Carts, or buggies, may be more prevalent in certain parts of the world than others, and yes, many golfers will have played a course somewhere where they were eternally grateful for the cart – perhaps in a humid climate, over particularly hilly terrain or on a course layout featuring long treks between greens and tees.
But while the cart may sometimes be more or less essential (even compulsory at some courses), by and large, we reckon you’ll play better golf without using a cart for the following five reasons…
Fitness
For plenty of golfers, golf is their only real exercise so take away the walking element and you’re taking away their main avenue of exercise. Walking has been shown to be good for both physical and mental health.
Clearly, it would be hard to quantify any benefit on a round-by-round basis, but we believe that the more you walk (a typical round will cover about five to seven miles) the fitter you will become over time, and the fitter you become, the more chance you will have or playing better golf more often.
Stay looser
On a related theme, walking will help you stay looser for longer (especially among older golfers and those with dodgy backs) than if you’re constantly sitting back down with your lower back and legs at a 90˚ angle for every buggy ride between shots, particularly on cold days.
Keep the blood pumping as you walk, and you’ll stay looser for longer and give yourself a better chance of playing your best golf right to the end of the round.
As nature intended
Walking gets you closer to nature and gives you more time to think
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Walking is how golf was intended to be played, and obviously how it had to be played in its more formative years. Not only do you get to feel the ground beneath your feet and immerse yourself in your surroundings more, but it also gives you more time to think things through mentally, especially after a bad shot.
In a cart, you’re typically rushing to your ball and then playing again before you’ve really cleared your mind properly and had time to process what just happened. The extra breathing space between shots that walking allows could just help you to avoid compounding error with error when something has just gone a bit wrong.
The direct route
If you’re walking, you can go pretty much wherever you want, taking the most direct route from A to B and thus always having your clubs right there where you need them, especially if you’re carrying.
Any little frustrations can…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golf Monthly RSS Feed…