Who really walks all of the time?

[Ryan Farrow]

A little confused here after people seem to rag on courses like Erin Hills / Rock Creek for the walk being too difficult. Here are a few questions for the crowd.

1. Who walks 100% of the time?
2. When you walk, do you carry your bag or pull it?
3. How much of a factor does weather influence your decision?
4. How much of a factor does your playing group influence your decision?
5. When you decide not to walk, are you glad there are cart paths?
6. Supers, would you rather have wall to wall? paths only around greens/tees? none?
7. Do you still hate cart paths, even if they are really well hidden?
8. In general, do you despise golfers who ride in carts?
9. Do you despise golfers who ride when the course is easily walk-able and the weather is perfect?
10. Make up another question and answer it.

[Emile Bonfiglio]

1. Who walks 100% of the time? I DO, UNLESS MANDATED
2. When you walk, do you carry your bag or pull it? I CARRY
3. How much of a factor does weather influence your decision? ZERO,
4. How much of a factor does your playing group influence your decision? ZERO
5. When you decide not to walk, are you glad there are cart paths? DON'T CARE, I WALK DOWN THE FAIRWAY
6. Supers, would you rather have wall to wall? paths only around greens/tees? none? N/A
7. Do you still hate cart paths, even if they are really well hidden? I ONLY LIKE CART PAHTS WHEN THE HELP MY DRIVES
8. In general, do you despise golfers who ride in carts? NO, I JUST LIKE TO WALK
9. Do you despise golfers who ride when the course is easily walk-able and the weather is perfect? SEE #8
10. Make up another question and answer it. DO YOU EVER REGRET WALKING? YES...AT TETHEROW!

[Brian_Ewen]

1. I do ... all the time.
2. Carry
3. Zero
4. Zero
5. Cart Paths .... LoL !
6.
7. Cart Paths .... LoL !
8. If in my group, yes
9. Yes
10. Do I think Carts should have their own section in Comps ? ..... Yes.

[Joe_Tucholski]

1. I don't walk 100%...probably 90%
2. I carry.  I have only pulled a cart 1 time, my one visit to Bandon, and didn't like it.  My 5th round I finally decided to carry the sunday bag and was much happier.
3.  I'm playing 72 holes this weekend in Palm Desert and the weather definitely made the decision to take carts.
4.  It doesn't.  I've been the only one walking when three of my friends have been in carts.
5.  I've never been in a cart when there were no cart paths on the course.  I guess I appreciate the paths from green to tee when I'm riding.
6.  N/A
7.  No
8.  No
9.  No
10.  How often do you walk when a cart is included in the price - I walk about 33% of the time when the cart is included in the price of the round.

[Mark Pearce]

Like the vast majority of UK golfers I always walk.  I carry unless a) the weather is miserable and I need to carry choices of outer layers or b) I'm playing 36 holes in a (relatively) serious competition.

[Kris Shreiner]

Walk 80% Ride 20%, usually if it's over 95 degrees or cart mandated.
Carry or take a caddie.
Zero
If others have limitations, I will  often ride with them to assist in day's enjoyment.
I don't like cartpaths. Sometimes they are needed.
Why begrudge someone who wishes to ride?
Do you enjoy caddie golf?  YES I do!

Cheers,
Kris

[Tony_Muldoon]

I have walked in 95 degrees - take a half set.   
I avoid courses where walking is difficult/too long.

I don't care what others do, but I get some funny looks when I decline sharing a cart.
Yes cartpaths detract.

I push when my back is playing up.
Never had a real caddie.



I jsut can't play when I sit down betwen shots. I know I wouldn't play as much, if it was regularly too darn hot.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I almost always walk.  I just came back from Hawaii where my wife her clubs and my clubs rode while I walked. My clubs needed the rest.

[Duncan Cheslett]

Here in the UK generally only invalids and geriatrics use buggies.

Recently I've been suffering severe metatarsalgia in my left foot and walking is painful. I've taken a buggy on a couple of occasions - most recently in our club monthly medal on Saturday. My playing partner was a 75 year-old who has just recovered from major surgery. Needless to say he politely declined my offer to share a cart and walked, necessitating me to drive the buggy at 3 mph so that we could have some kind of conversation.

It was horrible! I felt like I had lost all connection with the golf course and with my playing partner. My game suffered immeasurably.

Never again. In future I will simply double the dose of ibuprofen and walk.

 

[Brian Phillips]

1. 100% unless I am not allowed.
2. 50-50 pull and carry
3. Never
4. Never
5. No
6. -
7. Yes
8. No, it is more important that golfers enjoy their day than everyone being bothered about how they play the game.
9. No
10. Should cart paths be coloured? Yes, Bright red!

one time I played a round with a friend in China where we were forced to have a caddie and a buggy (god knows why) that we both forced our caddies to drive the buggy while we walked!

Brian

[Sean_A]

A little confused here after people seem to rag on courses like Erin Hills / Rock Creek for the walk being too difficult. Here are a few questions for the crowd.

1. Who walks 100% of the time?
2. When you walk, do you carry your bag or pull it?
3. How much of a factor does weather influence your decision?
4. How much of a factor does your playing group influence your decision?
5. When you decide not to walk, are you glad there are cart paths?
6. Supers, would you rather have wall to wall? paths only around greens/tees? none?
7. Do you still hate cart paths, even if they are really well hidden?
8. In general, do you despise golfers who ride in carts?
9. Do you despise golfers who ride when the course is easily walk-able and the weather is perfect?
10. Make up another question and answer it.

I don't walk 100% of the time, more like 98.5%.

I carry about 99% of the time.

I try to avoid carrying, riding or pulling if the weather doesn't look.

Probably a lot more than I realize as the culture in Britain essentially mandates walking.  If folks are riding I ride along.  I am not going to be the butthead walking behind two carts and three players, but it isn't likely I would be playing with these folks often so its not a big deal.  

If the course is very hilly I am glad to have a cart path, but would probably not play that course in the future.  Otherwise, no.

Yes, I hate cart paths.

No, I could care less if golfers I am not playing want to take a cart.  If I am playing with them I prefer they walk.

Ideally, I wouldn't have cart paths so yes, it would bug me to see guys tearing up a course with a cart in bad weather.  Otherwise, no, folks can do their own thing regardless of weather and the course.

My question: Should carts be allowed in comps?  Not unless there is a medical reason.  

Ciao

[Scott Warren]

I walk and carry all of the time (60 to 80 rounds a year, I'd estimate).

I have ridden in a cart/buggy twice in the past five years and pulled my bag on a trolley once.

In summer here it is routinely 30C or higher, with a few 40+ just for fun.

I feel no ill will towards those who ride. To each their own.

[Matt Day]

1. walk all the time  at the hilliest course in Perth
2. have to have a pull buggy as carrying aggravates an old back injury
3. weather is not an issue
4. can play with guys who are in carts, there choice
5. if I'm in a cart paths are a pain when along the fairways
6. not a super but manage a busy course, we survive on tees and greens only but kikuyu is a fantastic grass for wear
7. well hidden paths are not an issue
8. no
9. i dont like seeing 18 year old kids with the mandatory white belt taking a cart in the competition, its lazy
10. is concrete the best material for a path?

[Adam Lawrence]

I'll ride if everyone else is or it's stupidly hot. I've ridden twice in my life in the UK, once in a corporate bash on the Roman Road course at Celtic Manor where I walked the first nine and got a cart at halfway, and once in the 2007 heatwave when it was about 35C and I was playing with a guy in his seventies. In the US, a bit more often.

I've got a trolley but I find carrying a small stand bag less tiring, especially on hilly courses. I inherited my Dad's electric trolley when he died earlier this year and am currently trying to make my mind up whether 41 is an acceptable age to use what I've always seen as an old man's tool....

[Tony Ristola]

1. Who walks 100% of the time? Almost always; to each rule there is the rare exception.

2. When you walk, do you carry your bag or pull it? Carry; to each rule there is the rare exception.

3. How much of a factor does weather influence your decision? Not. In fact, if it's cold or raining, even less reason to take a jet.

4. How much of a factor does your playing group influence your decision? Small. I may put the bag on the cart and still walk. Funny, often the carters slow down to walking pace and we chat.

5. When you decide not to walk, are you glad there are cart paths? "Glad"? No. Tolerant, yes and the level of comfort depends on the type of paths. I'm not much of a fan of concrete, asphalt or loose gravel.

6. Supers, would you rather have wall to wall? paths only around greens/tees? none? N/A.

7. Do you still hate cart paths, even if they are really well hidden? Depends on the type. What I dislike is the effect they have on play as much as aesthetics.

8. In general, do you despise golfers who ride in carts? No.

9. Do you despise golfers who ride when the course is easily walk-able and the weather is perfect? No.

10. Make up another question and answer it. Is it worth the cost of installing paths and mandatory carts? I say no. There are other alternatives.

[Tony Ristola]

.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

I walk every time in the UK, but have taken a cart or caddie in the States and Far East.
I carry - my golf is so wild that I need the flexibility of carrying.
On the whole in traditional British clubs buggies are only taken by those who generally need them, but that is not the case at resort courses where they are commonplace. There is an increased use of battery-powered trolleys.
It's a pity when the countryside is scarred by cart paths.
Interestingly, at Sickleholme, where I played on Sunday, on one hole the buggie route from tee to green involved a diversion of about 800 yards down one fairway and back up another. You were prohibited from going directly - narrow bridge and precariously steep path.

[Cristian]

A little confused here after people seem to rag on courses like Erin Hills / Rock Creek for the walk being too difficult. Here are a few questions for the crowd.

1. Who walks 100% of the time? 99%; Only in North-America  where some courses are not walkable or the rest of my flight takes a cart, I will ride.(I live and play in Europe)
2. When you walk, do you carry your bag or pull it? carry
3. How much of a factor does weather influence your decision? 0
4. How much of a factor does your playing group influence your decision? In North America I will adapt to the riding culture if all the rest of my flight are riding, just to not disturb the rythm of the group.
5. When you decide not to walk, are you glad there are cart paths? No
6. Supers, would you rather have wall to wall? paths only around greens/tees? none?
7. Do you still hate cart paths, even if they are really well hidden? Yes, I find that too often the cart path (especially when concrete) kick balls into trouble or OB)
8. In general, do you despise golfers who ride in carts? No I do not despise people that easily, one would have to do a lot worse things to earn my despising.
9. Do you despise golfers who ride when the course is easily walk-able and the weather is perfect? I just shake my head.
10. Make up another question and answer it.Do you feel that riding influences the social interaction between players in a group? Yes very much so; you really only have a real conversation with the person in your cart.

[Adrian_Stiff]

Here in the UK generally only invalids and geriatrics use buggies.


 

Duncan, strangely there is band of 20-40 year olds, I guess the newer breed to the game that see the buggy as 'part of it' It is growing. The Buggy is very much an important part in making golf work as a business and clubs that diss the buggy may end up falling on their sword. We have 27 here, they pay the wages for 2 greenstaff and as importantly if I take groups of 20-30 golfers worth £1,000 - £1,500 if one wanted a buggy and we never allowed that buggy they go elsewhere. There are a few clubs around me that have no buggies or not very many buggies and I cant give them business. Its a balancing act I guess, but its interesting that most on here whilst they walk themselves do tend to say they dont mind buggies.

[Adam Lawrence]

Here in the UK generally only invalids and geriatrics use buggies.

Duncan, strangely there is band of 20-40 year olds, I guess the newer breed to the game that see the buggy as 'part of it' It is growing. The Buggy is very much an important part in making golf work as a business and clubs that diss the buggy may end up falling on their sword. We have 27 here, they pay the wages for 2 greenstaff and as importantly if I take groups of 20-30 golfers worth £1,000 - £1,500 if one wanted a buggy and we never allowed that buggy they go elsewhere. There are a few clubs around me that have no buggies or not very many buggies and I cant give them business. Its a balancing act I guess, but its interesting that most on here whilst they walk themselves do tend to say they dont mind buggies.

Both right I think. Lots of cart use at resort and, for want of a better word, more 'commercial' golf courses, not so much at traditional members' clubs. On the other hand, there typically aren't too many 20-40 year olds in the traditional members' clubs either....

[Adrian_Stiff]

Adam - I think there are clubs that suit the 20-40s and Clubs that dont. Some Clubs cant understand why they are missing out on the 20s-40s, buggies (lack off) would be a reason, strict dress codes another, the banning of mobile phones on the golf course or in the bar is a big factor, if you ban mobiles you will lose customers. The 20s-40s need instant contact.

[Adam Lawrence]

Adam - I think there are clubs that suit the 20-40s and Clubs that dont. Some Clubs cant understand why they are missing out on the 20s-40s, buggies (lack off) would be a reason, strict dress codes another, the banning of mobile phones on the golf course or in the bar is a big factor, if you ban mobiles you will lose customers. The 20s-40s need instant contact.

For sure; the 'modern' clubs also often have more flexible membership packages, which is attractive to those who probably aren't going to manage 40+ rounds a year and thus find £1000 and upward subs a bit scary - this is a large group among younger golfers, many of whom have more mobile lives and thus don't necessarily have the large golfing social circle that makes the traditional club work.

[PCCraig]

I pretty much always walk, maybe 97% of my rounds. I've taken a cart twice this year, the first was during a business round and the second was when my host at a local club walked...both situations would of been uncomfortable to insist on walking. When I walk I always carry my own bag or take a caddy.

Not only do I play better and enjoy the course more when I walk, I enjoy the extra exercise doing an activity that doesnt feel like exercise.

[Brent Hutto]

1. Who walks 100% of the time?
I play twice a week, approximately. One maybe two rounds a year in a cart if I play at a course or in an event that requires it.

2. When you walk, do you carry your bag or pull it?
Carry it on my shoulder about 20%, use my three-wheeler about 80% of the time.

3. How much of a factor does weather influence your decision?
Not at all.

4. How much of a factor does your playing group influence your decision?
Not at all.

5. N/A
6. N/a

7. Do you still hate cart paths, even if they are really well hidden?
If I (mostly) don't see them and they aren't in play it doesn't matter one way or another. A few glimpses of concrete paths here and there do not "ruin" a course for me although obviously since I don't use them it's not something I like seeing.

8. In general, do you despise golfers who ride in carts?
There are only a couple people in the world I despise, choosing to use a golf cart is not something that offends me.

9. Do you despise golfers who ride when the course is easily walk-able and the weather is perfect?
No, I think they may not realize what they're missing out on but it's none of my business.

10. Make up another question and answer it.
a) Do I wish the game had never evolved into its current cart-oriented mainstream form? Yes, I do wish that.
b) Do I consider "unwalkable" courses inferior to walkable ones and is an easy walk more important than other design features of a course? Absolutely. The ease and enjoyability of the walk is as important as any other element of the course for me.

[A.G._Crockett]

1. Who walks 100% of the time?  At least 90%, maybe more.  But tough, tough summers are making it harder...
2. When you walk, do you carry your bag or pull it?  Carry unless there's rain; then I use my pull cart for the umbrella holder.
3. How much of a factor does weather influence your decision? Only in the most extreme heat, which we get a lot of now.
4. How much of a factor does your playing group influence your decision? Very little.
5. When you decide not to walk, are you glad there are cart paths? Doesn't matter.
6. Supers, would you rather have wall to wall? paths only around greens/tees? none? N/A
7. Do you still hate cart paths, even if they are really well hidden? To busy with real issues in life to hate cart paths.
8. In general, do you despise golfers who ride in carts?  To busy with real issues in life to hate riders.  But I don't understand them...
9. Do you despise golfers who ride when the course is easily walk-able and the weather is perfect?  See #9 above.
10. Make up another question and answer it.  Keys to successful walking: Great shoes, great hat, limited # of golf balls in bag, great hydration.