Wood vs Iron

And so I am a wee bit closer to understanding the age-old dilemma of a beginner golfer, when I came across this at http://answers.yahoo.com/

Wood Vs Iron??
I have a 3 wood which I hit 235, then jump to a 3 Iron which I hit (sometimes) 200, if I get a 5 wood or 7 wood, is that better for distance and control, should I replace my 3 Iron??

The best answer selected was:
That's a huge gap. From 235 to 200.
You can slow down that swing on the 3 wood to get a shorter distance but if you have space in your bag for a 5 wood then carry that! Going from 5 wood to 3 iron or hybrid is a good step down (maybe 1 1/2 club) .....yada, yada, yada

No, I'm not taking up golf, just fascinated by its technicalities. Years ago hubby and I did try that totally meaningless activity of hitting a couple of hundred small, hard dimpled balls at a driving range. Until he got TENNIS elbow (hitting GOLF balls?). Me, I gave up much early on. If I'm not to sweat but still have to wear special shoes, I'd rather go bowling where I can see my scores being chalked up.

Anyway, in the hoo-haa of the recent Copenhagen fiasco,  I was looking up some information on the oxygen-generating potential of trees versus grass (just trying to do my little bit). And I found this article from Ask A Scientist :

... If you want to determine oxygen production differences, the answer is found in
the total amount of green surface area of a tree (all of the leaves)
versus a bush (all of the leaves and green stems) versus a patch of
grass (all of the blades).

So, if you are interested only in the efficiency of a plant to produce
oxygen, you should look at the individual plant and ask what proportion
of the plant is producing oxygen. The grass is producing oxygen in 100%
of its leaf blade while the bush and tree are producing much less (the
trunk and nongreen stems will produce no oxygen).

However, if you are interested in the total amount of oxygen produced in
each plant, I would guess that the area of leaves produced by a tree is
greater than the area of grass blades found in the shadow of the tree.

However, if you look at a tree, bush or grass in a forest, you can find
a tree with some bushes and grass underneath. So, if you calculate how
much oxygen is produced in a patch of land, it will be higher if a tree
is there with some bushes and grass than if there is only one tree, or
several bushes or a lawn of grass.

Jim Tokuhisa, Ph.D.


Which brought me to wonder just how many trees had been felled, how much oxygen now compromised in the making of one golf course. And in the vicinity of Taman Arboretum in the Kiara hills, there are 2 golf courses. Just a short distance away at Tropicana and Damansara Indah, there are another two! And who knows how many there are in total in the whole Klang Valley.

However golf courses can be very pretty and serene with their green, finely manicured lawns, the occasional shrubbery and thickets of trees, bodies of water and sand patches. And I guess they do contribute somewhat to the air quality in the Valley.  But I wish more of them had remained forested areas, with walking trails and picnic areas for city families to enjoy. There's a dearth of such places here - the area where I live, there's not even a decent-sized park or green-lung for residents to escape to. All around us is a  steel-reinforced concrete jungle. 

If  I were the chief city-planner or minister, I would legislate that every City/Town Council start an arboretum or two similar to the one at Kiara. Or for every golf course, 2 or 3 arboretums.

Just think about it, if we compare the two activities, golf and trekking:

Fees:
Golf - yes (downright expensive);
Trekking - free

Equipment:
Golf - heavy;
Trekking - light (water)

Footprint:
Golf - Carbon (buggy);
Trekking - Shoes

Targets:
Trekking - Self;
Golf - Holes!

Bonding:
Golf - Business Clients/Prospects, Buddies, Caddies;
Trekking - Buddies, Family, Pets, Girlfriends/Boyfriends, Nature!

Time:
Trekking - as we like;
Golf - as per handicap

Qi (chinese concept of life-force):
Trekking - Invigorating;
Golf - gotta work at it

Oxygen:
Trekking - there's more per sq foot;
Golf - less

Chiropractic Risk:
Trekking - Minimal;
Golf - high


For me, definitely trekking rather than golf, rather have trees than grass, rather wood than iron.

By the way, I'm so glad Malaysia's not mentioned in the statistics below. But I think that's only because we are too small to be significant. I wonder how KL compares with other cities in the region - who knows, maybe we are the worst.

So what's the message?

Well, the message is let the big boys fight themselves green, but let's keep our little neck of the woods, mmmmm...... woody?

______________________________________________________