Brad Faxon and Mike Clayton on Cart Riders

[iacas]

Curious as to your thoughts on these posts…

I'll add my own commentary later.

[dennyjones]

"Elitist" is my first thought but... we don't have enough information to make a thorough understanding.  Ya, the guys are young and using carts to golf. That's the only fact we have.  We can guess the reason they aren't walking but Brad Faxon's or Mike Clayton's opinion isn't relative to their golf round.   The younger golfers I know think the cart is part of the golfing experience.   Most have never walked 18.  

We can speculate why they are using carts but it's a waste of time.

[klineka]

Mike Clayton's tweet is pretty bad but somehow Faxon's is even worse. 

You want to have an opinion on if golf should be played with or without carts, fine. You're entitled to your opinion, whatever. 

But judging someone for how they're putting the tee in the ground? Get lost Faxon. 

[Vinsk]

  On 9/30/2024 at 2:08 PM, klineka said:

But judging someone for how they're putting the tee in the ground? Get lost Faxon. 

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Maybe just a joke? Lighten up Francis….🙂

[klineka]

  On 9/30/2024 at 6:42 PM, Vinsk said:

Maybe just a joke? Lighten up Francis….🙂

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There wasn't any indication from either of those tweets that indicated they were jokes. Especially not based on subsequent replies on the topic.

[Missouri Swede]

Not a fan of calling people out for stuff like that. I generally like to walk, but ...

I have always used a cart the first time I played a course.  If it's easily walkable, then maybe the next time I'll walk it. But first time out, too many variables that I don't know about where my shot might go (or roll or bounce) that a cart is nice.

Also depends on the "traffic." If it's going to be 5.5 hours, that gets tiring just standing around that long--sometimes I don't need a cart for the walking distance, but rather for a place to sit around for the extra hours out on the course. (Yeah, I could put a seat on my Clicgear, but I haven't.)

Final factor--temperature and humidity. I have on occasion found myself exceeding my physical heat tolerance limits at my home course and now will use a cart in temperatures that I would walk when I was 10 years younger.

[iacas]

  On 9/30/2024 at 6:42 PM, Vinsk said:

Maybe just a joke? Lighten up Francis….🙂

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Kevin, it didn't look like a joke at all, and even if it was… what's funny about it?

They're gatekeeping. Sure, you can think that golf is best enjoyed while walking, but at the end of the day, I think both of those people would rather those people be playing golf than not, regardless of whether they're in a cart or walking.

[GolfLug]

Many public courses won't let golfers walk. Especially on weekends for 'time management'. Then charge $20 for the cart..... per rider. I think it is bit of a money grab. IIRC there's a thread on this here.

I'm surprised he didn't say something derogatory about there being only three bags. Lol.

Edited October 1, 2024 by GolfLug

[iacas]

Whispering Woods doesn't really let people walk, and the cart fee is part of the greens fee.

[Vinsk]

  On 9/30/2024 at 7:58 PM, iacas said:

Kevin, it didn't look like a joke at all, and even if it was… what's funny about it?

They're gatekeeping. Sure, you can think that golf is best enjoyed while walking, but at the end of the day, I think both of those people would rather those people be playing golf than not, regardless of whether they're in a cart or walking.

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I didn’t read the comments so maybe I’m missing how this came across during an exchange, but as I think the first post was dumb, I thought Faxon’s was just poking fun at how the guy was uncomfortably squatting to tee/pick up his tee.

[iacas]

  On 10/1/2024 at 11:45 AM, Vinsk said:

I didn’t read the comments so maybe I’m missing how this came across during an exchange, but as I think the first post was dumb, I thought Faxon’s was just poking fun at how the guy was uncomfortably squatting to tee/pick up his tee.

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It's a reply to the quote-tweet from Mike Clayton.

[gbogey]

I agree with the sentiment (about walking) but it’s uncalled for to make such a public comment - if you can’t say something nice don’t say anything, at least that’s how I was taught. Perhaps it was meant for private conversation and was mistakenly made public – I’m just a little younger than Faxon and I could easily make that mistake.

  On 9/30/2024 at 12:36 PM, dennyjones said:

"The younger golfers I know think the cart is part of the golfing experience.   Most have never walked 18.  

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At least in the last two places I’ve lived, there’s a certain sub-culture of the golf population that despite being younger would never consider walking (and usually drinks heavily while playing). It’s more about hanging out with the Bro’s in the outdoors than playing golf. I don’t have a problem with that, except that they often are less knowledgeable about golf etiquette and fail to let faster players through.

As an aside, when I lived in TN, my main course was cart path only from December through March. It was a short, flat, very walkable course. It drove me crazy that all these fit young guys wouldn’t even think about walking, never realizing that they were probably walking just as much as I was and that they were playing slower.

[Ty_Webb]

  On 10/1/2024 at 5:35 PM, gbogey said:

I agree with the sentiment (about walking) but it’s uncalled for to make such a public comment - if you can’t say something nice don’t say anything, at least that’s how I was taught. Perhaps it was meant for private conversation and was mistakenly made public – I’m just a little younger than Faxon and I could easily make that mistake.

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I feel quite confident that for the people in the picture, this comment might as well have been private. Chances of them seeing a quote from either Clayton or Faxon is virtually nil. Even if they saw it, I would be pretty surprised if they cared. 

There is certainly a chunk of "bah humbug" about the whole thing though. I don't think it paints either of them in a particularly good light.

[mcanadiens]

It would certainly be a good thing if more people would at least give walking the course a chance, but "great crime" is awfully melodramatic. 

On the Faxon end, I think he's probably just speculating that these guys might be new to golf. That position when teeing up the ball normally suggests that. It shouldn't be too much of a surprise that newbies would be riders. 

[billchao]

It’s gatekeeping and it’s dumb. Why do they even care that people are riding?

[WillieT]

  On 10/1/2024 at 10:16 AM, GolfLug said:

I'm surprised he didn't say something derogatory about there being only three bags. Lol.

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I noticed that too.   But back to the original post - as a partial foot amputee (all the toes on the left foot from motorcycle wreck) - carts are part of my game.  I do try to get in a walking of at least 9 once a month.  We don't know enough of the story to know "why" they are carting - but if one was to surmize, I would suggest its a YouTube /Instagram / X (Twitter) thing.  How many golf vloggers are out there that are not "carting" it.  Take the guys of Good Good, its offshoot Grant Horvath, Bob Does Golf, Bryan Bros just to name a few.  They pretty much cart it all the time - so for many the cart life is a "given".    Maybe it was more a "snipe" at the content crown and not so much at the guys in the photo.  

[Vinsk]

  On 10/1/2024 at 11:30 PM, billchao said:

It’s gatekeeping and it’s dumb. Why do they even care that people are riding?

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Yeah I agree with this. Also…as was pointed out, many probably hear about the fun of playing a sport, riding around and having drinks as a great time. I know I’ve told many newcomers that and it made them want to give it a shot. Clayton also has no idea if one or more guys needed to use a cart for a variety of reasons. They’re playing golf….that’s good enough.

[billchao]

  On 10/2/2024 at 1:18 AM, Vinsk said:

Clayton also has no idea if one or more guys needed to use a cart for a variety of reasons.

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You ever try walking with a 12 pack and a Bluetooth speaker?