Dinner on the patio? First, hold the stench...

[John Kavanaugh]

In the following article it is mentioned that engineers have developed ways to minimize the impact of building downwind but the economic realities discourage implementation. What have golf courses done or can do when in need of a life waft?


https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/dinner-on-the-patio-first-hold-the-stench

[JESII]

20 years ago there was a course in Florida with a pig slaughterhouse next to one of the fairways...I've not been back

[John Kavanaugh]

I've really enjoyed this article on setbacks.


https://www.nationalhogfarmer.com/mag/farming_setting_setback


I would think that many a clubhouse in the beginnings of the game were placed relative to the proximity of agriculture processes.

[Tim Leahy]

I have been told to avoid Goose Creek near Norco in So Cal because of the smell.

[John Kavanaugh]

I was reared on a superfund site so I know a stink before it gets stunk. To digress...The finest smelling course I have ever played is Quail Creek, site of the now defunct Heath Open in Robinson, Illinois. Home of the Heath bar. A heavenly miss of chocolate and toffee that melts in your mouth as the sensory crunch of brittle sugar tickles the inner ear.  In laymen’s terms: It smells great.


The second finest smell I ever experienced was Riviera after a morning rain. A quick hard storm brings the eucalyptus trees alive.


What are your roses?


 

[Colin Macqueen]

Ach John,
The sea-salt tang coming off the Tay estuary as you whack your ball down Burnside/Carnoustie fairways is a very fond memory,
Cheers Colin

[Peter Sayegh]

Hanah in NY gets my rose.

There's a "freshness" there I haven't experienced anywhere else.
Most jarring olfactory experience will always be Ocotillo 1991. First time I heard the term "reclaimed water."

[MCirba]

The first course I ever played has a lumber yard right next door.   Depending on the season, that smell could be comforting or a bit rank.   I sign up for an annual membership each year, mostly to help support their junior program, but when I play there these days the scent certainly takes me back in time.

[BCrosby]

Not sure it's still a problem, but years ago - when the wind was right - you could not escape the rotten egg smell of the massive paper mills in Brunswick on the Sea Island courses.


Bob

[Eric Smith]

When I played North Berwick there was a strong earthy odor on the wind from the fields above the golf course being turned over. I loved that smell.

[Bruce Katona]

JK: If you relished the olfactory pleasures in playing Quail Creek in Illinois; on your next trip east when the weather is better stop and do any overnight at The Hershey Lodge in PA.  1 st class hotel and very good golf.


PS: The nose will love it.

[John Kavanaugh]

JK: If you relished the olfactory pleasures in playing Quail Creek in Illinois; on your next trip east when the weather is better stop and do any overnight at The Hershey Lodge in PA.  1 st class hotel and very good golf.


PS: The nose will love it.

Started out the morning with a cigar, coffee and a chilled Hersey bar. No almonds. Should be a great day.

[Tim Martin]

JK: If you relished the olfactory pleasures in playing Quail Creek in Illinois; on your next trip east when the weather is better stop and do any overnight at The Hershey Lodge in PA.  1 st class hotel and very good golf.


PS: The nose will love it.

Started out the morning with a cigar, coffee and a chilled Hersey bar. No almonds. Should be a great day.

Was a Hershey with almonds at your disposal?

[Jeff Kallberg]

The most olfactorily-challenged course in Southeast Pennsylvania may be Inniscrone GC in Avondale:  it's very close to a number of mushroom farms, the smell of which might challenge that of a hog farm.

[John Kavanaugh]

JK: If you relished the olfactory pleasures in playing Quail Creek in Illinois; on your next trip east when the weather is better stop and do any overnight at The Hershey Lodge in PA.  1 st class hotel and very good golf.


PS: The nose will love it.

Started out the morning with a cigar, coffee and a chilled Hersey bar. No almonds. Should be a great day.

Was a Hershey with almonds at your disposal?

I don’t like the feel of almond against my teeth before breakfast. It’s an afternoon snack.

[Buck Wolter]

My home course in St Louis was Gateway National -- you'd think the giant landfill to the east would be the worst part but there was also a rendering plant just off the west side of the property. On a hot St Louis day with a westerly wind it could make you gag.


Can't recommend the course enough though -- hidden gem Keith Foster design that gets underrated on Illinois lists. Master class in designing interest on a dead flat piece of property.

[John Kavanaugh]

What are some of the best and worst sounds you hear on the course?


I’m lucky enough to experience various sounds of Disney at Tranqullo. My favorite is the toot of the ferry. 

[Peter Pallotta]

The toot of a ferry sounds lovely.

My best is the freight train whistle I heard at my previous 'home club'; the worst is the shotgun blasts from the nearby rifle club-shooting range I hear at my current home club.

Nothing says 'not golf' to me more than gun shots, especially that particularly diffuse/scattered sound that a 12 gauge makes.

[John Kavanaugh]

The same Quail Creek that smelled delicious also serenaded us with high school marching band practice. Many a motivational tune.

[Lou_Duran]

I have always enjoyed mixing some out-of-the-way courses that get little attention with a few big names.  Garden City, KS suggests green landscapes, nice trees, water features, fresh, natural air.  Not!  Two courses there, Southwind CC and Buffalo Dunes GC, are located south of town, the former about 3 miles due north of the latter.  A series of large feed lots are just the west of BDGC.  The wind blowing briskly from the south during the warm months and on the days in question, the smell was marginally bearable at BDGC; not so much at SCC to the north.  Maybe the locals get used to it.  Both courses are good; BDGC is a bit of a hidden gem and very inexpensive.  The smell definitely left a lasting impression.     

[Bruce Katona]

JK:

The most unique sound that I've experienced in a bit on the golf curse is when you play an outing at The Picatinny Arsenal military course off Rt. 15 in Wharton, NJ.


When the Army says its a shotgun start, it a shotgun start with the blast coming from a 155MM Howitzer.

[Pete_Pittock]

Emerald Valley (OR) has the sweet smell of peppermint (which best grows near 45th parallel). Best smelt whilst looking for balls on slope to the pond on the 6th

[Mike_Young]

Check so many of the large cities. The  SE corridor was a lower socioeconomic area due to the manufacturing facilities of the early 20th century and before using smoke stacks...the prevailing winds made it tough to the SE...