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Alan L. Hammond, GolfersMD News
Nov 22, 2010
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Common sense should tell anyone that walking the golf course is a beneficial and healthy choice. A simple test for non-walkers would be to try walking during their next round of golf.
Unless the golfer is in good physical condition, a brisk walk from the first tee to the next shot will prove it with a pounding heart and heavy breathing. Armed with that knowledge, and the fact that heart disease is the number one killer of Americans, and stroke being third, the American Heart Association and The Bag Boy Company, one of the leading golf bag and golf cart manufacturers, recently teamed up for Walk the Course Day.
The event was held on Saturday, September 27, at The Crossings Golf Club in Glen Allen, Virginia. Throughout the day, golfers who walked the course were provided with a free usage of a Bag Boy push cart along with discounted green fees. Five dollars from every walker's green fee and proceeds from the sale of specially discounted Bag Boy push carts were donated to the American Heart Association (AHA). Walkers also received gift that include discounted rounds of golf at The Crossings, discounted membership to the Golf Gear Association, Golf Galaxy coupons, free blood pressure checks, golf fitness tips, and health information and product demonstrations.
According to the AHA, just 30 minutes per day of brisk walking has been shown to lower the risk of heart disease and stroke, and just one hour per day could add as much as two hours of life. The golfers participating in Walk the Course Day gained much more than free golf stuff and discounts, they added several hours to their lives.
With their line-up of push carts, pull carts, and electric carts, Bag Boy has enabled golfers of any age to walk their rounds. Their double-strap golf bags have also brought walking the course to a new ergonomic high. In a recent study featured in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, which evaluated single strap vs. double strap golf bags, the benefits of the double-strap bags are varied.
Firstly, double-strap bags are more comfortable than others, and if the golfer is comfortable, he or she is more likely to walk the course. Researchers also found significant decrease in a golfers perceived exertion, heart rate, and VO2 – the amount of oxygen your body needs, when participants used a double strap golf bag. Additionally, double-strap bags allow for more symmetrical carrying of the bag with the weight of the load closer to the individual’s center of mass, which delivers less stress on the body.
Walking the golf course, which is often nearly six miles for an 18-hole round, has been scientifically proven as beneficial, and today’s equipment has made it easier than ever to do. Forget the adage that a golf course was meant to be walked, though true it may be. Striving to regularly walk the golf course is simply a great way to improve health and enjoy the game.
Sources: American Heart Association; and The Metabolic Cost of Carrying a Single- Versus Double-Strap Golf Bag, Ikeda, E. R., Cooper, L., Gulick, P., and Nguyen, P., The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, Volume 32:3, May 2008, 974-977.
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