Do you ride or walk the course?

[ks8829]

I carry 14 clubs for 18 holes at age 53.   I have been walking almost everyday for the last two weeks for an hour and this has help me back in shape and I notice an improvement in my game, especially the focus on the last few holes during a round playing 18 holes.

[bnz506]

I ride the cart because i dont want to have a huge back up behind me (slow down play)... its faster finding my ball when I slice it in a cart than walking.  The day I consistently hit the fairway or miss the fairway to where I can see where the ball lands than I will start walking.

I am much improved though.  I only miss the fairway badly 3 out of 9 holes now.

[TheSavage]

I used to ride all the time because I have a bad back. But I've found that walking help keeps it loose during the round so now Im a walker and loving it!

[Banditman]

This time of year, I ride because I get too hot walking. I live in the Mojave desert in southern California and temperatures are above 100 most of the time until late september or so. I simply cannot enjoy the game if my clothes are soaked through with sweat and/or I feel like the sun in literally sucking the life out of me.

During the winter I generally walk because the exercise is good for me. I might add that the only reason I walk while golfing is for the exercise. I dont believe it makes me or anyone else more or less of a golfer.

Whether I am walking or riding and no matter what time of year, I dont judge anyone or really care either way whether they walk or ride. I find it amusing that people get so hung up on this and start spitting venom over something so completly silly and inconsequential. Quite honestly if you can learn to mind your own business over pointless stuff like golf carts on the course you will likely lead a happier and less stressful life.

[utztech]

I am in Arizona so I ride in the Summer and walk the rest of the year.  I enjoy walking more, but I typically play in the afternoon, even in the Summer, so riding is the only way to go for me during the Summer months.

[caniac6]

I usually walk. but I have been riding because of the recent heat wave.

[Jmdmbike]

Prefer to walk whenever I can - much easier to stay connected to your game. I only ride when it is not practical to walk, usually based on the course. Riding is particularly painful when it's cart path only and you have to grab 3 or 4 clubs, only to get to your ball and see you need a different club because of a lousy lie......:-O

[Callahan14]

I ride in a cart, Its free, why not?

[Tomboys]

I don't think it really matters as long as you're keeping pace.

[Noonan1]

I like to walk as much as possible because that is how I grew up playing in tournaments but now a days it is a little more enjoyable to ride and have a few beverages! When I do ride though, I do like to sit passanger and walk to my ball as much as possible.

[Gary L]

I had a hip replacement last summer and now I can walk 18, which I couldn't for over a decade.  I'm looking forward to walking more this season but I'm wondering if walking really is more fun than riding in a cart.  Carts or walking--which is more fun?

[Gerald Fritz]

I'm planning on walking this year too. I need to lose a lot of weight, so any exercise is good exercise. Plus, I can golf more since I won't be renting a cart all the time now.

[lumpuckeroo]

I prefer to walk, I find that walking tends to keep me more focused on my game.  Not that I don't help partners find balls, but a lot of the time when walking, all I have to do is focus on my ball, my swing, my game.  I also find that I stay more at ease with my game, I don't feel like I'm rushing to the ball and have to hurry up and hit it and then rush to my partners ball and so on.  As I approach my ball, I'm getting myself ready for the shot, running all of the conditions through my head, distance, wind conditions, obstacles and so on.  When I get to my ball, all I really need to see is the lie, then I pull a club and I'm ready to swing.

I actually joined a course 25 miles from my house because it is walkable, a lot of the courses in my area you just can't walk.  Either too hilly or just not set up for walkers.  The course I joined is an old school course, built in the late 1930's, and made for walking.  It's not a long course, about 6200 yards from the tips, but very playable and challenging.  This weekend, my brother and I played in 3 hours, even with a 20mph wind with gust to 35.

[sopel10]

I prefer to walk, I find that walking tends to keep me more focused on my game.  Not that I don't help partners find balls, but a lot of the time when walking, all I have to do is focus on my ball, my swing, my game.  I also find that I stay more at ease with my game, I don't feel like I'm rushing to the ball and have to hurry up and hit it and then rush to my partners ball and so on.  As I approach my ball, I'm getting myself ready for the shot, running all of the conditions through my head, distance, wind conditions, obstacles and so on.  When I get to my ball, all I really need to see is the lie, then I pull a club and I'm ready to swing.

I actually joined a course 25 miles from my house because it is walkable, a lot of the courses in my area you just can't walk.  Either too hilly or just not set up for walkers.  The course I joined is an old school course, built in the late 1930's, and made for walking.  It's not a long course, about 6200 yards from the tips, but very playable and challenging.  This weekend, my brother and I played in 3 hours, even with a 20mph wind with gust to 35.

I'm pretty much the same way.  Walking up to your ball in a straight line, without thinking about when and how you are going to get there on the cart really gives you a lot more time to think about your next shot.  It also gives you time to reflect on what you could have don't differently if you are not in a perfect spot.

Walked a course for the first time since the fall yesterday, and my legs are killing me! I guess 5-6 months of sitting on my ass wasn't all that good. ;)

[saevel25]

I prefer walking, depending on the course. Some courses in Ohio can get very hilly, and downright painful to walk.

[JoePete]

I had a hip replacement last summer and now I can walk 18, which I couldn't for over a decade.  I'm looking forward to walking more this season but I'm wondering if walking really is more fun than riding in a cart.  Carts or walking--which is more fun?

Congrats on the new hip. Shame on you for such a loaded questions ;-)

I have long held that carts have killed golf. Their one redeeming value, Gary L, probably can speak to is they allow people who might otherwise be unable to play to continue to get out there. But for able-bodied golfers, it is a moral imperative to walk if you are able.

Why?

1. Care of the course. The compaction from the weight of cart (not to mention the two grown men in them) is significant, especially around high-traffic areas.
2. Care of the course II: The damage from spinning or sliding wheels can take months to heal.
3. Carts very rarely speed play. Sure the 14 mph or so they go is faster than walking. However, they have to criss cross the fairway as two players play from one cart (that's not even address cart-path only). Further, at the two points where play is most delayed - tees and greens where golfers are at a stand still - carts and their paths are at the farthest distance; whatever a cart gains in terms of pace of play, it usually gives away at these moments.
4. Yardages. As you walk to a ball you can spot yardages and other factors that impact your next shot and are ready to hit once you get there. In cart you fly over (sometimes literally) that stuff and get out there with every yardage gadget in the world - trying to figure is it 137 or 139? Just hit the ball.
5. Walking is healthy. While that is good on its own, a little strength and stamina in your legs is good for your swing.
6. Walking also makes it easier for you to help your fellow players. A stray shot into the woods, you line it up and walk right to it. In a cart you lose your frame of reference.
7. The most important reason, however, carts killed caddies. Nothing was better for the game than caddie programs - the best way of breeding the next generation of knowledgeable golfers who could get themselves around a course. Instead we replaced this valuable feeder program with motorized couches for fat guys who treat a round of golf like a bachelor party.

.... in my humble opinion ....

[Fourputt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary L

I had a hip replacement last summer and now I can walk 18, which I couldn't for over a decade.  I'm looking forward to walking more this season but I'm wondering if walking really is more fun than riding in a cart.  Carts or walking--which is more fun?

Congrats on the new hip. Shame on you for such a loaded questions ;-)

I have long held that carts have killed golf. Their one redeeming value, Gary L, probably can speak to is they allow people who might otherwise be unable to play to continue to get out there. But for able-bodied golfers, it is a moral imperative to walk if you are able.

Why?

Care of the course. The compaction from the weight of cart (not to mention the two grown men in them) is significant, especially around high-traffic areas.

Care of the course II: The damage from spinning or sliding wheels can take months to heal.

Carts very rarely speed play. Sure the 14 mph or so they go is faster than walking. However, they have to criss cross the fairway as two players play from one cart (that's not even address cart-path only). Further, at the two points where play is most delayed - tees and greens where golfers are at a stand still - carts and their paths are at the farthest distance; whatever a cart gains in terms of pace of play, it usually gives away at these moments.

Yardages. As you walk to a ball you can spot yardages and other factors that impact your next shot and are ready to hit once you get there. In cart you fly over (sometimes literally) that stuff and get out there with every yardage gadget in the world - trying to figure is it 137 or 139? Just hit the ball.

Walking is healthy. While that is good on its own, a little strength and stamina in your legs is good for your swing.

Walking also makes it easier for you to help your fellow players. A stray shot into the woods, you line it up and walk right to it. In a cart you lose your frame of reference.

The most important reason, however, carts killed caddies. Nothing was better for the game than caddie programs - the best way of breeding the next generation of knowledgeable golfers who could get themselves around a course. Instead we replaced this valuable feeder program with motorized couches for fat guys who treat a round of golf like a bachelor party.

.... in my humble opinion ....

I could refute every point you made, but it's been done so many times in the past that I'm not going to bother doing it again (the cart path only policy is the one that can't be refuted, but it's such a stupid policy that it isn't even worth discussing).  Suffice it to say, that it really comes down to different strokes.  The negatives to cart use mostly result from a lack of proper guidance and instruction, same as the biggest causes of slow play.  If a course wants players to act in a certain way, they need to inform players of expectations and then be willing to enforce any set policies.  The real problem is that too many players lack the common sense to understand that there is no entitlement clause that comes with paying the greens and cart fees.  The best courses I've played all state up front what is expected and they have rangers on the course to remind players who are delinquent in adhering to those expectations.

[bkuehn1952]

I could refute every point you made...

Every point, other than cart path only?  Walking is not healthy and/or riding in a cart provides the same level of exercise?

Certainly specific training on proper usage of carts would curtail many of the problems we associate with carts.  I just don't see that happening at the vast majority of public access courses on which I play.  Cart misuse is the norm and for that reason, some of the points are valid concerns at many courses.  Not at the better run courses, to be sure, but at a lot of courses without strong training and monitoring policies.