Why Is Government in the Golf Business?

Rocket golf
Originally uploaded by SvendO

An interesting piece about the hit-or-miss nature of the private management services hired by cities to run their municipal golf courses. I don't know if golf course privatization holds larger lessons for privatization in general but my sense is that it's hard to generalize about either. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. Obviously if you have a corrupt political machine awarding the contracts it's a problem. But there's a larger problem. Why not use the public land in a more economically productive or at least democratic way? A football field is 1.32 acres - you could fit a hundred of them in the average golf course, and probably still have room for a community garden and some tennis courts to spare. Plus there aren't that many golfers, and 20% of the golfers play 80% of the rounds. I have a sentimental attachment to golf but you have to wonder whether the government should really be in this business at all.