Do You Prefer to Walk or Ride?

[Lemay427]

I ride unless its cart path only.

[GaijinGolfer]

I prefer to walk. It gives me time to think between shots, it allows me to get some exercise, enjoy the nature around me and, IMO, its the way the game was meant to be played.

[birdiemachine]

I dont consider it playing golf if im in a cart. i can see where older people might have to ride, but if you can walk you shoud imo.

[flopdarock]

is this a new thread?
i prefer to walk... but if im playing with others riding... ill ride

[ProfessorGAC]

Yes it does. The fact that is doesn't is a myth. If people maintain their own personal pace of play, it's impossible to play the same pace walking or riding, since riding is 14mph and walking is 3mph.

It's ridiculous to suggest otherwise.

However, if there's just one slow "i'm going to take 4 hours to play my round" jerk out there, it slows everyone else down.

That doesn't mean the carts don't speed things up. It means slow players make things EVEN WORSE!
GAC

[tjy355]

Yes it does. The fact that is doesn't is a myth. If people maintain their own personal pace of play, it's impossible to play the same pace walking or riding, since riding is 14mph and walking is 3mph.

Dear Mr. Professor,

I take it your screen name is a tongue-in-cheek thing? There is only one situation where carts can be faster and that would be (given golfers of the same pace of play awareness) where the course is completely open ahead. Then yes, cart riding is obviously faster. HOWEVER, in practical reality, courses are typically filled with golfers in which case the cart riding effect is negated. I agree that slow play is caused by slow players. But I stand by my assertion that IN MOST CASES, carts do not speed play. In MANY cases, they actually slow play.

[chipper2]

I refer to myself as Gereral Patton as I am fighting "The Battle of the Bulge". I enjoy walking and do so most of the time. I have 2 friends that I play with who only ride. I ride with them, but try to walk as much as possible even when playing with them.

[pherg]

I sit in my office, I sit in traffic, I sit on the couch at home. When I'm golfing I like to walk. I find it gives me time to think about the shot I'm going to play. I find I don't appreciate the beautiful surroundings when I'm zipping around in a cart. Golf becomes just like everything else in life, rushed. Golf for me is about the fresh air, the conversation and four hours of purely selfish me-time, the walk gives me time to think..

[johnnyyooper]

i play 2-3 times a week and walk, but i get paired with cart people about 90% of the time. at times it can be tough keeping up with the riders if the course is not crowded or if i am in one of the first groups of the day and the early morning rabbits are off and running. i play those rounds hitting most of my shots out of breath as the cart people have already hit by the time i get to my ball. however, being a public course in a big city, its usually 'wait-for-the-fairway/green-to-clear' style of play anyway, so the round takes the same amount of time whether people are walking or riding. you're going to finish 10 minutes behind the group in front of you.
if i get paired with riders who play golf like polo on a horse, and there are open holes ahead, i just tell them to go ahead and take off. being out there as a single or twosome is a rare opportunity to play a couple of balls and replay those pesky missed putts.

[evinkc05]

I like walking, because it makes me feel better, i stay more relaxed and im more likely to pick the right club to chip with. However, i will admit that there is nothing like lounging in a cart and just enjoying time spent with family and friends when score doesnt matter as much.

[LeafsFanNL]

I generally walk with a pull cart. However we have a few courses here in Newfoundland were you would need to be a mountain goat. On those three courses, I get a cart.

HB

[walk18]

I wish my golfing buddies would walk, but, well.. they're lazy.

[GolfGuy123]

Just wanted to see what everyone's thoughts are on walking vs. riding 18 holes...do you normally walk or ride? is there a reason you prefer one over the other?

On Sunday I walked 18 holes for the first time ever (using a push cart). When I first started playing a few years ago, I would walk the 9 hole par 3 course by my house but never anything else outside of that.

A few things about my first experience (please remember this is coming from someone who has never walked lol):

- Played pretty bad...and I mean "pretty bad" based on my current game / personal standards. I am normally anywhere between 94-98 (120-129 slope courses) and rarely shoot over 100. I ended up with 108. Obviously, it could have absolutely nothing to do with walking lol...but just saying

- Im very into running / fitness so did enjoy it from the "workout" perspective. Not saying it was a major workout or anything...but definitely felt some good burn on the legs when pushing the cart up the uphill par 5s etc.

- The one thing I did not like at all was, every time I got up to my ball I could feel my heart beating faster and generally just being more "pumped up" than if I just rode a cart up to my ball. Love this feeling during a workout but during a round of golf, I have a hard enough time as it is...feeling jittery / pumped up (anything other than calm) just makes it that much harder for me. Im a fast player as it is, so I probably was walking to my ball faster and with more intensity than I should have. Maybe I should try walking a little slower next time?

- I did not like having all that extra time in between shots to think lol! Because there is more time between shots, it was more time for my mind to do what it should not be doing like thinking about the bad shot I just hit or...thinking about the par putt I missed on the last hole etc. I know this is something that I need to control and perhaps use that time to be focusing on what I need to do with my next shot but, the bad thoughts are much less when I ride...probably because I just scoot up to my ball, take a club out, setup and swing...weather intentionally or not, when riding I just seem to be more focused on getting to my ball and hitting than analyzing past shots etc. Might be the exact opposite for some people?

- It was 45 degrees out. Not sure if this helped our hurt me. I was thinking it might actually keep me warmer to walk since the muscles will be moving more etc. Figured 45 degrees probably would feel colder just sitting in a cart and only getting out to hit the shot etc.

- The course I walked is 6600 yards from the tips (I play the 6100 yard white tees). A good amount of big and small hills, slopes etc. The course was not very busy. Finished in 3 hours and 15 minutes...when this course is busy it usually takes me 4-4.5 hours when riding.

Looking forward to hearing everyone's opinion!

[David in FL]

The search function is your friend. ;-) You'll find a TON of threads devoted to that somewhat touchy subject. http://thesandtrap.com/newsearch?search=Walking

[GolfGuy123]

The search function is your friend.

You'll find a TON of threads devoted to that somewhat touchy subject.

http://thesandtrap.com/newsearch?search=Walking

ugh - sorry everyone - should have thought about doing that before posting! thanks David ;)

[MS256]

I normally play a little better when I walk (for some reason) but I rarely walk because none of my playing partners like to walk (except my wife). I wear a pedometer every day and make sure I get 20,000 steps a day so I'm going to be walking that much anyway. If somebody wants to walk I'll walk.

I figure I play better when I walk because I have more motivation to not have to chase my golf ball all over the course.

[WUTiger]

My home course got built as part of a subdivision, with some wilderness areas thrown in. So, the front nine has places where it's a long way - and up and down hills - from green to next tee.

Another course in our area has three stretches like that. Basically, walkers would get run into the ground by people riding carts.

I can walk 9 holes on a flatter course, but for 18 I prefer a cart.

If a course had pull carts, I could walk a 18 with one.

[big stoke]

I play a 9 hole league with some friends and there dads at St. Ann International golf course in St. Louis. We walk that every time. It is about as flat as a course can get. I also play an 18 hole par 3 course that has lights where I will walk as well. Like wutiger said most of the courses I play around St. Louis are built around subdivisions with wilderness areas thrown in, which doesn't make walking feasible.