Just an Observation/Question

I've noticed that all of these PGA/LPGA events, why do they walk the course instead of driving the electric golf carts? Was just curious as to why that was? One event recently with the LPGA when Michelle Wie hurt her ankle, she had to walk up and down and why couldn't they just get her a golf cart? Curious

just trying to not give other sports one more excuse to say that golf is not a sport

tradition. although it is my belief everyone should be able to use a cart. it is not so and probably will never be. plus id be out of a job if there were no more caddies

Question for you zrlaegel,
How old are you? How much money do you usually make by caddying? Is that your full time job? Did you go somewhere to learn how to caddy? Do you work at a private ritzy club?

Are there female caddies? And the poor caddies are the one who actually has to carry the bag with the clubs! And they their own personal caddies, like the pros will always use the same one every time? Just curious :)

The physical ability to be able to walk 18 and still play well, is part of the sport. After being in the hot sun for 5 hours, and walking 4.5 miles, can you still sink that 10 foot putt?

An then can you do it three more days in a row. Fatigue is definitely part of the pro game.

For the casual golfer, I couldn't really care less, but if in a competition walking should be mandatory (I'm not talking about Texas Scrambles either - I have strong opinions on those - mostly negative)

If you're in a tournament and you physically can't walk? I have little sympathy. Allowing some golfers to ride a cart (or hey, why not get two caddies - one to carry the bag and one for the player to ride piggy back!) doesn't seem like an element of sports to me. Do running backs with a pulled hamstring get to ride a motorcycle? Sports should have an even playing field for all players. Beyond that, any bending of the rules to allow people with physical ailments to compete sounds a bit off. Even the para-olympics (sp?) has equipment rules.

Most physically fit golfers should actually be carrying their own bag - women too - I think the pros should get rid of the staff bag (if that's what's preventing them from walking) and stop relying on someone else to read greens and line them up (coughLPGAladiescough). Lining a player up during a round is just plain embarassing! endrant/

See - girls can do it!!



And they don't have to be big either:

its not my ft job. being in New england i wouldnt be working more than 6-8 months out of the year. im a student and a US marine so that takes up a bit of time. i caddied in Nh when i lived there and will be doing it in worcester this spring after talking with the club pro at worcester cc. i dont know how much i will make per rnd but i usually get anywhere between 75-125 pp it depends on the person and how well they shoot. the reason i say pp is because sometimes a member would take out a guest and i would just stand on the back of the cart, club them and cheer them on. and i dont know how much i would make at this new place but i definitely dont do it for the money. practice facilities at private clubs are generally much nicer and i dont have to pay for them which is my primary motivation. also since you are working there it helps when you are looking for a little help with whatever you are working on to be able to go talk to the teaching pro. in response to the ritsy side of things; alot of private clubs are by invitation only and have much more than just a course as you would probably know. alot of it has to do with a statement of status and social networking within the bourgoise(haha I love Marx) . and sometimes the members will treat you like shit but it comes with the territory and i just wont caddie for them again if that were to ever happen. but generally these people are very nice and are just out there to have fun they just dont want to wait around for a tee time or get held up by slow play of public courses and they have the money to do it. if i had the funds id prolly do it too.

it's probably a requirement, but i think to keep the game's integrity, pros should walk...but i think the staff bag is too much though.....poor caddies, i mean, come on, even they must get tired no matter how much they get paid. i think tour pros should go from staff bags to stand bags.....i don't remember who it was, but i remember a few months ago a LPGA player carried her own bag for a bit. don't exactly remember when and why, but i do remember coming across it sometime....AWESOME!!!!

Wow, a lady nonetheless, I give her kudos :) My golf bag is heavy enough for me to carry when its full LOL

There are female caddies out there, most notably Fanny Sunesson who caddies for Henrik Stenson and has been on the bag for Sergio Garcia and Nick Faldo too.

Can't remember whose it is but apparently the heaviest bag on Tour is 65 pounds!

I think pros have to walk. It's part of the tradition. In this year's Irish Open final round there was a playoff between Sean Lowry and another guy (Sean won in the end) and they had to replay the par 5 18th 3 or 4 times. They would hit their tee shots, proceed to play the hole, then when they tied, they rode carts back to the tee to play again.

I think it is a sad comment on the state of modern golf when walking is observed as an unusual or curious event.

Walking is an integral part of the game. It's been heard in the Supreme Court of the USA. I would recommend that you do a google or similar search on "Casey Martin" if you want to find out how seriously the PGA tour and USGA take the issue.

That was kind of what I thought too. I know that at least 80&+++ of the golfers at our course ride, but I've found over many rounds that a group walking will never slow down other groups the way a group that rides can be slow. Walking to each ball at the same time is so much faster than driving to each ball in turn.

chris rock was the other guy. i have no respect for anyone who needs a cart to play 18. i play 18 holes every week without fail, if not more! i carry my tour bag and finish the same as i start. i played off 1 untill i broke my knee and im still capable of carrying my bag. whats your excuse!

It's not always up to you - some courses don't allow walkers. There are even some people still daft enough to think that a course full of powercarts is a good thing for the golfers. Wrong - it generates revenue - it's good for the courses profit margin.

If every group on the course was on foot and had to maintain a certain pre-set pace of play (not "stay on the group ahead's heels" - why should I have to run like a madman to my ball because the jacka**es in front of me are apparently in a race) there would be no need for carts on a properly designed walking course - desert and condo courses are sometimes just simply not designed for walking.