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Golf and its Growing Popularity
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Posted on 08/29/2003 10:42:38 AM PDT by robjna
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To: Psycho_Bunny
Municipal Golf Courses are paid for and built by the public entity they represent, much like public stadiums. Whether or not they're profitable is immaterial to the point raised in the email.
To: Phantom Lord
How many PGA Tour events are on Municipal golf courses? How many NFL, NBA, MLB teams play in non taxpayer funded facilities? Actually, private golf clubs are often among the most heavily-subsidized professional "sports" venues around. Find your nearest private country club and do some research at the local municipal building on their property tax records. Many of these places pay property taxes that are comparable to farms or other agricultural land uses. I also seem to remember a story in the last few years about country clubs that get special tax exemptions as "natural preservation areas," too.
To: Moonman62
On TV it's gaining in popularity, while participation is declining by the public. That's fine with me. The influence of Tiger Woods has been this: more inexperienced people - who haven't bothered to learn the rules - attempting to play golf. I'll be happy if they stay home to watch a tournament on TV, as long as they're not on the hole ahead of me at my course.
To: Grando Calrissian
Many municipal golf courses were once privately owned and then purchased by the town. That is the case with En-Joie Golf Club in Endicott NY where the PGA Tour plays the BC Open, and where I was a member for 9 years. It was originally built by Endicott Johnson Shoes for their employees. When Mr. Johnson died, he left the course to the town with the requirement that the town maintain ownership of the course and keep it open to the public forever.
64
posted on
08/29/2003 11:50:24 AM PDT
by
Phantom Lord
(Distributor of Pain, Your Loss Becomes My Gain)
To: Phantom Lord
YepSo I become an athelete when I play euchre with 3 other people? :^}
65
posted on
08/29/2003 11:51:10 AM PDT
by
Protagoras
(Putting government in charge of morality is like putting pedophiles in charge of children.)
To: Phantom Lord
Tax profit. Plenty of them do, but then we'd get into an argument about how a stadium effects the revenues of places around the stadium, and how the construction of new stadiums (in Cleveland, Baltimore and San Francisco) revitalize the neighborhoods around them. The email said that golf tournaments don't play in public subsidized golf courses when that is simply not true.
To: Alberta's Child
The nearest private club to me is Prestonwood Country Club. In the past 2 decades it has gone from a goat track of a piece of crap course, to a private country club with 54 holes, and several hundred million dollars worth of homes, paying many millions in property taxes.
67
posted on
08/29/2003 11:53:06 AM PDT
by
Phantom Lord
(Distributor of Pain, Your Loss Becomes My Gain)
To: Phantom Lord
I don't ever remember the Yankees having a one-armed pitcher, but I could be wrong.
There was a guy named Pete Gray who played years ago. There was also a kid named Joe Nuxhall who pitched for the Reds when he was 15 years old. I believe both of these were an anomaly related to the shortage of big-league talent during World War II when a lot of players were serving in the armed forces.
To: robjna
Golf - where guys can drive around the lawn and get drunk.
Why spend all the money on golf when you can just get a riding mower and a cupholder. Now that's sport.
69
posted on
08/29/2003 11:53:46 AM PDT
by
rnwang
To: Lazamataz
Is this you right now? >
;)
70
posted on
08/29/2003 11:53:47 AM PDT
by
4mycountry
(You say I'm a brat like it's a bad thing.)
To: 4mycountry
When the game was invented it was called "golf" as an acronym: Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden. GOLF Actually, no...it derives from a Scots word, gouf, meaning a strike or a blow. The "l", as in walk, talk, could, should, calm, and, decreasingly, Palmer once was silent.
As a rule, acronymns-as-etymologies (the most popular being POSH, WOP, TIP, COP, and if you'll excuse me, F*CK), at least as far as words older than the twentieth century are concerned, are bunk. "Gentleman Only Ladies Forbidden" is, I'll admit, a new one on me.
To: Protagoras
So I become an athelete when I play euchre with 3 other people? :^} Is there any other way to play euchre?
SD
To: Lazamataz
MMM, yummy sake (that's sah-kee).
73
posted on
08/29/2003 11:55:23 AM PDT
by
4mycountry
(You say I'm a brat like it's a bad thing.)
To: Phantom Lord
How many millions in property taxes would be paid on that land if there were no homes on it?
I would estimate about 0.2 at best.
To: Phantom Lord
That's actually pretty cool. The US Open will be played at San Francisco's public course (Harding Park) in a few years, but I don't think it was ever privately owned. In fact, the City just renovated it for a pretty penny to make it PGA ready.
The great thing about golf is that you can play at a lot of the courses they hold tournaments at. You or I could play a round at St. Andrews or Pebble Beach but we'd never be able to play basketball at Madison Square Garden.
To: Grando Calrissian
sub·si·dy
n. pl. sub·si·dies
- Monetary assistance granted by a government to a person or group in support of an enterprise regarded as being in the public interest.
- Financial assistance given by one person or government to another
The Kingdome was over 10 Million in the hole when it was blown-up. It was subsidized because it couldn't cover it's debts.
The Seattle Muni's, on the other hand, are not subsidized - they've covered their debts and are now turning a profit.
To: SoothingDave
Is there any other way to play euchre?Actually there is. I have actually played several variations with only two players and one with only three players.
77
posted on
08/29/2003 12:00:11 PM PDT
by
Protagoras
(Putting government in charge of morality is like putting pedophiles in charge of children.)
To: mountaineer; Moonman62
That's fine with me. The influence of Tiger Woods has been this: more inexperienced people - who haven't bothered to learn the rules - attempting to play golf. I'll be happy if they stay home to watch a tournament on TV, as long as they're not on the hole ahead of me at my course. I want all the golfers on this thread to tell me if they notice the same thing. If there is a foresome of black golfers they will ALWAYS play from the blue tees no matter how shitty their play. They can shoot 120 with 10 mulligans, but damnit, they think they are Tiger Woods and are going to play from the blue tees.
I am not implying any racism or bigotry in any way, shape, or form. Just pointing out my experience on the course the past 5 or 6 years.
I also had a fun time with a group as described above last year. It was four black guys, who couldnt play to save their lives in the foresome in front of me. On a Par 4 of about 400 yards I bombed one trying to drive the green. The rest of my group was back around the 150 yard marker and I drove up to the green and started walking toward it. They all looked at me and asked what I was doing. I said "Looking for my ball." Some guy in the group with a real bad attitude looked at me and said "There is no way your ball is anywhere up here! You can't hit a ball that far!" And in a real pissed off tone. I said to him "Why don't you go look in that bunker and tell me if you find a PRO V1 with two black dots on it." He found it and proceeded to putt out and go to his cart cursing up a storm to himself. I yelled over to him "Hey, buddy. Wanna have a long drive contest for some cash?!" He drove off and was really pissed.
Another time a few years ago at the turn the group infront of us went into the proshop and complained I was hitting in to them. The pro came out and talked to me. I proceeded to tell him, yes, I was hitting in to them. But they were on the greens and I was on the tee. If you want me to wait until they clear the green on all the par 4s before I tee off and make everyone behind us wait then I will do so. The pro responded, "well, they didn't tell me about that detail."
78
posted on
08/29/2003 12:00:41 PM PDT
by
Phantom Lord
(Distributor of Pain, Your Loss Becomes My Gain)
To: Grando Calrissian
It has been shown over and over that the presence of a pro sports team in a town does not provide a net gain in tax revenue for the city. The cost of the tax giveaways and the tax payer money plowed into the stadiums is a net loser for the government.
79
posted on
08/29/2003 12:02:05 PM PDT
by
Phantom Lord
(Distributor of Pain, Your Loss Becomes My Gain)
To: Grando Calrissian
but we'd never be able to play basketball at Madison Square Garden. I couldn't play basketball in my driveway.
80
posted on
08/29/2003 12:02:14 PM PDT
by
Protagoras
(Putting government in charge of morality is like putting pedophiles in charge of children.)
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