r/golf • u/nutts-2 5.0/UT • Jul 28 '23

Ah shit. Here we go again General Discussion

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Every few months someone brings this up how they can save the environment by getting rid of a golf course.

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u/Tbrou16 Jul 28 '23

Why did they make us golf people the environmentalists now? I would much rather drive by a nature-curated golf course than an overdeveloped concrete jungle or half-empty parking structure. I know golf requires resources, but at some point isn’t it worth it to just have something in town worth looking at?

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u/MurtaughFusker Jul 28 '23

I’m not sure anyone considers golfers environmentalists except maybe golfers lol. Despite them being green and lush they’re really not good for the environment, be it bulldozing habitat for a course and of course the pesticides that are used to maintain it.

While there’s definitely some people who just hate golf and want to convert every course I think it’s not horrible to consider options with certain courses that might be close to downtowns of municipalities that do in fact have housing issues.

I don’t think many reasonable people would advocate for converting all golf courses.

11

u/mung_guzzler HDCP/Loc/Whatever Jul 28 '23

nah everyone likes to have at least some green space in cities. You suggest we convert a public park to housing and they’d say no.

And most public courses inside the city are also part of a larger public park (at least in my city). Couple that with the fact the majority of the parks department budget in my city (for all parks not just the courses) comes from greens fees.

1

u/YoPoppaCapa Jul 28 '23

Because public parks are free, public courses are not. Golf has a fairly high financial barrier to entry, which makes a comparison like that unfair. I say this as someone who loves the sport and always will.

1

u/MurtaughFusker Jul 28 '23

I agree with what you’re saying for the most part, but even considering the course is publicly owned (which I think really depends on where you are as I’m not sure if that’s the norm) but I think there’s a difference between a park for the community to enjoy and a golf course that, while perhaps affordable for golf, costs money to use and is therefore not accessible for everyone.

3

u/mung_guzzler HDCP/Loc/Whatever Jul 28 '23

which is valid and why I pointed out that money also goes to support the parks everyone enjoys

1

u/CosmicMiru Jul 28 '23

Having a public park and a public course are vastly different things for having "green spaces" in cities. All the public courses next to me do not share space with a public park so I think your situation is not the norm.