Episode: 105
Title: HPR0105: urban golf
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr0105/hpr0105.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-07 11:33:01

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Ugh, I gotta get away from this computer.
Hey it's Steve Geek and welcome to another episode of Hacker Public Radio. Today you know I'm gonna do
something a little bit different. I'm not gonna talk to you about Linux because I just had to get away
from my computer. I had to get out of the lab the other day and so I went out and I played a little
bit of golf. What? A punk like you on the greens? No. I played Urban Golf. That's right. We don't need
no stinking golf course. We don't need no stinking greens fees. All we need is an iron tennis ball
and an office park and that's it. Go out and have some fun. So Urban Golf. What are the rules? Well the
first rule is safety. It's not about vandalism. It's not about destroying things. It's not about
trespass although you know it's happened. You know and if you're playing with a group the rules are
more or less up to you after that. Low score wins. You get out there, you look down yonder, you spy a dumpster,
fire hydrant, something that becomes whole number one. Put your ball on the ground, begin hitting it,
get closer and closer. Low number of strokes wins. If you're doing every so many holes you might
want to keep score on a piece of paper. Take that choppy use for your score card. It can be anything
like a little you know index card. If you're playing with a group of people write your names in the
ball so you don't get confused. That's the basics of it. So you know me you know I'm not one to you
know just leave you with a two minute episode you know. So you might be thinking well that sounds
interesting that sounds punk you know but what's it like? What's it like taking up urban golf? I admit to
being new but the another sound bite for this is that you know it's urban golf. It's the less you know
the more fun you have. So I heard about it decided to try it. Went down to the Kmart for the cheapest
biggest club I could. Spent about 20 bucks. Boy I think a tennis ball spent about two and a half
bucks on that. Went out to an industrial office park area. Put the ball on the ground. Wow
began working toward a you power box you know when these boxes sticking up out of the ground
in the in the industrial park that the power company uses you know you know that those boxes
with the sticker it says don't touch you might get electrocuted. That those things smacked a tennis
ball against that it was a rip it was a rip you know then you begin getting better at it you know
you go back to the same place every few days try more if you really try to swing that ball hard
you know you develop this this pleasant pain in your shoulders you know it's really good
but it's just fun to be out there you know urban golf it's it's it's fun it's getting out there
it's getting out of the lab but it's also a statement because what kind of mindset gets involved
with standard golf I mean you know I have a degree in computer science right so and I'm
I'm an internet user so I looked up the fact for golf at facts.org and you know when when
when a when a friend of yours who's a computer science scientist looks at it looks at the fact
and says this thing is too complicated you know computer guys thinking your sports complicated
not good you know what I mean right and it goes into great detail about ball construction and
the kind of material clubs oh and and the rules I mean you know
so many holes low stroke wins there's something very beautiful there's ways of playing
you know the whole mindset for standard golf I mean who goes into that it's so regimented
you have to join a club you have to pay green fees the triple digit maybe quadruple digit fees
you know people hawking stuff is certain close to where full sets of clubs you know rules to
follow you know I swung by the PGA website oh my god authorized equipment you know it's like
joining the army or something I don't get the mindset give me some freedom please you know so
I got involved with the punk version so what's it like what's it like to go you know to the
office park and play golf well it's great it's great you know I mean the cleaning crew you know
it's dust the cleaning crew looks at the window at you a little odd you know some kind of suit
you know leaving office work kind of like stairs at USC drives away from you but otherwise it's
no problem you know I don't want to get involved with you know hitting things you know hitting
things that can get damaged like cause or you know trespassing you know I'm just out there playing a
game I suppose if the cops ever came and said move it I would just leave you know it's not a
problem the whole thing is to be cool and have a little bit of fun you know so there's being on
your own then there's practicing I actually drove out and found a park by a river I was out there
and there were there are people who were practicing the drives for standard golf in a public park
and they just looked at me like I had 14 heads and they saw me whack a golf ball against a
fire hide it was it was funny you know but you know they're out there and they're always
getting so hard to hit the ball yeah have some fun and use some big balls like tennis balls
you know that's one one thing that's like but it's also something else you know if you're in one
of these older urban areas with you know small industrial buildings and and car shops and
little working class balls and you're just playing through it's like a whole tour of getting to
no innablehood you know it's it's it's just it's it's hard to describe you know the feeling of
exploration and it's not like you know regular urban exploration either it's not like you know
we're going past you know the no trespassing side we were doing something wrong it's it's just
it's playful it's a playful form of exploration it's a peaceful thing and it's nothing you know to
be ashamed of you know I mean I I would suppose that if I was you know court you know in some
warehouse you know under no trespassing sign by the cops I'd be like you know a little freaked out
about how to talk my way out of the situation yeah I'm just a guy on the street you know
whacking a tennis ball until it hits a fire hydrant no problem want me to move will I damage
anything though you want me to move sure no problem you know just having some fun it's a beautiful
thing you know but I mean the the experiences are as varied as the places you go to do this
and I was I went out and I saw a movie with a co-worker the other day and he's a he's a young guy
I'm an old fort and I said hey you know I've been talking about this hey you want to try because
yeah sure we try it so there we are you know ten at night I also have a public library in a
courthouse little statues all around the concrete whacking the balls away having a blast people
walking home from train stations like you know hey what are you doing some people just
tackling us but we had a good time and that's it it's about it's about fun it's it's not a
commercial thing you know I'm gonna put a link in the show notes notes for for a website that
I think is very good urban golf I think you'll enjoy and if you read the blog there he rants about
the commercialism of it he rants about the controlling it's it's a good read for a website it's
very well done and the foes are great they're all night shots of guys you know and cut off shorts
you know whacking balls and industrial box tonight it's a great website to see you know he
makes a point he goes you know we've been ripped off Mcdonalds made a commercial you know people
playing golf and industrial block looks like our website you know it's not about how much you
spend it's not about playing the game the way the man thinks you should you know and that's
that's the that's the beauty of it you know it's it's it's a sport and you can be a punk while you
play it it's a wonderful thing okay so I covered the rules in the introduction but you know there
are rules and there are tips there are things that the guys who played the game before
have found make for a better play and and make for a more clear play now one tip is that you don't
always have to hit the target head on I mean if your targets big like a a workman's truck or
a 18 wheel of truck or a dumpster you know those large targets you gotta smack them they're big
enough easy enough to do them or you can roll under them and that counts narrow targets
it's okay to just get within the length of a golf club to count because if you're going to try
to smack a ball sticking out of the ground you know something that narrow you might be going back
and forth for a very long time trying to hit that so for for the smaller targets close enough
liken who has shoes closest counts counts here too get within a golf club length of the small
targets but the really huge targets under them or against them all right some of the tips are
very good like one tip you know the mostly designed to keep the game moving is that you can
always feel free to move the ball the length of a golf club to get a clear shot something all right
because you don't want to be smacking it around you know and we don't have sand traps in this game
but what we do contend with is high curves and if the ball is stuck against in the corner of a
high curve it can be very hard to get out of there by hitting it over and over again so
take a take a golf club's length that's fun always feel free to take three golf club lengths to
get yourself out of the path of or away from something that you might damage again it's a
peaceful game you know give the game a good name we don't want to damage anything you know tips to
make the game easier and better another tip is to keep the ball searches to 10 minutes or less
you're out there you're playing the game you don't want to hold back all the buds for a ball
search all right you lose a ball count yourself a penalty of three strokes you play through the
ball you replaced it with and then you find the ball again you can cut you can give yourself
back it can deduct one and a half strokes for you know having found found your ball again
so these are just little things that make the game better give it better playing speed
be prepared be prepared for reactions you know I mean this is a cutting edge game and people
you know people who you know need to see something on the network news at night before they
believe it are going to not understand you know I'm I'm very blessed by you know my wife misses
deep geek that's what I call her and you know but she has a normal person's mindset and she's like
this is an embarrassment this is weird what are you doing it's not weird it's unusual it's
niche you know but it's cutting edge it's a new thing some people are cutting edge people some
people aren't you know so you know you're going to get reactions you're going to be making
explanations but you're going to have fun decide to take it up you're going to have fun
I enjoy my games by myself greatly I really enjoy games when I'm blessed with having a partner
if any of y'all are in the 914 or 845 area codes want a partner contact me you know through the
web page through email it's up there and the contributors file let me know I'll be glad to hook up
with you it's going to be fun so let me know I'm also going to include a few YouTube videos
in the show notes so you'll see you'll see that it's an international phenomena
and you'll get a good feel for it I hope you try it I hope you enjoy it thank you
here's the opening I have enough material to feel comfortable using this I want to bring back
the tradition of closing music I've recently made a purchase of some music you know that the
stuff that's free on the internet is great but I found an organization called Magnetunes.com
and they're trying to do everything in just the opposite way that the RIA is doing it so
they use the same license that our organization uses they give free clips to podcasters you know
they understand that if you play something on a podcast you promote them they give you
free clips they do encourage you to buy something I happen to have what what I'm going to play
the group's name is Artemis the album name is Gravity the track name is Inception
hope you enjoy it
thank you
In the flow of thegrains
and in the Bend
I know you and I know you
You've never been sleeps
To the object of your design
It's a walk-in type of line
When everything you see, everything
It's just a mirror of what you really
Are in this world but not of it
In this world but not of it
In this world but not of it
In this world but not of it
In this world but not in this world
In this world but not of it
And down is not my mind
And sometimes I'm pretty
And show you what you're all about
And if you listen closely
Oh, say, don't you say
That everything, everything, everything
Is here to set you free
Cause we're in this world but not of it
In this world but not of it
In this world but not of it
In this world but not in this world
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
And we walk in twisted midnight
Under an alien sky
Listen into 99
Shadows of white light
Cause we're in this world but not of it
In this world but not of it
In this world but not of it
In this world but not in this world
In this world but not of it
Mr. Well done, Mr. Well
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