Lurking on this website over the last many years slowly made me realize what I had lost by becoming a cart-golf guy. I barely noticed that it was happening. As a kid I walked a minimum of 27 holes 5 or 6 days a week. My dad and I belonged to Harker's Hollow in Harmony New Jersey after I turned 16 and could drive there by myself, anyone that knows Harker's, an old Robert White built up against a mountain, knows what walking 27 or 36 a day entails. After college as I got serious about the game again the games I fell into were older guys' games with some action and they all rode carts. After grad school and having a "real job" less and less courses even allowed for walking on the weekends when I had the time to play. I still tried to walk when possible but once the kids showed up (stated as if I had nothing to do with it
). and time became even more of a premium, even the weeknight strolls became rushing around the course in a cart catching some holes in the gaps in order to get home for bedtime. Then came the arthritis, bad feet, ... blah, blah, blah.
Once I moved out to Hershey 6.5 years ago I started playing at the nine-hole course, Spring Creek, a morning or two a week. It's 2125yds par 33 and I can walk it, while focused, in about 50 minutes teeing off at the first tee time. Over time, I realized that this was some of the best metaphysical moments that I was getting out of the game at this point in my life, and coupled with the conversation on this forum I slowly realized that this was part of the soul of the game that I had lost.
Last May I did 10 rounds in 8 days based out of St Andrews. The itinerary was, in order: Friday-Balcomie, Saturday-Jubilee and New, Sunday-Eden, Monday 36 at Kingbarnes, Tuesday-New, Wednesday-Old!, Thursday-Leven!, Friday-Carnoustie. I got myself in shape for the trip, at least what an arthritic 44 year old drinker with a serious job and a 4 and a 7 year old is capable of, and I really enjoyed the physical aspect of the trip. I would love to have another shot at Leven and Carnoustie in better shape though, I really loved Leven and really respected Carnoustie but was fairly worn by that time.
Last week I joined Hershey Country Club proper based on being blessed with time being the greater constraint when compared to finances. We finished the process last Thursday and I took Friday afternoon off to play the East Course, the George Fazio ca.1970 track. I walked by myself in 2 hours 50 minutes playing through one group on the tee of the 8th, a par 3, and otherwise had an open track in front of me. I was able to hit multiple practrice shots at times and thoroughly enjoyed myself. The club has 3 full courses plus the 9 hole course mentioned above. At least one course is designated as fully walking each day. God willing, my feet and legs strenghten as I expect and I can refind some of the pleasure and fun I got from the game as a kid when I was able to run around a course and learn and play in the sense that my four year old son talks about playing.
Cart-ball, as driven by both the public game's need for revenues and the myth that carts speed play, is fairly insidious in that it has become the norm to the point where even people that know better do not have a rerasonable choice. Speaking as an economist, it appears that the game as it was played by our fathers and grandfathers has become a "luxury good" with caddies becoming a "premium good" independent of what golfers would "want" if the choices were available.