Am I in the minority? I still CARRY my clubs

[Fraser]

When I first started playing in my early teenage years I had a push cart (!!) but my course where I was a member would ban trolleys after periods of wet weather (and had no carts whatsoever, rain or shine) so I bought myself a stand bag and walked.

Now I prefer to walk, I'm 25 and it's good healthy exercise, if anything I wish the course was much more up and down than it is. The aforementioned club was on the top of a chalk escarpment and on the front nine you played up and down it several times. After 36 hole tournament I'd go to bed at 9pm!

Now I only ride if I join with another group and they're all carting, just to be social.

[walk18]

That's a bit silly. Carrying burns 3 times as many calories and, if done properly, can actually strengthen the back. If you choose not to carry, fine, but you shouldn't make statements that aren't true just to support your opinion.

I just think a lot of carriers don't realize they are setting themselves up for injury, if not immediately, then later in life, and it's rarely done "properly". The bag is not level, not symmetrically weighted, and think how many times it's loaded and unloaded, after every shot. I'm all for exercise and walking, I do it as much as I can, but the back is not something to mess with. If you herniate a disc, it can affect you the rest of your life. Carry if you like though, it's your back, not mine.

[Sherlockian]

I just think a lot of carriers don't realize they are setting themselves up for injury, if not immediately, then later in life, and it's rarely done "properly". The bag is not level, not symmetrically weighted, and think how many times it's loaded and unloaded, after every shot. I'm all for exercise and walking, I do it as much as I can, but the back is not something to mess with. If you herniate a disc, it can affect you the rest of your life. Carry if you like though, it's your back, not mine.

Why are your clubs in an Ogio STAND Bag?

[twc]

I'm still young so I have no problem carrying. But when I get to play the local private club for free, I take full advantage and use a power cart.

[Fourputt]

Ok... here's my final say on this. I know guys older than me (I'm 62) who carry their bags. I know others who walk with a cart. I know guys younger than me who do it either way, walk or push cart. Good for them!

I also know lots of guys younger than me who are in perfect health who always ride... even guys who work out daily and still don't walk the course. Why... because it isn't a requirement that you walk to play, and as any real exercise nut will tell you, walking 18 holes really isn't all that great a workout anyway. Most people see golf as an opportunity to just relax and have a few hours of fun with friends, not as a health issue.

So my question is.... Why do all of you really care????? What does it matter to you whether I walk or ride? I'm not diminishing your opportunity to enjoy your walk, and if you walk while I ride, I will try my best not to forge ahead and look impatient while waiting on you. I often drive along at the same pace with walkers in my group talking with them the same as if I was riding, yet several of you have said that it is somehow not possible between riders and walkers. I say that's bunk. I can't move any faster than the group in front of me whether I'm walking or riding, so I get the same time to socialize or to think about the next shot as you walkers do. My pace is no more frenetic than yours is. That is if you walkers are actually keeping up with the pace of play. In fact I often assist walkers by driving ahead and looking for errant shots, allowing more time to search and giving them a better opportunity to find an errant ball without holding up the groups behind us, and most riders I know do the same.

Why do walkers have to somehow justify their walking by posting as if walking makes them somehow superior to riders? We're all just out there to have a good time playing golf. Why not just let it be and accept that some players make different choices, and just enjoy the opportunity to be there.

[Chief Broom]

At the course I play regularly walkers are in the minority. Probably 90% of the people playing at this muni ride. I don't see that as a problem per se because the rates there are inexpensive regadless of what mode you choose to play, but the overall trend towards riding being the norm I think as a whole is detrimental to golf. But truth be told I could be wrong about that. On the one hand people obviously prefer to ride so if it weren't an option a lot of people wouldn't play, and that would obviously hurt the sport. On the other carts add to the cost of golf and that prevents many from playing.

In some ways I'm the odd walker in that I prefer to ride, but because of the cost factor and because I like the extra exercise I walk. Cost matters because I have two kids (one is already in the 6th grade and that means college is just a scant 6 years away!) and can't justify the added expense for as much as I try to play. I also beg to differ regarding the exercise one gets from walking and carrying their clubs. 18 holes of golf usually works out to be around 5 miles of walking and that alone is significant. Add carrying your clubs on your back and you're easily burning over a 1000+ calories just doing an activity you love. That to me is too good of an opportunity to pass up. I know people who spend an hour on a treadmill to burn off that many calories and that is about as boring and monotonous as it gets. I get the same benifit every time I go golfing. Seems like a no brainer to me.

Everything being said I have no problem with people riding everytime they play. For me it doesn't make sense, but I certainly understand it. I like to ride, but I like the benefits I gain from walking more (less cash to play and better overall health)...

[walk18]

Why are your clubs in an Ogio STAND Bag?

heh, it was a gift, I like the bag and see no need to change. fits perfectly on the pull cart.

[Sherlockian]

OK, I was just wondering. If I'm playing 18 or more, I will put my Warbird bag on my pushcart. I always find it odd at the course, when I see guys with super-nice stand bags(I'm talking $250 and up, like the Titleist and Mizuno Japanese Market bags) and they always ride a cart. I never even see them using the stands. These are also the guys dressed like or better than a Tour Pro and can't hit a straight shot to save their lives. I am starting to use the pushcart a little more lately when playing 18, mainly due to having layered clothing and the bag rides differently. I am discovering that the fatique factor has been reduced. In a round my worst holes are usually the 1st couple and the last couple, but lately the last 2 aren't as bad. I just wish more people would walk the courses, either carrying or with a pushcart. I think it would make rounds much more enjoyable for everyone.

[Sherlockian]

Ok... here's my final say on this. I know guys older than me (I'm 62) who carry their bags. I know others who walk with a cart. I know guys younger than me who do it either way, walk or push cart. Good for them!

You are definately the minority of riders. In my experience it is the riders with the superiority problems and lack of respect for others on the course.

I have a rant, but it might take up four pages. The guys that walk, either carrying or pushing, know what I mean about my above statement. Enough said.

[zeg]

Ok, ok, I think enough e-ink has been spilled here. There are reasons to walk, there are reasons to pull, there are reasons to ride. There are rude jerks who walk, there are rude jerks who pull, and there are rude jerks who ride. But, by and large, golfers are well-behaved, considerate folks who just happen to have different preferences for hauling their gear around the course. There's no right way to haul your clubs, just as there's no single reason we all love the game. There are pros and cons to each option...

Personally, I carry because it's cheap, I like the exercise, and I like the effect on the pace of the game. I accept that it may be hard on my back (although I take care to minimize that) and that it may be a slow-down compared to riding (debatable, it seems). In the end, it's my preference.

[Fourputt]

You are definately the minority of riders. In my experience it is the riders with the superiority problems and lack of respect for others on the course.

I guess it's about courtesy and etiquette, and that extends far beyond the rule book definition. IMO, a player should respect the rights of all other golfers, not just his own group. To me that includes not racing around the course like the bumper cars at the carnival. I learned etiquette and correct on-course behavior long before I ever played golf, when I caddied for a summer at a ritzy yacht club just out of grade school. I just carried that instruction over into my demeanor on the course when I learned to play.

Believe me I know what you refer to, and that is as objectionable to the experienced rider as it is to the experienced walker. I far too often have to ask players both in my group and in other groups to park on the path near the greens, to stay out of the native grass, and generally just respect the course. And I generally get a positive reaction. Most players who seem out of control do so more from ignorance than from intentional obnoxiousness. At our course the tag on each cart key has the riding rules on it, but nobody ever bothers to read them. When I point it out, they usually get an embarrassed look. Maybe it's different where you live, but I find that most golfers who err do so because because they just don't know the right way. Whether that ignorance is justifiable is subject to debate, but most of those I counsel seem to be willing to change their ways when their sins are pointed out to them.

[RocktimusPryme]

At least most of you guys get the choice. I like to walk, though I dont like to carry particularly. I carried on Spyglass, Torrey , and Bethpage. I can definetly feel myself wearing down the last 5 holes. But most courses in Vegas wont let you walk at all.

IMO on packed courses where its all foursomes baked up, I think they should be made to walk. The pace of play is much better with four walkers than it is with 4 people in two carts most of the time.

That being said If im playing as a single on a wide open course, Ill take a cart all day and play 36 :)

[M2daRizzle]

I only play if I can walk. I avoid playing on weekends so I dont get stuck riding. I just have a better, more relaxing time when I walk. Also, it probably because Im young, but I feel no fatigue after walking 18 or 27 or 36 holes, it might be because im to busy haveing fun playing, or Im just young and dont fatigue quickly, but to me golf is meant to be played walking.

[Guest]

i use pull cart

[tiger4prez]

a good amount of the courses i play require you take a cart. some of them offer caddies, so when i get to play a course like that i really enjoy it. i miss walking, so when i can, i definitely take advantage of it

[bennyfabulous]

Ive been carrying for 4 yrs, i wouldnt change now. its easier, asyou dont have to follow everyone else and it has the benefit of improving your fitness which in turn improves your golf game by making you stronger and fitter. I dont understand why more people wouldnt do it!