What golf can do without

[MCirba]

I assume by "death penalty" you mean being sent off the course at 4 hours and not a literal firing squad.

Hmmm...decisions, decisions. 

[David_Tepper]

Old timers who whine about how much better the game was in "the good old days."

[Buck Wolter]

Early AM 5 Somes

[Matt MacIver]

Grass islands in sand bunkers. 


75%+ of all trees. 


3+ bunkers per hole. 


Bunkers surrounded by rough vs. fairway. 


Rough over the top of bunkers which limits aggressive play vs. mown fairway over bunkers. 

[MCirba]

Early AM 5 Somes

Early AM 5 Somes


Fixed it for you, Buck. 

[Niall C]

Continued increasing environmental restrictions. There has to be a middle ground, but it is so far left hard to see it swinging back to even the middle.

Jeff


It's unfortunate that you see and look to characterize environmental issues as being party political.


Niall

[A.G._Crockett]

Old timers who whine about how much better the game was in "the good old days."

Perfect! 

[Ira Fishman]

As one of those old timers, I offer:


Range finders


Aim Point


And not a nostalgic suggestion:


Rakes in bunkers

[Ian Mackenzie]

Here's one I was remiss in not mentioning earlier.


Whenever a "patron", fan, spectator or golf event attendee utters, yells, screams or even says:


- You da man!


- Mashed potatos!


- BaBa-booie


- Light the candle!


...They are immediately removed from the event and barred from returning for 2 years after first providing a note from their parents that they wont do it again.

[Steve_Lovett]

Beverage Carts
Plastic Tees
Phone chargers on golf carts
Golf courses in the middle of residential subdivisions
Barber poles at 150 yards
Bulkheaded lakes
Breakfast balls
Trees and landforms for "framing"

[John Kavanaugh]

I’ve been an itinerant asshole for longer than most of you have been alive. And, I still don’t get why so many of you choose to get angry about what other golfers enjoy. It’s not a choice I would recommend.

[Kevin_Reilly]

Cart paths.  My club (Orinda CC) is built on horrible clay soils in a usual damp spot of the Bay Area, but under the guidance of architect Todd Eckenrode (and frequent help from Brett Hochstein) and superintendent/genius Josh Smith we have eliminated perhaps 65% (conservative guess) of cart paths on the course.  All without impacting 12-month cart access.  Sand and drainage improvements, one hole at a time.


Best for all is the elimination of the worst thing to hear at the shop (aside from "greens aerated" or "frost delay") which was "cart path only".


If Orinda can do it, on a modest budget, any course can also do it.

[Mike_Clayton]

Ball washers.
Abundant in Australia. Do they still have them in the US?

[Cal Seifert]

I'll say rakes. I enjoyed playing during early Covid and using no rakes. Just smooth with your feet.

[Will Lozier]

LIV

[David Kelly]

Ball washers.
Abundant in Australia. Do they still have them in the US?

Rapidly disappearing, which I am grateful for, but what I am not grateful for is the disappearing bench.

[Jay Mickle]

Carts (exceptions limited to health and poor design for walking) .

[David_Tepper]

Sorry, but I don't get (or agree with) the anti-ball washer sentiment. Playing in the SF Bay Area, where the courses are wet/damp/soft and sometimes muddy for the much of the year, golf balls can get dirty on almost every hole. I would rather not carry a dripping wet muddy towel on my golf bag.

[Charlie Goerges]

Sorry, but I don't get (or agree with) the anti-ball washer sentiment. Playing in the SF Bay Area, where the courses are wet/damp/soft and sometimes muddy for the much of the year, golf balls can get dirty on almost every hole. I would rather not carry a dripping wet muddy towel on my golf bag.

Agreed! I use them whenever they’re available.

[Mike_Clayton]

Sorry, but I don't get (or agree with) the anti-ball washer sentiment. Playing in the SF Bay Area, where the courses are wet/damp/soft and sometimes muddy for the much of the year, golf balls can get dirty on almost every hole. I would rather not carry a dripping wet muddy towel on my golf bag.

Fair enough -then just on sandy courses where there is never any mud?
Case by case?

[Sean_A]

Reading the top100 sustainability thread - https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,72545.0.html - does kinda ask the question "what golf can do without".
Thoughts and things that are done that the game can do without?
atb

The one thought that came to my mind while browsing the list was revetted bunkers. Whenever I see videos of the work and amount of sodding needed to create a revetted bunker wall, I think it's such a shame to waste perfectly good turf sods on such an artifical construction. I also think they look totally unnatural and look out of place on links courses.


Don't get me wrong, I think the workmanship and effort put in to creating revetted bunkers is very impressive, but I just feel that there must be a better and more sustainable method of maintaining bunkers on links courses. RCD (which was included in the list for this very reason) and Royal Dublin don't have revetted bunkers, so why don't others follow suit. We've become so used to them that it would be difficult to transition to a more environmentally friendly alternative. Besides, many courses are synonymous with pot bunkers; take them away and these courses would become teethless. A start would be to use wooden planks - as seen at the European Club - for shallower bunkers, but I'm not sure how you'd replace the sodded wall on deeper bunkers like the Road Hole bunker.

Donal


Can't agree. A nicely weathered and partially degraded revetted bunker looks like it should belong on a links course. Indeed, hard to imagine a links without revetted bunkers in some form although I confess to never having been to either RCD or Royal Dublin. Neither do I think timber shuttering looks anymore natural and as Adam says is inherently dangerous.


If I have a gripe about revetted bunkers it is the modern thinking that they have to be redone every few years. I'm pretty sure they didn't get redone nearly as often than they do now. I blame that on TOC holding the Open every 5 years.


Niall

I am not a fan of revetted bunkers, but understand that they make sense in certain locations because of wind. Never understood why there can’t be a mix of styles. I think Castle Stuart demonstrated that it can work. Like Niall, to me revetted bunkers come into their own when eroding. They are repaired too quickly. No issue with with sleepers either. Angle them properly and there isn’t a danger.

Don’t like nearly all course furniture and extra stuff. Includes cart paths, ball washers, benches, tee pots, green fans, etc.

Ciao

[MCirba]

Carts (exceptions limited to health and poor design for walking) .

Ding Ding Ding!!!


We have a winner.   The ugliness and placements of cart paths aside, carts do immeasurable damage to courses.

[Mike Wagner]

Continued increasing environmental restrictions. There has to be a middle ground, but it is so far left hard to see it swinging back to even the middle.

Jeff


It's unfortunate that you see and look to characterize environmental issues as being party political.


Niall

Really? Yep, most of us think it would make more sense for it to be non political, but it is. The left has made it that way, unfortunately. Most of us would like for them to be separate, but the left just won't do that. So, if I gave you ten million bucks to say which political party has lost it's mind on rules / regulations / .. would you be a able to answer the question? Or would you say it's a shame I'd even ask the question?

[MCirba]

Science denial isn't good for any political party or any citizens of this world.   

[Sean_A]

Carts (exceptions limited to health and poor design for walking) .

Ding Ding Ding!!!


We have a winner.   The ugliness and placements of cart paths aside, carts do immeasurable damage to courses.

I don’t mind carts if well regulated. Meaning a certain number permitted and if the weather doesn’t allow for carts, then no carts.


Ciao