Democracy In Albany

Welfare for Golfers | 21 comments (21 topical, 0 hidden)

Quality of Life (none / 0) (#8)
by makome on Tue Nov 27, 2007 at 12:58:11 PM EST

I see it as a quality of life issue. Municipal golf courses are an amenity that looks good on a city's "resume" much as cultural arts and other attractions are for potential residents.

Also, access to golf and golf courses are becoming more and more expensive and thus becoming limited to only those that can afford it (lawyers??), much as the skiing/mountain sports industry has done. These facilities offer quality golfing at a reasonable price. So rather than offering a service for only the "elites" that can afford it, it allows schlubs like me to play a decent course and still have money left at the end of the round to have a couple of beers.

If you've ever golfed on Long Island or NJ you know very well that most of the Public Courses are terrible (yes, there are exceptions) and all of the decent courses are Private Clubs or impossible to get a tee time for. We have quite a luxury up here in that we are offered these decent courses at good prices. So go stick to your country clubs and stop complaining that the municipalities should not support their own golf courses and thus providing their citizens with an less expensive alternative to for-profit courses.

Mak

[ Parent ]

Fiction (none / 0) (#13)
by wredlich on Tue Nov 27, 2007 at 11:01:44 PM EST

If you are suggesting that there are no affordable courses in the Capital Region other than the municipal courses, you are living in a fictional land. There are plenty of reasonably priced golf courses in the area.

The course fees at Western Turnpike were reasonable before the Town bought the course. Orchard Creek, a privately owned public course, is not much more expensive and is a much more challenging course.

Evergreen in East Greenbush/Schodack is inexpensive. The course in Rexford (Mohawk? Used to be Riverview) is inexpensive. The list is far too long to even get started.

I don't know what Long Island and NJ have to do with it. The privately owned public courses in the Albany area are comparable in quality and price to the municipal courses.

On a related note, I don't see why people feel free to cheap-shot lawyers all the time. I know plenty of lawyers who do not make a lot of money. I do not belong to a country club and I tend to play at the relatively inexpensive courses - when I have time to play at all. I managed maybe 3 rounds of golf this year.

It's true that I can afford to join a country club, and that I can afford to play expensive courses. So far I have chosen not to do either.

But if you are going to have a couple beers at the end of your round, be sure to remember my phone number when you get your DWI charge. If you think golf gets expensive, wait'll you see my fee - after all I have to pay for my country club, fancy car, etc. --Warren
Albany Lawyer Warren Redlich Blog: Albany Lawyer Blog
[ Parent ]

: Non-fiction... (none / 0) (#15)
by makome on Wed Nov 28, 2007 at 04:25:40 AM EST

Yes, there are plenty of reasonably priced courses in the area. However, they are not close to the quality of the Albany course. The one's you mentioned Turnpike, East Greenbush and the one above the Rexford bridge are all pretty crappy courses, comparatively.
Not taking a shot at lawyers at all, in fact my golf-partner is a lawyer, simply pointing out that lawyers as a group tend to have higher income levels to be able to afford things like playing at expensive golf courses, joining country clubs, etc. Ultimately my point is that we have a very nice course in Albany that is accessible and affordable to the great "unwashed masses." If we can make the course revenue neutral or even revenue producing then why the problem?

[ Parent ]

Welfare for Golfers | 21 comments (21 topical, 0 hidden)

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