Golf courses use a shit ton of water, especially in areas where grass isn’t supposed to fuckin grow
Comment on Very few people realise how environmentally devastating this game is.
Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 11 months 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.
Witchfire@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 11 months 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.
KingJalopy@lemm.ee 11 months ago
There are 15,500 golf courses in America.
There are just over 900 stadiums in America.
interceder270@lemmy.world 11 months 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.
KingJalopy@lemm.ee 11 months ago
I thought he was just saying there’s way more stadiums than there are golf courses and that would be incorrect. I don’t have a problem with golf courses except for the excessive amount of water they seem to waste.
Blackmist@feddit.uk 11 months 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.
Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 11 months ago
That is an absurdly massive golf club. Nowhere near average.
Blackmist@feddit.uk 11 months ago
Hang on, I’ve got my decimal point one over. For some reason I thought a hectare was 1,000m², and it’s 10,000m².
So 20.8 vs 53.3 hectares.
But a basic bog-standard golf club is still over twice the size of one of the largest football stadiums in the country.
zeppo@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I guess having absolutely no idea what the fuck you’re talking about has benefits.
Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Nice job adding nothing to the discussion. Go back to reddit, they miss you.
zeppo@lemmy.world 11 months ago
This entire thread is a blight on Lemmy. One of the seriously most shitty and disturbing things I’ve seen on the system.
baked_tea@lemmy.world 11 months ago
More than leveling the ground, watering it is the main environmental issue
Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 11 months 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.
afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Agriculture is food. We need food. We don’t really need a way for a bunch of Wall Street bailouts queens to have a social activity.
Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 11 months ago
The vast majority of golfers are regular people. Teachers, and people who do shift work have free time during the normal workday are some. Retires from all sorts of jobs are the rest of the majority. Most golf courses aren’t as fancy as you see on tv, and they don’t actually cost that much to play on. Wall street bailouts would never be caught dead on the average golf course.
Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 11 months ago
sure we need food. But the way we water it is one of the more inefficient ways possible. But it is inexpensive. They could use almost 80% less water than they do. If you are worried about water use, start there. ag.umass.edu/vegetable/…/irrigation-drip#:~:text=….