Longest and Hardest Walk

[Jim Hoak]

I have never played a course where the walk from a green to the next tee was regularly as long as Erin Hills.
I don't recall Yale being long and difficult at all--but I was younger.

[Brad Payne]

One short course that is a tough walk:  Presidio

One really long, hard course that is not a hard walk:  Kiawah Island Ocean

Presidio isn’t too bad, but the 17th hole is a mountain! I’ll nominate both courses at Olympic as tough walks.

[Chris Mavros]

LedgeRock is the toughest course I've ever walked.  There are some steep ascents and it's fairly long as well.  Walking it regularly to get in shape for Bandon made carrying 36 for 3 days there relatively easy. 

[Joel_Stewart]

Forest Highlands and Cascata are two that I think are impossible to walk.

[Jay Mickle]

Perhaps the back nine of the Hackett and the Kilgore nine at Carne. Wonderful walk over and around some of Ireland’s largest dunes with spectacular views. Walks like this are to die for (or from😁).

[Garland Bayley]

Perhaps the back nine of the Hackett and the Kilgore nine at Carne. Wonderful walk over and around some of Ireland’s largest dunes with spectacular views. Walks like this are to die for (or from😁).

Back 9 of Hackett is fine IMO. Kilgore not. It is killed by bad green to tee walks.

[Rob Rigg]

Kapalua Plantation Course  - Not meant to be walked but you can do it after a couple of mandatory green to tee transfers.

Yale - Yes indeed, not an easy walk. Fascinating to see a Golden Age course that's such a grind.

Tetherow in Bend during the summer - Not an easy walk due to the heat, some long green to tee transfers and climbs from tee to green.

Chambers Bay - Borderline crazy it's walking only . . . A serious work out.

[Tom_Doak]

Forest Highlands and Cascata are two that I think are impossible to walk.

I walked and carried my bag with Tom Weiskopf at Forest Highlands many years ago, when I was younger and more fit.  But we did have someone to pick us up from #9 and #18 greens.

[Joel Zuckerman]

Victory Ranch near Park City, Utah.  If a course uses gas powered golf carts instead of battery powered, you know it's going to be a tough slog by foot!

[Aaron Hanson]

Erin Hills is by far the hardest walk I’ve done. Seemed like a climb to every tee box. The 95 degree heat (both days) probably played a big part though

[Pete_Pittock]

Erin Hills was the last golf course I walked. Uncle Dickie D can attest to the aftermath.
Chambers Bay wasn't too bad if you paced yourself uphill.
What is the distance of Highland Links?

[Greg Gilson]

I do not know why but I did not find Chambers Bay all that challenging to walk...but maybe I was having too much fun playing! Ashamed to say I carted Highland Links....but I reckon that would be a gruelling hike. Australia's Hamilton Island (or Dent Island, if you prefer) is another that I carted and cannot imagine walking.


That said, Old Course at The National (Australia) would get my vote...especially as (I am guessing) 80% of the members walk it. Carting is not as common down here, especially for private club member play. Seniors, ladies....everyone walks it, some , like myself with a bag over their shoulder. Its actually far easier to walk & carry than trying to push or steer a trolley around there.

[Sinclair Eaddy]

I love the course but I found Pikewood in WV to be a very, very challenging walk. And the course was designed as a walking course with not a cart in sight. It's a first order hike.

[Ken Fry]

I love the course but I found Pikewood in WV to be a very, very challenging walk. And the course was designed as a walking course with not a cart in sight. It's a first order hike.

Played Pikewood a few years ago.  Made arrangements to play 36.  In the middle of the 2nd round my caddie says, "Nobody does 36 here..."  That's about the time I started walking like Lee Trevino.  Made sense to me why there were industrial size Gold Bond containers in the locker room.

[Michael Wolf]

I've heard a story that involved Steve Williams jogging the cart path at Kapalua plantation course in under an hour to win a bet.


I'm told by a Tour caddy the course they play in Malaysia is the toughest loop of the year.

[JC Jones]

I dont think Yale is an arduous walk at all.  Especially not the front.

[Greg Clark]

There are some courses that are pretty much impossible for the average guy to walk, but if they weren't designed to be walked at all, I don't see the point of naming them here.


Erin Hills and Chambers Bay are both walking only, and in neither case did it seem like they planned for it.

Erin Hills was not walking only in the first few years of operation.  I don't know if that impacted the design in any way or not.  I do agree that it is a very difficult walk and it was the first course I thought of when reading the OP.  There are a number of steep uphill walks to elevated teeing grounds that can really wear on the legs.


I did not find Chambers Bay to be a difficult walk at all.  I'm sure the cooler seaside weather played a factor in that.

[Garland Bayley]

Erin Hills was the last golf course I walked. Uncle Dickie D can attest to the aftermath.
Chambers Bay wasn't too bad if you paced yourself uphill.
What is the distance of Highland Links?

Surprised Pete didn't mention Sagebrush where few, if any, attempt to walk.
I didn't attempt the walk. Was concerned about electric golf carts being able to manage the day, and was assured that the cart would run all day. Since electrics have more torque available, I have to wonder why someone suggested having gas carts was an indicator of a tough walk.

[goldj]

Not sure whether this link relates to core courses that don't have housing on them and are "supposed" to be walked or whether it includes all courses, including those routed around and through housing where cartball is the order of the day.


A few years ago, I played Royal New Kent, Mike Strantz' course near Williamburg.  I'm not sure whether the course is still open.  I had every intention of walking that day and mentioned it to the pro.  He strongly advised me against doing that saying that it was 17 miles from start to finish.  The course wandered around a proposed real estate development, none of which had been developed at point.


 I can tell you that the pro was right. 

[Kalen Braley]

Gold,


17 miles seems very hard to believe, given courses are usually in the 4-6 miles range. Even the longest of courses I've mapped were all under 8.


Its been awhile since I've fired up Google Earth and the distance measuring tool...maybe its time again! 

[Bill Seitz]

I guess a caught EH on a good day.  I played last month on day 5 of a 5 day trip and it was my eighth course played.  Sunny and warm, but not too humid.  I just did not feel the walk was bad, I had a caddie so that definitely helped out.  Other than the transition where you take shuttle (like Bandon Trails) I found the walk enjoyable.

I don't think it's a difficult walk, necessarily, but the transitions are noticeably long for a course that doesn't really have a reason for long transitions, as in, it doesn't play across a mountain or through a housing development.  I did a comparison via Google Maps a couple years ago between EH and my home course (Kingsley), and from the green set of tees, the transitions alone added about half a mile to the walk.  I pegged the transitions at about 2,500 yards.  Kingsley has fairly short transitions, but that still seems like a lot.

[Kalen Braley]

Its been awhile, so I fired up Google Earth to measure how long Royal New Kent is.

Assuming the golfer attempts to walk, and must traverse around the ravines and creek crossings, but otherwise sticks to fairways...I came up with:

Front 9 - 3.37 miles
Back 9 - 3.55 miles
Total - Just under 7 miles (6.92)

Even adding an additional 10% for a few wayward shots, its still under 8 miles.

[Pete_Pittock]

Erin Hills was the last golf course I walked. Uncle Dickie D can attest to the aftermath.
Chambers Bay wasn't too bad if you paced yourself uphill.
What is the distance of Highland Links?

Surprised Pete didn't mention Sagebrush where few, if any, attempt to walk.
I didn't attempt the walk. Was concerned about electric golf carts being able to manage the day, and was assured that the cart would run all day. Since electrics have more torque available, I have to wonder why someone suggested having gas carts was an indicator of a tough walk.

Mentioned it in the elevation  thread. Considered mentioning it here, but it didn't meet the criteria of "long" because the tees are mostly close to the previous green:

[David Davis]

I'd say let's ask Schulzie...he's the President of the anti-fat azz cartball club. I know he's walked a few courses I wasn't about to consider walking that were really not made for it. Take Ellerston for example. 110 degrees and 500 yds between some greens and tees. Well it's not that bad but seems like it in that heat.


I didn't find Highlands Links a tough walk at all. Just a couple long sections there that I'm less charmed by than others. Chamber's Bay is a good walk but not a tough walk unless you are flatlander and not use to walking up hills at all.


My vote for tough walks would go to Royal Hague when playing the back tees. I've had a few guests out there just quite on me. It's a walking only course as well unless you have a note from your doctor. Also Noordwjikse is a very tough walk from the back tees as you constantly are walking back to the tee and up a dune on many occasions.


Guess we have to exclude the made for cartball courses to be fair. I wouldn't quickly want to walk the likes of Quivera in Cabo or Finca Cortesin in Spain.

[Kalen Braley]

Country Club of the Poconos.


12 wooded, hilly, rugged miles from the 1st tee to 18th green.

Mike,


That's the damndest routing I think I've ever seen.  Looks insane.


However, Google Maps puts it at 8.5 miles, which is still pretty crazy.  Longest course I've ever mapped....