When You've Gotta Go!

They tell you to drink lots of liquids on the golf course. The drinks cart comes around every few holes with ice cold beer, water and soft drinks. Unfortunately, there are too few restrooms to be found nestled among the trees. Maybe they should have a travelling porta-potty following the beer buggy!



I know the problems that golf courses have because of septic field, plumbing and electrical considerations. It's not easy putting facilities out in the middle of the course, but some clubs do better than others in taking care of this need. My home course has three restrooms, not counting the clubhouse. That's about the best I've seen anywhere. True, there's nothing fancy about them. They don't even have sinks to wash your hands, but they do have that all important throne (aren't antiseptic handwipes a great invention)! They use large water storage tanks positioned under the roof, which they fill regularly. This water is then gravity-fed to the toilets.



A number of courses seem to rely on "porta-potties." I hate them, as do most women I know, but when you've gotta go, they're better than nothing. They're usually suffocatingly hot, smell like a latrine (well duh!) and have about as much room as a coffin.



We've played some courses that offer no restrooms at all other than in the clubhouse, and they weren't always the cheap clubs. I guess they figure you can hit the bathrooms on the turn! I don't think men find this to be much of a problem. Of course, they've got the bushes and trees wherever they go. (We won't mention poison ivy, ticks and any other surprises lurking among those bushes.) As more women take up golf, I think there will be more of an effort made to provide better facilities. I hope so anyhow. In the meantime, things could be worse. I could be hooked on snowmobiling. I hear that it's a real struggle when you're out in the middle of nowhere on a freezing winter day and you've gotta go!