Does golf aid weight loss?

Morning all. Ive recently started playing golf after signing up to a local course. Im also in the process of dieting and exercising due to wanting to lose for my holiday/vacation. So im just wondering, is golf a good way of losing weight? I always carry my bag. And I figure I must walk about 4 mile per 18 holes up and down hill. I go to the gym and do sports as well. But im just hoping playing golf is an added bonus for my weight loss

Do a search and you will see you burn a lot of calories golfing.  You burn the most walking and carrying your clubs.  Depending on your weight, age, and sex, carrying a 35-50 lb bag and walking 18 holes in around 4 hours I believe ranges to a cal burn of anywhere from 1200-1600 calories.  But do a search and find the exact calories for you.

If you have a smart phone get yourself an app called mapmyrun (or any kind of GPS tracker). I think you will find that you are walking a lot more than just 4 miles when you play a round of golf. The last round I mapped was a tad under 7 miles in 4 hours, granted it wasnt an overlong course by international standards (6700 yards) but once you add in the military style of golf (left right left right up a fairway) I play, hills, walking between holes, retrieving errant golf balls etc the miles start to add up. As part of a regular exercise and diet regime, golfing can only help you to thin down. Regards Mailman

it can as long as you couple it with proper diet......as stupid as it sounds, burn more calories than you consume and you will lose weight.  Downing a few high sugar sport drinks on the course won't help your cause much either.

Golfing itself can burn a good amount of calories.  I've read studies that say it's the act of swinging the club that burns the most calories.  Walking helps burn more than riding but it's the swing that burns the most calories.

Cool thanks for the replies. Yeah I used to drink a bottle of lucozade each round and eat a mars bar. But now I just take a bottle of water and maybes a nutri grain for my half way snack. Seems like its definitely an added weight loss bonus then :-)

Do you have a link to these studies? That doesn't really add up in my head. I'm sure taking a full swing uses a lot more energy than walking, but for like 1 second at a time tops. You only really take about 27 full swings in a round, so I would think the walking would be where practically all of the benefit is. I'd love to read something that says otherwise, because swinging a club is way more fun than walking around with one.

Agree. I can't imagine that swing a club takes much energy at all. It's the walking and carrying that does it.

And someone above mentioned a 35-50 pound golf bag. I'd bet my carry bag with 14 clubs, balls, tees, a jacket, a towel and a few other items at most weighs 25 pounds. I suppose a tour bag on the PGA Tour may weigh 40-50 pounds.

Walking is what burns the majority of calories while golfing, the swing probably represents 10% - 15% of the total calories burned.  Depending on your weight, condition level, the course terrain, carry or push/pull. you can expect to burn between 200 - 350 calories per hour golfing.

I wouldn't consider golf a great weight loss activity in that I typically burn 900 calories running per hour but it is more effective than sitting on the couch watching television and a lot more fun than running.

Supposidly when I (6 foot 3, 95kg, athletic) carry my bag and play a round it burns 1000 calories (supposidly 400 cals per hour, http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist.htm), if its and up and down hills it helps more too.  Though I really find that it doesnt help with weight loss but keeps it at maintenance levels.  If you add in a pint or 2 after (200 cals each) it doesnt help either.

About four years ago some articles came out on this.

If you walk 18 holes, you will burn about 1,500 to 1,700 calories. If you ride a cart, you still burn more than 1,000 because you are climbing in and out of the cart and making uphill hikes with your putter. And on some holes, walkers have a more direct line than riders, because cart paths often stay downhill from the green.

Golf is a sustained endurance activity, and usually puts people into fat-burning mode.

As for on-course refreshments, one idea says to drink water on the front nine, and switch to sports drink on the back nine to replenish your electrolytes. (Water for 18 holes can start flushing out electrolytes in most people). I normally eat a power bar at the turn, or my arms start feeling like rubber about the 15th hole.

Of course it does. All my exercise comes from swinging clubs. When I walk, it's more for the fun and mountain scenery. I lost 28 pounds just hitting balls. Unfortunate that I gained some weight back, but only because I haven't swung every day.

However, that's going to change. I plan to get back into my morning calorie burn.

I'd say these answers cover it well.  Walking the course is a good way to burn calories. If you walk 18 on Saturday and Sunday, you've done pretty well.  Just make sure you don't add a bunch of food because you feel justified by having done the exercise.  A hot dog or two and a couple beers while on the course will pretty quickly negate all of the good you have done - from a calorie standpoint anyway.  It would still be good for you even if you didn't lose weight.

But eating less is actually the best and easiest thing you can do for pure weight loss.  Combining that with walking golf should give some pretty good results.

Yes, but just think of the justification for food :-)

Ahhh, damn it. So my barley infused energy supplements aren't beneficial after all? As a hop-ologist, I will continue to conduct my studies on the course and let you all know how I am holding up by year-end. I'm figuring I at least have a justified cause now and I will take one for the team and drink plenty of cold, hoppy, malty, frothy beverages and report my results.

In all seriousness, I am in fairly good shape myself and I once lost 18 pounds in 2 months by only practicing at the range on a regular basis, 4 times a week for 1-2 hours at a time. Nothing else changed in that duration with the exception for my added range time, hence the weight loss. Swinging the club definitely does burn calories and exert a good amount of energy - especially when you're hitting 100-200 full swing shots on the range.

EDIT: The "200 full swings" I mentioned because last year I spent about 3 weeks building endurance and was practicing very quickly. Also, having a time restraint speeds things up quite a bit. I typically only hit a large bucket in about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

I've found that hops-based carbonated beverages during the round along with high protein high carbohydrate beef supplements at the 19th offset the rigorous physical activity nicely.  Who wants to leave the course on a caloric deficit anyways

For me, it always starts off great until I get hungry on the 9th, and pound three hot dogs or sandwiches. Kinda ruins it lol.

Holy hell! 3 hot dogs? LOL!

I would need to take a damn nap after 9 holes of golf, several beers and 3 hot dogs or a sandwich, let alone... sandwich es ! Kudos on the forum name though, I like it!