My Sunday Feeling

Today is the final round of the annual 4th of July tournament over at War Memorial Golf Course.  It's been played over there since 1933 or so.  And by final, I mean final.  After today's round, the City of Little Rock will close the oldest golf course in the city.  

The city says it can't afford to maintain 4 golf courses.  So it is closing War and Hindman to the southwest.  Hindman closed last Friday I think.  First Tee, located over by Hindman, has been spared the chopping block despite losing the most money of any of the golf courses maintained by the city.  Rebsamen has likewise been spared for no other reason than the city pumped a zillion bucks into it some 10 years ago.  It is the premier municipal course in Little Rock.  So I get that.

But War is the only one that doesn't flood.  It has been the traditional launching pad for many a kid's love of the game.  I used to caddy for my father when he played the 4h of July tournament.  My mother used to drop my brothers John and Bob off over there with peanut butter sandwiches and money for green fees and a couple of pops.  They would play all day.  Many local golfers were raised on that course and have similar stories.  I am reliably advised that War was the first local course that allowed black golfers on.  And every Thanksgiving and Christmas, weather permitting, you would see black guys out there walking the closed course.  Of course, nobody cared.  And indeed, anytime I was out there, which was weekly, there were most always African-American players on the course.  

The fact that War Memorial is being closed by a government run by the city's first elected black mayor is an irony that is not lost on me or on a lot of folks.  

Sure.  It is a quirky little par 65 track that is outgunned by modern players with souped up clubs.  It's also used as a parking lot for when the Razorbacks make their cameo appearances in Little Rock.

Anyway, my buddy Phil who is a real player always said his problem with War was that it made guys like him try to do stupid stuff.  My brother John who is likewise an excellent golfer for years would not set foot out there because it was his opinion that all War was good for was screwing up anybody that could halfway play.  The fact that I was once tied with Phil through like 11 or so out there is all the proof you need.

"You're doing great," Phil said. " Just keep it up. You'll probably beat me."

I promptly blew up.  Which was the bastard's plan all along.  

And sure.  I will miss it.  Rick and I have played out there on Sundays for at least 15 years.  I play it once or twice a week by myself.  It's close by and convenient.  And I have a lot of fond memories of my times there.

And I fully get that my convenience and happiness should not be confused with the greater good or drive government policy.

Which leads me to the observe that a couple of interesting arguments in favor of closing it as a golf course have popped up in what passes for the marketplace of ideas on this issue.  One argument is that golf is an elitist sport that the city shouldn't subsidize.  And secondly, as night followeth the day, there is the notion that those who are opposed to the golf course closing are doing so out of a sense of wounded privilege.  I got accused of that myself the other night from a most surprising, at least to me, source.  

Not only is the argument tedious it is ridiculous.  Anybody with a 30 buck green fee (I think it's 30.  I wouldn't know since I get the senior rate and we tended to play at twilight) and a bag of clubs could show up and play.  You didn't even need a tee time.  If you ever had the wild notion to try your hand at the game War was the place to do it.  And you saw people out there all the time who were obvious novices.  Are people like that going to go to First Tee or Rebsamen?  Not likely.  War was pretty user friendly.  Like John said, it would screw up a good golfer.  But just about any hacker could halfway scrape it around out there.

So what now?  Who knows?  The city shut it and Hindman down during peak golf revenue season with no plan other than to have a committee study proposals to "repurpose" them to make them more accessible to more people.  Walking trails, soccer fields, and climbing walls are some proposed activities being bandied about.  And while I am not wired for paranoia myself there are a considerable number of people that believe that the city has no ultimate plan other to sell War off to developers.  This would be a damn shame.  I don't believe it. But I don't discount it out of hand.    

In the meantime, while they are considering ways to "repurpose" the old course, I suppose they may mow it.  Or they may not.  Already they have run folks out they caught camping in the woods off number 3.  I heard of one guy who took up residence over by the zoo around the former archery range who had erected a "no trespassing" sign by his personal shelter space.  Does the city really think this will not get worse with nobody out there playing golf? Do they have a plan for dealing with that?  

But I ramble.  What's done is done and there's no use crying over spilt turf dressing.  Naturally, a lawsuit was filed that seeks injunctive relief.  Some folks are reposing faith in that.  At least they do until they hear me tell those that have asked me that the suit in question is completely uncontaminated by merit for about 5 reasons off the top of my head.  

As unthinkable as it may be to those that have played it or drove by it everyday even, War Memorial Golf Course is no more.  Everybody will live.

That doesn't mean that guys like me and Rick have to like it.  

Looking back on it, I just wish I had joined those walkers on Thanksgiving Day one time.  Those guys had a blast out there.  

Too late now.