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Very few people realise how environmentally devastating this game is.

⁨2058⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨STRIKINGdebate2@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/70755e89-e85c-460e-aa0b-a0571c1548ae.jpeg

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Comments

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  • Lophostemon@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    The original game as invented by bored semi-drunk Scots was, I’m sure, a good laugh several hundred years ago with wee sticks and a random round thing.

    The modern game and all its hideous capitalist/ classist cultural connotations is fucked.

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    • Mr_Fish@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      The original game as invented by bored semi-drunk Scots was, I’m sure, a good laugh several hundred years ago with wee sticks and a random round thing.

      Robin Williams did a great bit on this.

      youtu.be/14NQIq4SrmY?si=kv-5NtoSsdtBs3p0

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      • Lophostemon@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Thanks I’ll have a look.

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    • Aux@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Tell me that you’re poor without telling me that you’re poor.

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      • dorron@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Tell me you’re an asshole without telling me you’re an asshole.

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      • FlyingSquid@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        How dare someone be poor! Anyone who makes that choice is doing it to be offensive!

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      • mriormro@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Why does it matter if they’re poor or not?

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      • Sharkwellington@lemmy.one ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        For someone who spends so much time talking about growing up in poverty, this is a surprisingly callous thing to say.

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      • vivadanang@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        tell me you’re a classist prick with more money than sense, oh no, wait, you’ve already done so.

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    • Diprount_Tomato@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Cope harder

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    • gibs@lemmy.nz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I have it on good authority that golf was in fact invented by Bandrobas Took during the Battle of Greenfields.

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  • Krotz@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Well, I recently learned of the existence of Excel competitions, so I’m not sure about the ‘most boring’ part.

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    • atlasraven31@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Some people really excel at spreadsheets.

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      • rmuk@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Jus’ gonna leave this here:

        youtu.be/xubbVvKbUfY

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    • funnystuff97@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      If you don’t see the beauty in the orchestrated beauty of Excel macros and formulae, then there’s no helping you.

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      • LetterboxPancake@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        What about VBA? Remote data? Python?

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    • HowManyNimons@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Nope, this is better than golf.

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    • FlyingSquid@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I don’t know if there still are, but back when you texted on a 12-button phone keyboard, there were texting competitions.

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  • paddirn@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Mini-golf is actually kind of fun.

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    • CosmicCleric@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Mini-golf is actually kind of fun.

      It’s a lot of fun, and you don’t need any nukes to enjoy it either.

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      • WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Maybe not need…

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      • HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Speak for yourself

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    • Cringe2793@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Mini golf is superior and should be the default golf. As in, it shouldn’t have a descriptor. It should just be called golf.

      And what is called golf now should be called big golf or field golf or something like that to show how nonsensical it is.

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    • frezik@midwest.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Most of the times I played it, my group is enjoying themselves on holes 1-5, is getting tired of being held up by the group in front of us for holes 6-12, and is getting noticeably bored by hole 13, but feel like we have to finish it. It’s a game that starts fun and becomes obligation.

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    • ericatty@infosec.pub ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I’m told Top Golf is fun too.

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  • cyborganism@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Not just that, but I found a few golf courses in my city where natural habitats used to be. These place could have easily been changed into nature parks for the local residents to go wind down a bit, but noooOOOooo. Some rich assholes had to buy the land and destroy the ecosystem so they could whack a ball around some fucking grass into a little hole.

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    • Tangent5280@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Would there be a difference to the sport if a part of the land was just left natural? I expect it would make the sport more interesting, atleast to the spectators.

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      • cyborganism@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        It was invented in Scotland. Where there’s grass everywhere and almost no trees. Why not just play in natural landscapes that are suited for the game?

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  • Fraylor@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Wait until you hear about the laws in place that guarantee them access to water their fields no matter the drought. Nobody has heard of an unkempt golf course.

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  • Blackmist@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    The golf course near me has spent the last month about a foot underwater.

    I have never been so smug. I hope it’s ruined.

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  • dirtbiker509@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    IMO, rectangle sports are the most boring sports in existence. It’s literally a rectangle and always a rectangle every time… And everyone stands around watching the exact same shit happening inside the perfectly constructed rectangle. It’s the same thing, over and over. Not only that but millions of people say they love sports, but they don’t even play, just stare at a glowy rectangle and watch people in a rectangle run around. You can’t define a more boring sport than that. At the very bare minimum, to spice things up, how about introducing some goddamn obstacles randomly placed in the rectangle. Add some actual dynamic scenarios that keep the players on their toes and trying to come up with new strategies.

    Motocross and enduro racing are sports and so is golf. Golf courses are all different, they unique, dynamic change depending on temperature, weather, grass length, wind, dew point, hole location.

    But I do agree in general, golf courses are very big waste. Especially when placed in the middle of deserts or places that require significant resources to maintain.

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    • Cylusthevirus@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Dude you can describe anything this way to make it sound boring, but that doesn't even get close to reality and I think you know that deep down. I don't even like sports and this is a senselessly reductive way of framing the discussion.

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      • VicentAdultman@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        IMO, rectangle phone screens are the most boring screens in existence. It’s literally a rectangle and always a rectangle every time… And everyone hold it around watching the exact same shit happening inside the perfectly constructed rectangle. It’s the same thing, over and over. Not only that but millions of people say they love their phone, but they don’t even post, just stare at a glowy rectangle and watch people in a rectangle posts around. You can’t define a more boring screen than that. At the very bare minimum, to spice things up, how about introducing some goddamn obstacles randomly placed in the rectangle. Add some actual dynamic scenarios that keep the owners on their toes and trying to come up with new strategies.

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    • CoggyMcFee@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Soccer friends are affected by temperature, weather, state of grass, wind, etc. too. So are football and baseball fields. Baseball fields are all unique. Cricket fields are round.

      That said, there are obstacles in those identical rectangles. But unlike golf, these obstacles can move and think! They are called opponents and believe it or not, they can often be more dynamic than a tree or pond!

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    • Restaldt@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Yeah i might enjoy soccer if plyers got to run around with roman candles firing them at each other

      Goalies get three mortar shells per match

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      • ryathal@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Soccer just needs to adopt some rules from hockey and it would be more entertaining.

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      • SharpieThunderflare@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Like what happened in Pasadena, 1994.

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    • Saltblue@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Golf courses are all different, they unique, dynamic change depending on temperature

      Oh my god the ball goes in the hole, such complexity noooo my brain is going to explodeeeeeee.

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    • 0xD@infosec.pub ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I’m not a fan of watching sports myself, but you’re ignoring a big part of it: The strategy behind it and its execution. But apart from that, I think most people just want to feel like a part of something and cheering on a team is an easy way to do that.

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    • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      You just gave me an idea…

      Soccer on a square field, four teams playing against one another, scoring in the nets closest to yours gives one point, in the net facing yours gives 2 points. Imagine the chaos!

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    • Hangglide@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Aussie rules football is all that you describe, but on an oval.

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  • arc@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Las Vegas has something like 70 golf courses wasting inordinate amounts of water. Of course most houses also have outside private swimming pools tool.

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    • PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Vegas actually is a poor example, they have excellent water management policy even in spite of what is typically considered wasteful. Being so far down the Colorado River Basin kinda made being experts on the subject a necessity.

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      • arc@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Of course it has excellent water management because otherwise they’d run out. Doesn’t mean that everyone having pools and so many golf courses is anyway defensible, or doesn’t put insane stress on the supply.

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      • zeppo@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Right. Lake Mead is sure looking lovely these days.

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  • Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Golf is boring to watch. But for most players it is a social game. It’s like going to a bar with a few friends, but getting a little exercise. And they don’t do a ton of leveling. Costs too much, and using the land the way it is, is what makes a course unique and interesting.

    That said, it would be easy to find a sport that destroys more natural land. Ever see a football, baseball or soccer stadium… including all the parking. Then realize how many baseball fields their are in america (or soccer fields in other countries). They are several times the number of golf courses, and they all need more parking each than one golf course.

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    • baked_tea@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      More than leveling the ground, watering it is the main environmental issue

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      • Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        it’s really not in a large part of the country. In a desert sure. But even there they take measures like using recycled water and not pottable water and such. And of course agriculture makes every other water use pale in comparison.

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    • Witchfire@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Golf courses use a shit ton of water, especially in areas where grass isn’t supposed to fuckin grow

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      • Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        yes in the desert they do. But most courses aren’t in the desert. Plenty used to only water the greens in the middle of the summer in the northeast where I grew up. People usualy picture only the high end golf courses. Most are not that. Some used to just shut down for a while if it got too dry rather than water.

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    • KingJalopy@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      There are 15,500 golf courses in America.

      There are just over 900 stadiums in America.

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      • interceder270@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        I think his point about the damage environmental damage golf courses cause pale in comparison to other sports that need arenas.

        Have you seen a golf course? Most of them aren’t made from scratch to fit some grand vision. They’re usually set up working with the environment rather than against it.

        I’ve been fishing on an old golf course that’s no longer in use and it was mostly the same except the grass wasn’t cut as low. Great outdoors spot for families.

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    • Blackmist@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Size of Old Trafford Football Stadium and all parking nearby: 208 hectares.

      Size of my local small golf club: 533 hectares.

      And that’s one of the largest stadiums in the country, vs one of many, many golf courses.

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      • Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        That is an absurdly massive golf club. Nowhere near average.

        asgca.org/faq-how-much-land-do-i-need-to-build-a-…

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    • zeppo@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I guess having absolutely no idea what the fuck you’re talking about has benefits.

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      • Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Nice job adding nothing to the discussion. Go back to reddit, they miss you.

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  • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    every golf course could be a lovely botanical garden/park or arboretum, with little paths every which way and carefully crafted scenery to make you feel like you’re inside a disney movie

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    • BastingChemina@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      wpid-dgladeau_0113_0748

      You see this?

      I used to hike along the coast there quite regularly but someone decided it was much better to turn the whole thing into a gulf course and to illegally block access to locals.

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    • vivadanang@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING ON EACH SIDE. Seattle estimated they could solve the housing crisis by closing a handful of their muni courses (leaving multiple municipal and a dozen private courses in the area) and building medium density housing there.

      theurbanist.org/…/unlike-seattle-golf-really-is-d…

      It’s a waste of space otherwise.

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    • zalgotext@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Most of the golf courses near me are pretty much this - densely forested areas with meticulously landscape little gardens, which happens to have some holes built in.

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      • Rodeo@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        A lawn is not a garden.

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    • Death_Equity@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      This.

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      • STRIKINGdebate2@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Please. For the love God don’t let this lazy comment cliché migrate to here.

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  • Alterecho@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    As an environmentalist, fuck Kentucky bluegrass, fuck golf, and fuck lawns while we’re at it

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    • Jazsta@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I agree lawns are dumb but from an environmental perspective they can be net carbon sinks, which I found surprising. Though they are still bad for other environmental reasons.

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      • Fraylor@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Hey fuck environmental diversity, we’ve got carbon sinks.

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      • Aceticon@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Nothing can sink any more carbon than its weight plus any bits that fall or get taken and don’t rot. Worse, for most plants most of the weight is water, not carbon-containing organic compounds.

        So lawns might be “net” carbon sinks compared to the extreme case of leaving the ground bare, but only whilst they’re growing (they don’t really retain any additional carbon after grown and any grass mowned will just return the carbon back to the air when it rots and a lot of it will be Methane, a worse greehouse gas than CO2) and they’re a lot worse at it per unit of area than, say, trees or even just the natural ground cover in just about any land environment but desert.

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      • Alterecho@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        I mean if you want to talk about sequestering carbon, there’s all sorts of natural lawn options that aren’t actively planting an invasive species that has proven to be really bad at doing any sort of water filtration or absorption. In fact, I’d wager that planning (and letting grow) prairie or whatever your native biome supports probably sequesters more carbon, assuming your native ecosystems aren’t straight up desert. If they are, you’re now using so much less water that it’s a huge net win there.

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  • Ghost33313@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Devil's advocate, in a dense suburban setting it keeps that land from being paved over and turned into a commercial zone. But when it is in a rural setting, absolutely.

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  • Death_Equity@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I don’t care for golf and wish golf courses were better used spaces, but the thing about golf that makes it interesting is the meditative practice of being able to swing the club in just the right way to make the ball go where it needs to.

    I like archery and you have the same sort of thing going on there. You have to have your positioning, movements, focus, and smoothness of action to hit the target. You can tell how you failed before the arrow hits the target. Working on fine tuning your actions is enjoyable.

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  • greedytacothief@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I live in upstate New York, just about every town has a golf course. I personally love the game, but I honestly don’t think their that bad for the environment up here. For many people it’s their third place.

    Like we get plenty of rain, and most I’ve been to are nestled near the edge of the forests. The APA regulates the shit out of what you can do. And it’s really not much of a waste of land. If I want to go for a hike or trail run, I have dozens within biking distance and maybe even 100 within 30 minutes of driving.

    It’s farms and their cow shit fertilizer releasing gass and it’s runoff polluting the watershed that’s doing the most damage around here. But like I say, the APA does a pretty good job most of the time.

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  • FlyingSquid@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I live in Indiana, so there’s (generally) no shortage of rain. The golf courses in this town still water the entire grass of the course every day. Even if it rained the day before. Even if it’s raining right then and there. There aren’t water shortages here, but what a waste.

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  • Renacles@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I just don’t understand the need for so many courses, I played golf as a kid on the same one for 10 years, the local environment allowed it to maintain itself for the most part.

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  • MedicPigBabySaver@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Golf is so bloody damn stupid.

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  • Draedron@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Golfers play baseball?

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  • 0Xero0@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Americans: What the fuck is “kilometers”?

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  • Hikermick@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Golf is a dying sport. Courses where I live have been closing, some have been turned into parks

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  • Touching_Grass@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    The problem is its not worth the fight. Its an issue that’s for sure pushed by fossil fuel industry because how many people you will piss off. It’s devastating but if you want action on this you need to actually ignore it for now and instead get golfers to see it themselves in other ways.

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  • penquin@lemmy.kde.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    It’s a sport?

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  • root_beer@midwest.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Two golf courses nearby have closed down and are being rehabilitated by the National Park that claimed the land or however they got it. IIRC one of them was family-owned for four generations, but the last owner was in his mid-twenties and got in way over his head, and committed suicide on one of the greens.

    Sucks about the circumstances, but otherwise I love to see it

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  • dropped_the_chief@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Hectares or acres

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  • clot27@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    They dont level tho, I saw some of them playing with pond in between💀

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  • vonbaronhans@midwest.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    So… I actually really like golf. I think it’s fun. Haven’t played in over a decade, but I look back on my memories playing pretty fondly.

    That said, I have zero issue recovering a lot of that lost land and water usage to put them to better use.

    I’d be very interested to see a version of golf that is less ecologically destructive and less water intensive.

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  • dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    The only benefit to society I can see for golf is that it provides a reliable source of consistent standardized ammunition for my golf ball cannon.

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  • UnfairUtan@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Lets replace golf courses with mini-golfs and parks!

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  • Simulation6@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    A good walk spoiled and they won’t even let you walk on a number of courses. Have to use the little electric cars.

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