September 1, 2023 | SPORTS | By Pierce Sullivan
Luscious green grass in Colorado Springs is a rarity. With scarce water and seemingly perpetual droughts plaguing the city, the logical choice for most is to set lawn care on the backburner. This isn’t the case at Colorado College.
CC, using an intricate system of recycled, non-potable, greywater, unleashes a daily deluge of sprinkler water onto our quads. How can we be expected to learn and embrace the adventurous spirit of the Rocky Mountain West if the grass is not perfectly tender and green, after all?
It would be a disservice to these glorious pastures of green that truly make our campus a special place to not put this grass to its use. This alludes to, of course, the most honorable way to pay tribute to over-irrigated landscapes in highly arid environments: playing golf.
Campus golf is a sport which involves hitting a tennis ball with a golf club, usually an Iron, from a designated point to another designated point – a building, tree or flagpole – with a number of menacing lions barring their teeth at passersby, and is not unique to just CC.
The oldest record of this sport on the internet can be found on Reslife.net, which not only explains the sport, but also provides a disclaimer to “be aware of windows, traffic, etc., to avoid damage to property and injury to others who may be passing by your course.”
Here at CC, this has become a favorite pastime of quite a few students.
George Beck ’25, who has been a long-time campus golf athlete, talked about his first foray into the sport. As a new freshman, Beck received an invitation to join some upperclassmen friends to play campus golf.
Although unfamiliar with the sport, Beck agreed to join, and after meeting up with some 15 or so other golfers outside Mathias Hall, “[his] love of the game began.”
Beck elaborated on this round, telling me how he and his fellow athletes “one by one… blasted golf balls, whilst screaming ‘fore,’ as they sailed over unknowing passersby.”
“It was glorious,” he said.
Campus golf took a more regulated place on campus this past fall with its involvement in the Intramural Second Saturday Series.
Chris Starr, Director of Recreation and Fitness Center at CC started the Intramural Second Saturday Series to “recognize that not everyone wants a two-block commitment,” and to provide a more accessible form of IM sports.
Campus golf was a natural pick for this series. Starr explained how CC’s Assistant Director of the Adam F. Press Fitness Center, Andy Obringer, was an avid proponent of the sport, and first came up with the idea of including it in the Series.
Starr explained that “anyone can swing an iron and hit a tennis ball.” The ease of access, timeliness and fun nature of the sport make it a perfect match for the Second Saturday Series.
The Second Saturday Series will return this year, the second Saturday of each block, with 3-versus-3 soccer, campus golf, cornhole and pickleball.
Last Spring’s IM campus golf was a success, and although a mid-April snowstorm dissuaded the early tee times, students were still able to get in a few rounds in the afternoon.
The course had nine holes, with hole one teeing off from the west side of the small quad outside Bemis Hall, and the target, or “hole,” being a lamppost on the opposing side.
For those wishing to play on their own, the possibilities for holes are endless. All that is needed is a “tee-box” and a “hole.”
If one is struggling to find affordable golf and tennis equipment, the Arc Thrift Store on Uintah St has a robust collection of golf clubs for a price befitting the sport – generally $1 to $3 per club. Tennis balls, on the other hand, can often be found slowly decaying in the shrubbery surrounding the CC tennis courts.