With more than 26 million players golf generates more than $68 billion in goods and services with a combined annual economic impact estimated at $177 billion. Despite its credentials as a driver of growth across the retail, sports and housing sectors golf remains at the heart of a society built on veracious consumption and incredible wealth inequality: with Americans spending $3.5 billion on bags and balls while paying subsistence wages to those charged to maintain these manicured landscapes of recreation.