The Argument For Walking Over Riding In A Golf Cart
- Updated: March 31, 2021
Twitter/@WorldSportsBet
If you’re anything like 95% of the people at any public course, you probably tend to ride in a cart rather than walk.
It’s a great way to create the illusion of playing fast and most online tee times these days include it in the price. So you may as well take the cart, right?
Wrong, and here’s why. Grab your things – we go on foot from here.
Tidy bag
If you’re a die-hard rider then you’re probably accustomed to pulling up to the local muni and either carrying your bag 50 yards to the nearest cart…
Or check-in with the pro shop and driving the cart out to your vehicle where you hoist it from the trunk where they live whenever you’re not using them.
While this is all well and good, you’re likely oblivious to the fact that your bag is heavier than the shots you hit trying to carry the water.
But when you tote our sticks around for 18 holes, you’re going to notice the extra pounds and do something about it.
Take out the training aid you bought from an infomercial at 3 am after a night of drinking and the 4 dozen Nike Mojos you won for coming in 3rd place in that scramble in 2008.
As a walker, you become a minimalist and carry only what’s needed to get from the first tee to the 18th green, which is really the point of the game, right?
Exercise
This is an obvious yet somehow understated reason. Someone who runs marathons or goes to the gym nine times a week may look down on walking as a form of exercise.
But as golfers, we need to take what we can get. A 6,200-yard course is over 3.5 miles of walking on its own.
Add in the walking in between holes, the walking through the trees searching for your ball, and the walks back to the last green to get your wedge you left in the rough, and you’re well over 4 miles for the round.
You may not be training for the local decathlon but at least you can burn off the beers you pounded on the range.
Cart Path Only
Under normal circumstances, taking a cart can marginally contribute to improving the pace of play.
But when the course is wet and the cart is confined to the path, you’re better off on foot.
As wonderful as it is to get out of the cart 50 yards away from your ball with 4 clubs and your laser in hand, it’s much easier and less stressful to be able to walk right up to it with your full arsenal in tow.
The mown walkway
Any course worth the greens fee will have a nice tightly mown pathway going from the tee box to the fairway.
If you’re riding all the time, you may think this strange closely mown area is some sort of mini fairway to contain your topped drives, or you may not notice it at all.
However, there are few feelings better than walking down this path in the direction of your piped tee-ball.
A different point of view
In golf as in life, a fresh perspective is needed from time to time. Next time you string together a few bad rounds, break out the Sunday bag and go for a stroll.
Instead of zipping from the tee to the fairway just to wait 5 minutes for the group in front to get off the green, you get to enjoy a walk for a couple of minutes. Use this time to take it all in.
Take in all the sights, the sounds, and the smells. Feel the terrain under your feet and the breeze against your skin.
Enjoy the walk. It’s a beautiful thing.
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