Walking Only Courses?

What would your opinion be on a course that only allowed walking? I think golfers have become too dependent on carts and the game could benefit from going back to it's roots and emphasize walking again

I’m a big fan. I think Erin Hills has a good approach with very limited carts and require proof of disability to use a cart.

I love not seeing cart paths.

All of the Keiser properties (Bandon, Cabot, Sand Valley) are walking only with carts for people with disabilities.

That is fantastic idea. Perfect for Scottsdale or Orlando or maybe San Antonio. ;-)

Walking is an integral part of playing the game and carts should only be made available for those who have a medical necessity to use one.

Some of the top courses in the world are walking only. Including the Ocean Course at Kiawah. They charge $450 and stay packed. It gets in the upper 90's into the 100's with heat index even in May and September in Charleston. ;-)

Yes. Heat stroke can be quite expensive these days.

As a pro-walker I'd have to say no. Businesses have to be able to make their money. Some people actually need carts. I just wish more people would choose to walk.

I think that in most situations, a course that allows only walking would have a difficult time surviving. Some do it and do well, but limiting your potential customer base isn't a great strategy in most cases. And I love to walk, I love not seeing buggies on a course, but I don't think its a viable choice for most courses.

Seems a bit draconian to me but then in the UK buggies have always been in the minority. Partly cultural and partly the cost of land. It's hard to build a course in the UK that occupies so much land that there is a significant distance between tees. At most courses you step off one green and practically fall over the next tee.

As an avid walking golfer, I personally love the concept provided that those with physical impairments can use a cart and the course can generate enough revenue to survive.

Although I love to walk it is just not feasible for courses to have only walkers and lose the cart money. Unless you charge riding rates for walking which would drive golfers away.

Obviously walking only would have a negative impact on revenue due to the loss of cart fees. When posting this I was more picturing a private course but that's my own fault for not articulating that... LOL

Even in a private club setting, its not often a great idea to restrict your target market. And what happens as players age, and become unable or unwilling to walk every round? Do they quit and go elsewhere? I just think its problematic.

I love to walk while golfing unfortunately for me I have a bad hip and knee that goes for 9 holes not 18. Dr. Wants to wait a few more years before replacing anything so walking only course wouldn’t work for me.

I've not used a cart since Labour Day weekend 2018 and have played probably 125-ish rounds since then. I'll walk courses where 90%+ are in carts, for me walking is one of the joys of the game.

That said, any regular daily-fee course in North America that was walking only can get stuffed and go out of business IMHO. We shouldn't be doing anything to exclude people from playing the game and that includes those who only play with the use of a cart.

High-end resort courses and how the game is played in other countries don't count.

I'd still like the option of taking a cart when it's very hot. Right now, our course is very wet, and I took a cart just to have a break from walking in the slop. I also will take a cart if bad weather is called for, and I might need to get off the course quickly. I do walk almost all the time, but there are times I do like to be able to use a cart.

Golf is a business. Carts shall always be part of the game.

How else would they transport beer from the clubhouse to the course?

I always walk unless forced to ride at a resort or in a tournament.

Not a great business idea. At my club, when its cart path only, the course is empty.

Play Scotland or Ireland, you won't be gettin' a buggy unless you have a doctor's note.

Sand Valley, Erin Hills, Whistling Straits, all walking only. Great courses to boot also.

I am all for walking but a course has to make money - I feel like a slug when I am taking a cart

I like walking but courses in my area and nearly all courses with housing would be a killer. When you play a course that has DIESEL powered carts, you know you dont wont to walk it unless a caddy is carrying your bag.

A good number of the private clubs in the Northeast are walking only. When I get to play one of them, I always notice how much easier it is to maintain pace and etiquette; it’s much easier to keep track of where everybody is (because they just can’t move that fast).

How did you decide that? Millions of golfers would not play the game without a cart. Thousands of golf courses are very difficult to walk.

Try playing in the Palm Springs area in June without a cart. First, it is often 110 degrees +. Second, many courses are built around housing so it's a long way from green to tee, sometimes a LONG way. This from a dedicated walker.

They would quit golf. Also, people forget that many parts of the country are very hot in the Summer making walking for an older golfer not only difficult but dangerous.

Standard practice for golf across the UK and Ireland. The existence of the golf cart lead to developers and builders creating courses that are very difficult to walk. Take the cart away and those courses would never exist.

Try Pikewood National in Morgantown, WV if you want a good workout. Walking only through hilly terrain. After 18 holes I guarantee even the young bucks will feel it. Absolutely beautiful course however. Watch the video. As it states at the end - "The greatest walk in golf".https://www.pikewoodnational.com/

I agree with this. I prefer walking and wish more courses were built with the walker in mind first then make accommodations for carts for places with severe summer heat or for golfers with physical difficulty.

So many courses are built in connection with housing developments where the next holes are often not close to the previous one. I want to walk when I can but when it significantly slows the round down I'm not going to do that.