When I was a teenager, I lived in Ethiopia and played on a golf course with oiled sand greens. The oiled sand was dark and heavy. As I remember it, your caddie would drag the green with a carpet drag before you putted. The ball rolled beautifully. When I think about all the fuss, muss, water and fertilizer etc that goes into keeping green greens green, it makes me think that sand greens were actually rather environmentally friendly....Well, except that in Ethiopia the sand was oiled with used motor oil...so... oh, nevermind.
Today there are estimated to be 150 courses with oiled sand greens in the United States. In most cases the oil is biodegradable soy bean oil. There is a measure, drag and place protocol before everybody putts, so that's bound to slow the pace of play. I think that every course should have at least one sand green, if just for grins.
I'll tell you a few other stories about the Ethiopian course I played as a kid. The water hazards were open sewer "creeks" that flowed from the nearby rural village. If your ball went into the "water" your caddie, usually a young kid, would wade in, feel around with his bare feet until he found it, pick it up with his toes, clean off the ball and hand it back to you for a small tip...usually a dime or so.
If your ball hit a kudu or a bushbuck, or some other wild animal roaming the course, you were entitled to a mulligan.
It's just not the same here in the states. One day my drive hit a wild turkey on the course and I tried to get my mulligan. My golf buddies wouldn't hear of it. Just a bunch of birdie jokes. That's it.
Our course does use recycled water from the sewer plant of a nearby prison. But if your ball goes into the water, forget about it...nobody wants to make a stinking dime nowadays.
Oh well, at least the sand greens are still a good idea.
restoring an 1890's course with sand greens. what is the ratio of soy bean oil to sand, so to prevent blow off
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