Carts or Legs?

[Snakey]

  Fourputt said:

Originally Posted by Fourputt

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

Actually Samuel Clemens said it as Samuel Clemens...see I learned to read gooded too....gradeated sixth grade

[Fourputt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snakey

Actually Samuel Clemens said it as Samuel Clemens...see I learned to read gooded too....gradeated sixth grade

And I've seen it quoted as Mark Twain,

Quote:

Golf is a good walk spoiled.
Mark Twain

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marktwain100019.html#8xbORmQWeg1aryhp.99

but actually neither is correct, according to THIS .

[Snakey]

I think we all have too much time on our hands. LOL .

[Putridgasbag]

  sean_miller said:

Originally Posted by sean_miller

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

I agree. One of the things I hate when I ride is being with just the one person for most of the day and having to play logistics golf with them.

I really enjoy walking and being able to interact with the the other three in the group at random. Having all your clubs available to you on all shots is also a good thing. Seems that when I ride there is always one or two shots that I end up hitting were I don't have the club I want and the cart is far enough away that I hit it with what I brought.

[ERLoft]

Totally depends on the course. Here in San Diego, we have some very walkable courses, including Torrey Pines, Coronado, Carlton Oaks. We also have some totally unwalkable courses such as The Crossings at Carlsbad (on one hole it's more than 500 yards from the green to the next tee!), Steele Canyon, Caramel Mountain Ranch. I prefer walking, but noticed that lugging my bag around put a lot of tension in my shoulders, which isn't good for the swing. So this spring I treated myself to a new Clicgear cart. Definitely been happy with it. Collected on some bonus items for Father's Day this year too, with the cooler and an extra cupholder to go with it and then on my birthday later in June, got a Sun Mountain C-130 bag, which works awesomely with the Clicgear...

[sean_miller]

  ERLoft said:

Originally Posted by ERLoft

Totally depends on the course. Here in San Diego, we have some very walkable courses, including Torrey Pines, Coronado, Carlton Oaks. We also have some totally unwalkable courses such as The Crossings at Carlsbad (on one hole it's more than 500 yards from the green to the next tee!), Steele Canyon, Caramel Mountain Ranch.

I prefer walking, but noticed that lugging my bag around put a lot of tension in my shoulders, which isn't good for the swing. So this spring I treated myself to a new Clicgear cart. Definitely been happy with it. Collected on some bonus items for Father's Day this year too, with the cooler and an extra cupholder to go with it and then on my birthday later in June, got a Sun Mountain C-130 bag, which works awesomely with the Clicgear...

I might get a cart soon. If I'm playing solo carrying trumps everything else (imvho) but when playing with 3 turtles carrying is not so awesome. Carrying for the front nine and using a pull/push cart for the back is a possibility.

[Wisguy]

In my younger days, I always walked and carried both because of cost and because of the exercise - on some days I'd go 48 and once or twice even 60 holes (played at a 12-hole muni course).  I like the exercise and I think that walking gets me more loose and ready to play, plus it gives a better feel for the course and appreciation of the course's contours.

Over the past decade, I bought and have been using a pull cart (if the strongest 20-something golfers on the PGA Tour carry nothing heavier than a glove or ball marker, conserving one's energy must lead to better scores), but I find myself using that less often than I'd like.  On family vacations I generally can't convince my playing partners to walk, even though they have no problems cycling 25 to 75 miles at a time.  Over the past two years my regular golfing buddy is a dozen years older than me, has a bad knee, and can't walk unless it's no more than 9 holes on a flat course.  So most of my golf has been playing cart golf.  I'd like to save some dough (riding cars are an extra $15 to $20 a round) and get better exercise, but how do you play with a friend and tell him he's got to ride by himself without looking a bit selfish?

Sunday we're playing a course where the pro shop will tell you that they advise even the youngest, fittest players not to walk because of how hilly it is and because of the distances between greens and tees.  I walked one of those sorts of courses years ago when I was visiting down in Austin Texas (played in shorts on Christmas Eve), and was able to do it, I'm a lot more middle-aged these days and on this weekend's course, it would be brutal to walk, not to mention I'd get too far behind on some of the holes unless I hopped a ride to some of the tees.

Back in the days of the Casey Martin controversy (i.e. back when I lugged my bag on every round), I thought the PGA players whining about the essential nature of walking were being ridiculous and they should just have let Martin play for as long as he could stand up and score low enough to keep his card.  If a professional athlete cannot effortlessly walk 18 holes of golf on even the hottest day and even on the hilliest course, he isn't much of an athlete - the difficult part of golf that separates the top few hundred players in the world who can play professionally from the other millions of golfers isn't being able to walk a few miles outdoors, it's being able to put a ball where you want it with precision, repeatedly.  Even walking 36 holes isn't that strenuous when you have someone else carrying your bag and one could very easily, in the post 1990 era of golf, avoid ever having to play more than 18 holes plus a few playoff holes in one day; how often do weather delays require two rounds in one day, maybe once a season?  I think the difficulty and impressiveness of Ken Venturi's US Open victory, playing 36 holes in 100* weather, is greatly over-hyped.  Soldiers regularly march far longer distances in the same amount of time, in the same sort of heat, while lugging half their weight in equipment on their backs.  Walking 9 miles or so with regular rests every few hundred yards, carrying nothing more than a 1 pound putter 20 yards onto every green and swinging a 1 pound club 110 times or so over the course of 7 hours is not horrific exertion.  Venturi probably was hungover and thus dehydrated from the night before and probably didn't hydrate properly that day.

[Sonny217]

I prefer to walk.  My "home course" is $16 to walk 18, $36 to ride.  Makes the decision pretty easy in my book.  I'm 30 and in good shape, but use a pull cart.  The course is flat as can be, and no long stretches between holes. I've used an app on my phone called Endomondo to measure how far I walk, and it comes up to 5.5 miles every time. I play solo, usually tee off at 7am and never have to wait on anyone, and I'm usually headed home by 10. Perfect Sunday morning as far as I'm concerned.  When I play with my father, we ride since he's oldish (62) and has had several health issues.  It's great that we get to play together, but I just can't seem to keep my head in the game when riding.  I average 5 strokes worse when riding.

[jaredgib]

Walk and carry at my home course. In fact have never had a cart there. I enjoy the connection to the course, if and when I can no longer carry in the South Carolina summer heat, I'll get a pull cart.

[kregan]

This is a tough one for me.  I have a blown disk in my lower back and walking actually

helps lower the pain. If the course is to long I get a worn out feeling on the last 4 holes

or so and start to play bad.

If I ride and it gets a little slow I start to stiffen up in the cart. Then I find myself lifting up during

the swing and hitting it thin.  If I am the one driving I ask the other person to drive so I can walk

between some of my shots.

I aggree with the other poster about not having all my stuff when I am in a cart and being dropped off.

[NM Golf]

I do both, but I prefer to walk. I walked and carried my bag until last year when I turned 40. At 40 I felt I was old enough to finally buy a 3 wheeled push cart. Young guys should walk and carry I think it looks funny for them to use a push cart IMHO.

[bcp]

I always ride. I only walked 2 rounds in my life and both times were with a caddy.

[sean_miller]

  NM Golf said:

Originally Posted by NM Golf

I do both, but I prefer to walk. I walked and carried my bag until last year when I turned 40. At 40 I felt I was old enough to finally buy a 3 wheeled push cart. Young guys should walk and carry I think it looks funny for them to use a push cart IMHO.

I wish I could say that walking and carrying your own bag were part of the fabric of North American golf but with so many of our youth struggline with being lazy arsed lard bottoms I foresee a day when there will be two types of golfers. Riders and ex-golfers.

[RichWW2]

I always ride but I could walk if something required me to.

[Elvisliveson]

I carry my bag as I have the last 35 years for 95% of my rounds. The only times I don't is when a cart is required. I will die holding my carry bag and my wife better bury me with it.

[Snakey]

  sean_miller said:

Originally Posted by sean_miller

I wish I could say that walking and carrying your own bag were part of the fabric of North American golf but with so many of our youth struggline with being lazy arsed lard bottoms I foresee a day when there will be two types of golfers. Riders and ex-golfers.

Golf will evolve into Golo, where you drive your cart to the ball and lean out and hit it ,saves walking those few steps to the ball , could be difficult in the bunkers but....maybe ATVs.

[Teamanglerx]

I walked for the first time in several years a week ago.  I have a metal bar in my leg and screws in my knee from a previous injury and I was concerned that it would be quite a strain.  However, I felt great!  I even carried my clubs.  I feel that unless I have a rough day at work (I am on my feet for long periods of time) I could walk 9 at my local muni after work.  On weekends I could even do 18.  However, there are several courses I play where walking can be a chore so I would ride there.

In fact I am going to purchase either a Caddytek or a Clicgear pushcart this weekend to encourge me to walk more.  I found that when I walked my focus was better, could find my ball a lot easier, and, played better shots.

[RonTheSavage]

Thanks to my wife buying my ClicGearfor Fathers Day I walked 18 for the first time a few weeks back. My legs were sore as #$*# the next day. Hopefully that goes away or I just get used to it as I do plan to walk now whenever I can. The only slight downside was that I was alone most of the day as my buddies still prefer to ride but I got over that quickly as I realized my back didnt tighten up once during the round.