Raith Rovers use FootGolf session to kick off pre-season prep

Raith Rovers used a competitive FootGolf session at Cluny Activities to add a different kind of edge to pre-season, with manager Dougie Imrie taking the Scottish Championship squad through the outing near Kirkcaldy. The club turned to the low-impact format as part of its early preparation for the 2026 campaign, blending competition with a setting built for touch, timing and decision-making under pressure.

Imrie has been settling in at Stark’s Park since taking charge in November 2025 after almost four years with Greenock Morton, and the FootGolf stop fitted into a broader pre-season plan that has Raith already moving through a busy fixture list. The club opened its summer schedule with Edinburgh City on 30 June and now heads into a run of July matches against Elgin City on 11 July, Kilmarnock on 14 July, Hamilton Academical on 18 July and Peterhead on 21 July.

Cluny Activities, the venue previously known as Cluny Clays, offers FootGolf on both 9-hole and 18-hole courses in scenic surroundings close to Kirkcaldy. The setup is built for more than novelty, with the activity pitched to beginners and corporate groups as well as football sides looking for a competitive team exercise away from the training pitch. For Raith, the session gave the squad a chance to compete in a different rhythm before the first proper run of summer fixtures.

The club’s link with Cluny has already produced benefits before. Raith previously staged Footgolf fundays at the venue, including a 2017 event the club said generated a surplus of more than £1,000 for club funds. A 2019 post from the club described the Footgolf Day at Cluny as being back for a third consecutive year, underlining how often the venue has been folded into the club’s off-pitch calendar.

That history gives the latest outing extra weight. Raith Rovers are not just treating FootGolf as a one-off team day out; they are using a format that sits neatly between football culture and an accessible golf alternative, one that keeps players active while asking them to adapt their touch, communication and competitiveness before the new season starts to bite.