2026 world championship in Acapulco ran from May 27 to June 7 with 1,240 players on 64 teams. In that setting, Japan’s AR app looks less like a gimmick than a test of whether technology can widen the sport’s base without dulling what makes it distinct: a real ball, a real kick and the precision of the putt.