Elisabeth Dewsnup - 2024

I dreamt of golfing again. Strange, I know, for a 22-year-old girl to dream of an old man’s sport, nevertheless dreams can’t be controlled.

I was back on the brilliant green fairway, frantically searching for my mint-colored ball, it had been a gift from my dad when I first started taking golf lessons. I gazed across the wide expanse of grass over to the group of trees. Just behind the large pines, one of the many ponds on the course sat. I jogged over to the pond, praying that my ball hadn’t landed in its depths, I really didn’t feel like taking a swim today.

As I neared the water, I noticed something strange.

The water.

It was changing.

It was vaporizing.

This phenomenon was abnormal, especially since the weather around me was anything but warm. It didn’t make any sense. Why was the water disappearing? As I continued to stare, all thoughts of my beloved ball vanished along with the water. I was encompassed by a great cloud of water vapor. I shielded my eyes and crouched low just as the wind began to pick up. I tentatively opened my eyes and found a giant crater, replacing where the water had been moments before.

I stood quickly and began to slowly back away. As if nature felt my unease, the wind began to howl, the trees began to sway in a beautiful haunting dance, and the ground began to shake beneath me. All around me the luscious green grass began to shrivel up leaving cracked dirt behind. Large fissures began to form in the ground and began snaking their way to me. I spun on my heel and began to run away from the earth the seemed to be opening up to swallow me whole. I didn’t matter. I was too late. The ground disappeared beneath my feet. I began to fall.

I jolted awake, shocked by the nature of my dream. I rolled out of bed, peeling my sweaty clothes away from my body.

I hadn’t slept well

I hadn’t had that intense of a nightmare in months.

I hadn’t thought of that golf course in years.

Swan Lake Golf Course: located in Layton, Utah until the fall of 2019. Replaced by a mixed housing development.

I grew up golfing.

When I was four, I went mini golfing. When I was six, I went to the driving range. When I was eleven, I had my first golf lesson. When I was twelve, I got third place in the daddy-daughter golf tournament. When I was thirteen, I won first place in the girl’s division for the summer league. When I was fourteen, I stopped golfing.

I grew up golfing with my dad. He was the one who took me mini golfing, to the driving range, who bought me my first set of clubs, who paid for my lessons, who took me to new courses, who participated in tournaments with me. Golf was a way to be with family and I loved it.

Golf was a way to be with friends. I played in a summer league for three years. I would golf every Wednesday morning with my best friend Mason. I would pray that one year I could come close to beating him. I almost did.

Golf was a way to be in nature. In the summer league, we were too young to drive the golf carts. We got stuck walking the course. It was only nine holes, so walking was very doable. It was almost silly if you didn’t walk it. I loved splashing around in the ponds, there were many, with my clubs for spare balls, especially the clear ones that they used for glow in the dark night games. I enjoyed the warm summer weather on the green, manicured course. I especially loved hole three. It was a long par 3, with a fairway surrounded on both sides by trees. I always felt close to nature when golfing.

As I got older, golfing was not a priority anymore. I was preoccupied with volleyball, my new chosen sport, as well as practicing the piano and beginning voice lessons. Golf fell by the wayside, to be forgotten. That was until I found out about Swan Lake’s closure in 2019.

My beloved, memory filled course was about to be shut down and gutted to make way for a housing development. I received the news from my dad. My heart dropped. Something that I loved so much was about to be destroyed. And there was nothing I could do about it.

So I sat, and watched my haven be cleared out. I saw the once green grasses yanked out only to be replaced by cement slabs. I saw the tall, beautiful pines get cut down only to be traded with towering apartment buildings.

You may be wondering, what in the world does golf have to do with the state of our environment? The state of our world? I’m getting to that part. If you could just hold your horses.

I learned an important lesson from the destruction of Swan Lake Golf Course. If you love something enough, don’t ignore it until it’s too late to help save it.

Although there was nothing, I could’ve done to help save my once treasured summer diversion, there is something that we all can do to save something I love even more. Our world.

I have been naïve and quite critical about the crisis’ found in our world. I have dismissed cries of warning and voices that plead to make change. Instead I decided to turn away, to focus on “more important things”, things that I can control.

What if this is something I can control?

What if our world is worth the effort?

What if this essay goes deeper than a story about golf?

“If we want hope, we act.”

This phrase, so simply put, is what my message is. The only way to make change in this world with so many problems, so many struggles, so many unknowns, is to act

We shouldn’t stand by, wringing our hands, and crying while our beloved golf course is destroyed.

We need to act.

How do we do this when our actions seem so inconsequential? When the systems that seem to direct and dictate our every move aren’t changing?

We change the systems.

Instead of going along with our convenient, “carefree” lifestyle, we can implement changes. These changes begin with the individual.

When thinking about how to change the planet, one may begin with a quick google search of “How can I help the planet?” The first steps are very simple and according to the government, include these elements: (1) Bike more, drive less (2) reduce, reuse, recycle (3) choose sustainable foods (4) plant a tree (5) educate yourself and then others (6) volunteer, volunteer, volunteer (7) conserve water (8) shop wisely (9) don’t send chemicals into the waterways (10) switch to energy efficient light bulbs (National Ocean Service, 2021)

It may seem like a lot of steps. It may seem like it wouldn’t make that much of a difference. If I had searched this up four months ago, I would’ve thought “What a waste of time. These small steps won’t make a difference.” But what if they will?

After reflecting on my experience with the golf course, and on my experience with the world itself, I have come to the conclusion that it’s much better to participate in something, even if it’s as simple as bringing your own bags to the grocery store, rather than sitting around and continuing to take part in activities that are hurting the world we live in.

Although these small actions don’t equate to changing the systems that operate to control the aspects of our society, my belief is that you have to start somewhere.

And as I said before, if we want to have any hope for the future, we have to begin that action now. Even if that means I must change my lifestyle.

I won’t sit on the sidelines, watching another golf course crumble away.

Will you?

 

References

Thomas, R. (2019, August 13). Swan lakes GC closing. Club + Resort Business.  https://clubandresortbusiness.com/swan-lakes-gc-closing/

US Department of Commerce, N. O. and A. A. (2009, August 10). What can I do to protect coral reefs?. NOAA’s National Ocean Service. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/ocean/earthday.htm

Artist's Statement

I had a really hard time with this project. I am not comfortable expressing myself through art, especially for a grade. Nevertheless, I wanted to attempt the project and see how I did. I feel the most confident in expressing myself through writing. I decided I would tell a story, from my childhood. I grew up golfing and the place that I learned to golf was torn down. I always felt guilty for not trying to save the place I loved so much. When I was reflecting on this, I had an idea to turn the golf course into a metaphor for saving the planet. The story I tell is very simple. I begin with a dream I had about the golf course and its demise. I then move on to talk more about my background with golf and the course and why it’s so important to me. Then for my final section, I wrap it up with why it’s important. I’m not one who was super passionate about saving the environment before taking this class. So I am in my beginning journey as far as activism or taking action goes. Because of this, I centered my story around beginning to take a step for change. Making the decision to start the small actions that build up to something more impactful. My story is not one that will receive awards and accolades, but it is something important to me. It is a story that if I read it in a journal, I would be moved to being acting for a better world, because it is so simple.