Carts or Legs?

[drum77]

I agree with everything you say.  Walking 18 on a hilly course is great aerobic exercise. Especially when you take as many swings as I do !

[Fourputt]

  thinblueline said:

Originally Posted by thinblueline

I almost always walked, except for scrambles I played in, until two years ago when I had a rather complex left ankle surgery that begins to pain me after walking a few holes and hitting enough golf shots. So in my early 40's now, I'm shifting to riding carts, and in my case, I don't think I should feel guilty or ashamed about riding when there is an injury or arthritis or something similar involved. Before, I felt kind of funny on those occasions when riding, and always thought I should be walking, but not anymore.

This.  I walked until foot problems stopped me from doing so.  I was a backpacker too, so it's not like I quit walking out of laziness like most walkers seem to like to accuse us of.  Now I don't even consider walking... just isn't possible, but I'm not giving up golf for it when I have a perfectly viable option.

[Jimdangles]

Depends on how I feel and who I am with. My friends almost always ride but when I play alone I will usually walk unless I just got paid or something and feel like blowing some cash and relaxing or trying to speed through a course if its empty. But if I am teeing off at 4 o clock and I am gonna be waiting on the tee box regardless and I am alone I will walk.

And whenever I do walk I carry my bag.

[BuckeyeNut]

As a person who's walked 7500+ miles on the golf course, I believe virtually nobody would walk if carts were free.

[onesome]

  BuckeyeNut said:

Originally Posted by BuckeyeNut

As a person who's walked 7500+ miles on the golf course, I believe virtually nobody would walk if carts were free.

Yep they are with my membership but I still wouldn't attempt to walk my home course, it's on the side of a hill and has about 10 hills within.

[BuckeyeNut]

  onesome said:

Originally Posted by onesome

Yep they are with my membership but I still wouldn't attempt to walk my home course, it's on the side of a hill and has about 10 hills within.

LOL.....I finally caved when my annual memberships started including carts.   I was a proclaimed die-hard walker.....and then I was not.   The switch was easy when the cart was included.

[onesome]

  BuckeyeNut said:

Originally Posted by BuckeyeNut

LOL.....I finally caved when my annual memberships started including carts.   I was a proclaimed die-hard walker.....and then I was not.   The switch was easy when the cart was included.

Just noticed your at zero there, gonna go to + with the end of month revision?Played with a kid who was +3 today, he shot 68 after double bogey on 18 lol. he played our tips over 7000 and 74.5 slope 142 I was very impressed and humbled and inspired all in one lol. He said he was only 21 and I was just so envious that hes got a whole lifetime of playing extremely good golf ahead of him, I'm 46 and probably only got another 5 or 10 at the most to reach my goals wich is break 70 from the tips at my course.

[BuckeyeNut]

  onesome said:

Originally Posted by onesome

Just noticed your at zero there, gonna go to + with the end of month revision?

Probably not....I was trending a +, but went on vacation and shot 70-73....... the courses weren't tough enough and they bumped a pair of good rounds on a much more difficult course. (home track).  There is still a chance, but I need to go low tomorrow for my last round of July.  Playing less challenging courses is bad for the HC!!

[onesome]

  BuckeyeNut said:

Originally Posted by BuckeyeNut

Probably not....I was trending a +, butI went on vacation and shot 70-73....... the courses weren't tough enough and higher scores on a much harder home course were bumped.  There is still a chance, but I need to play really well tomorrow. (last round of july)

Good luck then, I just bumped my lowest round so I think I'm gonna be back over 7, club championship next week.

[BuckeyeNut]

  onesome said:

Originally Posted by onesome

Good luck then, I just bumped my lowest round so I think I'm gonna be back over 7, club championship next week.

good luck!!

my demise was scoring even par on a par70 course rated 69.7 and a 73 on a par72 course rated 71.7...............sheesh. Playing less challenging courses is really a disadvantage!!!!!! (for HC purposes)

[k-troop]

Seems to me there are two persistent myths about walking vs. riding.

Playing golf while riding a cart is not exercise.  Actually, 18 holes of golf burns in excess of 1000 calories, whether walking or riding.  A 190-lb man will burn 1800 calories walking 18 holes while carrying his clubs (3-1/2 hour round), and just over 1000 calories while riding the same course in the same length of time.  Compare this to walking six miles in 2 hours (750 calories) and running six miles in 45 mins (870 calories).  (There are lots of calorie counters online; this is the one I used.  Note:  the longer the round takes, the smaller the calorie burn differential between walking and riding.)  http://www.healthstatus.com/cgi-bin/calc/calculator.cgi

Riders are faster than walkers.  If you're the first one off the tee at dawn, then the same golfer will play the same course faster in a cart, assuming that the golfer is allowed to drive the cart to his ball.  However, this is almost never the case, and if both the walker and the rider play ready golf, they'll likely finish their round in 3 hours or less.  Of course, this is never the case.  The limiting factors on pace of play are nearly always what the golfer does after he gets to his ball, or to the green, or the pace of the group ahead.  How you get to your ball is rarely, if ever, a limiting factor on pace, unless you're talking rounds under 3 hours (in which case you're talking about speed golf, not degrees of slow play).

The rest of the arguments for/against walking or riding are personal preference.  It's very easy to walk with someone and hold a conversation.  Guess what--it's equally easy to chat up the person who is sitting nine inches from you in a cart.  Walkers and riders don't get along on the course.  This may be true, but there is absolutely no reason for it.  There are a couple of weekend starters at my regular course who pair walkers with walkers and riders with riders, and I've been left standing a few times because he picked a walk-on rider to fill the spot in the foursome even though I was there first.  Irritating, but it is an unfortunate perception.  For some, walking gives them a more relaxing experience.  For others, riding is better because they can have all of their gadgets close at hand.  For some, the thought of walking 18 holes is terrifying.

FWIW, I walk most of the time.  I ride (typically) when the price of a cart is included in the round, or when the course is designed in a way that makes walking very difficult (these two conditions seem to occur simultaneously a lot).

[sean_miller]

  k-troop said:

Originally Posted by k-troop

The rest of the arguments for/against walking or riding are personal preference.  It's very easy to walk with someone and hold a conversation.  Guess what--it's equally easy to chat up the person who is sitting nine inches from you in a cart.  Walkers and riders don't get along on the course.  This may be true, but there is absolutely no reason for it.  There are a couple of weekend starters at my regular course who pair walkers with walkers and riders with riders, and I've been left standing a few times because he picked a walk-on rider to fill the spot in the foursome even though I was there first.  Irritating, but it is an unfortunate perception.  For some, walking gives them a more relaxing experience.  For others, riding is better because they can have all of their gadgets close at hand.  For some, the thought of walking 18 holes is terrifying.

FWIW, I walk most of the time.  I ride (typically) when the price of a cart is included in the round, or when the course is designed in a way that makes walking very difficult (these two conditions seem to occur simultaneously a lot).

I'm not going to debate the calorie consumption numbers just because I've seen other data from other sources, but I will debate the cart versus walking experience, because my personal experiences are different.

The nice thing about walking is you can choose to walk beside someone and chat or you can walk a more direct route to your ball and stay within your own thoughts for a few minutes. If you're sharing a cart you're always with that person. Their agenda on each hole is your agenda. Their personality, good or bad, is inescapably "9 inches" away. That's hard to take for 4+ hours. I like people, but I like my personal space too. I don't like walking arm in arm down the fairway and I don't like sitting side by side with someone in a cart.

One of many reasons I don't personally prefer to cart (not judging those who like it so people can save their rebuttals for another day) is I NEVER seem to have any of my gadgets or stuff with me. Whether I'm getting dropped off at my ball (not likely since I'm usually the second one hitting on every hole - see "someone else's agenda" for 4+ hours) or walking to it due to "cart paths only" rules, I never seem to have exactly what I need. When I carry my bag I always have everthing I need on every shot. No second guessing.

ymmv or whatever

[1NatsFan]

I used to walk/carry all of the time, and I really miss the connection with the course.

Then I hurt my back and started using a push cart.  Still ok, but not as good as carrying your clubs.

Now I live in a golf community and own my own cart.  I haven't walked a course for some time, but I am able to play a lot more frequently.

[iacas]

Riders should theoretically be faster. A foursome - even in two carts - should always be faster than a foursome walking if the foursomes are both really efficient.

I've walked during rounds played with efficient cart riders. It can be a struggle to keep up.

But rounds with inefficient cart riders? No problem.

[dpgator33]

Not disagreeing with the burned calories argument, but playing in a dead wind when it's 90+ and 90% humidity takes a toll on you. It's virtually impossible to stay hydrated and even breathe normally in certain conditions, especially at courses that don't let you take personal coolers or have truly adequate water stations on the course. I've literally felt ill after riding 36 holes in some conditions, to the point where I have decided that I needed to quit playing before I finished. It's part of the reason why I'm planning on moving to a different part of the country, so I can join a club and actually make it worth the expense because I would be able to play more and not feel completely wasted after I'm done. For 5 months of the year it is impossible to play as much as I would like just because of the weather.

[Snakey]

When I started this thread I certainly wasn't disparaging people whether through injury or bad backs or knees are using carts to keep playing a great game or temperature extremes...100+...or golfing on courses a mountain goat would have trouble on but the able bodied on a relatively flat course given a choice between cart or walking take the easy option ,golf is supposed to be a good walk spoiled not ridden over IMHO.

[Andrew Gibson]

I always play a coupe shots better when I walk. I think the act of walking definitely helps my tempo... I have also found that as I get older (27) I walk just a little slower. At the same time my swing tempo has slowed down just a little as well... I'm not sure if I walk slower because I swing more smoothly or the other way around... I can still walk in 3 hours on a reasonable course without issue and anyone in front, so i guess i'm not that slow. I do enjoy riding though when I am out for a weekend round with my less serious friends...

But part of what I love about golf is every once in a while i get in the zone on the back nine and steam roll in... last time i did that was about 4 years ago and I came in 4 under through the last 6 holes... my college roommate that was walking with me and sharing clubs with me and my other friend, just stopped playing and caddied for me... it was so much fun.

[Fourputt]

  Snakey said:

Originally Posted by Snakey

When I started this thread I certainly wasn't disparaging people whether through injury or bad backs or knees are using carts to keep playing a great game or temperature extremes...100+...or golfing on courses a mountain goat would have trouble on but the able bodied on a relatively flat course given a choice between cart or walking take the easy option ,golf is supposed to be a good walk spoiled not ridden over IMHO.

A quote from Mark Twain, from long before anyone had invented the golf cart, is pretty much invalid in this discussion.