To be embarrassed for these women following their OH’s round the golf course

[Flowersandchoc]

I’m a member of a golf club and have noticed in the last year a couple of women have started to walk round the course with their OH’s.

I’ve seen them quite a few times now - they definitely aren’t playing, they just trail round after their husbands.

I could understand if OH had no one to play with or maybe in the summer when the weather was nice but there were 4 men playing in the group & it was bloody freezing yesterday so I can’t see the appeal of walking round for hours not playing. Is it me or is this extremely odd and a bit embarrassing that they don’t have anything better to do ?!?

A golf course can actually be a really nice walk, nice & flat with things to look at etc

You aren't supposed to just wander around a golf course

Well no, wondering willy nilly could be dangerous and probably annoying for the players. But the people being discussed are taking a prescribed route together with someone who is actually playing, which is no inconvenience to anyone.

That's really mean if they don't let children under teens learn, both of mine had clubs by 4 years old and accompanied their dad, first on pitch and putt and by 6 they were playing on full size golf courses. Dd2 is pretty good to be honest

Well yes, under those circumstances I imagine the would allow children who were actually playing, and learning. I was referring more to the pp who said she and her children tagged along after her dp just for the walk. That would be very unusual and I think frowned upon.

why is it an environmental catastrophe? I may be being naïve but surely it's better than hundreds of houses?

Yes, I get that. It's just that if everyone had a plus one it it wouldn't really work. I just think it's odd and I wouldn't do it but I have zero interest in golf and if I wanted to go a walk I'd wouldn't want to be stopping all the time. As I said though each to their own.

If one of my friend's Husbands plays with mine we go on our own long walk and then meet up with them after.

I can’t see the appeal of playing golf, personally, but since it doesn’t affect me that others enjoy it I don’t judge them!

Of course its no one's business and people are free to use their spare time as they wish. I wouldn't find it embarrassing but I have to admit I would think it was strange for 2 women to be following but not not playing golf (when the men are in a group of 4)

For all the posters insisting it's nice for them to spend time with their partners , it's not as if it's a romantic walk with 4 others there. Most likely it's the women having a chat, and the men having separate chat and playing golf. And if you wanted to go for a walk as has been suggested multiple times, golf clubs are often in countryside or on the outskirts of town, which would have other footpaths (potentially the footpath might follow part of the golf course) Woods etc to go for a walk without stopping every few min, or risk being hit with a golf ball!

I don't play golf, I occassionally run on footpaths at the side of golf courses but I wouldn't run across one or veer from the path not because of etiquette, but because a) I don't want to disrupt a game and b) I don't want to risk being hit by a ball!

Occasionally, you have SO's turning up to watch their men play rugby. Strange certainly, but not unheard of.

There is a section of the green movement that have it in for golf. They have the perception that it is a) a straight rich white mans game and therefore a target, b) uses chemicals and destroys habitat.

The realities are that while a small number of exclusive clubs seem to remain the preserve of the above, the governing bodies are really trying to encourage a range of people, especially women and ethnic minorities. It has a way to go but its trying. Courses these days use sustainable maintenance regimes and the use of harmful chemicals are banned. Most courses maintain the course in a way that is sympathetic to flora and fauna and take pride in the range of plants, flowers and grasses that grow, as well as animals and insects they attract.

Furthermore, if these areas weren't golf courses, what would they be? Honestly? Houses, shopping centres, offices, roads, factories. The idea that these areas would be an idyllic oasis is ridiculous.

@AwareDefender oh I hate this phrase, but... here it comes..... Educate Yourself!
210721-BTEcology-Royal-Troon-Golf-Club-Ecological-Management-Plan.pdf (royaltroon.co.uk)

This is an example the lengths that modern day courses go to ensure they are as in keeping with its surroundings and sympathetic to indigenous plants and animals.

Nah.

You can't deny that golf is environmentally damaging, however you to try to spin it. To create a course usually involves ripping up natural habitats, deforestation etc. To maintain them requires a huge amount of resources in terms of water, power, chemicals and the like. Some courses and clubs are better than others but ultimately golf courses will never be environmentally friendly.

People need houses, roads and offices. Golf courses, not so much.

@SkulkHollow yes people need houses and so on, but there are plenty of alternative sites that could be considered. I can't pretend that some disruption takes place, but most courses compensate and offset this as much as possible.

As mentioned, most chemicals previously used are banned now and natural fertilisers are used. In many instances, habitats are created by the planting of trees, my home club planted 10s of thousands of trees in the 90s, have allowed vast areas of wild grasses to grow, and have installed a water tank to have their own sustainable source of water. It and is a haven for deer and various species of owl other birds of prey have been spotted there.

And a lot of ordinary, hard working people and their children love it.

I'm not saying that golf courses don't offer benefits, far from it.

But let's be honest. Golf courses will never, ever be able to claim to be good for the environment compared to them not being built in the same location, no matter how many trees get planted.