Golf and austerity

First topic message reminder :

Is it fair to say that the golfing world during the boom years built too many golf courses. Leading to many closing as a downturn hit? Add to that golfs own struggles in the modern world in that its a time consuming activity.

There will inevitably be downturns and upturns, golf courses will come and go cyclically over the long term as the popularity of the sport waxes and wanes.

A more recent alarming trend tho is that many munis are now scheduled for that chop. Muni’s are the lifeblood of grassroots golf if golf wants to appeal to the masses. They are generally cheaper and therefore naturally more accessible to a wider demographic. Cut away the availability of municipal courses and you cut away participation levels significantly and instead of growing and appealing to a wider audience golf retreats to a more exclusive income bracket.

Commercial reality is commercial reality though and so munis simply have to up their game, I’m delighted to belong to a club based on a more forward thinking municipal. It’s over 5 years now since the council leased out our course to a private operator to run. It’s not been perfect but...the course is now much better maintained and presented that it was. The golf academy based onsite is churning out promising and committed juniors, We have a big AG store onsite (above the driving range) and our membership is up. The place is basically thriving so I’d stick my neck out and say our local council got it spot on.

Now contrast that with the news I saw in the Ayrshire Post this week, in my old home county which has something like 9 municipal courses is earmarking several for closure including Belleisle considered by many to be one of the best munis in the country. The council is being forced to make over £9m in cuts and 5 of the golf courses are in the firing line. I’m sure we were told that austerity was now over but apparently not. South Ayrshire is absolutely steeped in golf, it must bring in significant revenues to the county. Somebody needs to give them a shake about being so short sighted. The thing is once a course goes, it ain’t coming back, Not sure about some of the others earmarked but not Belleisle, surely.

McLaren wrote:

super_realist wrote:

McLaren wrote:Super

When it comes up again, your comments above will serve as evidence of your racism. The brown women have beards trope is now considered racist.

Pathetic Mac. I see just as many white women with moustaches as I do Asian.

You might do, but what has that got to do with the brown women have beards insult you used? The offensiveness of the comment has nothing to do with actual studies of what body hair women have.

You wouldn't have cared if I said Arlene Foster had a moustache, because she's white and right wing, but because Sarkar is Asian and left wing then all of a sudden it's racist? You have zero consistency.

Looks like it's you who is actively looking for racism where there is none. Sarkar is just a really annoying woman who happens to have a moustache.

Do you also think Arlene has a moustache? I'm also not seeing that one either.

beninho wrote:Do you also think Arlene has a moustache? I'm also not seeing that one either.

I used her as an example of someone who Mac wouldn't dare to defend, but he leapt to the defence of Sarkar because she's more aligned with his political views, and because he manufactured some claim that because she's Asian, that reference to a moustache was racist.

Ok, so you used an example of something you wouldn't say to back up something you said. Makes sense.

I think this thread has met its end...