Coolest course I’ve ever been to is just through a forest in the mountains of southern Oregon. No chain link baskets, just coffee cans on a stick to shoot at. But man what an amazing place to spend the afternoon. A small river (not deep enough to lose your disc), up and then down a smallish hillside, huge trees trees fairly widely spaced. Maybe that kind of course is common in certain areas but all the ones by me are at manicured parks. Fun but not the same.
There are two courses locally that are at least partially baskets in the woods. There is another a bit farther away that is completely in the woods, and uses old tires for the baskets.
None of them have a golf-course style lawn though. At the most, just grass that gets occasionally mowed.
At least in my country every city, no matter how small, have some public football pitch. And almost every neighborhood have some mini pitch. I have no data, but I’m pretty sure that football sums way more area around the globe than golf.
I played golf for the first time recently, it’s not as boring as it looks… basically a fun way to be outside with friends and do something challenging.
The course I played on maintained the local geography and incorporated it into its holes. That made for a gorgeous landscape, and, as an example, one hole required a shot over a forested ravine, both a tricky shot, and a nice way to keep the natural landscape, flora, and fauna as intact as possible.
I confirmed that they only use non-drinkable water for irrigation, and there were no vast spans of grass, only patches that used to be empty land beforehand. That only made the course more challenging.
All in all, what I’m trying to say is that this sport can be done in a way that’s overall fine. Sure, replacing native flora with grass isn’t good but it’s ok if done in small patches and responsibly. Golf has become a symbol of classism but it’s something anyone can enjoy if they have access to it, it isn’t even particularly expensive. It isn’t great but, done morally, isn’t bad either.
And there is a risk in making it a symbol in that way: it makes for a wrong target and a waste of resources. Activists filling up holes makes a point but there’s much more important stuff to do. If you’re an environmentalist or an urbanist, cars and oil companies should be pretty much your only concern; golf courses can be dealt with later.
Golf courses actually see pretty frequent use; anybody who has played a public course on the weekend knows what it’s like to be constantly waiting to take your shot because the group in front of you is still putting, and the group behind is waiting to take their tee shot.
A much bigger waste of resources and land are the sterile suburban yards that barely get used at all.
I do wonder how much fertilizer runoff, herbicide use, etc the average golf course is responsible for
Fishing is an old way for introverts to be socially acceptable. Want some time alone with your thoughts? Go fishing. Doesn’t matter if you catch anything.
The thing about fishing for me is that it’s about exploring the lake and relaxing. It ain’t called “catching” for a reason.
But I don’t really do catch and release. I eat what I catch (provided it’s a legal size/species of course). I feel like catching fish just to catch them is kinda a dick move.
People don’t go out to the woods and shoot a deer in the leg and walk away. So why should we put a hook in a fish’s lip/throat just for giggles?
It’s super challenging, which I find fun. I like that I can slowly get better at it and watch myself progress but probably never really master it. Plus, it’s a really great way to get outside and do something with some friends or even some strangers.
I hate the elitist, racist, and sexist origins of the game but, like all bad ideas they’re becoming extinct. Sexism and racism have been pretty much eradicated from the sport compared to the time of it’s inception.
I play on courses that are reasonably priced and open to anyone and I have plenty of options. I’m not even remotely wealthy and neither are any of the people I play with. Equipment can be expensive but it doesn’t have to be.
Almost every passtime requires some space and often some level of infrastructure needs to be built and maintained. Think about swimming pools and hockey rinks, not to mention giant stadiums built for only a few professional teams to play in. Hardly anyone is mad about those things, and the list goes on.
I get hating the rich. I get hating something because it’s perceived as something that only rich people do but that’s not really the reality here. Sure, rich people play golf but only about a quarter of courses are private so maybe there are actually way more poors like me playing. What do you think?
Of course. You’re free to hate whatever you like. The point I’m trying to convey is just that golf is as worthy of a pass time as anything else regardless of how much space it takes up or the fact that some of the people who take part in it might be wealthy.
That’s not true, modern golf originated in Scotland where it’s considered a game for everybody and played a lot on public land. The most famous course in the world is closed every Sunday and becomes a public park for the day. The elitism came later, and fuck those guys.
Destroying the land isn’t really the issue, they choose flat terrain to avoid having to do the work. It’s the irrigation cost of keeping the greens functional in environments the grass isn’t suited for that’s the problem.
I don’t play golf but my neighbor does. Here in Appalachia where I am the golf course isn’t even remotely flat. They actually made a pretty interesting setup hidden behind trees.
I’ve seen golfers that really impressed me with their precision. I would imagine that if you’re good at it, it isn’t even remotely boring.
I grew up with Happy Gilmore being my only VHS tape for awhile though, so I’m sure I’m biased haha.
If it’s your game, do it. The people making these memes probably use computers that draw power created with coal and batteries mined in undeveloped and largely exploited nations. Their moral attempt at trying to make golf the one thing that needs to be focused on is just one of convenience because they don’t specifically like it.
Most of their hobbies are just as damaging if your scope of economics goes out a couple of layers.
Sorry the sentence didn’t really make sense in hindsight.
Essentially people love to point out other people’s hobbies when they’re damaging the environment but conveniently leave out all of the ways their particular hobbies do the same.
It’s easy to say “insert thing here is bad!” When you don’t partake in it, which is why a community of mostly computer nerds bitches about sports. It’s an easy target since they don’t have a personal stake.
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