Carts have beome a neccessity at most clubs , as both the aging of the golf population and the need for revenue has limited walking to a great extent
I agree with the revenue part, but the I don't think the aging of the golf population has anything to do with the decrease in walking. At my home club the majority of walkers are over the age of 40, most retirees over 50, and there next to no under 30's who walk. In the UK everybody walks and the golfing population is just as old as in the US. I think it is the "lazying" of the population. Go to many easy to walk muni's or semiprivate courses, they're full of fat guys in carts who are concerned more with drinking than golfing. The perfect example of this "lazying" is carts around tees. There will be a cart path near the tee, 20-30 feet, but people will park their cart next to the tee. If 20 ft is too far to walk, how would you ever convince them to walk 9 or 18 holes?
I read "When War Played Through" not too long ago. It is about golf during WWII, and contained a story of how many golf groups marketed golf as a way to stay fit on the home front. I wonder how that arguement would play today?
Carts are the prime example of game of golf vs business of golf. What is good for one is rarely good for the other.
My experience mirrors Will's. In terms of distance from the green exit to the next tee, my Carolina GC course is a very easy walk, although the hills can be a challenge if you're not at least in fair shape. (Moreover, as part of Kris Spence's intelligent rehab of the course a couple of years ago, the cart paths were reduced and pushed into less obtrusive positions, making the walking experience even more enjoyable.) We have lots of walkers at our club, old and young, although I'm still surprised at the relative number of young players, 20's and 30's, who do opt for carts. I'm not sure if they're lazy, though, or it's just the way they learned the game. At age 68, I prefer to walk (and now carry my little 8-club bag), not only for fitness, but because it gives me a better feel (such as I have) for the game. Driving up to the ball in a cart, then jumping out and hitting, is tough, sort of like popping out of the subway and taking a while to get oriented. I don't have as good a feel for where I am and where I ought to try to go as I do when approaching the next shot at a reasonable pace on foot. Back to Will's thoughts again, and his reference to "guys in carts who are concerned more with drinking than golfing." That's where I think carts have led to a deterioration of the game. Riders, drinking or not, often approach the game with less respect for its traditions than walkers. This isn't true of every rider, of course, but to pick up a thought from the tread about the 16th at the now-appropriately-named "Waste Management" Phoenix Open, I think carts have contributed to the kind of golf spectators who revel in that atmosphere.