Smoking on the course

slave1

Just seen Darren Clarke puffing away and then flicking his butt into the first cut of rough, does this have a place on TV or even ourselves out golfing?

Macker1

Smoking is a disgusting habit on or off the course. That said I understand completely that its very hard to give up. People should still avoid being litter bugs unlike what Darren Clarke did as described above.

Dbu

Goes on all the time, the cameras normally dont show it

yettie1701

He should get an ashtray built into his golf bag.

Boskowski

Compared to all those plastic bottles people just feck into ditches or shrubs its relatively harmless. But smoking during what a lot of golfers (including me probably) would tell you is a sport is just not very sporty isn't it.

I've done it myself but I cut it out. Just didn't feel right and like someone else said smoking isn't that good an idea anyway.

slave1

I don't smoke, but turning around after teeing off into a bellow of smoke is not the nicest when I'm out for exercise and fresh air, I played with a guy once who insisted I hold his fag for him when teeing off (years ago) and I politely refused and he lost the rag,I just walked onto the next hole and left him there, only time I done anything like that and had completely forgotten about it until now.
PS regarding the comment on plastic bottles, cigarette butts (that white stuff) are pure plastic akin to plastic bottles albeit less dense...

BigChap1759

Absolutely no problem with people smoking on course, but make sure you don't litter the course. I can't understand anyone leaving litter on the course. Also can't undrstand a lot of the self ritcheousness of non-smokers......

Golfgraffix

Never been a smoker but I do love the smell of cigars, golf courses are the only place these days that I see cigar smokers.

J

Armchair Andy

Anyone ever seen a nice portable ashtray I could use. I pissed a lad off recently by flicking into the rough from the green. He said nothing but yeah he didn't like it.

Seve OB

i wouldn't hold anyones fag either. why should you?

Senna

I have an electric trolley and I put my extinguished butts on the plate that holds the battery and then through it in the next bin I find.

Just on bins, it amazes me the amount of nice courses that don't have bins, cant remember which course it was now (maybe Carne or Murvagh?), but there wasn't a bin at any tee box. My own course has bins at maybe 14 out of 18 tee boxes and you never see a single piece of rubbish on the course.

FortuneChip

Don't litter on a golf course, cigarette butt, bottle whatever.

Smoke, drink, eat, just clean up after yourself.

Not the first time the cameras have caught Clarke throwing butts away, it's just not nice, and easily avoidable

Mantis Toboggan

Remember at the Irish open this year on the driving range seeing a number of players smoking, really found it odd.

Again no problem with it but don't litter. Then again very few bins on some courses.

ForeRight

I don't know why but when someone throws a smoke from their mouth to the ground while they take their shot then pick it up and start smoking again annoys me


Really don't know why and it probably shouldn't.

slave1

Senna wrote: »

Just on bins, it amazes me the amount of nice courses that don't have bins, cant remember which course it was now (maybe Carne or Murvagh?), but there wasn't a bin at any tee box. My own course has bins at maybe 14 out of 18 tee boxes and you never see a single piece of rubbish on the course.

Bins cost money and also cost time, money and effort to empty and keep so clubs remove them to reduce this cost...

neckedit

slave1 wrote:

Bins cost money and also cost time, money and effort to empty and keep so clubs remove them to reduce this cost...

Id be off the opinion it would be more labour intensive picking up rubbish rather than Emptying bins as part of the Daily Work routine of a junior greenkeeper or the like. I was one for over a year and every funky morning raking bunkers and emptying bins........ good times though....

dan_ep82

slave1 wrote: »

Bins cost money and also cost time, money and effort to empty and keep so clubs remove them to reduce this cost...

Seems like one of those costs that shouldn't be cut though. If you had to cut your house bills you'd hardly remove the bins.

I smoked , still smoke using the e cigarettes, but don't have a problem anyone smoking on the course, Ireland is just very anti smoking I think in general.

I always put the cig out on the wheel of the trolley and threw it into a bag in a side pocket of the trolley bag.

I would always try to hang back or keep enough distance when smoking to keep everyone happy if I could

PARlance

I generally put my butts in the card holder compartment of my push buggy and throw them in the bin most times but some make there way into heavy rough sometimes.
I do get a kick out of the environmentalists... do you stand in the car park judging your playing partners cars and their fuel consumption, do you have a problem with partners using electric buggies, do you ask them their recycling habits mid round?

What I do have a problem with is fellow smokers who dispose of their butts on fairways, fringes and greens... It shows a lack of respect to the course and those who use it imo and I regularly spend time picking them up.

Wichita Lineman

If golfers bring their rubbish home with them then there isn't any for the course staff to pick up and yes it does save money. Simples.

I don't smoke and if any one I'm playing with did and asked me to hold one I'd refuse too. Other than that it doesn't bother me too much as it's not in a confined space and I can stand well out of their way.

death1234567

Seve OB wrote: »

i wouldn't hold anyones fag either. why should you?

To be nice maybe? It's not like holding one is going to give you cancer.

I'm not a smoker BTW...

Also golf course's should have ashtray's built into the golf ball cleaners on tee boxes. You can't really blame smokers for throwing their butts if there's no bin/ashtray to put it in. Every smoker I know smokes when playing, it's a stressful sport.

slave1 wrote: »

Bins cost money and also cost time, money and effort to empty and keep so clubs remove them to reduce this cost...

Ah the old chicken and egg scenario. "If we put out bin's people will only put rubbish into them". It's the same with town council's not having bins in the town centre. It costs money to empty bins and dispose of rubbish, tough s**t. There are plenty of golfers buying (usually over priced) bottles of water/sandwiches/bars of chocolate in the pro shop to drink them out on the course. All golf courses should have bins on the course for disposal of those items when used. If you buy a bottle of beer in a bar they don't expect you to bring it to the recycling centre yourself.

Keano

ForeRight wrote: »

I don't know why but when someone throws a smoke from their mouth to the ground while they take their shot then pick it up and start smoking again annoys me


Really don't know why and it probably shouldn't.

You're not alone! Plus surely it cannot be a good idea leaving is sit on the ground and put it back in their mouth again.

First Up

Keano wrote: »

You're not alone! Plus surely it cannot be a good idea leaving is sit on the ground and put it back in their mouth again.

Why? You think the ciggy will pick up some bad stuff from the grass? The bloody thing is crammed with carcinogens anyway. A bit of fertiliser is hardly going to make much difference.

PARlance

Keano wrote: »

You're not alone! Plus surely it cannot be a good idea leaving is sit on the ground and put it back in their mouth again.

When you're smoking something with thousands of chemicals in it anyway, you're hardly going to be too concerned on the impact of placing it on the ground.

Keano

First Up wrote: »

Why? You think the ciggy will pick up some bad stuff from the grass? The bloody thing is crammed with carcinogens anyway. A bit of fertiliser is hardly going to make much difference.

PARlance wrote: »

When you're smoking something with thousands of chemicals in it anyway, you're hardly going to be too concerned on the impact of placing it on the ground.

True gents.

slave1

First Up wrote: »

Why? You think the ciggy will pick up some bad stuff from the grass? The bloody thing is crammed with carcinogens anyway. A bit of fertiliser is hardly going to make much difference.

Ever heard of Weils disease?

First Up

slave1 wrote: »

Ever heard of Weils disease?

Sure have. Cancer too.

ForeRight

First Up wrote: »

Sure have. Cancer too.

Imagine you left your smoke down where a rat with cancer just pissed!!!!

rrpc

ForeRight wrote: »

Imagine you left your smoke down where a rat with cancer just pissed!!!!

Imagine you just brushed the sand off the line of your putt where the same rat pissed...

...and then wiped your lips after taking a swig from your water bottle.



I don't like where we're going with this :eek:

Del2005

Armchair Andy wrote: »

Anyone ever seen a nice portable ashtray I could use. I pissed a lad off recently by flicking into the rough from the green. He said nothing but yeah he didn't like it.

Plenty of options on eBay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/pocket-ashtray

First Up

ForeRight wrote: »

Imagine you left your smoke down where a rat with cancer just pissed!!!!

The odds of a rat pissing on a tee box are a lot longer than of a cigarette poisoning you.

FixdePitchmark

I was against the smoking ban and don't smoke - I'm odd like that.

But hate seeing cigarette butts on the course. In Dublin , you typically live around rubbish , dogs ****, smells, broken bottles in playgrounds, burnt bits of playground. General mindless idiotic damage.
It is nice to go to one of the few places around, that people ("golfers") seem to have a higher level of respect for ( a golf course)

So any bit of rubbish at all on the course, sort of irrationally upsets me.

The thing about a cigarette butt in particular is, it is not exactly the most biodegradable substance.

Anyway - live and let live (but any litter on a course - is a headwrecker for anyone who loves their golf)

Senecio

This might make a few people laugh.

When the anti smoking bans were introduced to Australia just after Ireland, golf clubs had to ensure they were compliant. The law required that at least 50% of all outdoor space at a licensed venue be classed non-smoking. This applied to the whole course, not just the clubhouse.

The most common solution was:
A). Smoking only allowed on the even numbered holes. The odd numbered holes were non-smoking.

However I also came across at various clubs:
. Smoking allowed on the front nine but not the back.
C). Smoking not allowed within 150m of a a green.

But the weirdest I saw was:
D). Smoking allowed down the left half of the fairway and rough. The right half and rough were non-smoking.

First Up

Senecio wrote: »

This might make a few people laugh.

When the anti smoking bans were introduced to Australia just after Ireland, golf clubs had to ensure they were compliant. The law required that at least 50% of all outdoor space at a licensed venue be classed non-smoking. This applied to the whole course, not just the clubhouse.

The most common solution was:
A). Smoking only allowed on the even numbered holes. The odd numbered holes were non-smoking.

However I also came across at various clubs:
. Smoking allowed on the front nine but not the back.
C). Smoking not allowed within 150m of a a green.

But the weirdest I saw was:
D). Smoking allowed down the left half of the fairway and rough. The right half and rough were non-smoking.

Love it.

FixdePitchmark

God help a smoker who slices in D) above.

Could be a smoke lay up needed.