Evening Reflections: Playing Golf and Thoughts on "Becoming Obsolete"
I've been away for a few days (again!) because we had an arts and crafts show to go to as vendors this past weekend, and only three days to prepare for something we normally take six weeks to get ready for.
I'm tired. I'm also not 29, anymore...
Invariably, when I am "AFK" for a few days there's lots to catch up with, in all sorts of ways.
One of the things I found myself catching up with is our local community message forum, in which a debate is currently raging over "what to do" with our town's 94-year old municipal golf course.
I had to do a double take on that one because not only do we live in a retirement area, but I was under the impression that golf is a very popular sport/pastime, particularly among retirees.
Clearly, I must be out of the loop!
I didn't realize that the popularity of golf has been on the decline for almost two decades.
I played a lot of golf in my earlier life, taking up the game when I was about ten and improving to the point where I was seriously considering going on the pro tour in Europe, back when I was 19. Yes, I was actually good enough...
Fast forward to this local debate over whether or not a golf course is really the "highest and best use" for a fairly large tract of land, not too far from our downtown.
Many were arguing in favor of "losing the golf course" and replacing it with a dog park and some cottage and tiny house style affordable housing. Because housing is definitely not affordable, around here.
I had to put on my "research hat" for a moment to check out this notion that a golf course would seriously be in the line of fire as being obsolete,
As I read a number of articles, I also had to ask myself the poignant question as to why I stopped playing, some 25-odd years ago.
After which I had at least a somewhat better understanding as to why the "Royal and Ancient" game of golf is in decline.
Personally, I quit for two primary reasons:
One, I simply could no longer find the 6-7 hours needed to get ready, then go to the golf course, then be out there for four hours, then have a couple of beers with my friends before coming back home. Much as I enjoyed it, I simply didn't have the time.
Two, golf is expensive. And it was getting more and more expensive at a time when I needed to spend more and more time engaged in the base process of "making a living." So you had an activity that consumed the better part of a full day — that I thus could NOT spend earning — which was also getting more and more expensive, at a rate much faster that my pay grade was rising.
Those very same things were among the top reasons cited for the decline in golf's popularity.
My Stepdad played golf most of his life... but my stepdad also lived during an era where one earner in a family working 35-40 hours at a good stable job offered a good living, while I come from an era where two earners working 50 hours a week were needed for the same lifestyle.
In addition, golf is a slow game and thus not very popular in this our age of eternal "quickening" where the majority want things to happen faster and offer instant gratification. And the advent of smartphones have put another nail in that particular coffin...
I don't think it's really a case of golf itself having become obsolete and unpopular, but the world in which we live no longer supporting such a pastime... as we increasingly substitute quiet times with a 6lb Sunday paper with 30-word tweets and 30-second tiktok "news" updates.
Personally? I miss slower times... but I am not the maker of this world. I'm just hoping to not become too obsolete... like the game of golf!
Thanks for reading, and have a great week ahead!
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Created at 20220913 22:40 PDT
0650/1896
That’s really sad, because there’s more to a golf course than a casual game or two, it’s a “green” area in a landscape of urban growth. It’s an institution, too, and should be maintained for historical purposes as well. Perhaps it’s just me, but I’d hate to see a golf course repurposed for slap-dash houses.
It makes me feel sad, as well... but I also recognize that our world is changing, and golf perhaps represents an era that no longer "functions," much like grand manor houses with sweeping gardens.
If the city does end up ending the golf course project, I hope at least they will leave it as green space for future generations.
Did you ever watch George Carlin's classic take on golf courses?
On a related topic:
The same arguments can be made against lawns, especially in North America. They are not really 'green spaces'. They need to be artificially maintained. They demand human and natural resources that could be better used elsewhere. They are (it has been argued) a status symbol. Here's a little bit of lawn history (which you might already know).
I live in the Northeast (USA) and when first introduced to the idea of maintaining a lawn was stunned by the amount resources necessary. The concept of edging (cutting around the edges with a specialized tool) seemed particularly bizarre to me. I had grown up in a rural area where grass just grew. It would be cut occasionally in the front with a scythe😄.
You can see your casual blog today hit a note with me. As for being obsolete: the very fact that you can reflect on such matters shows your value. What would generations of people born after us do without such 'wisdom'? 😇 We (those of us who can remember Sputnik as part of lived experience rather than as history) are valuable, irreplaceable human artifacts.
My opinion: you don't need the golf course, but people do need a place to live.
Ah yes, I remember "Brother George" on golf courses!
Although I do recognize that the golf course is gradually growing "irrelevant," I can't help but also think of Joni Mitchell's classic "Big Yellow Taxi:"
Personally, I hate lawns and am a bit fan of the "grow, don't mow" initiative in nearby British Columbia — use your space to either grow food (we do, a little more, every year) or xeriscape it with native plants. In another 2-3 years, I hope to now even own a mower...
As for what they'll do here, I don't know. Whereas people do need places to live, our city council is substantially populated with California transplants and I don't entirely trust them to actually create affordable housing, rather than another slew of "luxury homes" nobody local can afford.
Thank you for Joni Mitchell :) I don't think I ever heard the words so clearly.
We're moving, if we can ever clear our current house of 48 years of accumulated stuff. New house I hope to start out fresh, with native plants, and a nice garden.
Good luck with the golf course. I wouldn't trust those transplants either.😇
Since no one in my family is into golfing, I hadn't given this subject any thought. I think my husband's brother used to play, but I don't know if he still does. It's too bad it has gotten so expensive, and I can see why today's microwave generation isn't interested in the game. Still, it seems a pity to just get rid of the golf course, unless the land can be maintained as a park.
After poking around in this topic for a bit, it seems that golf has become one of those pastimes that's making itself obsolete.
The last time I bought a set of golf clubs was in the early 1990's and it cost about $550.00 which I thought was a lot, at the time. A comparable set today would be about $2,000+/-. If we just used inflation for the past 30 years, that set should cost $1,150, in today's money. But it's almost double that... putting the game out of more people's reach.
And you're definitely right about the "microwave generation!"
@denmarkguy The economic aspect is important for some hobbies, as happened to you with golf.
Many times it happens that if you have time you don't have enough money to invest it in a hobby or something else. We continue to work and dream of the time when we can pool both resources: time and money.
In some ways it's all a sad reflection on the overall human condition: we have to work more and longer to be in the same situation as we were, 30 years ago. Given all the technology and robotics we have... that seems like the opposite of how things should have been working out...
That's how it is!