Golf Can Be Healthy!

Golf is a healthy sport when played in its planned form. Walking 18 or any other number of holes is known as healthy exercise.

Look at this picture, close your eyes and breathe in feeling the crisp clean air that is coming from this picture.

Now the RandA in Scotland have launched a “Golf on Prescription” pilot project in Fife that actually measures the health impact of golf.

Kudos to the RandA and the research team for making this investment in the game for the right reasons – golf helps your health. Not just someone’s pocket book or someone’s ego. It is about healthy living.

The challenges are many. Here are just a couple, in my opinion –

-         Power carts have reduced the number of players of all ages who walk. On too many courses, walking is not an option due to layout and topography. But is it more the player’s perception of their round of golf?

-         Easy access to liquor during a round (whether smuggled in a golf bag, or delivered by the legal sources) likely does not really add to the health aspect of the round. Water is delivered too - your choice.

But the benefits are many and no matter how well you play on any given round, there is always the mental relief of being in nature.

The measurable impact of a round of golf is being calibrated as you read this and will hopefully be available to review sometime this year or next. These health studies take time.

If you are a golfer, you know this.

If you do not golf, it might be time to discover one of the many true benefits of golf – your health. 

Don Mackay is a longtime golfer and the President of Muskoka Highlands, a family-owned public golf course in scenic Muskoka and the President of The Golfather, an independent golf e-comm store. He gets tee-d up about the issues surrounding the game and the running of a course. Read his unique perspective weekly, with articles on LinkedIn