Golf and climate change

      I wanted to do a post regarding golf and climate change sometime during the Open Championship at St. Andrews last week, but somehow it slipped by without a word typed.   So, here it is.  Unlike the vast majority of humanity, I like golf.   Chasing a little ball around for several hours with often frustrating results is often redeemed by one or two good shots.   As I go to the parking lot after a round, the preponderance of cars are late model and pricey.  Let's face it, golf is not a poor man's sport.

     Which brings us to St. Andrews and climate change.   Despite sitting on some of the most expensive real estate in the world, the Old Course looks like an eyesore compared with a similar country club in America.   With patches of prickly gorse scattered throughout the course and the sandy soil making it virtually impossible to keep the course green in summer, especially a droughty one, the management makes a virtue of necessity and plays up the traditions of Scottish golf.

    Even so, the next 50-100 years are likely to be cruel to the course.   Rising sea levels and the possibility of so called "perfect storms" will likely lead to flooding of much of the layout and salt water intrusion which will affect the grass.   It could happen sooner, threatening the so called cradle of golf.   On the one hand, I mourn the potential demise of St. Andrews and many other coastal courses impacted by climate change.  On the other, let's face it, golf is a rich man's sport and the rich, either by ignoring climate change or actively encouraging it are fueling the fire.   I won't be around for the denouement, but it saddens me to think on it.