golf courses already feel a bit cursed but finding out someone tried to contribute homemade fertilizer before the crew closed the hole just adds a whole new category of nope to the sport
I heard a very different story about that. Some dude was shitting in the holes at night, so the day after, when players are reaching for the ball in the hole, they will have their hands covered in shit. Nothing was about helping fertilise the course before closing the holes
Nobody would get their hands covered in shit. The flag pole exists and you pretty much always remove that first before you putt the ball, so you’d notice the giant steaming shit in the hole.
I worked at a local small course decades ago. There were often times drunk guys would come with their own clubs after a night of partying at early dawn before we opened. Obviously it was our job as greenskeepers to kick them out. They usually complied. One morning we kicked 3 guys out. No biggie. We roll up to the 1st green and I see it. Steam rising from the cup in the early morning coolness. They shat in the cup! My co worker was so disgusted he threw the hole cup in the bushes and replaced it with a new one. Few weeks later we're in the clubhouse for lunch and a customer walks in and says " we found this in the bushes and thought you'd want it." It was the shitty cup from before! Sitting on the counter next to fresh baked cinnamon buns!
In the hole that he got the replacement dirt from. The tool he's using takes a cylinder out and can put it back in. He's making a new hole and filling in the old one
Was watching a video about the hottest town in america. And they have a golf course with perfect green.
This is so ridiculous.
Golf courses as a whole are just stupid, it's a sport for the rich, so Golf courses are always in beautiful locations that have to be bulldozed.
Just for some lawn and then the stupid procedures the green keepers have to do....
While I understand the sentiment, golf courses are not always in beautiful locations, and it's not just a sport for the rich. And depending on location they're not even always that resource intensive.
By definition they are, large areas of highly manicured lawn with high mowing frequency are just not good for any ecosystem, especially not lawn. That is basically dead ecosystem.
My point is there's a big difference between big PGA links style courses, and country golf courses that used to be a corn field. I just think that many people have this perception that all golf courses are just desolate wastelands full of rich people chortling and smoking cigars. The last time I went out, I played a course in the country, surrounded by cornfields and trees, the guy playing in front of me was playing in work boots listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd and drinking natural light lmao
And what’s that doing for the ecosystem? For real, what is it doing? A monoculture of grass that takes tons of water to maintain while it either evaporates off and does very little to help the surroundings, or leaks massive amounts of fertilizer into local lakes and streams? Corn fields do that too, so does any grain or cow field, but I’m not excusing them either…. At least those produce food?
I'm not necessarily calling it a net positive- it's just not the level of negative that some people try to say. The gain is that people enjoy doing as a sport. How do basketball courts serve the ecosystem? Skate parks? Monoculture of asphalt, let just bulldoze those, yeah?
Yeah actually, I’d be into that, personally. But I am extremely unsporty. LOL
But I get your point. I just think the amount of people who enjoy golf isn’t proportionate to the amount of space it takes up compared to, say, a basketball court. A sports stadium? Mmmm, it lets a bunch more people enjoy it, so it can stand. 4 square kilometres of parking for one stadium? That’s egregious. Let’s replace all that shit.
I just wish there was a more ecofriendly way of making a golf course that didn’t involve all of that too.
Haha I feel it. I'm generally pretty unsporty myself, and golf is really one of the few sports in do enjoy.
The footprint is big, I'll give you that, but I'll also say, I think you'd be surprised at how many people you can have playing at once on a course.
During the week, there are leagues, but even if you don't count that, you're looking at probably 100 people a day, and then on the weekends, a course can see 200-300 players a day.
Also, a lot of these country courses aren't putting down nearly as many chemicals as the more 'Prestigious' ones, and the courses tend to take up a lot less space, with more greenery and trees intermingled. I'd argue that you have more courses out there like that than former.
I do wish that they used zero pesticides too though. I personally use almost zero around my own home, aside from situations where I can't eliminate an invasive (like honeysuckle for example). Even then I'm basically just drilling into the stump and putting glyphosate in the holes to ensure it doesn't rebound.
I just think that there are bigger fish to fry, and it's something a lot of people enjoy doing that gets them outside.
The municipality can set up a few steel baskets in the woods and everyone can play disc golf for decades for free, all for the mere operating costs of a golf course for a week.
That's what my town did! Decent sized golf course closed down like 10 years ago, city bought it and turned it into a public park. They built a ton of walking trails, amphitheater with a stage, widened the pond, shelter houses, a pretty good sized playground, and even an outdoor gym. It's a really nice park and pretty close to my house. I like to walk my dog there she absolutely loves it.
EDIT: I forgot to mention they didn't buy the entire golf course. About 1/3 of it went to an energy company and was covered in solar panels.
We have some golf courses that have closed over the years in Florida. If the developers don’t get to them, they end up as an overgrown mess. It would be nice if the local governments would purchase at least part of them to become public parks, but the government entities get out-bid by the developers. Golf cart trails would make a great running path.
But you know that doesn't happen, and won't happen, because most courses that shut down get turned into cookie cutter housing complexes or worse...the exact opposite of wildlife protection. Golf courses have a lot of wildlife that thrives on property and they're protected...You can't hunt or fish on golf courses without authorization from owners/managers. You, and most people in theses comments, would know that if you worked on a course or played golf instead of just hating golf.
Wow, nice edit there. I responded to your original comment of "judgemental much?" but I'll respond to this as well...
The land is used for public enjoyment, I play golf at many courses that are open to anyone. And the private courses are just private land, and anyone can join if they pay. Same as all those people with 100s of acres of private land. Do you think all that private land should be seized so everyone can use it?
Yah apologies for that I changed it because it sounded uncharacteristically rude. Not everyone plays golf. But anyone can enjoy a public park.
Edit because I didn’t answer your question: No one said anything about seizing land AFAIK. Rather stating a preference for how a tract of land that enormous could be put to much, much better use. Pardon but I think you seem a little defensive about your sport.
Yea, I enjoy the sport but there are people, like you and quite a few others on reddit, who actively want to take that away simply because you don't like how the land is used. I find that awfully childish. There is so much land available, just about everywhere, that can be made into parks. Golf courses really don't take up that much land, they're often built into housing communities, and usually built on land that was absolutely nothing before...AKA a place you never would have been able to visit or enjoy anyway.
Well usually a normal back garden doesn't consume ungodly amounts of fresh water just to maintain an area which does not allow any wildlife or ecosystem for the sole purpose of letting wealthy people hit a ball with a stick.
What are you trying to say here? Very mixed messages. And why are you so fixated on this "do you hate private property" question? Who is funding your comments?
Unpopular opinion: closing a golf course and making it into a protected park would be even more satisfying.
If someone else is closing the golf course and making it a protected park, that would be the state. The owners don't want to have a protected park, they want to have a golf course so the only way to have a protected park is by the state stealing private property.
Love seeing this reddit opinion pop up from time to time without ever being expanded on. It’s certainly a great way to make an already more exclusive sport even more exclusive. It’s also a great way to get seniors to stop exercising.
According to ASGCA, to build a golf course, you will need anything from 75-200 acres. So let's consider an 18 hole, 76 acre course.
Lets say you have 2 groups of 4 players playing on each hole, so 144 people at any one time. Each group finishes the course in 2 hours, so that's an average of 72 people per hour playing golf on a 75 acre plot of land. So 0.96 people per hour per acre.
For comparison, a full size soccer field is about 2 acres, and is typically used by 22 people at a time for 90 minutes. So about 7.3 people per hour per acre. And with soccer you can viably play on an indoor pitch, or a smaller pitch.
Plus there is the grass to consider. A golf course needs a ton of well maintained grass. Grass maintenance is extremely intensive in terms of fertilizer, water, and pesticides. It uses more resources than many food crops. All for 144 people to play at any one time.
This is why golf is exclusive. It's extremely resource intensive, which makes it intensive, which makes it exclusive.
To use 75 to 200 acres of land for golf in the middle of a city is a collosal waste of space. For reference, medium density housing (think townhouses, row houses, low rise apartment building, etc.) Can fit about 12 dwellings per acre. So on that 75 acre golf course, you could have 900 houses and apartments built. You could easily house 2000 people, or you could have maybe 1000-1500 people play a round of golf every weekend.
28 million Americans played on course golf using 2024 data. I know golf is supposed to be only for rich white people but that simply is not the case anymore.
Fortunately very few golf courses, relatively speaking, are within cities. Land for recreation is also not automatically bad because you don’t like the activity being done on it particularly in light of the fact that many golf courses are public resources.
Not trying to say golf courses are universally bad.
Just pointing out that criticism of golf and golf courses is not a "Reddit opinion," and there are some valid issues, particularly when courses sit in areas where perhaps parks and housing would be a better idea.
And no matter where a golf course is situated, the concerns about water, pesticides, and fertilizers are relevant. This goes for lawns in general, not just golf courses.
Honestly in a lot of places in the USA, particularly California and the Southwest, probably also the southern great plains, Texas and Oklahoma, irrigation of lawns, be it golf courses, household lawns, or parks should be straight up illegal.
I guess your ‘it’s an inherently exclusive activity because of how much land it takes up’ just doesn’t make any sense. Poking holes in an often publicly available activity enjoyed by 10s of millions because the land ‘could’ be better used is just sort of a bitchy way to live your life and that’s before we get to the idea that you could just snap your fingers and make private land a park (public courses are very often on private land).
I like the comparison disc golf even more. Setting up a heavy duty steel basket in the woods is a grand per piece, no change to the landscape required. Operating a golf course for a year costs around a million.
All the logistical work but none of the actual thinking about the people that are actually involved that you’re hypothetically stripping away a sport.
Stripping away a sport that can only be played by a tiny minority of people, oh noooooooooooooo...
“Seniors can do literally any sort of exercise” is just not the case. It’s a physical activity thats not too demanding on the joints.
They could walk in the park that could be created instead of a golf course. Which would be free, so poor seniors could use the facilities as well.
Have you also considered that 144 in a day is a good amount for small towns? Not everybody lives in cities.
Land use arguments against golf obviously only apply where land is limited dumbass. Use of water, pesticides, and fertilizer arguments still apply in small towns though.
Have you considered that spending time outside is also a big aspect of the game?
Park
The social aspect of the club is also a pretty big aspect too?
Park
Literally all your points can be addressed better with a fucking park. You can put a pub on the grounds, open to everyone, not just members, instead of a members club. You can have benches and BBQ pits free to use. You can have facilities for other sports, e.g. soccer, basketball, tennis. You can have lawn games like croquettes and bowls, which your precious seniors can play no problem. Hell, you can even have a putt putt course if you really want to grip both your hands around a shaft and knock some balls around. All free for everyone to use, able to accommodate people who don't like golf.
I know it's hard for your tiny mind to comprehend that not everyone is like you, but, well, not everyone is like you.
Maybe you should present your theorem on a pamphlet
Maybe golf courses in dense cities where land is at a premium and housing prices are insane should be Eminent domained and used for the public good.
Maybe there should be regulations limiting pesticide and fertilizer use.
And maybe golf courses should pay a fair market price for the water they use.
old codges
Maybe the crusty old fuckers should move to a small town in an area that gets plenty of rain if they want a whole ass acre for themselves to fucking walk around in.
Like most of your ideas about golf, the fact that you think golf can only be played by ‘a small minority of people’ is straight up ignorant. All sexes from probably six up. Clubs can be cheap. Public courses are out there.
Walking in the park isn’t that demanding mate. Croquettes and bowls are okay ideas but again it’s not going to break that much of a sweat for many people.
Regulation about pesticides and fertiliser ??? Where the fuck did this come from? Of course there’s regulations on persticides and fertilisers. It probably varies country to country, state by state. Weird thing to bring up.
Look I think just wiping a sport off the face off the earth is probably not a clever idea?
Clever penis joke btw - shows the level of maturity you’ve thought this through with.
Walking in the park isn’t that demanding mate. Croquettes and bowls are okay ideas but again it’s not going to break that much of a sweat for many people.
Your whole point is that seniors need a non-demanding, low impact form of exercise. All those are roughly as demanding as golf.
Regulation about pesticides and fertiliser ??? Where the fuck did this come from? Of course there’s regulations on persticides and fertilisers. It probably varies country to country, state by state. Weird thing to bring up.
Should probably be a lot tighter. Lawns are an ecological disaster. Doesn't just apply to golf courses. The irrigation is a major issue too.
Look I think just wiping a sport off the face off the earth is probably not a clever idea?
Then we agree. I'm not saying it needs to be wiped off the face of the earth. I'm not saying only rich people play it. What I am saying is that because it tends to be popular among rich people, more resources tend to be devoted to it than maybe should be. And perhaps we should rethink that.
I was beginning to suspect you had no idea what you were talking about - then you just said golf was literally the equivalent to a walk in the park and it all fell into place lmao
What if they closed it, but for those who would pay to open and close holes for each other? You could charge for the opening, and the closing, plus viewership from those in attendance and streaming.
The metal tube that he puts in has the removed piece of turf + grass already within it, from a previously cut hole.
This is basically ‘moving’ a hole from one location to another - cut new hole > prepare it and plant flag there > take the cut piece of turf and put it into the old hole > close old hole up.
that's a common misunderstanding but I won't hold it against you. what he actually did was just reverse the polarity on a standard dual-action hole making machine
I feel like there are so many other spots that is even worse for plants etc. fixating on golf is such a weird one. Like industrial zones, tech zones, amusement parks, race ways, stadiums... The list is endless. But you choose to focus on the one that at least keep some nature around? Why is that? How is golf courses worse than any of the ones I mentioned?
Golf courses especially in america sometimes defy any logic but just as the agriculture in america. Oh were in a desert? Lets pump up the ground water to make field.
Same with golf courses.
And if they're not in the desert they are in prime and beautiful nature because rich ppl like it pretty so ofc the golf course is build in a forrest. Never mind the trees and the biodiversity.
I mean golfers would probably agree with the statement that there’s more wildlife in woodlands than a golf course. It’s not exactly a controversial - or a clever statement.
The hole gets moved every day. That tool cuts out a little tube from the new spot then you pop it in the old spot. Then there's a little metal grate thingy you put in the fresh hole that holds the flag.
Don’t you think it’s a bit of an overgeneralisation to say that everyone who plays golf is a ruling class? I see clubs sold for cheap as chips at thrift stores.
There’s a public course nearby me that lets you play 18 holes for a little over $30.
"Buddy, you need to close your golf hole or I'm gonna close it for you!" - how I imagine all golf arguments go
“Shut your golf hole Dwayne!”
Brb. I gotta go sink a putt in my wife's golf hole.
Your ass is grass, and I’m playing groundskeeper Willie.
"Just fill the hole, hole filler!"
0:38 ahhh perfectly blended in
0:39 *pats it one last time, revealing the edge again* nooooooo 😭
Right? Literally unwatchable
Caddyshack! Such a fun movie 😅
Gotta watch this one then haha
Definitely give it a go 😂
Right? Was expecting that head to pop up in the first scene before I read the post title.
There's a story about a guy who would poop in the hole before closing to help fertilize the golf course
golf courses already feel a bit cursed but finding out someone tried to contribute homemade fertilizer before the crew closed the hole just adds a whole new category of nope to the sport
Imagine sinking a perfect putt not knowing you just scored on ground zero.
"That's not my ball. My ball doesn't have corn on it."
I heard a very different story about that. Some dude was shitting in the holes at night, so the day after, when players are reaching for the ball in the hole, they will have their hands covered in shit. Nothing was about helping fertilise the course before closing the holes
Nobody would get their hands covered in shit. The flag pole exists and you pretty much always remove that first before you putt the ball, so you’d notice the giant steaming shit in the hole.
If the deed was done over night, technically it would be cold at that point
I worked at a local small course decades ago. There were often times drunk guys would come with their own clubs after a night of partying at early dawn before we opened. Obviously it was our job as greenskeepers to kick them out. They usually complied. One morning we kicked 3 guys out. No biggie. We roll up to the 1st green and I see it. Steam rising from the cup in the early morning coolness. They shat in the cup! My co worker was so disgusted he threw the hole cup in the bushes and replaced it with a new one. Few weeks later we're in the clubhouse for lunch and a customer walks in and says " we found this in the bushes and thought you'd want it." It was the shitty cup from before! Sitting on the counter next to fresh baked cinnamon buns!
Not all heroes wear capes, some deliver cakes
What’s a little poop between friends?
My mate did that. They just filled it and made a new one about a ft over.
3-mo-old account, almost 400k karma. Repost. Bloody bot.
Where are we supposed to hit the ball now?
When God closes one hole, he opens a 100 more.
In the hole that he got the replacement dirt from. The tool he's using takes a cylinder out and can put it back in. He's making a new hole and filling in the old one
What was wrong with the old hole?
They rotate them to prevent soil erosion
Close. It help the reduce wear and tear to one area of the green.
In tournament golf, they also rotate them each day so the pins are in a different position each round.
They dry out, but they're fine with some lube. Don't knock it til you tried it.
Siswet ought to be able to take over, I reckon
Always fun to see a fellow Dutch person mentioned on Reddit!
Unpopular opinion: closing a golf course and making it into a protected park would be even more satisfying.
Agreed. I was just about to comment on how disproportionate the resources golf courses take versus what they provide the surrounding communities.
Was watching a video about the hottest town in america. And they have a golf course with perfect green. This is so ridiculous. Golf courses as a whole are just stupid, it's a sport for the rich, so Golf courses are always in beautiful locations that have to be bulldozed. Just for some lawn and then the stupid procedures the green keepers have to do....
While I understand the sentiment, golf courses are not always in beautiful locations, and it's not just a sport for the rich. And depending on location they're not even always that resource intensive.
By definition they are, large areas of highly manicured lawn with high mowing frequency are just not good for any ecosystem, especially not lawn. That is basically dead ecosystem.
My point is there's a big difference between big PGA links style courses, and country golf courses that used to be a corn field. I just think that many people have this perception that all golf courses are just desolate wastelands full of rich people chortling and smoking cigars. The last time I went out, I played a course in the country, surrounded by cornfields and trees, the guy playing in front of me was playing in work boots listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd and drinking natural light lmao
And what’s that doing for the ecosystem? For real, what is it doing? A monoculture of grass that takes tons of water to maintain while it either evaporates off and does very little to help the surroundings, or leaks massive amounts of fertilizer into local lakes and streams? Corn fields do that too, so does any grain or cow field, but I’m not excusing them either…. At least those produce food?
I'm not necessarily calling it a net positive- it's just not the level of negative that some people try to say. The gain is that people enjoy doing as a sport. How do basketball courts serve the ecosystem? Skate parks? Monoculture of asphalt, let just bulldoze those, yeah?
Yeah actually, I’d be into that, personally. But I am extremely unsporty. LOL
But I get your point. I just think the amount of people who enjoy golf isn’t proportionate to the amount of space it takes up compared to, say, a basketball court. A sports stadium? Mmmm, it lets a bunch more people enjoy it, so it can stand. 4 square kilometres of parking for one stadium? That’s egregious. Let’s replace all that shit.
I just wish there was a more ecofriendly way of making a golf course that didn’t involve all of that too.
Haha I feel it. I'm generally pretty unsporty myself, and golf is really one of the few sports in do enjoy.
The footprint is big, I'll give you that, but I'll also say, I think you'd be surprised at how many people you can have playing at once on a course.
During the week, there are leagues, but even if you don't count that, you're looking at probably 100 people a day, and then on the weekends, a course can see 200-300 players a day.
Also, a lot of these country courses aren't putting down nearly as many chemicals as the more 'Prestigious' ones, and the courses tend to take up a lot less space, with more greenery and trees intermingled. I'd argue that you have more courses out there like that than former.
A prime example of this in my area: https://share.google/AK1g44iCqxghsWltQ
I do wish that they used zero pesticides too though. I personally use almost zero around my own home, aside from situations where I can't eliminate an invasive (like honeysuckle for example). Even then I'm basically just drilling into the stump and putting glyphosate in the holes to ensure it doesn't rebound.
I just think that there are bigger fish to fry, and it's something a lot of people enjoy doing that gets them outside.
Are you the priest from Footloose?
this one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNhIAcTaVFE
The municipality can set up a few steel baskets in the woods and everyone can play disc golf for decades for free, all for the mere operating costs of a golf course for a week.
Love this idea
Yeah, rows of sprinklers running all day so ten rich guys can chase a ball feels less than optimal.
Geese, ducks and other water birds thrive at gold courses. It’s a predator free paradise for them.
Yeah let’s hope they don’t get smacked by a ball at 100 mile an hour.
This is such a juvenile thought process.
Why? It happens. And golf courses have been known to poison birds
That's what my town did! Decent sized golf course closed down like 10 years ago, city bought it and turned it into a public park. They built a ton of walking trails, amphitheater with a stage, widened the pond, shelter houses, a pretty good sized playground, and even an outdoor gym. It's a really nice park and pretty close to my house. I like to walk my dog there she absolutely loves it.
EDIT: I forgot to mention they didn't buy the entire golf course. About 1/3 of it went to an energy company and was covered in solar panels.
Solar panels are also a better use of large open spaces than golf courses. I applaud this on both counts!
George Carlin had some ideas
We have some golf courses that have closed over the years in Florida. If the developers don’t get to them, they end up as an overgrown mess. It would be nice if the local governments would purchase at least part of them to become public parks, but the government entities get out-bid by the developers. Golf cart trails would make a great running path.
But you know that doesn't happen, and won't happen, because most courses that shut down get turned into cookie cutter housing complexes or worse...the exact opposite of wildlife protection. Golf courses have a lot of wildlife that thrives on property and they're protected...You can't hunt or fish on golf courses without authorization from owners/managers. You, and most people in theses comments, would know that if you worked on a course or played golf instead of just hating golf.
Calm yourself. We don’t all share the same opinions. Personally I’d rather see the land used for broad public enjoyment.
Wow, nice edit there. I responded to your original comment of "judgemental much?" but I'll respond to this as well...
The land is used for public enjoyment, I play golf at many courses that are open to anyone. And the private courses are just private land, and anyone can join if they pay. Same as all those people with 100s of acres of private land. Do you think all that private land should be seized so everyone can use it?
Yah apologies for that I changed it because it sounded uncharacteristically rude. Not everyone plays golf. But anyone can enjoy a public park.
Edit because I didn’t answer your question: No one said anything about seizing land AFAIK. Rather stating a preference for how a tract of land that enormous could be put to much, much better use. Pardon but I think you seem a little defensive about your sport.
And anyone can play golf...
Yea, I enjoy the sport but there are people, like you and quite a few others on reddit, who actively want to take that away simply because you don't like how the land is used. I find that awfully childish. There is so much land available, just about everywhere, that can be made into parks. Golf courses really don't take up that much land, they're often built into housing communities, and usually built on land that was absolutely nothing before...AKA a place you never would have been able to visit or enjoy anyway.
Sounds good. Enjoy.
No, just stating the obvious
What if they close your yard and do the same?
Buddy, why do you hate private property? Do you like stealing?
Well usually a normal back garden doesn't consume ungodly amounts of fresh water just to maintain an area which does not allow any wildlife or ecosystem for the sole purpose of letting wealthy people hit a ball with a stick.
Just sayin'
If the amount of freshwater is the problem, then tax them accordingly, though this was not the original complaint from the user above us.
They think they're entitled to ask the state to close it and take the land.
Why are you making up excuses? Why don't you address what we are saying instead of making cover for illiberal ideas?
Do you hate private property?
What are you trying to say here? Very mixed messages. And why are you so fixated on this "do you hate private property" question? Who is funding your comments?
If someone else is closing the golf course and making it a protected park, that would be the state. The owners don't want to have a protected park, they want to have a golf course so the only way to have a protected park is by the state stealing private property.
Schizo-posting
totally, golf is a horrible idea
Popular enough with me. Golf courses are a waste of resources, money, water, and space.
Love seeing this reddit opinion pop up from time to time without ever being expanded on. It’s certainly a great way to make an already more exclusive sport even more exclusive. It’s also a great way to get seniors to stop exercising.
Seniors can do literally any sort of exercise.
You're never going to make golf non-exclusive. It's an inherently exclusive activity because of the insane amount of land a golf course takes up.
https://asgca.org/faq-how-much-land-do-i-need-to-build-a-golf-course/
According to ASGCA, to build a golf course, you will need anything from 75-200 acres. So let's consider an 18 hole, 76 acre course.
Lets say you have 2 groups of 4 players playing on each hole, so 144 people at any one time. Each group finishes the course in 2 hours, so that's an average of 72 people per hour playing golf on a 75 acre plot of land. So 0.96 people per hour per acre.
For comparison, a full size soccer field is about 2 acres, and is typically used by 22 people at a time for 90 minutes. So about 7.3 people per hour per acre. And with soccer you can viably play on an indoor pitch, or a smaller pitch.
Plus there is the grass to consider. A golf course needs a ton of well maintained grass. Grass maintenance is extremely intensive in terms of fertilizer, water, and pesticides. It uses more resources than many food crops. All for 144 people to play at any one time.
This is why golf is exclusive. It's extremely resource intensive, which makes it intensive, which makes it exclusive.
To use 75 to 200 acres of land for golf in the middle of a city is a collosal waste of space. For reference, medium density housing (think townhouses, row houses, low rise apartment building, etc.) Can fit about 12 dwellings per acre. So on that 75 acre golf course, you could have 900 houses and apartments built. You could easily house 2000 people, or you could have maybe 1000-1500 people play a round of golf every weekend.
28 million Americans played on course golf using 2024 data. I know golf is supposed to be only for rich white people but that simply is not the case anymore.
According to this Bloomberg report posted on this Golf news site, golf courses take up around 2 million acres in the USA.
So that's on average 14 people per acre per year.
In a small town where you have plenty of water available, or on the outskirts of a city, or out in the country somewhere, sure, golf courses are fine.
But that is an absolutely horrendously inefficient use of land inside cities.
Fortunately very few golf courses, relatively speaking, are within cities. Land for recreation is also not automatically bad because you don’t like the activity being done on it particularly in light of the fact that many golf courses are public resources.
Not trying to say golf courses are universally bad.
Just pointing out that criticism of golf and golf courses is not a "Reddit opinion," and there are some valid issues, particularly when courses sit in areas where perhaps parks and housing would be a better idea.
And no matter where a golf course is situated, the concerns about water, pesticides, and fertilizers are relevant. This goes for lawns in general, not just golf courses.
Honestly in a lot of places in the USA, particularly California and the Southwest, probably also the southern great plains, Texas and Oklahoma, irrigation of lawns, be it golf courses, household lawns, or parks should be straight up illegal.
I guess your ‘it’s an inherently exclusive activity because of how much land it takes up’ just doesn’t make any sense. Poking holes in an often publicly available activity enjoyed by 10s of millions because the land ‘could’ be better used is just sort of a bitchy way to live your life and that’s before we get to the idea that you could just snap your fingers and make private land a park (public courses are very often on private land).
It’s all reddit nonsense
I like the comparison disc golf even more. Setting up a heavy duty steel basket in the woods is a grand per piece, no change to the landscape required. Operating a golf course for a year costs around a million.
This is such bureaucratic bullshit lmaoooo.
All the logistical work but none of the actual thinking about the people that are actually involved that you’re hypothetically stripping away a sport.
“Seniors can do literally any sort of exercise” is just not the case. It’s a physical activity thats not too demanding on the joints.
Have you also considered that 144 in a day is a good amount for small towns? Not everybody lives in cities.
Have you considered that spending time outside is also a big aspect of the game?
The social aspect of the club is also a pretty big aspect too?
All of the numbers but none of the logic. Why do I get the vibe you wear graphic tshirts with math puns with them on it.
Maybe you should present your theorem on a pamphlet to some old codges to enlighten them on the dangers of their sport and see how far it gets you.
Stripping away a sport that can only be played by a tiny minority of people, oh noooooooooooooo...
They could walk in the park that could be created instead of a golf course. Which would be free, so poor seniors could use the facilities as well.
Land use arguments against golf obviously only apply where land is limited dumbass. Use of water, pesticides, and fertilizer arguments still apply in small towns though.
Park
Park
Literally all your points can be addressed better with a fucking park. You can put a pub on the grounds, open to everyone, not just members, instead of a members club. You can have benches and BBQ pits free to use. You can have facilities for other sports, e.g. soccer, basketball, tennis. You can have lawn games like croquettes and bowls, which your precious seniors can play no problem. Hell, you can even have a putt putt course if you really want to grip both your hands around a shaft and knock some balls around. All free for everyone to use, able to accommodate people who don't like golf.
I know it's hard for your tiny mind to comprehend that not everyone is like you, but, well, not everyone is like you.
Maybe golf courses in dense cities where land is at a premium and housing prices are insane should be Eminent domained and used for the public good.
Maybe there should be regulations limiting pesticide and fertilizer use.
And maybe golf courses should pay a fair market price for the water they use.
Maybe the crusty old fuckers should move to a small town in an area that gets plenty of rain if they want a whole ass acre for themselves to fucking walk around in.
First of all mate - take a breath.
Like most of your ideas about golf, the fact that you think golf can only be played by ‘a small minority of people’ is straight up ignorant. All sexes from probably six up. Clubs can be cheap. Public courses are out there.
Walking in the park isn’t that demanding mate. Croquettes and bowls are okay ideas but again it’s not going to break that much of a sweat for many people.
Regulation about pesticides and fertiliser ??? Where the fuck did this come from? Of course there’s regulations on persticides and fertilisers. It probably varies country to country, state by state. Weird thing to bring up.
Look I think just wiping a sport off the face off the earth is probably not a clever idea?
Clever penis joke btw - shows the level of maturity you’ve thought this through with.
Your whole point is that seniors need a non-demanding, low impact form of exercise. All those are roughly as demanding as golf.
Should probably be a lot tighter. Lawns are an ecological disaster. Doesn't just apply to golf courses. The irrigation is a major issue too.
Then we agree. I'm not saying it needs to be wiped off the face of the earth. I'm not saying only rich people play it. What I am saying is that because it tends to be popular among rich people, more resources tend to be devoted to it than maybe should be. And perhaps we should rethink that.
Thanks mate, I thought it was quite good.
I was beginning to suspect you had no idea what you were talking about - then you just said golf was literally the equivalent to a walk in the park and it all fell into place lmao
What if they closed it, but for those who would pay to open and close holes for each other? You could charge for the opening, and the closing, plus viewership from those in attendance and streaming.
Gonna buy this tool just to do B&E's that move all the holes around.
Just tell me where to be and I'll help. That sounds fantastic
Does anyone know where this location is?
On the green
Can confirm. It's all the way at the back of the fairway. I believe 8th hole, is it? At that nice golf course next to the forest.
Good, now close the rest of them.
Golf courses are a waste of land and freshwater.
wow. 10seconds longer than I expected but yeah full credit to the groundskeeper.
It wasn't even thereee
But how did grass suddenly come on top? Look cool though
The metal tube that he puts in has the removed piece of turf + grass already within it, from a previously cut hole.
This is basically ‘moving’ a hole from one location to another - cut new hole > prepare it and plant flag there > take the cut piece of turf and put it into the old hole > close old hole up.
Full video: https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlysatisfying/comments/1p74c5u/planting_flagstick_in_a_golf_course/
that's a common misunderstanding but I won't hold it against you. what he actually did was just reverse the polarity on a standard dual-action hole making machine
Downvoted for asking the question I came to the comments for.
NIce one reddit, pat yourselves on the back.
Hate to be that guy but.. this is not satisfying if you understand native plant species and their role in a biodiverse ecosystem.
I feel like you don’t hate to be that guy
“Teacher, didn’t we have homework due today?”
I feel like there are so many other spots that is even worse for plants etc. fixating on golf is such a weird one. Like industrial zones, tech zones, amusement parks, race ways, stadiums... The list is endless. But you choose to focus on the one that at least keep some nature around? Why is that? How is golf courses worse than any of the ones I mentioned?
Golf courses especially in america sometimes defy any logic but just as the agriculture in america. Oh were in a desert? Lets pump up the ground water to make field. Same with golf courses. And if they're not in the desert they are in prime and beautiful nature because rich ppl like it pretty so ofc the golf course is build in a forrest. Never mind the trees and the biodiversity.
Yep. Golf sucks.
I don’t understand, but keen to learn. Can you give a quick overview?
To put it simply golf destroys acres upon acres of natural diverse habitats.
Not always. Many golf courses are built atop old landfills
Sure is simple lol. You know there’s wildlife that live in those trees right?
Some do, but in comparison to if that golf course was woodland the diversity there is exceptionally low.
I don’t think anyone disagrees with this ?
Judging by our down votes the golfers disagree.
I mean golfers would probably agree with the statement that there’s more wildlife in woodlands than a golf course. It’s not exactly a controversial - or a clever statement.
Is your name Jeff?
I waited for the pat at the end. Was not disappointed.
That's not going anywhere
Never knew that 🤔
Nice boots.
So this is what that turf grass management diploma teaches you eh!
There Was A Hole Here. It's Gone Now.
Golf Hole......WTF
Bro filled that hole perfectly
If this keeps up will there be holes like this all over the golf course?
That grass looks so weird. It doesn’t look real.
Not bad but I can do this with just my divot tool.
Of course I don't, because I just leave my holes wherever 😎
Okay so I obviously know nothing about golf, but where did the golf hole filling come from? Do they save it from when they originally made the hole?!
i kinda like that the boot is part of his tool kit
Imagine doing this in a coordinated effort to all golf courses, worldwide, overnight. All holes gone. The world would legit be a better place.
Golf courses are such a massive waste of space and resources.
Now I wonder how these holes are getting made in the first place considering they habe perfect grass on the bottom??
The hole gets moved every day. That tool cuts out a little tube from the new spot then you pop it in the old spot. Then there's a little metal grate thingy you put in the fresh hole that holds the flag.
Ah!
Was not aware at all that they get moved at all.
Keeps the edge looking sharp and clean plus it avoids uneven wear on the green from foot traffic.
These guys must become plastic surgeons 🤣
Grasstic surgeons.
Used to do this while working as groundskeeper to the golfcourse at my University while studying there. Was always one of my favorite activities.
Now close all of the golf courses.
Well... I'm on my way to inconvenience the ruling class.
Don’t you think it’s a bit of an overgeneralisation to say that everyone who plays golf is a ruling class? I see clubs sold for cheap as chips at thrift stores.
There’s a public course nearby me that lets you play 18 holes for a little over $30.
Are those clown shoes?
I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed. He must have big socks.
✊💦💦 i want him to close my hole 🥵 🤤
So much time and effort for a silly game. And yeah, there's a lot of silly games.
Can see these guys are being a lot more cautious with handling cancer causing golf turf.