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
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