Golf Course a Waste of Space

* Your Sept. 1 article on Mile Square [Regional] Park misses the most important point, that the Orange County Board of Supervisors is planning to develop 62% of Orange County’s most popular county regional park for the benefit of a tiny minority.

Only one out of 11 Californians plays even one round of golf a year. Over two-thirds of all rounds are played by “avid golfers,” who comprise less than 2% of the population. These avid golfers average 61.7 rounds of golf per year.

Why does Supervisor Charles V. Smith champion a move to make this expensive sport more affordable for the one in 50 of us who have the time and the money to play golf more than once a week? What about open space and recreational needs for the other 98% of us?

For Smith to say that a third golf course makes the park “more usable for a larger cross-section of the people” is hypocrisy of the first order. It’s time for Smith to start listening to the residents of his district instead of the lobbyists from the golf course developers. And it’s time for the other supervisors to say no to Smith’s horrible deal for county taxpayers.

GUS AYER

Fountain Valley