I grew up in South Florida, taking part in junior golf all through the area.
A lot of the programs I performed as a baby not exist. I can title a minimum of a dozen that have been developed into condos or different residential developments. Golf within the state of Florida—which leads the nation with greater than 1,200 programs—was hit arduous within the 2000s and 2010s as an oversupply of services matched unfavorably with tepid demand previous to the pandemic.
We’ve seen a comeback from the golf business since then and Florida has been a frontrunner. From 2019 via 2023, no state produced extra course openings (21). Solely Texas (13) reached double digits in that point.
Whereas these new programs corresponding to The Park West Palm and Sandhill Crane’s The Nest Par 3 have been extensively supported—they provided much-needed reasonably priced public golf in an space that skews closely towards personal golf—the most recent proposal for public golf has been met with near-unanimous outcry.
Final week, the State of Florida introduced a proposal to construct a number of golf programs on state parks, doubtlessly threatening cherished land that hosts among the most spectacular wildlife within the nation. The Florida Division of Environmental Safety’s “Nice Outside Initiative” for 2024-2025 additionally contains the event of pickleball courts, 350-room lodges and disc golf programs throughout components of 9 state parks.
Protests ensued, together with lots of of individuals gathering at state parks this previous Tuesday.
There’s nonetheless plenty of unrest and confusion over the place the plan stands. The proposal initially featured the development of three public golf programs on Jonathan Dickinson State Park close to Jupiter. Nevertheless, the builder—mysterious non-profit Tuskegee Dunes which promised to funnel proceeds to the Folds of Honor group that helps navy veterans—determined to withdraw after the overwhelming backlash.
And on Wednesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis mentioned the FDEP can be “going again to the drafting board” on your complete undertaking with nothing imminent.
Golf course building might nonetheless be on the desk however we gained’t know extra within the quick time period. The FDEP beforehand introduced that public hearings initially slated for this week have been delayed.
This isn’t the primary time Florida has tried to construct golf programs on state park land. In 2011, legislators tried so as to add programs to state parks via payments that might have created the “Jack Nicklaus Golf Path of Florida.” Jonathan Dickinson State Park was additionally included in that proposal.
The payments have been shortly withdrawn after the same public response.
As a golfer, I’m gravely disenchanted and saddened that anybody is attempting to construct golf programs on protected land. Neglect politics or anything apart from simply being a human—all golfers must be in opposition to any such course building.
It’s a optimistic that extra programs are beginning to be constructed. Final 12 months noticed extra course openings than any of the earlier 13 years. That’s nice for the sport.
But it surely’s much more necessary that the golf business acts in environmentally accountable methods. Greater than 40 p.c of all golf programs on the earth are in america—that’s plenty of land. How it’s maintained makes a big distinction.
There’s a misperception on the market that golf programs are pointless and dangerous for the setting. When a narrative like this pops up, it perpetuates the stereotype that golf course improvement is all about cash as a substitute of affordable efforts to be a superb neighbor locally.
The fact is that the USGA Inexperienced Part is difficult at work figuring out methods to be extra environment friendly with assets like water and fertilizer. Golf and nature are supposed to coexist and golf—opposite to fashionable perception—has much more energy to learn the setting than one may assume. Tutorial research have proven that storm water falling on a golf course with wetlands leaves cleaner than when it entered. And the greenery, contours and edges round a golf course repeatedly deliver wildlife again to thriving ranges in areas the place it as soon as suffered.
With a state park like Jonathan Dickinson, nevertheless, greater than 600 acres of rigorously protected land would get replaced with a golf course. For as useful as some golf programs could be in defending wildlife, any sort of improvement on this state of affairs might negatively have an effect on animals such because the uncommon Florida scrub jay.
The park is the southernmost pure habitat for the threatened scrub jay with an estimated 130 of the birds dwelling there.
“If we proceed to cut these parcels into smaller items like was finished farther south, the fowl’s native extinction is nearly inevitable,” mentioned Jim Howe of Audubon Florida.
The fowl has already misplaced its pure habitat in Palm Seashore, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Improvement across the state park has brought about the inhabitants to say no by 90 p.c since 1990. The fowl doesn’t migrate so Jonathan Dickinson is a crucial space for its survival.
The general Florida scrub jay habitat is essentially the most endangered sort of habitat within the state with solely 10 to15 p.c of the unique setting remaining.
Negatively affecting that habitat is a steep value to pay for 3 public programs.
As one petition states: “There are already a minimum of 47 golf programs between Stuart and Jupiter. That’s FORTY-SEVEN golf programs in a 20-mile radius; we don’t have to destroy a beloved state park so as to add any extra.”
All of that’s to say this: There’s a line to attract with regards to constructing golf programs.
Each course being constructed should transfer dust, requires sure use of chemical substances and a necessity for ample water throughout a time when some components of the nation are in a water disaster. The upkeep requirements are far safer than they was simply 15 or 20 years in the past however golf programs aren’t good of their preservation of the setting. You continue to must develop the land and that comes with penalties once you’re doing it in delicate ecosystems.
It’s a bizarre place to be in however golfers have to take a stand in opposition to constructing golf programs—if the result’s extra detrimental than the optimistic good points.
On this state of affairs, that’s clearly the case.
Prime Picture Caption: Golf course improvement on Florida State parks may very well be dangerous to animal habitats. (GETTY IMAGES/James Gilbert)
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