While I was looking around to see if anyone had ever written about waste at a mini golf course, I found an article that I was really hoping existed: Greening the Golf Course Greens . Such a no-brainer: You’re cutting tons of grass and shrubs all the time, you want some pretty flowers here and there, and do you really need fluorescent green grass?
I haven’t played golf in years. I used to play occasionally but I preferred the Par 3’s or even better, mini golf. I always found putting to be the most fun part, and when I went to Myrtle Beach recently, little did I know it was the mini golf capital of…the U.S.? The world? Either way, I was psyched.
Right away, I noticed there were trash cans every so often on the mini golf course…why? What do I need to throw away? I don’t. At the end, all I have is a paper score card and possibly a plastic soda bottle. Return the pencil back to the front desk, don’t throw it away, slacker.
Sadly, I have the lamest photo of this occurrence…it was dark out and the staff was eying me rather strangely as I kept casually trying to take photos of the can’s contents. All it consisted of was soda bottles, scorecards and an occasional paper towel or tissue…both compostable. Mini golf courses are a screaming example of zero waste…does anyone know of a place doing this?
Use the compost on your course grounds, or send it out to a commercial composting facility. Recycle your plastics/glass/aluminum: your patrons want to see that, even if they act like they don’t care. And that’s it.
OK, one “extreme” thought to minimize stuff even more: Sell drinks at the front in reusable/returnable cups and have your only waste segregation point at the front desk. Finally, have mini marker boards made with pens attached to them so that you don’t need the score cards. Those things always blow all over the place anyway. Any takers?