On Wednesday, instagrammer @antohack posted a video of himself whacking golf balls into the San Francisco bay from the cliffs at Lands End.
This annoys me for a thousand reasons, but most of all because it’s just wrong to dump more crap into the ocean.
After receiving some negative comments on his instagram post, @antohack replied “haha waiting for bait like ye to turn up. testing out my new ecobioballs.”
Ecobioballs are made by a company called Albus Golf who describe them as “Perfect for playing golf close to marine environments”. They claim the balls biodegrade in the water after 48 hours, and what’s more, release fish food from its core as a special treat for marine life. Ugh.
Ecobioballs are a distinct beige/brown color and the ones in @antohack’s video look pretty white. Just sayin’.
The post was sent to us by reader Pawel, who has been known to lead community cleanups of the trails and areas around Lands End.
“It boils my blood & breaks my heart at the same time,” Pawel said.
And let’s not forget that DIRECTLY behind @antohack is…Lincoln Golf Course. Is that not enough for you, dude?
Sarah B.
Regardless of polluting the ocean, that is an incredibly ugly golf swing, doubt the loser even hit the water.
I have seen this moronic move on the course. Eco-balls? Oh save me. The act itself is begging the universe to kill these selfish, I’m-too-cool idiots. The only bright side: they broadcast their unfitness to live, so it’s easy to avoid them. Forever.
The golf ball is such a non-issue, relative to other things going into our ocean. The real issue here is the safety of the walkers/hikers on the Land’s End path below. Like one reader above said, quite a pitiful swing, so it’s questionable as to whether he can clear the walkers path – as it’s further than it seems.
A right of passage to hit a few balls in the drink at the 17th tee box. I grew up there and have great memories. The balls sink and won’t end up in the great Pacific plastic/trash blob. I do agree, bad swing and a complete idiot to put something like that on IG or any other SM.
People – If you want to keep and enjoy some of the old “traditions”, don’t advertise them 🙁
George: The sea was angry that day, my friends – like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli. I got about fifty feet out and suddenly, the great beast appeared before me. I tell you he was ten stories high if he was a foot. As if sensing my presence, he let out a great bellow. I said, “Easy, big fella!” And then, as I watched him struggling, I realized that something was obstructing its breathing. From where I was standing, I could see directly into the eye of the great fish.
Jerry: Mammal.
George: Whatever.
Kramer: Well, what did you do next?
George: Well then, from out of nowhere, a huge tidal wave lifted me, tossed me like a cork, and I found myself right on top of him – face to face with the blowhole. I could barely see from the waves crashing down upon me, but I knew something was there. So I reached my hand in, felt around, and pulled out the obstruction.
George: [reveals the obstruction to be a golf ball]
Kramer: What is that, a Titleist?
[George Nods]
Kramer: A hole in one, huh?
Jerry: Well, the crowd most have gone wild!
George: Oh yes they did Jerry they were all over me. It was like Rocky 1. Diane came up to me, threw her arms around me, and kissed me. We both had tears streaming down our faces. I never saw anyone so beautiful. It was at that moment I decided to tell her I was not a marine biologist!
Jerry: Wow! What’d she say?
George: She told me to “Go to hell!” and I took the bus home.
It’s a lot easier to aim for the ocean then to aim at one those teeny-weeny golf holes.
Pity for the need to ‘name and shame’. A classic gutter press tactic regardless of your opinion on golf balls (ecobio or not) in the ocean.
Remi, he’s the idiot who put it out there via Instagram. No one’s fault but himself.
A long time ago, this was done by almost every golfer who played at Lincoln. The sign which indicates that there is a fine for doing this has been removed several times. It was put up when the GGNRA put the Coastal Trail just below the tee box. Coincidentally, there’s a photo of Ernie Els (famous pro golfer) doing the same thing on display in the Lincoln Park Clubhouse.