It opened in 1931 and underwent a major renovation in 1997. Apparently, the water usage is sustainable (see below), but it still doesn’t excuse the fact, in my mind, that continuing to support the upkeep of a green-ass golf course at the edge of Death Valley shows how out-of-whack its patrons are with the changing climate.
“In an area as hot and dry as Death Valley, balancing water usage with conservation requires significant planning. Furnace Creek and its namesake resort exist in their location because natural spring water flows from nearby mountain ranges to create an oasis. By routing the water from one point to others, the resort’s goal is to use the same molecules of water for several purposes. The spring-fed water is first used at the Inn to irrigate gardens and supply the swimming pool which was designed with a flow-through system that minimizes chemical use. That water then continues downhill to the Ranch where it fills the ponds on the golf course, providing habitat for local and migratory wildlife. The water in the ponds then irrigates the golf course.” - How Xanterra’s Furnace Creek Resort is Sustainable, greenlodgingnews.com
Guess everyone should just stay home until the whole world is bland and homogeneous but equitable.
So to be clear, unless you’re playing golf at the hottest location on earth, you must stay home? Solid reasoning.
I mean people don’t have to just stay home to get close to a golf course that isn’t *literally siphoning the only source of sustainance for hundreds of miles."
There’s a golf course down the street from me, on a main road to one of two local hospitals, surely you can find one within the nearest 10mi and if you can’t? You probably have bigger things to worry about than swinging a club at a 1inch sphere at your feet.
If you’re visiting a country that doesn’t have enough grass to sustain pissing on a tree, you’re going to the wrong places for golf.
If you’re visiting a country that doesn’t have enough grass to sustain pissing on a tree, you’re going to the wrong places for golf.
I’m not sure I understand? Did you mean county?
It sounds like this course is located at a natural oasis fed by a natural spring. If the course wasn’t there the water would probably feed some plant life and a bit of wildlife. With proper management it’s likely that their water use is more efficient than it would have been naturally. It isn’t unusual for resource aware golf courses to actually improve biodiversity in a region while being water consumption neutral.
Yup, sure, it increases biodiversity by using foreign plants in a monoculture. That grass wasn’t there before, so it’s more diverse now you see?
Yes. Those first few months of covid showed what we could accomplish if people got their heads of out their asses. Problem is, people like smelling their own shit too much.
If the most reasonable way you can devise to have fun is to charter a flight to the desert and play golf, then I daresay you have a pitifully weak imagination.
You don’t care about the environment. You hate golf. And you picked a site that does everything right and works with the local ecology. It’s a VERY poor example.
It’s pretty easy to hate golf when all I do is chop at grass and hurt my shoulders…
Not being able to empathize with people is a failure of your imagination, not theirs.
Correct. I cannot imagine how installing an air conditioned compound with a swimming pool and a golf course in the middle of the desert could be anything other than ecologically disastrous. But then again, I tend to be skeptical of marketing claims — unlike you, apparently.