Back in 1971, just before my 13th birthday, I began playing the game.

At the time, it seemed that almost every course I played had benches on at least several of the tees.  

They varied in nature, from simple wood slats, propped up by cinderblocks, to sturdy, ample, concrete legged, smoothly painted things of beauty.

In any case, they seemed to me to be as much a part of the natural golf scene as the ball washer, both of which usually existed on the SINGLE teeing ground for each hole.

In thinking about it, I can't recall the last time I've seen a bench on a golf course.

Please tell me I'm wrong.   To me, they seemed to be among the most vital signs of a civilized and noble populace;  indeed, they were a sort of refuge from the furious onslaught of external stimuli coming at each of us continually in our daily lives.

They seemed to say; come friend...tarry a while longer...if your burden is heavy, rest.   If your wait is tedious, sit and relax.   If you're among friends and the course is uncrowded, linger here a moment longer and absorb the shared moment.

Are they all gone?  

I'm hoping this thread will take off and identify great benches in the game that still exist and provide comfort and idyllic, Thoreaunian splendor to current and future generations of golfers.

I'm hoping to hear...in an age when we have courses built with NASCAR banked tracks rushing golfers along their way as if to some desirous final destination, that somewhere still there exists the attitude that says, simply;

We want you to be here because we know that you know how fortunate you are to spend time on our little piece of earth.

Mike

Benches are "alive" and well in the UK.  In fact they are growing like wildflowers as more affluent golfers die and their spawn part with some of their inheritance to fulfill their ancestor's last wishes.  We still need more of them as play gets slower and slower and we get older and older.

At Southerndown, in Wales, they have memorial sheep gates, keeping those wooly idiots away from the clubhouse.  I ask you, and others, "What would be the appropriate memorial for you at your club?"

Rich
.

Mike,

I am pleased to report that benches still exist at your local favorite, Limekiln GC. I'll take a picture of some on my next visit.

We've still got them at my club. But the percentage of walkers is pretty high here.

We've even managed to see that there are a few on forward tees--though not all, to my wife's consternation.

Ken

I hadn't thought about it before, but Adam has to be right. It's the carts.

The bigger mystery to me is why there are no benches or chairs at our practice tee.  

Bob

Squire:
Photography?

Man:
Snap snap, grin grin, wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more?

Squire:
Holiday snaps, eh?

Man:
They could be, they could be taken on holiday.
Benches, you know, BENCHES!

Squire:
No, no I'm afraid we don't have a camera.

Man:
Oh.
(leeringly)
Still, mooooooh, ay? Mwoohohohohoo, ay? Hohohohohoho, ay?

AT my HC we play so fast noone has time to sit down! (Yeah, right.)

Mike, you are correct- benches lend an air of gentility to a course. They are a reminder that golf is a pasttme, not a vocation. And they are disappearing.

One course near where I live has a number of benches made of field stone and concrete, built by the WPA during the depression. Similar benches can be found here and there where walkers and others (the course is in a city park) can stop and watch the golf for a while. Occasionally I stop in a favorite spot to watch, have a coffee and do a crossword puzzle.

I personally favor a rustic wooden number that one or two people can carry over to the nearest shade tree- oh, wait, trees on courses are verboten now! No shade for you!

Cost cutting and having to move/mow around benches may contribute to courses foregoing  benches. True customer service there!

Adam,

Stop stealing my ideas (see my original post on this thread).  And then on top of that, Bob Crosby quotes you and not me.  What the heck?  Must be a Rebel-Yankee thing going on  

My personal favorite (with proper credit to Aidan Bradley):

Quote from: MPCirba on May 05, 2007, 12:48:58 AM

Back in 1971, just before my 13th birthday, I began playing the game.

At the time, it seemed that almost every course I played had benches on at least several of the tees.  

They varied in nature, from simple wood slats, propped up by cinderblocks, to sturdy, ample, concrete legged, smoothly painted things of beauty.

In any case, they seemed to me to be as much a part of the natural golf scene as the ball washer, both of which usually existed on the SINGLE teeing ground for each hole.

In thinking about it, I can't recall the last time I've seen a bench on a golf course.

Please tell me I'm wrong.   To me, they seemed to be among the most vital signs of a civilized and noble populace;  indeed, they were a sort of refuge from the furious onslaught of external stimuli coming at each of us continually in our daily lives.

They seemed to say; come friend...tarry a while longer...if your burden is heavy, rest.   If your wait is tedious, sit and relax.   If you're among friends and the course is uncrowded, linger here a moment longer and absorb the shared moment.

Are they all gone?  

I'm hoping this thread will take off and identify great benches in the game that still exist and provide comfort and idyllic, Thoreaunian splendor to current and future generations of golfers.

I'm hoping to hear...in an age when we have courses built with NASCAR banked tracks rushing golfers along their way as if to some desirous final destination, that somewhere still there exists the attitude that says, simply;

We want you to be here because we know that you know how fortunate you are to spend time on our little piece of earth.

Mike,

I'll tell you why they are missing. After Mike Strantz finished the Shore course some misguided soul on a committee thought that the benches and ball washers disturbed the aesthetics of, or were a distraction from the stunning look of the new venue and eliminated them.

The club has an active Walker programme yet no provision is made for them to take rest while waiting to tee off. Riders have their own ball and club washers on the carts.

If any one can find  better natural benches that Cypress Point I have yet to see them.

Bob

saying benches distrub aesthetics makes about as much sense to me as saying pull carts do ...especially when the same course allows golf carts

Mike, yours and Shiv's posts today on another thread make me think you guys are getting burned out!...perhaps a vacation with some golf and relaxation time is in order!

and the course I played in Chicagoland yesterday had LOTS of benches!

Mike,

Yale has benches which are a welcome respite after some of those climbs.

On the other hand, 5 sets of tees spread over 75 yards on some courses may have contributed to their demise.

Apologies to Pete Seeger.

Where have all the benches gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the benches gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the benches gone?
Golfers have sat on them every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the benches gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the benches gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the benches gone?
Golfers using carts every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Wayne,

That's too funny.   I'm picturing you with Peter, Paul, and Mary respectively crooning that tune.  

Powell,

The green painted ones are the best.   Especially if they have that glossy finish.  

Since we went to "walking only" on all tee times before noon, we've put benches on The Ocean Course.  If the wind is coming out of the west and you just finished the stretch between 5 and 13, no bench looks better than the one that sits on the 14th tee!