Smoking Ban Threatens to Make Golf Pointless

Not all golfers smoke cigars, and not all cigar smokers golf. Nonetheless, there is a hefty chunk of both groups that overlaps. Step out onto the links at any major course, and you're bound to find more than a handful of duffers with stogies lit while they fret about their backswings. Now, this tradition is in jeopardy.

Across the country, public golf courses are trying to ban what essentially is outdoor smoking where common courtesy dictates that you not get too close to the groups around you anyway. It comes as no shock that many golfers are resisting the trend.

The city of Spokane, WA is the latest to attempt a prohibition on lighting up while teeing off, only to back down in the face of immense opposition. It's already hard enough to enjoy a cigar in Washington, which has banned indoor smoking – not to mention puffing within 25 feet of a door or window.

The Spokane golfers' victory is an anomaly. Several public courses have succeeded in keeping cigars off courses, including San Francisco, Glendale and Pasadena, CA; Hawaii County, HI; Bloomington, MN.; Goshen, IN.; Abilene, TX and Arvada, CO.

So, it looks like you'll only see the most upscale of cigars at golf courses in the near future. After all, country clubs will be the only places that can make their own rules.