What's Going On With Central PA Golf Courses and AI Data Centers?

Golf, in theory, emerged quite robustly from the shadow of the COVID pandemic. It is, after all, the perfect social distancing sport. Participation numbers have been growing for years, with more than 28 million Americans playing at least one round in 2025, an increase of 1.5 million from the year before. If you add in the people who only visit the driving range or other non–golf course facilities, that number grows to almost 50 million. 

So, why is it that golf courses around Harrisburg are being sold to make way for godforsaken AI data centers? Dauphin Highlands has been on the market for months and will likely close by the end of 2027, and now there's news that Royal Manchester is also heading to the ChatGPT chopping block. These aren't super-basic courses either, both are quite solid and two of the three best golf courses in the Harrisburg area. Dauphin Highlands does at least 50,000 rounds a year, which is about as much as you could possibly expect for a course that doesn't have a realistic year-round golfing season.

Of course, we all know the real answer: Golf turns a profit, but it's slow, while selling the land to make way for data centers is a quick, easy buck. These public golf courses also represent a community, and in 2025 America, we can't possibly have any of that. If you're not boosting your year-over-year quarterly profits, you're falling behind. And all those pesky health benefits from playing golf improving the health of the population, so annoying. Clearly what we need is every single person sitting in a dark room speaking only to ChatGPT. 

It's just so tiring hearing about all the various ways "AI" is making our lives worse, plus its frustrating hearing about good golf courses disappearing. We have more golfers, there should be more golf courses, not less! All those new private golf courses in the Carolinas or Bandon Dune-alike resorts in far-flung corners of the country are great, but they don't solve the day-by-day issue for most golfers. We need places to play, and we're not getting them.

Rant not over, but that's enough for now.