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Comment by vhold | Hacker News Reader

The fact there is a high barrier of entry might be one of the only appeals golf has at all? Playing it is a status symbol. Although, I think maybe that elite status symbols themselves may be on a downswing, maybe because of the growing awareness of wealth inequality?

Super rich people used to ride around in stretch limos and people found it interesting and exciting, now there's a growing perception that's disgusting and super rich people tend to visibly travel in much more inconspicuous vehicles (which are taking them to their private jets).

Just a random thought..

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>The fact there is a high barrier of entry might be one of the only appeals golf has at all?

This is ridiculous. Golf is a sport that you can play from when you first start walking, until nearly the day you die. That's the appeal.

It requires extreme concentration in a way that I've never experienced in any other sport I've ever played.

I would highly, highly recommend that people learn to play golf. I wish it didn't have the stigma that it does with some people.

> This is ridiculous. Golf is a sport that you can play from when you first start walking, until nearly the day you die.

You’ve never considered that Golf has an actual price to it, while most poorer kids just play soccer with a single leather ball on the street, costing less than a dollar for dozens of kids?

It used to be much more affordable, and in some corners of the country (Texas, some parts of the Northeast), it remains reasonable. The Bay Area is one of, if not the most unaffordable place to play golf in the United States.

Fred Couples (Hall of Famer) grew up in Seattle, biked to Jefferson Park Golf Course during the summer every day with $5 in hand from his mother, played a round of golf for $3.50 and got a burger and a coke with the remaining $1.50.

Some courses (including aforementioned Jefferson) will have free or heavily discounted rounds for junior golfers after some cutoff time in the afternoon.

$5 dollars in 1970 would be $31 in 2017. Pretty expensive for poor kids.

But his narrative!! Golf is the peoples' sport, didn't you know? Its free just like Linux. As long as you can ante up your Lexus!

But that was a long time ago, and he'd still be able to play in SF today with the same amount of money, inflation adjusted:

$3.50 in 1972 (when Fred Couples was 13) is equivalent to around $20 today. (and $1.50 is now around $8.75)

Lincoln Park in SF charges weekday rates of $13 for a resident junior (or $20 for a non-resident)

Harding Park charges $20 for a resident Junior.

The burger will cost a little more, Harding Park's grill charges $14 for a burger... though Nachos or a Quesadilla are available for $9.

Couples' dad also worked for the city at the golf course and so provided his kid with many free opportunities to play golf.

No doubt that greens fees are certainly a barrier. The muni near me [1] (bordering the Boston city limit) charges $10 for a junior, which equates to about $2 an hour given the pace of play on a busy golf course. While I understand that is still not free, it is an very low barrier to entry.

Old clubs are very easy to come by (relatives, craisglist, loaners). The main thing that I feel is being overlooked on this thread is that balls can be had for free, given the child puts a small amount of time in to look for them. Walk along the tree line of any fairway in the world and it will not be long before you've found enough balls to fill your front pockets.

[1] http://www.presidentsgc.com/aboutus/rates/

>I would highly, highly recommend that people learn to play golf. I wish it didn't have the stigma that it does with some people.

Golf is like animé - it's the fans that make it insufferable.

Kind of like Ohio State football

I have heard it is similar to archery. I have never played. I was an archer though.

But I dislike most sports that seem contrived (archery is a real skill that became a sport because the skill is not needed, golf is just a made up game as far as I can tell).

Aren't most ball/racquet sports pretty contrived?

I think so yes.

Arrows are selling for $5-6/each!Of course they were carbon fiber and had steel heads for hunting, but I couldn't help but wonder what happened to the inexpensive arrow.

> It requires extreme concentration in a way that I've never experienced in any other sport I've ever played.

I'm not a golfer but you might compare that concentration to what is required for archery, which I'm learning, and high power rifle marksmanship, which I learned when I was young. Golf's stigma doesn't approach that of shooting sports, depending on one's location/social circles.

I think any sport which requires performing a discrete task is going to be similar. I have never golfed, or tried archery or shooting in a sport setting, but I have been powerlifting for a few years. I assume the concentration aspect is similar.

Can confirm, golf has lead me to learning severe patience and attention to detail. Its multifaceted aspect has also taught me prioritization skills. Went from 11 to 6 handicap in 2016. Still am trying to get lower.

Golf is an insufferable sport. The land and resources that go into a golf course and all the equipment are a pure sign of feckless wastelessness. It's not possible to justify. Just be indignant if you like what amounts to 5 steaks a day.

Hi there - seems like you're getting some downvotes and as someone else who cares about the environment, I'd love to convince you golf can actually be a good thing for land use. Some of the courses I grew up playing on were old landfills. The golf course would cap and seal the landfill, then plant vegetation on top letting it grow and then eventually putting a golf course on it. What once was a landfill and source of rodents, disease, and an eyesore on the community became an effective use of the land. Now, not every golf course is built on a landfill, but you'd be surprised how often it happens: http://americancityandcounty.com/mag/government_chicago_dump...

"The facility won top honors in the 1996 Superior Achievement for Excellence in Environmental Engineering competition sponsored by the American Academy of Environmental Engineering, which cited Harborside for addressing "the major criteria of the competition ... most important was the manner in which it met environmental and ecological concerns and contributed to an improved environment, using available materials to reverse perceived abuses and achieved significant cost reduction and control in course construction.""

The land use is what I dislike most about it. There are a few golf courses in Sydney in prime locations. All that land that can't really be used for anything else. The worst one is in Little Bay, next to the ocean. Countless balls hit into the ocean.

So more apartments is nicer to you than some grass and trees?

That would still be better than a large piece of land that relatively few people will use. At least we'd get a few public parks and other facilities.

It isn't just the view that matters. When you take into account gardens, housing would increase biodiversity.

Is it possible to play solo? (I understand that the avow won't count, but...)

You can play for $20 or less at Muni courses. Hardly a status symbol tbh. If you mean private country clubs, well the most exclusive and high status of these are often social clubs rather than golf clubs (ex: Pacific Union and Bohemian Club in SF), and the activity of golf and the private club status symbol are separate things.

Though... I have heard several times that "cycling is the new golf", and the $10,000 bikes some folks wield certainly speaks to the flaunt your wealth side of things.

Anyways, for any expensive activity, I'm sure there are some people doing it as part of the status climb, some doing it to hang out with some power network, and some doing it purely for the joy of the activity.

Addendum: Skiing is way more expensive than golf due to the travel and lodging that is almost a necessity in the States.

I'm going to guess you live in or near San Francisco? Your view of golf is going to be skewed by that. While the Bay Area has extremely expensive and exclusive golf courses, it also uniquely has .. relatively.. affordable ones.

But consider even $20 to play a game involving a stick and ball is actually still quite expensive to a child, so that's still a really high barrier to entry for a lot of people.

Outside urban areas, there are still plenty of small local country clubs that provide "unlimited" golf facilities for Members & their kids for affordable rates. $100-300/month depending on area, quality, etc...

GolfNow and other TeeTime booking sites allow for discounted rounds in your area.

Its not as cheap as Tennis & Basketball, but its not a game for the Rich and Famous only.

Only appeal?? I play golf regularly and I play because I love it. My friends play cause they love it. What a feeling to stand on a tee box looking out over a wide fairway, driver in hand.

Well what do you know..a person does something because they like it. How elucidating..

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