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Columnist Wants Golf Banned In Australia Because Courses Are A Waste Of Valuable Space

Columnist Wants Golf Banned In Australia Because Courses Are A Waste Of Valuable Space

Jenna Price believes there are 'so few people​' who play the sport and the area isn't being utilised to its full potential.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

An Australian news columnist has started a bold discussion around the future of golf courses in the country.

Academic Jenna Price said in a column for the Sydney Morning Herald that courses should get the flick because they're a waste of space.

There's no denying that an 18 or even nine hole golf courses takes up considerable space, however it's a fun, engaging sport that has been enjoyed in Australia since the 1930s.

However, Ms Price reckons they are taking up too much land area in a time where we could be building beautiful homes or parklands that can be enjoyed by everyone and not just an elite few.

PA

In her op-ed in the SMH, the academic said: "Shut them down. Shut them all down. Golf courses sit in the middle of our cities, using up valuable space in places that need more genuinely public land.

"Hectare after hectare devoted to a few people wandering around attempting to whack a ball into a hole in the ground. While kids across the city queue for swings and the handful of remaining naughty roundabouts, the golfers do not queue except for expensive memberships in elite clubs."

Ms Price says there are 'so few people' who play the sport and the area isn't being utilised to its full potential.

She also cited a growing lack of popularity in the sport as another reason to send golf to the grave.

"Boot all the golf clubs out of cities where there is just not enough open space. Already the sport is being abandoned," she wrote.

"Participation has plunged from 8.2 per cent in 2001 to 5.2 per cent in 2020, a decline of over 36 per cent in 19 years. Compare that with the sports that don't rely on big footprints, fancy clobber, expensive gear, such as recreational walking, which has increased by 70 per cent to just under half the population.

"Why are we giving up massive amounts of space to a pursuit that offers so little to so few? Build a few outback golf links and send the 18-hole obsessives on a long drive."

The column was sparked by Sydney's lord mayor Clover Moore's desire to see one golf course shrink from 18 holes to nine.

The City of Sydney is moving ahead with plans to cut Moore Park Gold Course by half.

It wants to unlock more area for parklands that will be used by people in the general vicinity, rather than have it for golfers.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Australia