Jenny Nelson

Prof. Foldvary

Econ 12

9:15 class

The Only Golf Course Around

Green Field was a small town in the middle of no where. The people were friendly and the quaint with tradition, however, this was not your typical town. The people in Green Field had a strange obsession with the game of golf. Maybe it was the time spent on the luscious green grass, or maybe it was the dedication and level of difficulty of the game, but something made the game of golf irresistible to the townspeople. When young children in other towns were learning to ride their bikes or throw a ball, the children of Green Field were learning to swing a golf club. Most children were given their first set of clubs when they were just barely old enough to stand on their own, and golf was a mandatory subject in school, in place of physical education. Adults worked hard to earn all the extra money they could to be able to play as much golf as possible.

            One citizen, Mr. Bunker, worked a morning paper route, a typical day job, and then a night security job three nights a week, just so that he and his family could afford golf outings every weekend. Mr. Bunker’s daughter had an exceptional natural talent for this sport, and Mr. Bunker being a proud supportive father wanted her to have as much opportunity as possible to succeed in a golf career. The only problem was that in order for Mr. Bunker’s daughter, Annika, to further develop her talent, she would need to play golf practically every day.

            In the town of Green Field, there was only one golf course, one driving range, and one golf supply store. They were all located and grouped together on one piece of property and owned by the Bogie Family. The golf course and facilities had been inherited by the Bogie Family long before the town of Green Field had been domesticated, and was the only golf course anywhere near the town. The next closest golf course was a six hour drive from Green Field, which no one was willing to make every weekend in order to play. The Bogie Family could charge extremely high prices for the use of their course and practice facilities, and people would pay it because it was the only way they could play golf every weekend without spending a fortune on gas driving far away. The Bogie Family could also enforce whatever rules and regulations they wanted without loosing business or profits because they were the people of Green Field’s only choice.

            Mr. Bunker has often dreamed of having his own public golf course or driving range where the prices were lower and accessible to all people. Here his daughter could fully develop and perfect her golf game without feeing the guilt of costing her father countless dollars and hours spent working. However, the price of starting up Mr. Bunker’s own golf course was so extravagant that his dream could never come true. Mr. Bunker did not have the resources, material, labor, or money to fund his dream. He and a few friends tried to come up with a plan to go into business together, but they knew they could never compete with the Bogie Family and that they would ultimately loose a great deal of money. The new golf course would require too much land and money that no one had available to spare, so the Bogie Family’s facilities remained the only one in town, and people continued working multiple jobs and paying the high green fees to fulfill their need for golf.