How FAST can you walk 18?

[MelloYello]

48 minutes ago, North Butte said:

Makes sense given that the vast majority of golfers ride in carts. And a sizable minority of those have a cooler full of beer on the cart with them. 

 

The way physical activity works is pretty simple. Being moderately active for 20 minutes is better than being inactive for that same 20 minutes. Being moderately active for 60 minutes or 120 minutes is better still. Being vigorously active is even better than that.

 

But time spent not sitting is good for you. And for that matter even riding in a cart for five hours is good for you if you find it relaxing and you at least get out and walk to your ball every few minutes. Anything is better than nothing and more is better than less. 

 

How many calories are you burning during that 4-hours you spend on the course? 

How long would it take to do that in the gym? 

 

How much are you spending on the course per month? 
How much would you spend for a gym membership per month? 

 

 

These are simple question which prove we don't do golf for the exercise. We do it for the game. There are infinitely better ways to achieve the exercise golf provides which require far less time & money. 

 

It's not hard to see that joining a gym is order(s) of magnitude more efficient in being healthy than is playing golf. Golf is a great hobby, but it's not doing much for your health that walking your dog once or twice a day isn't. 

 

And that's not saying anything about frying your skin in the sun 20-hrs per week. No bueno!

 

.

Edited October 31, 2022 by MelloYello

[North Butte]

1 minute ago, MelloYello said:

 

How many calories are you burning during that 4-hours you spend on the course? 

How long would it take to do that in the gym? 

 

How much are you spending on the course per month? 
How much would you spending for a gym membership per month? 

 

 

It's not hard to see that joining a gym is order(s) of magnitude more efficient in being healthy than is playing golf. Golf is a great hobby, but it's not doing much for your health that walking your dog once or twice a day isn't. 

 

And that's not saying anything about frying your skin in the sun 20-hrs per week. 

Honestly, I don't care anything about gym memberships and have no idea what one would cost. There's way more to a healthy lifestyle than finding ways to quickly and cheaply burn calories. 

 

Look, I discovered nearly 30 years ago that going to the golf course 3, 4, 5 times a week and playing a round of golf (which for me means walking) is enjoyable, adds to my cardiorespiratory fitness, helps minimize my weight gain as I age and relaxes me. It even has a social element on the days I play with friends. So as a lifestyle activity it works great for me.

 

If what floats your boat is riding in a golf cart or working out in a gym, I encourage you to do both of them as often as you're able. Both are fine activities. But neither of them is for me. 

 

There's also running, swimming, bicycling and any number of other activities people enjoy which provide various levels of health benefits. Those are good too. Just not for me. 

 

The only part I don't get is why you seem dead set on convincing me I'd be better off if I played half my rounds in a golf cart like you do. I've told you I don't like it and you know full well it involves much less physical activity than walking the course. What part of that is controversial in any way? 

 

It's starting to remind me of that other stupid thread with "Mr. Bean" trying to convince me everything in life is more enjoyable if you do it while wearing a suit and tie. Or something, both that thread and this one seem to have departed reality for some realm of pure rhetoric and bluster. 

 

 

[Dufferonius]

36 minutes ago, MelloYello said:

How many calories are you burning during that 4-hours you spend on the course? 

How long would it take to do that in the gym? 

The Innerwebz can answer this 😄

 

Avg. golf course of 18 holes: 7200 yards, 4 miles
200 lb. male burns 106 Cals/mile walking
Total: 412 Cals
 

Probably a bit more for carrying, pushing, or pulling a bag, plus the act of swinging a club, etc.  Call it 500 Cals.

 

I used to burn between 700 and 750 Cal/hr. doing HIIT.  My weight training days, about the same.

 

36 minutes ago, MelloYello said:

How much are you spending on the course per month? 

I don't know about his neighborhood, but, around here it'd run $25 to $50 per eighteen, depending.  So, at three times per week, 4.3 weeks/month, that's 13 times/mon.  Based on our local prices: $325 to $650/mo.

 

36 minutes ago, MelloYello said:

How much would you spend for a gym membership per month? 

Planet Fitness (*ick*): $10/mo.  Life Time Fitness is up to $80/mo. for a single, all clubs membership.

 

36 minutes ago, MelloYello said:

These are simple question which prove we don't do golf for the exercise.

I'm pretty sure he said he does.  I don't know as we can question his motivations.

 

36 minutes ago, MelloYello said:

It's not hard to see that joining a gym is order(s) of magnitude more efficient in being healthy than is playing golf.

Probably true.  Golf won't make one appreciably stronger, won't appreciably improve ones bone density, and won't appreciably improve ones cardiovascular system.  But there's more to health than just being strong, having good bone density, and having a good cardiovascular system.

[North Butte]

What are you comparing golf to? 

 

I guarantee you that three or four walking rounds of golf per week compared to spending those same 12-15 hours sitting on the sofa in front of the TV will absolutely result in better bone density, strength and cardiovascular fitness over the course of a lifetime. 

 

You guys seem stuck in some 1970's time warp when everyone assumed the health benefits of "exercise" went to zero if you weren't lifting weights or exercising at 80% of your VO2max. 

 

Google Books conveniently has an online copy of selected portions of an often cited reference work from 15 years ago on the subject. If you're interested, you do some skimming through the sections about the risks associated with physical inactivity. Note that in the years since that book was published, published research and recommendation based on that research have continued to evolve toward emphasizing the message that even very low intensity PA is advantageous compared to a completely sedentary lifestyle.

 

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=tO96DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT22&dq=physical+activity+and+health&ots=11D2_In9zY&sig=wuRCLuVJ7vPQM0MTJNdQTp_yL4I#v=onepage&q=physical activity and health&f=false

[Argonne69]

I've lost 45 lbs in three years. I've walked close to 600 rounds. I cut out the fast food lunches, but still enjoy a daily beer(s), and eating out two or three times a week. I'm not going to waste my time in a gym staring at CNN while I walk on a treadmill when I can walk a hilly course. 

 

It's absolutely ridiculous to tell a serious golfer that they should hop in a cart and then spend a couple of hours at a gym. Oy veh. 

 

[North Butte]

3 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

I've lost 45 lbs in three years. I've walked close to 600 rounds. I cut out the fast food lunches, but still enjoy a daily beer(s), and eating out two or three times a week. I'm not going to waste my time in a gym staring at CNN while I walk on a treadmill when I can walk a hilly course. 

 

It's absolutely ridiculous to tell a serious golfer that they should hop in a cart and then spend a couple of hours at a gym. Oy veh. 

 

Your experience and mine both converge around a ballpark range of 300-400kcals change in our energy balance for each round walked. That's something like 100kcals per hour of golf. 

 

Some studies under standardized conditions give larger estimates on the order of twice that Activity Energy Expenditure for golf while walking. Here's a link to one abstract.

 

Assessment of activity energy expenditure during competitive golf: The effects of bag carrying, electric or manual trolleys

 

My own thinking, which comports with your description, is that I give myself more leeway for consuming food or high caloric content beverages on days when I play golf. So for myself at least I would be surprised to find that I expend, say, 700kcals but consume an extra 350kcals of food for a net of around 350kcals. 

 

I know one thing, I'd rather walk a round of golf and eat a hamburger after the round than stay home and eat a salad!

[Bad9]

A friend and I played 18 holes walking (pushcarts) in 2:55 last weekend. No rushing.

[david.c.w]

3 hours ago, MelloYello said:

 

How many calories are you burning during that 4-hours you spend on the course? 

How long would it take to do that in the gym? 

 

How much are you spending on the course per month? 
How much would you spend for a gym membership per month? 

 

 

These are simple question which prove we don't do golf for the exercise. We do it for the game. There are infinitely better ways to achieve the exercise golf provides which require far less time & money. 

 

It's not hard to see that joining a gym is order(s) of magnitude more efficient in being healthy than is playing golf. Golf is a great hobby, but it's not doing much for your health that walking your dog once or twice a day isn't. 

 

And that's not saying anything about frying your skin in the sun 20-hrs per week. No bueno!

 

.

 

I absolutely walk and carry my bag to get exercise.  Do it most fall/winter/spring.  I also have a gym membership and workout on an elliptical during the week   I also like to ride in a cart, mostly all summer.

 

Exercise is not my primary motivation, but it is a nice side benefit.

[FormerBigDaddy]

15 hours ago, MelloYello said:

 

How many calories are you burning during that 4-hours you spend on the course? 

How long would it take to do that in the gym? 

 

How much are you spending on the course per month? 
How much would you spend for a gym membership per month? 

 

 

These are simple question which prove we don't do golf for the exercise. We do it for the game. There are infinitely better ways to achieve the exercise golf provides which require far less time & money. 

 

It's not hard to see that joining a gym is order(s) of magnitude more efficient in being healthy than is playing golf. Golf is a great hobby, but it's not doing much for your health that walking your dog once or twice a day isn't. 

 

And that's not saying anything about frying your skin in the sun 20-hrs per week. No bueno!

 

.

I'm an avid exerciser and I carry my bag when I play.  So i'll throw some of my numbers out there... I'm 40, 6' and about 205 lbs and in pretty good shape.

 

According to my apple watch I typically burn about 800-1000 active calories when carrying by bag for 18 holes.  With that said that number will obviously vary based on how long the round is.  If I'm playing my sunday morning foursome that number will be on the higher end b/c the round will take longer.  If I'm by myself and the course is open and I'm playing fast it will be on the lower end.  In comparison, if I walk on a treadmill at a 3mph pace for an hour my apple watch says I burn between 280-300 active calories, so you can roughly see how that would translate to my numbers above..  I also work out 5 days a week and each day I do a warm up jog for 6 min and lift pretty intensely after for a total of about 50-55 minutes.  According to my apple watch I burn between 450-500 active calories during my normal workout.  Sometimes I jog for 30min on the weekend when I don't lift and that will burn around 430 calories.  Obviously you can see the difference in calories/time.  The fun days is when I do my weekday workout and I walk 18 later... big eating day there as I'll usually end up around 2300 active calories for the day.  Not really sure why I answered this is such detail but I found it interesting.

 

My membership dues are around $600 a month.  I play twice a week and b/c I walk 100% of the time at my home club so there is no additional charge for carts, etc. I spend $0 per month on a gym membership as I'm lucky to have a free one due to a family member being a higher up at a gym.  Even if I didn't have that I'd probably make it work at the small gym at my club.  

 

I definitely golf for the extra exercise in addition to the enjoyment of golfing.  In fact, half of what I do in the gym is to better my fitness and strength for golf specifically.

Edited November 1, 2022 by FormerBigDaddy

[North Butte]

27 minutes ago, FormerBigDaddy said:

I definitely golf for the extra exercise in addition to the enjoyment of golfing.  In fact, half of what I do in the gym is to better my fitness and strength for golf specifically.

Unless I were rehabbing an injury, that's the only thing that would ever get me into a gym. But I have a collection of stretchy-band, dumbell and isometric exercises I can do at home to focus on some specific strength stuff that helps with golf. While some of the machines at the gym are really efficient for certain exercises it's beyond anything I need just to maintain a little core and upper body strength as I age. 

[FormerBigDaddy]

8 minutes ago, North Butte said:

Unless I were rehabbing an injury, that's the only thing that would ever get me into a gym. But I have a collection of stretchy-band, dumbell and isometric exercises I can do at home to focus on some specific strength stuff that helps with golf. While some of the machines at the gym are really efficient for certain exercises it's beyond anything I need just to maintain a little core and upper body strength as I age. 

Different strokes for different folks.  I love to eat and eat a lot.  I once weighed over 315lbs as an offensive linemen in college.  Over many years I found that the best way to keep the weight off FOR ME (I'm 205lbs now) is to exercise pretty intensely.  

 

Hence the username!  FORMER Big Daddy!

 

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by FormerBigDaddy

[FormerBigDaddy]

Interesting how this thread has evolved in to a discussion about carts... so I'll throw my 2 cents in.

 

Before I joined a club 2 years ago I didn't walk much when I played.  Every so often I would if the course was set up well for it but I still rarely walked.  Obviously I am now paying dues and I'm not gonna lie, I initially started walking as a way to avoid paying cart fees.  Call me cheap but I really couldn't justify adding a couple hundred bucks a month for cart fees as it would invalidate my original argument to the wife for joining a club!  Which was that I was already spending about as much as it would cost to join a club on golf between playing public courses and hitting balls at the range.  After nearly 2 years of walking I'm completely hooked on it and prefer it.  With that said, I don't mind riding when I do (rarely) play a course that's not my home club.  

 

Long story short, I have no problem with carts or courses that don't allow walking.  Some courses just aren't built to allow it so I get that.  Overall, carts allow for more people to enjoy that game which is cool with me.  One day I'll get there.. just not today.  As for speed... I think it's obvious that a good player by themselves will play probably twice as fast with a cart as a good player walking.  That's common sense and the reason why I worded the thread title the way I did!

Edited November 1, 2022 by FormerBigDaddy

[MelloYello]

The inefficiency of golf as "exercise" was my point and no one can dispute that. It's 10x as expensive (which seems like a loss) and it burns maybe 20% the calories that light exercise on a treadmill does in the same time (which seems pretty inefficient).

 

One can claim they "don't care" about that but the facts stand. 

 

We play golf because we like golf. If our primary objective was health, we'd do serious health stuff. We'd modify our diet and do more stressful exercise that burned the same number of calories in an hour that golf does in 4. If you go to the gym and can't burn 400 calories in an hour you're not trying. The fact we're talking about golf doing that in 4-5 hours shows exactly what difference there is.

 

Golf is nowhere close to efficient. The health benefits of golf are >0, but as indicated above our standards have to be pretty low to consider it our primary exercise and we have to be comparing it to basically doing nothing (e.g "sitting on the couch"). 

 

So we've determined that golf is basically as beneficial to our health as walking around? Who'd have thunk?! 🙂

 

So I guess you're paying hundreds of dollars a month to walk around outside, LOL? 

 

It's pretty obvious we pay for golf because we like the golf part of it. 

 

.

Edited November 1, 2022 by MelloYello

[MelloYello]

1 hour ago, FormerBigDaddy said:

I'm an avid exerciser and I carry my bag when I play.  So i'll throw some of my numbers out there... I'm 40, 6' and about 205 lbs and in pretty good shape.

 

According to my apple watch I typically burn about 800-1000 active calories when carrying by bag for 18 holes.  With that said that number will obviously vary based on how long the round is.  If I'm playing my sunday morning foursome that number will be on the higher end b/c the round will take longer.  If I'm by myself and the course is open and I'm playing fast it will be on the lower end.  In comparison, if I walk on a treadmill at a 3mph pace for an hour my apple watch says I burn between 280-300 active calories, so you can roughly see how that would translate to my numbers above..  I also work out 5 days a week and each day I do a warm up jog for 6 min and lift pretty intensely after for a total of about 50-55 minutes.  According to my apple watch I burn between 450-500 active calories during my normal workout.  Sometimes I jog for 30min on the weekend when I don't lift and that will burn around 430 calories.  Obviously you can see the difference in calories/time.  The fun days is when I do my weekday workout and I walk 18 later... big eating day there as I'll usually end up around 2300 active calories for the day.  Not really sure why I answered this is such detail but I found it interesting.

 

My membership dues are around $600 a month.  I play twice a week and b/c I walk 100% of the time at my home club so there is no additional charge for carts, etc. I spend $0 per month on a gym membership as I'm lucky to have a free one due to a family member being a higher up at a gym.  Even if I didn't have that I'd probably make it work at the small gym at my club.  

 

I definitely golf for the extra exercise in addition to the enjoyment of golfing.  In fact, half of what I do in the gym is to better my fitness and strength for golf specifically.

 

This is what a healthy person sounds like. 

 

They track their diet and they exercise. They count their calories. This is why there's not a (strong) correlation between fitness and how much one plays golf. Fitness is a lifestyle. Golf is separate from that. 

 

This is why playing golf does not make you a healthy person. Golf is just walking around. What makes golf seem healthy is that we do it for 4-5 hours at a time. Again though, it would be easy to burn 400 calories simply jogging on a treadmill for 30-45 minutes or using an elliptical. 

 

The point is that golf is highly inefficient.

 

It can "be part of a healthy lifestyle" as they say in the cereal commercials, but it's not a driving factor. 

 

 

Thank you for sharing, btw! That was all good information. 🙂

 

.

Edited November 1, 2022 by MelloYello

[MelloYello]

44 minutes ago, FormerBigDaddy said:

Interesting how this thread has evolved in to a discussion about carts... so I'll throw my 2 cents in.

 

Before I joined a club 2 years ago I didn't walk much when I played.  Every so often I would if the course was set up well for it but I still rarely walked.  Obviously I am now paying dues and I'm not gonna lie, I initially started walking as a way to avoid paying cart fees.  Call me cheap but I really couldn't justify adding a couple hundred bucks a month for cart fees as it would invalidate my original argument to the wife for joining a club!  Which was that I was already spending about as much as it would cost to join a club on golf between playing public courses and hitting balls at the range.  After nearly 2 years of walking I'm completely hooked on it and prefer it.  With that said, I don't mind riding when I do (rarely) play a course that's not my home club.  

 

Long story short, I have no problem with carts or courses that don't allow walking.  Some courses just aren't built to allow it so I get that.  Overall, carts allow for more people to enjoy that game which is cool with me.  One day I'll get there.. just not today.  As for speed... I think it's obvious that a good player by themselves will play probably twice as fast with a cart as a good player walking.  That's common sense and the reason why I worded the thread title the way I did!

 

I'm with you buddy.

 

Most walkers love it and also love the savings, but we also have to go along to get along and accept riding when it's appropriate.

[betarhoalphadelta]

1 hour ago, MelloYello said:

The inefficiency of golf as "exercise" was my point and no one can dispute that. It's 10x as expensive (which seems like a loss) and it burns maybe 20% the calories that light exercise on a treadmill does in the same time (which seems pretty inefficient).

 

One can claim they "don't care" about that but the facts stand. 

 

We play golf because we like golf. If our primary objective was health, we'd do serious health stuff. We'd modify our diet and do more stressful exercise that burned the same number of calories in an hour that golf does in 4. If you go to the gym and can't burn 400 calories in an hour you're not trying. The fact we're talking about golf doing that in 4-5 hours shows exactly what difference there is.

 

Golf is nowhere close to efficient. The health benefits of golf are >0, but as indicated above our standards have to be pretty low to consider it our primary exercise and we have to be comparing it to basically doing nothing (e.g "sitting on the couch"). 

 

So we've determined that golf is basically as beneficial to our health as walking around? Who'd have thunk?! 🙂

 

So I guess you're paying hundreds of dollars a month to walk around outside, LOL? 

 

It's pretty obvious we pay for golf because we like the golf part of it. 

 

.

 

Who said golf is efficient exercise? Nobody. That doesn't mean it has no exercise value. 

Obviously we're playing golf because we like golf. For me, I enjoy walking the course. I prefer it to riding in a cart. And then on top of it, I appreciate the benefit that the exercise provides, even though the exercise is not the primary reason to play golf. 

 

North Butte mentioned that he looked at golf initially as a good low-impact exercise option, but I'm sure he wouldn't have stuck with it if he didn't fall in love with the game. It'd be silly to use golf primarily for exercise due to cost, especially because most people who haven't fallen in love with the game find it extraordinarily frustrating. But it's not silly to consider the exercise benefit of golf a really nice add-on to an activity that we like to do anyway. 

 

For people who love high-intensity workouts in the gym, and prefer riding in carts on the golf course, you do you. For me, I ride the Peloton 4-5 days a week, do core exercises 2-3 times per week, try to stretch every day and plan to start doing yoga and more strength exercises, and plan to still walk golf courses [nearly] every time I play because I prefer it. Walking a golf course is a great way to have an "active recovery" day, because it's still exercise. 

 

I don't understand why this is controversial. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

17 hours ago, Dufferonius said:

The Innerwebz can answer this 😄

 

Avg. golf course of 18 holes: 7200 yards, 4 miles
200 lb. male burns 106 Cals/mile walking
Total: 412 Cals
 

Probably a bit more for carrying, pushing, or pulling a bag, plus the act of swinging a club, etc.  Call it 500 Cals.

 

 

I think generally when you consider walking a 7200 yard golf course, you should add in a lot of additional walking. My usual course is an exec course at 3670 yards, barely over 2 miles, and my fitness tracker has me walking about 5.4 miles on average when I play it, or over double. For a longer course (6155 yards, or 3.66 miles), my tracker has me at 7.15 miles. When you add in walking between holes, walking around greens reading putts, and all the other little extraneous walking that isn't directly tee to hole, it adds up. Also note that the entire 4ish hours is typically spent standing. That in itself adds some calories. 

 

@FormerBigDaddy at 205 pounds shows an active calorie burn of 800-1000 calories for a walking round. That sounds much more realistic IMHO. 

 

 

[dropkicked]

Walking rounds are for enjoyment and fun.. Nothing demanding about it at all.  A healthy adult will burn +600 calories while asleep.

 

[FormerBigDaddy]

35 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

I think generally when you consider walking a 7200 yard golf course, you should add in a lot of additional walking. My usual course is an exec course at 3670 yards, barely over 2 miles, and my fitness tracker has me walking about 5.4 miles on average when I play it, or over double. For a longer course (6155 yards, or 3.66 miles), my tracker has me at 7.15 miles. When you add in walking between holes, walking around greens reading putts, and all the other little extraneous walking that isn't directly tee to hole, it adds up. Also note that the entire 4ish hours is typically spent standing. That in itself adds some calories. 

 

@FormerBigDaddy at 205 pounds shows an active calorie burn of 800-1000 calories for a walking round. That sounds much more realistic IMHO. 

 

 

Yeah those are actual numbers for me. I usually don’t turn on my “workout” for an outdoor walk when I play but I have before and that’s the range it falls into. 

[david.c.w]

2 hours ago, MelloYello said:

 

This is what a healthy person sounds like. 

 

They track their diet and they exercise. They count their calories. This is why there's not a (strong) correlation between fitness and how much one plays golf. Fitness is a lifestyle. Golf is separate from that. 

 

This is why playing golf does not make you a healthy person. Golf is just walking around. What makes golf seem healthy is that we do it for 4-5 hours at a time. Again though, it would be easy to burn 400 calories simply jogging on a treadmill for 30-45 minutes or using an elliptical. 

 

The point is that golf is highly inefficient.

 

It can "be part of a healthy lifestyle" as they say in the cereal commercials, but it's not a driving factor. 

 

 

Thank you for sharing, btw! That was all good information. 🙂

 

.

 

Many of us have specifically said that we walk the course specifically to get exercise.  Those 5 miles walking are miles I would likely not have gotten otherwise.  I have made the conscious decision in the morning to not do a gym workout because I am going to walk the course to get my daily exercise.  If I am going to ride in a cart I would probably do the workout as well.  Is walking cardio?  Not really.  Is it purposeful exercise?  Absolutely.

 

Are you saying that people that walk 5 miles and look at birds should not call it exercise because it is inefficient?  

 

MelloYelow:  "Golf is not exercise"

 

The forum:  "I like to walk because I also like the exercise benefit."

 

MelloYellow:  "No!  You play golf for golf and golf only.  No exercise for you!"

 

 

[mshills]

I'm not sure I grasp the debate.  If you like playing golf more on foot, play on foot.  If you like playing golf more from a cart, play from a cart.  No need to justify anything further to anyone.

 

The rest are personal observations:

 

- I enjoy playing golf on foot more than I do riding, but on some courses I'm not realistically able to walk 18.  In those cases I happily ride.

 

- I usually play better on foot.  No idea why, but there is a definite pattern in scoring.

 

- My body feels better when I play on foot at least frequently if not all the time.  I am very sore (foot, hip, knee) after some rounds, but the next day I feel much better after a walking round versus the day after a riding round.  I'm not going to call it exercise, but it's something about the whole body in motion tending to stay in motion concept.

 

- In the Southeast in August, I'm not likely to walk.  Too hot.

 

- If it is cart path only and no other choice, I don't play.  Cart path only is a crap way to play golf.

 

- When I walk I have to pay close attention to what I'm putting in my body.  Type I diabetic here and the worst thing is to have to pound two Cokes at the turn to keep my BG up.

[betarhoalphadelta]

5 hours ago, North Butte said:

Unless I were rehabbing an injury, that's the only thing that would ever get me into a gym. But I have a collection of stretchy-band, dumbell and isometric exercises I can do at home to focus on some specific strength stuff that helps with golf. While some of the machines at the gym are really efficient for certain exercises it's beyond anything I need just to maintain a little core and upper body strength as I age. 

 

FYI I'm not sure if you're looking for fitness advice, but I'm like you in that I hate working out, but ever since I got my Peloton bike it's changed. Now, I'm not suggesting you buy a Peloton. They're expensive AF and it doesn't sound like you're really looking for an exercise bike type of workout. 

 

That said, it might be worth looking into the Peloton app. You can use it in a browser, on a tablet or phone, or on certain streaming TV hardware (i.e. they have an app for the Roku). They have a ton of content that doesn't require a bike, for strength, flexibility, etc. And the app if you don't have the hardware is cheap... Something in the range $13/mo...

 

I personally love it because I'm not the type that can easily motivate myself or plan my workouts. Whereas with the app, if I'm doing a core strength exercise or a stretch (or a ride obv) I have an instructor "programming" the class to tell me what to do. I don't have to think about the exercise--I just have to do what the instructor asks. It makes working out so much more engaging that I don't hate it--okay, maybe I do still hate core day 😉 

 

And because I can do it in my living room, it's a lot easier to motivate myself than going to a gym and dealing with all that. Being on demand, I can do it whenever it fits into my day. Core can be good for golf, stretching IMHO is good for everyone including golfers, and they have a whole bunch of other modalities if any of them appeal to you.

 

Again, if I'm overstepping, I apologize. I only posted it in thread rather than PM because there might be others out there like us who hate to "work out" and this was something that I found that's really positive for me.

 

If anyone's interested, PM me and I can either share a referral link or have Peloton send you an email for a free 60-day trial... 

[lefthack]

About 2:30 comfortably solo. 

 

[FormerBigDaddy]

Just to be clear... I do consider walking 18 holes exercise.  However I wouldn't call it exercise that does much to improve my cardiovascular fitness.  But that's just me because my fitness level is higher and it's not much of a challenge for me.   WIth that said, for some, walking 18 holes is most definitely a challenge and would see benefit from it if they did it regularly enough.  Say, every other day or so for an extended amount of time.  

[DLeightonReid]

Playing solo, I can easily walk our course under 3 hours as long as I don't have to wait on groups in front of me.  For a group of 3 - 4 walkers, the time ranges between 3.5 - 4.0 hours.  We have one gentleman who rides in a cart, but is very slow.  His nickname is Mossback for obvious reasons.  It is usually 4 + hours when he plays.  

[Kmagnuss]

22 hours ago, Dufferonius said:

The Innerwebz can answer this 😄

 

Avg. golf course of 18 holes: 7200 yards, 4 miles
200 lb. male burns 106 Cals/mile walking
Total: 412 Cals
 

Probably a bit more for carrying, pushing, or pulling a bag, plus the act of swinging a club, etc.  Call it 500 Cals.

 

...

For my local course, which is about 7k yards, I was actually walking closer to 8 miles and burning over 800 calories as noted by my apps.

Couple tips: 

-What tee you play from has no bearing on how far you walk on a course (you didn't mention this but others have)... whether you play from the tips or the golds, you still have to walk past the tips to get to the golds. 

-We don't walk in perfectly straight lines on the course

-There's (sometimes large) distances between the holes

 

Carry on... and I do mean carry.  Your bag.  🙂

 

-Mag

 

[Argonne69]

Just now, Kmagnuss said:

For my local course, which is about 7k yards, I was actually walking closer to 8 miles and burning over 800 calories as noted by my apps.

Couple tips: 

-What tee you play from has no bearing on how far you walk on a course (you didn't mention this but others have)... whether you play from the tips or the golds, you still have to walk past the tips to get to the golds. 

-We don't walk in perfectly straight lines on the course

-There's (sometimes large) distances between the holes

 

Carry on... and I do mean carry.  Your bag.  🙂

 

-Mag

 

 

Whether one walks by the tips is dependent on the course. I've played plenty of courses where the back tees were added later, and it's a hike back to them. Many times they're elevated. I generally take a photo from the tips, and I've had a few steep climbs to the back tees. Worth the views, though.

 

[FormerBigDaddy]

16 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Whether one walks by the tips is dependent on the course. I've played plenty of courses where the back tees were added later, and it's a hike back to them. Many times they're elevated. I generally take a photo from the tips, and I've had a few steep climbs to the back tees. Worth the views, though.

 

Yeah, at my home club there's only a couple of holes where the tips are closer to the previous green than the next set of tees that I normally play.  Therefore when I do choose to play back there it does add a good amount of steps/time.  Obviously not the same at all courses.

[jackmfarrow]

2:30 seems easily achievable. Think under 2:00 is doable if I were better, i.e. more direct lines of travel and less swings

[Hankshank]

My stock golf is an early morning round on our slightly shortish 9 hole course, try to be there before anyone else. Takes me 55-65 minutes. Sometimes someone is there before me, but the early birds are always friendly and I lose no speed. No one has ever been pushing me from behind. I carry the half set of clubs, and use no headcovers. Slows me down, breaks the tempo. Thats the way I really love to play.

 

Playing with friends on the weekend primetime, I have no whatsoever problem with the normal 5 hour 18 holers, Im spending good time with buddies.

 

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Hankshank