This is right up my street. I’m a zoologist, now wildlife filmmaker (and golfer obviously). This non-profit is based in North Berwick and offers certification to clubs around the world: https://sustainable.golf/
This certification is a requirement if you want to hold a European Tour event (or possibly just an R&A event).
I actually did a student film about wildlife on golf courses and sustainability around 5 years ago.
Well let’s see the film! Got a link?
Slightly embarrassing to watch these days but hopefully it’s still a good watch…
That is really well done! I was expecting something far less refined, shame on me for underestimating the great folks of the Refuge. Some great shots and a good message with storytelling resembling a combination of David Attenborough and Rich Lerner. The music is great and contributed a lot to the narrative. Has your golf wildlife cinematography business taken off since your masters work? I mean, I’d hire you. I might have to someday. Thanks for sharing!
Edit: sorry if I posted this twice, phone troubles.
Haha thanks.
I’ve not done much direct golf-wildlife work since but I work in tv making wildlife documentaries. I’ve tried to develop some short pieces involving wildlife on golf courses but they’ve not gone far yet.
Separately, I’ve also done a bit of golf course work as I’m a drone pilot now. Planning on sharing some photos of Scotland’s newest course, Dumbarnie. I’ll probably start a new thread for them.
I’m beyond bummed out over the news that the Coul Links project has been blocked by useless bureaucrats who have their priorities completely ass-backward. In a sparsely populated area in Northern Scotland, this was going to be a crucial catalyst for spurring economic development by providing a strong incentive for visitors to stay a few nights. Hundreds of jobs were going to be created and restaurants, hotels, and other businesses would prosper as a result of Keiser and Coore’s vision. Instead, bureaucrats decided to value sand, grass, and insects over improving the lives of actual Scottish citizens. It’s incredible just thinking about it, how completely insane is it that keeping a tiny bit of land untouched is more important than stimulating a small economy that could really use this kind of economic investment?
This isn’t some absurdist cartoon where bulldozers run over fleeing antelope to build a new shopping mall! This was an environmentally conscious proposal that would have taken care of the beloved animals in the area. The proposed course routing was only a small fraction of the dunesland, so acting like it was simply going to obliterate the entire natural landscape and habitat is so intellectually dishonest, it hurts. And laying the blame solely on Trump seems illogical when 5 minutes of research could have informed the bureaucrats that Mike Keiser and Donald Trump are polar opposites when it comes to their approach to building golf courses. Are they really that lazy?
But that’s hardly a surprise considering how inane and irrational environmental extremists tend to be. I completely understand the need to protect our natural environment, but there NEEDS to be a common-sense approach. Mike Keiser couldn’t have put it better when he said that “These people are against any kind of development.” That’s exactly right. There is no rationality to their utter contempt for even the slightest disturbance of nature. In my home state of Washington, a fantastic proposal for a ski resort in the Methow Valley never happened because of the insanity of local environmentalists.
This is common. How many world-class ski resorts and golf courses haven’t been built become of environmental terrorists? That’s what they are, terrorists, and they shouldn’t be negotiated with. If it was up to them, every single golf course and ski resort would be demolished. That’s not some fear-mongering conspiracy theory. Listen to them. There is no middle ground to seek, they are radicals who you can’t reason with.
Building a ski resort is such an uphill battle that it’s not worth attempting for even the boldest of developers. What has this caused? Across the west, as more and more people take up the sport, resorts are crowded to the point of parody. Despite clear evidence that there is enough demand to require more ski areas, environmentalists make the prospect of this nearly impossible. So enjoy the 30-minute lift lines and tracked out powder by 10 am! It’s gotten to the point where I just go heliskiing once a year and go up with the family a few times but I just have no desire to head to the local on a random weekend nearly as much as I used to.
In addition, if you’re wondering why your ski ticket or your green fee is so expensive, part of the blame lies at the feet of environmentalists (as well as lawyers, especially for skiing). All that time and money spent on ridiculously convoluted environmental reviews have to be recuperated and you’re on the hook for it! Jim Wagner expressed frustration over this in a NLU pod.
So yes, I am sitting here depressed at the realization that I’ll never see beautiful Jeff Bradley bunkers in Embo, Scotland but I’m also frustrated at @Soly for suggesting that opposition to the project was “sound.” In what universe are the concerns of these environmental extremists rational? In what common-sense abiding world does the desire for leaving 32 acres of sand and grass undisturbed trump the real-life benefits that hundreds of jobs and millions of tourism dollars would bring to the area? Again, 32 measly acres!!! It’s beyond farcical! Get your priorities straight. It would be understandable if they were trying to build a course or a ski resort on virtually every coastline or mountain in the world but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Again, there is no common sense to these environmental extremists, they will oppose any and all development as Mr. Keiser pointed out.
Do not negotiate with these people. Do not pretend that they are rational. Do not seek a middle ground. Do not try to understand their point of view.
Don’t do any of these if you care about world-class courses (or ski resorts) ever being built.
If @Randy’s idol gets her wish, courses are going to get demolished for housing and environmental regulations will become so stringent that you’ll never see another Bandon Dunes type of property ever again. I dread the thought but her mentor currently leads in the polls so I better prepare for that depressing scenario.
To that thought, I’m pouring myself a glass of the good stuff, and another for Coul Links, a missed opportunity of a lifetime. What could have been…
@KVV, maybe you could write a story on environmental extremists and the economic problems that they have caused in the world of golf? I doubt that would get green-lit though, it’s the wrong point of view.
Good use of tags, @Eric_Denver! Think we call that a trifecta.
This stuff is so out of control that @Eric_Denver linked to an article written during the Bush administration. The George Herbert Walker Bush administration.
Juuuuust a bit of a reach there on his part. I’m genuinely curious how long it takes him to write these novels.
I knew that was going to be brought up but I linked to that because it was an example of how environmental extremists have personally affected me. I remember being really excited for the Methow Valley ski resort. I would still take my family there today if it was ever built.
But instead, we have to settle for long lift lines and moguls in 30 minutes because good luck getting anything built these days.
Question, how many ski resorts have been built in the US in the last 40 years? It’s almost impossible.
What was a reach? What was incorrect about what I wrote?
The article from 1992.
How is it a reach though? It’s merely an example that shows how this is personal for me.
If you want modern examples of environmental extremism, try Coul Links, the whole point of my post!
I get the impression that you may not be easy to negotiate with either.
I’m so sorry for you and your family’s situation. I’d suggest you take it up with your local government.
Of the people, by the people, for the people…
Fair enough but I wouldn’t negotiate with terrorists.
The problem is that the voting populace contains people like YOU that would allow these tragedies to happen.
Heliskiing is the only solace in a world where development is so difficult. At the local I have to stand in a lift line with my kid while a punk snowboarder blasts explicit rap out of his portable speaker as if we want to hear that noise!
Lol, this is the good stuff here, ED. Welcome back, big fella!
Is this because he likes Jimmy Buffet? What is going on here