Venturi urges San Francisco to save Sharp Park by Bo Links and Richard Harris...

[Ran Morrissett]

... is now posted under In My Opinion.

According to Richard Harris,

"U.S. Open champion Ken Venturi, who learned the game at Sharp Park, Harding, and San Francisco's other public courses, is calling on golfers to fight to save Alister MacKenzie's Sharp Park Golf Course, endangered by a Federal Court lawsuit to close golf operations, filed March 2, 2011 by the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity and other enviro-activist groups.  Please see the attached post for detailed history of the political fight since September, 2009, when GolfClubAtlas first published a history of Sharp Park in these pages."

In Bo and Richard's update, Venturi notes that  “Without the public courses, golf becomes inaccessible. Without them, the game shrivels and dies.” Venturi goes on to say "Reasonably-priced public golf for all different kinds of people can and should coexist with the frogs, snakes, and nature, as they have all coexisted at Sharp Park for decades.”

We all know and appreciate that golf is a great way to get outdoors and re-connect with nature and several of their photographs show just what a fine environment Sharp Park is. What a shame/disappointment that the Center for Biological Diversity and other enviro-activist groups are posing this threat. 

San Francisco Public Golf Alliance, which has led the defense of the golf course, is hosting a rally and fundraiser at Sharp Park on April 28, 2011 at 6:00 p.m.  For details, see:  http://www.sfpublicgolf.com/AnnouncementRetrieve.aspx?ID=69038.  RSVP, donate, and/or volunteer at:  info@sfpublicgolf.com.

Cheers,

[Neil_Crafter]

This is very sad to hear of this lawsuit. Keep fighting the good fight Bo and Richard.

[Mike Cirba]

It really is a shame that golf is viewed as being the enemy of the environment.   

You have to wonder why there is no middle ground that can be found.   Enough golf course properties have been turned into sub-divisions and strip malls that you also have to wonder why the eco-warriors would target bastions of greenspace...is it because targeting the big boy polluters is too difficult so they seek pyrrhic victories where the defense if less organized?

[JNC Lyon]

Isn't this sort of conflict the reason minimalist architecture is so desirable?

Environmentalist issues with golf courses come down to socioeconomic conflict more than anything else.  Golf is seen as an upper-crust sport by far too many people, and they have no understanding of the spiritual side of it.  I've had people tell me that golf courses constitute "fake nature" and that hitting a golf ball into a lake qualifies as "littering."  Many people in the environmental movement have a bias that simply cannot be swayed.

With all of that being said, there may be some justification for the argument that golf courses destroy nature.  Many golf architects in the modern era are very sensitive to the existing land and environment when constructing a golf course.  Like Max Behr in "Art in Golf Architecture," they realize that nature is an essential part of a golf course.  However, there are several golf architects that use highly invasive methods to construct golf courses.  They spend enormous sums of money, move massive amounts of land with large earthmoving equipment, and have little regarded for the existing natural environment.  The best example is the area around Naples, Florida, which is filled with manmade monstrosities that offer little opportunity to commune with nature or experience competent architecture.  When architects insist on spending tons of money and moving lots of land, they insist on giving golf courses the reputation of being impositions on the existing ecosystem.

Clearly, golf courses are a great preserver of green-space, and it is illogical for environmental groups to target golf courses over other more gaudy developments.  Yet when architects insist on raping the land to build a course, it can only give golf a bad name.

[Lynn_Shackelford]

Here is the way I see it:

The environmental movement started as a cult, then progressed into a political movement.  It has now progressed into a big business.

This has little to do with frogs or golf and everything to do with a business attempting to flex it muscles.  That business in this case is Center for Biological Diversity.  The more victories they can acquire, the more they will derive in $$ support.

If you look their web site they claim to have a large concern for the growth of the human population.  Therefore showing them that the golfers who patronize Sharp Park are just regular folks and not elitists means little.  They are humans and humans are the problem.

[Niall C]

Jon

I'm no expert on minimalism but I don't think being environmentally friendly in terms of plant life and wildlife is what its about. Its about how the holes lie on the land and appearing as natural as possible. Now that may involve shifting quite a lot of dirt to achieve that effect. I'm sure one of the sites minimalists can advise if I'm talking rubbish and you are indeed correct.

In any case, in some ways the environmentalists are right, a golf course is a built environment like any other. It is not nature left to its own devices. The argument (IMHO) that golf has to get over is that courses can be environmentally friendly and can be a haven and preserve for wildlife and plant life in an otherwise built up environment. That argument works where you don't have some rare orchid or amphibian or whatever. Its more difficult where you have.

Niall

[Emmy]

Ran:

Thank you for posting the piece on the latest legal challenges surrounding Sharp Park Golf Course, a topic of interest to those not just in the Nor Cal region but far beyond.

I was delighted to see several GolfClubAtlas.com members at the last "Save Sharp Park Fundraiser" back in 2009. Hopefully the upcoming fundraiser set for Thurs. April 28 at SPGC will generate even more support for the cause.

To my fellow GCAers, there are various ways to help: through cash donations, auction/raffle items, or simply as a volunteer recruiting more supporters. Pick a form of giving that works best for you.

[Kalen Braley]

Kelly,

The ocean and lagoon are at roughly the same elevation.  The problem is, the aerial doesn't show how massive that seawall is in between it and the ocean.  When you are playing that part of the course, there is zero view of the ocean, as the seawall is a good 15-20 feet high.

[Emmy]

Dear Fellow GCA.com Members,
 
For those interested in the future of Sharp Park GC, below are a few more facts about the upcoming fundraiser.
 
The evening rally is set for 6:00 PM on Thurs. April 28 at SPGC in Pacifica, CA.

There is no door charge for this event. However, donations will be accepted and will benefit the Save Sharp Park Legal Defense Fund of the SF Public Golf Alliance, a 501 c-3 organization.
 
Heavy hors d'oeuvres will be provided and a cash bar will be set up for those interested in toasting to the cause.
 
If you'd like to make a contribution prior to the rally (or have a door/raffle prize you would like to donate), please send to:
 
San Francisco Public Golf Alliance
c/o Richard Harris
1370 Masonic Ave.
San Francisco, CA. 94117
 
Best to All,
 
Emmy
 
 

[Tags:]

Tags: