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Restoring Golf Courses to Green Spaces

RecGolfer

RecGolfer

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The New York Times has an illustrated article today about golf courses that have been returned to their wild state, accompanied by curation to make a public green space out of them. Much less water is used, and no pesticides are used, encouraging the return of wildlife, and everybody gets to use it. I would provide a link, but you would need to have a NYT subscription to read it.

Has something like this happened in your area? A golf course closing and the land becoming a commons and not a shopping mall?
 
Deer Creek Golf Course is now a "green space" here in KC, only because the developer tried to bamboozle the city.
 
WICHITAREJECT said:
Deer Creek Golf Course is now a "green space" here in KC, only because the developer tried to bamboozle the city.
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Most frustrating example for me. The course 10 years ago was a great fun track. Still thoroughly dislike Great Life ownership group.
 
Like most things in the NY TImes.
Trash.
 
There were rumors of one of the better munis in the city being turned into a park, but some funds came through to completely renovate the course, luckily. I think that any closed course around here is either overgrown or developed.
 
My old home course is now technically a green space, as it was left vacant for years before being purchased 2 years ago for the function hall, not the grounds. Then the new owner decided to sell to a developer and the function hall mysteriously caught fire the day before the deal was closed.

So now there's no function hall and a relatively overgrown course, although they've been somewhat keeping up with mowing when the weather is decent.
 
If a golf course is gonna close, i've got no issue with it being converted to a park or some kind of green space. Seems like a good idea. I'm not aware of any that have. Most that close around here become condos.

Knowing the NYT i'm assuming their article said all golf courses should be closed and converted immediately because golf is evil
 
Yeah, a local course in Gainesville, Virginia Oaks, was transitioned from a golf course to a "nutrient bank" a number of years ago.
 
City owned course closed and became a pile of soccer fields. Not that the city could run a golf course anyway. I’ve read a little about putting courses into a conservation easement type scenario, but it requires special accommodations for wildlife and such, which I’m not against at all.
 
Bosco... said:
City owned course closed and became a pile of soccer fields. Not that the city could run a golf course anyway. I’ve read a little about putting courses into a conservation easement type scenario, but it requires special accommodations for wildlife and such, which I’m not against at all.
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Our golf course actually has conservation inspectors and such come visit it every year i believe. We have a few places on our course that are wildlife preserves or whatever they are called.

It was actually a big thing at our course, when we designed our new 9.... we were given permission to fill up a big ditch and brutally slaughter anything living we found in there whilst doing so. But after we started building, they changed their minds because they found some sort of protected badger in there or whatever.

Now one of our par 5's has this really horrible design where you have to lay up off the tee, then hit it over this thing. LOL

But it's fine. I'm an animal lover
 
Last I checked, golf courses are green spaces! Actually if they are less green and running firm and fast like many sandhills courses, it's better golf (imo) and uses less water. There are a few audubon certified courses in our area. Much better use of the land than developers building apartments and shopping developments. NY Times just pushing an agenda as usual.
 
RecGolfer said:
The New York Times has an illustrated article today about golf courses that have been returned to their wild state, accompanied by curation to make a public green space out of them. Much less water is used, and no pesticides are used, encouraging the return of wildlife, and everybody gets to use it. I would provide a link, but you would need to have a NYT subscription to read it.

Has something like this happened in your area? A golf course closing and the land becoming a commons and not a shopping mall?
Click to expand...
Not around here. Every course that has been closed was turned into multi family condos, and/or single family homes.

One was closed down, but turned into a different designed golf course.
 
I know of 2 courses by me that were bought by the state parks to turn into a green space. And a 3rd was bought by the local company to use as green space for their company (Davy Tree). Which, I guess I would prefer that to being used for apartments.
 
I know of 2 courses that closed near me. 1 is just overgrown. The other is a strawberry farm. And it looks like the back 9 that was neglected is being cleared and plowed to be more field for more strawberries.
 
The one I live on would be turned to housing in a hot minute if it was closed.
 
MWard said:
A golf course closes near me, and it’s either turning into a development, or it’s just not been sold yet to a developer :(
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Defunct Pine Ridge Golf Club up here in Citrus County bought by developer but was denied permit for 80+ new homes. Sadly seeing the regression of numerous local golf community courses as the retirees age out and lose interest/no longer able to play golf.
 
At least 2 on Long Island were left fallow, then bought up to create Solar Farms.

On a side note (so to speak( if you want to read the text in the article, try this: (it works with Chrome, but other browsers have similar features)

Use Reading mode in the Side panel​

Customize your reading experience on Chrome with Reading mode. This feature is conveniently located in the Side panel and helps you:
  • Focus more easily on text
  • Reduce distractions from images and videos on screen
  • Select alternate typeface and font size
  • Adjust letter and sentence spacing
  • Choose background color
Important: These settings only apply to the text you want to read in the side panel. They won’t apply to any other content in Chrome or to general websites.

Manage Reading mode​

When you use Reading mode in the Side panel, you can adjust font settings for easier reading.
  1. On your computer, open Chrome
    Chrome
    .
  2. Go to a website with text that you’d like to read.
  3. At the top right, select Side panel
    Pwg2wh6CWlXKeSZsQhqaYcrEAQ1rvwMfXSXx
    .
  4. At the top left of the side panel, select the Down arrow
    Down arrow
    .
  5. Select Reading mode.
  6. Under "Reading mode," use the toolbar to:
    • Adjust the font: Select the Down arrow
      Down arrow
      .
    • Adjust the font size: Select
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      to increase the font size and
      tss5Jhcdah1D7nHyq6vDS2ICcbcCmtca7VEb
      to decrease it.
    • Change the Reading mode background color: Select
      X4YtCkhwGVxeVRZRoqqyJJi5KrZ4PwKSVJb0
      .
    • Change the spacing between sentences: Select
      aX5uxnN7Hwbg0Ig2NLEUD7eLopGeVCV2ta84
      .
    • Change the spacing between letters: Select
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      .
 
If a golf course is on flat enough land to build into housing, it's getting built into housing. Parks rent for $0/mo, condos earn a lot more. To put it frankly, no one's leaving 50+ acres of development on the table for picnics and drug users.

I could see an argument for golf courses getting turned into parks when they're in rougher terrain, or along utility corridors where you can't build on top of the ground. There are plenty of courses here in San Diego down in the bottom of draws or canyons that are otherwise unbuildable. I could see an argument for converting a golf course into a park down there. But I see a golf course as a similar type of public green space, and hell, I'm biased.
 
Ours just sit vacant and overgrown while the city wastes millions trying to build a course in a not great part of town
 
Two golf courses near me closed in the last few years. One turned into homes & a hotel. The other turned into a park with walking trails & is no one is allowed to build on it forever.
 
The highest and best use of land changes over time.
 
Thankfully no, those that think golf courses do more harm than good are wrong, it's the opposite, a properly maintained course is biodiverse, a sanctuary for many species that otherwise die off in wild areas, a "green space" the size of a golf course is often just a waste of space and usually used for dog bathrooms, dogs = nothing else lives but dogs. If people really want to save the environment they should look at their own homes, residential areas are where the real environmental damage occurs.
 
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