Thesis advisor: Susan Roberts / "The Gentlemen's Game: Essays on Golf" is a collection of seven nonfiction pieces about a historically wealthy pastime. Drawing from his personal experience as a player, caddie, and fan, the author seeks to portray golf’s most compelling stories as well as its many problems. Subjects include stars such as Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth, as well as lesser-known pros like Mark Baldwin, who travels the country in pursuit of the PGA Tour. The thesis also explores golf’s issues with environmentalism and inclusivity, which have followed the sport for decades. This collection of essays is a testament to the value of the game, despite its reputation for tedium and elitism. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: English.

Golf courses are part of the built environment. As such, they relate to the landscape and have impacts on the larger environment. This paper explores those relationships and impacts. Growing environmental awareness coupled with the projected construction of 400 courses per year in the United States, can produce significant impacts for both the golf industry and the environment. The aim of this thesis is to create an environmental design frame of reference for approaching out-of-play areas on the golf course. An extensive literature review identifies the major environmental issues involved. Interviews with three leading golf course architects explore those issues through soliciting opinions and experiences. Site visits to nine golf courses built by these architects correlate the initial findings to physical form. Through triangulating the three research vehicles, the literature review, interviews, and site visits, a frame of reference for out-of-play areas begins to take shape. Interpretations made and conclusions reached lead to an understanding that the relationship between golf and the environment is not a simple balancing act. An interplay of sometimes conflicting forces emanating from both golf and the environment determine the eventual configuration of the landscape. However, the overall findings support a view that sensitively designed out-of-play areas can have beneficial consequences for the environment. This paper further suggests other areas and methods of study to confirm and advance an environmental frame of reference for designing out-of-play areas on the golf course. / Master of Landscape Architecture

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No description available.

In the Swedish society, sport is seen as a natural integration arena where ethnic minorities integrate intothe new society without losing their identity. The diversity varies greatly among the different sports, golfis one of the sports where diversity is almost totally absent. This study aims to examine how projects atvarious Swedish golf clubs promote the integration of youth immigrants through the sport. The first stepof the study consisted of surveys that formed the base of the study. In the second step, interviews cratedknowledge about golf clubs various work to promote integration in society. The results show that almostevery fourth golf club in Sweden was implementing or planning an integration project of some kind.Trough the study, it becomes clear that the barriers that must be torn down to make golf a naturalintegration arena, as sports in general, are numerous.

Golf course design, construction and maintenance began as a reflection of the natural landscape. Over time, however, golf course designs and settings sometimes have taken on artificial or unrealistic characteristics. Characteristics such as greens that can be mechanically moved to vary the difficulty of play (Hilton Head Country Club), traditional golf courses developed in the desert, and TPC (Tournament Players Championship) golf courses designed to accommodate additional spectators while limiting vegetation. Most of today's manicured courses also depend on the application of inorganic pesticides and fertilizers, deemed more efficient, but potentially harmful to golfers and the environment.This study examines three things: construction of a nine-hole golf course on a specified site without drastically changing current or natural conditions; on-going restoration efforts by a local area group/organization on that site; and the successful incorporation of additional user groups into the golf course setting.Through the use of four current site categories - Current Vegetation Survey, Slope Survey, Soil Survey, and Potential Hydrology Survey - determinations were made forproper hole location, potential wetland creation, adequate soil conditions for fairway creation, and vegetation succession. Each category was drafted on a clear 24" X 36" mylar sheet with the proposed site boundary drawn at 1"=200'-0" scale (for practical purposes concerning this creative project, the four 24" X 36" mylar sheets were reduced to an 8 1/2" x 11" format.) All four sheets (categories) were layed on top of each other in no particular order to produce a credible guide/map overlay of current site conditions of this sustainable and regenerative golf course design (see Appendix G, A58-A62 for the map overlay process used.) Location and design of the nine fairway holes successfully reflected all but a few of the standard golf layout practices. For example, golf holes to be laid out in a north/south direction, the inclusion of 'dog legs' and hole hazards, avoidance of steep slopes, and adherence to accepted lengths and sizes for greens, fairway holes and distances between holes.Creation of this unique golf course design was also contingent upon its accessibility to additional user groups and reduced golf car usage - unless golfers are physically challenged. These user groups include joggers, walkers, fishermen, cross-country skiers, campers, and hunters (when deemed appropriate.) The final Nine-Hole Golf Course Design Layout sheet included these additional user groups without intentionally interfering with the golfing activity. Thefinal design suggests adequate safety for those additional user groups according to the common precautions taken by golf courses. Such precautions include the location of signage displays to inform golfers of golf course safety policies, and buffer areas to protect persons in areas deemed most susceptible to stray golf shots. Standard golf course safety policies include: play at your own risk, the golfing establishment is not responsible/liable for personal injury induced by stray golf shots, and no joggers or walkers allowed on golf course. Further design study, perhaps, is needed to prevent any remote chance of injury from stray golf balls.To garner reaction towards the more sustainable/regenerative golf course, golfers self-described as average to good were asked to fill out a survey/questionnaire form. Approximately eighty forms were sent via mail and hand delivered to golfing establishments in Muncie, Indiana. Thirty-three responses were received. Results from the survey/questionnaire suggested that golfers would accept most of the aspects concerning natural/organic maintenance practices and the limited use of golf cars, but were concerned with the possibility of slower play due to increased roughs, wetlands and safety hazards. The survey/questionnaire also revealed that golfers had a negative response toward additional costs associated with organic maintenance practices and with safety for additional user groups. Nevertheless, respondents overall were very interested in ideas promoting a more ecologically safe golfing activity. Although the golfers who responded said they would participate on such a golf course setting, until such a golf course is designed and built, it remains to be seen whether they would accept such a venue. / Department of Landscape Architecture

Background: In ballistic sports like golf power production in rotational movement play a major role for performance. To hit the ball far, high clubhead speed is crucial in golf and rotational power (medicine ball throws) have shown to have a good correlation to clubhead speed. A lower golf handicap has also shown to correlate well with higher clubhead speed. Few sport specific power tests have been executed and training and testing sport specific are associated with high performance in a sport. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the correlation between three parameters (power, velocity and force) measured in a golf specific rotational test and clubhead speed (CHS), ball speed (BS) and carry distance (CD) on young elite golfers. Methods: Twenty-six golfers, 16 men and 10 women, completed the study. Two tests were performed on separate occasion; one golf performance test using Trackman launch monitor and one golf specific rotational test in 1080 Quantum. CHS, BS and CD were collected in the golf performance test and max power, force and velocity in the golf specific rotational test. To study the relationship between the selected variables, spearman’s correlations coefficient (rs) was used and analyzed the total group, and in men and women separately. Results: Excellent correlation was found between max power and CHS (r=0.9, p<0.00). Good correlation was found between force and CHS (r=0.8, p<0.00). Moderate correlations were found between force and BS and force and CD and max power and CD (r=0.7, p<0.00). Poor correlations were found between velocity and CHS, BS and CD (r=0.3, p>0.50). Conclusion: This study showed that strong correlations seem to exist between power production in a golf specific rotation test and Golf performance in young elite golfers. Even force also seems to have an impact on golf performance while velocity showed little to no correlation to golf performance.

<p>In the global and rapidly changing society Environmental scanning is becoming a more and more important tool. Today it is not the availability of information that controls an organizations behavior, but the information that the organization chooses to absorb. This is the case for a multinational cooperation as well as for the local golf club. Swedish golf clubs have during the last 100 years had an amazing development and today there are almost 600 000 registered Swedish golf players. The development has however stopped and even declined some during the last couple of years. This makes it important for golf clubs to actively scan its environment.</p><p>The purpose with this thesis is to investigate if Swedish golf clubs scan their environment and if they do, describe and analyze how such scanning is conducted. Our secondary purpose is to give recommendations.</p><p>We have, to fulfill the purpose, conducted a quantitative research based on a telephone questionnaire. We have interviewed 34 randomly stratified selected golf clubs, geographically spread all over Sweden.</p><p>Conclusions The analysis shows that not even one of four Swedish golf clubs conducts environmental scanning. This at the same time as almost eight of ten clubs state that they believe that environmental scanning is important, or even very important. The analysis also shows that those clubs that have a person responsible for the environmental scanning have fewer members that end their membership, than those that do not have someone responsible.</p><p>Even though fees from members are the largest source of income for the golf clubs only 21 % of the Swedish golf clubs had any kind of bases for calculation on how many members they could afford to loose before it would result in economic problems. This is especially remarkable as the analysis shows that the number 21 % is misleadingly high as many of the calculations are very vague.</p><p>The representatives for the clubs give a very pessimistic view on the future, where 61 % believe that the increase of members has stopped or even declined</p> / <p>Omvärldsbevakning är i dagens globala och snabbt förändrande samhälle ett allt viktigare verktyg. Idag är det inte tillgången på information som styr en organisations handlande, utan snarare den information som organisationen valt att ta till sig. Detta gäller det multinationella företaget såväl som den lokala golfklubben. Svenska golfklubbar har under de senaste 100 åren haft en fantastisk utveckling och idag finns det nästan 600 000 registrerade svenska golfspelare. På senare tid har utvecklingen dock avstannat och till och med minskat något. Detta gör det än viktigare för klubbarna att bevaka sin omvärld.</p><p>Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om svenska golfklubbar bevakar omvärlden och i de fall de gör det är syftet även att beskriva och analysera hur en sådan bevakning går till. Vårt bisyfte är att ge golfklubbar rekommendationer när det gäller omvärldsbevakning.</p><p>För att uppfylla syftet har vi gjort en kvantitativ undersökning i form av en telefonenkät. Vi har intervjuat 34 stratifierat slumpmässigt utvalda golfklubbar geografiskt utspridda över hela Sverige.</p><p>Slutsatser Analysen visar att mindre än en av fyra svenska golfklubbar bedriver systematisk bevakning av sin omgivning. Detta samtidigt som nästan åtta av tio klubbar tycker att omvärldsbevakning är viktigt, eller till och med mycket viktigt. Analysen visar vidare att de klubbar som har en person ansvarig för omvärldsbevakning har färre medlemmar som slutar per år än de klubbar som inte har någon ansvarig.</p><p>Trots att avgifter från medlemmarna är klubbarnas största inkomstkälla har endast 21 % av de svenska golfklubbarna någon form av kalkyl som upplyser om hur många medlemmar klubben kan tappa innan detta resulterar i ekonomiska problem. Detta är extra anmärkningsvärt då analysen visar att siffran 21 % är missvisande högt då många av kalkylerna är ytterst bristfälliga.</p><p>Klubbarnas representanter ger uttryck för en mycket pessimistisk syn på framtiden, där 61 % tror att medlemsutvecklingen har avstannat, eller till och med minskat.</p>

In the 80s and 90s in America, residential developers believed that the best way to make money was to build a golf course community. Premiums of homes on golf courses ranged from 30% to 100% more than the price of a similar home not adjacent to a course. Today, the bottom has fallen out of the golf market leaving over 2,400 courses closed in America. Residential homes bordering a closed golf course experience an 11.7% loss of value. Many owners and potential developers want these large parcels of land to be up-zoned so they can build higher density residential and make a profit. Neighbors do not want to lose their greenspace and public officials do not want to be seen as harming single-family residential. This thesis argues that to retrofit a closed golf course, developers, community members and other stakeholders must first understand the morphological and environmental implications of the different types of golf courses, the context surrounding closed courses and the location of these courses in a greater regional area. By understanding closed golf courses in this way, a framework can be established that results from negotiation among golf course residents, neighbors, developers and public officials.

In the global and rapidly changing society Environmental scanning is becoming a more and more important tool. Today it is not the availability of information that controls an organizations behavior, but the information that the organization chooses to absorb. This is the case for a multinational cooperation as well as for the local golf club. Swedish golf clubs have during the last 100 years had an amazing development and today there are almost 600 000 registered Swedish golf players. The development has however stopped and even declined some during the last couple of years. This makes it important for golf clubs to actively scan its environment. The purpose with this thesis is to investigate if Swedish golf clubs scan their environment and if they do, describe and analyze how such scanning is conducted. Our secondary purpose is to give recommendations. We have, to fulfill the purpose, conducted a quantitative research based on a telephone questionnaire. We have interviewed 34 randomly stratified selected golf clubs, geographically spread all over Sweden. Conclusions The analysis shows that not even one of four Swedish golf clubs conducts environmental scanning. This at the same time as almost eight of ten clubs state that they believe that environmental scanning is important, or even very important. The analysis also shows that those clubs that have a person responsible for the environmental scanning have fewer members that end their membership, than those that do not have someone responsible. Even though fees from members are the largest source of income for the golf clubs only 21 % of the Swedish golf clubs had any kind of bases for calculation on how many members they could afford to loose before it would result in economic problems. This is especially remarkable as the analysis shows that the number 21 % is misleadingly high as many of the calculations are very vague. The representatives for the clubs give a very pessimistic view on the future, where 61 % believe that the increase of members has stopped or even declined / Omvärldsbevakning är i dagens globala och snabbt förändrande samhälle ett allt viktigare verktyg. Idag är det inte tillgången på information som styr en organisations handlande, utan snarare den information som organisationen valt att ta till sig. Detta gäller det multinationella företaget såväl som den lokala golfklubben. Svenska golfklubbar har under de senaste 100 åren haft en fantastisk utveckling och idag finns det nästan 600 000 registrerade svenska golfspelare. På senare tid har utvecklingen dock avstannat och till och med minskat något. Detta gör det än viktigare för klubbarna att bevaka sin omvärld. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om svenska golfklubbar bevakar omvärlden och i de fall de gör det är syftet även att beskriva och analysera hur en sådan bevakning går till. Vårt bisyfte är att ge golfklubbar rekommendationer när det gäller omvärldsbevakning. För att uppfylla syftet har vi gjort en kvantitativ undersökning i form av en telefonenkät. Vi har intervjuat 34 stratifierat slumpmässigt utvalda golfklubbar geografiskt utspridda över hela Sverige. Slutsatser Analysen visar att mindre än en av fyra svenska golfklubbar bedriver systematisk bevakning av sin omgivning. Detta samtidigt som nästan åtta av tio klubbar tycker att omvärldsbevakning är viktigt, eller till och med mycket viktigt. Analysen visar vidare att de klubbar som har en person ansvarig för omvärldsbevakning har färre medlemmar som slutar per år än de klubbar som inte har någon ansvarig. Trots att avgifter från medlemmarna är klubbarnas största inkomstkälla har endast 21 % av de svenska golfklubbarna någon form av kalkyl som upplyser om hur många medlemmar klubben kan tappa innan detta resulterar i ekonomiska problem. Detta är extra anmärkningsvärt då analysen visar att siffran 21 % är missvisande högt då många av kalkylerna är ytterst bristfälliga. Klubbarnas representanter ger uttryck för en mycket pessimistisk syn på framtiden, där 61 % tror att medlemsutvecklingen har avstannat, eller till och med minskat.