4 Reasons Why Walking the Golf Course is Better Than Cart Path Only

After a soaking rain, many golf courses issue a "cart path only" notice, which means players must keep their carts off of the grass so they don't destroy the grounds.

Barring any physical ailments which would hinder a nice walk in the park or hilly terrain which would need a billy goat in order to scale, there are reasons to choose walking over a golf cart ride.

If given the option to walk or ride, which should you choose?

Editor: For some courses, there is no option to walk but there are golf courses which are an easy walk.

Related: Should You Buy a Golf Cart?

The next time the golf shop issues a "cart path only" notice, consider this:

1. SPEED OF PLAY: You actually play faster when you walk - on your wayward shots you usually don't lose your ball because you are walking straight to it.

2. VISUAL ASSESSMENT: As you walk, you feel the wind and see the angle of your next shot so you can choose the appropriate golf club to get your ball to its next placement or on to the green.

3. YOU ARE WALKING ANYWAY! Cart path only forces you to walk to a golf ball which could be on the other side of the fairway. You also may have to carry several golf clubs to your ball in order to determine the correct distance...and... don't forget to take a towel so you can lay all of those clubs down in the very soggy grass (you don't want to get those grips wet!) 

Try walking instead...by the time you get to your ball all you need to do is address and hit your shot which saves time and effort.

4. EXERCISE: Pushing a hand cart burns calories as does a good walk in the park. Our smartphone fitness gizmo says that, after nine holes, we walked about 8,000 steps!

NPR.com health news confirmed, "The World Golf Foundation estimates that golfers who walk an 18-hole course clock about 5 miles and burn up to 2,000 calories.

The game is meant to be walked...young Tom Morris probably would never have considered riding to his next shot. 

If you are not ready for eighteen holes, why not start with nine?

Share your thoughts in the comments section of this golf blog and on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.

NOTE: Golf for Beginners blog and the author state that, whether or not you have a physical limitation, you should check with your doctor before walking or playing any sport.

An Odd Golf Coincidence?

For those people who believe in odd coincidences...Matt Kuchar and Lee Westwood have more of an attachment than just being pro golfers.

Was it just their "time" or did fate play a role in the same day wins of both Matt Kuchar and Lee Westwood? This fact, by itself, would appear coincidental but there's more...both golfers also won on the same day four years ago (April 20, 2014) and not again until this past Sunday (even though both have been in contention).

I wonder if any betting parlor determined the odds of this Kuchar - Westwood happening...a million to one? As much as lightning striking in the same place twice? Will this same occurrence happen again in 2022?

Being unable to solve this riddle, Golf for Beginners moves on to what Kuchar and Westwood did to secure their victories. Below are a few quotes from the pros.

Matt Kuchar was hoping to create more of a cushion for himself, "I certainly didn’t want a 3-footer on the last hole to win this thing, I was hoping to have a three-, four-shot lead and some wiggle room."

Lee Westwood's plan was to remain calm, aim and shoot at his target, "Until now, my emotions have felt really under control all day, which is what I’ve been working on. I was just trying to hit fairways and stick to my game plan and hit it in the right places.”

How can amateurs use Kuchar's and Westwood's plans to secure their own wins, whether it's with their regular foursome or at a business tournament?

To gain more of a cushion during your golf round, try hitting more safe shots to get onto the green in regulation, giving yourself more birdie opportunities.

As far as remaining calm, take a deep breath before each shot. With regards to aiming and shooting at a target, you should first have a repeatable pre-shot routine - after this process is "in the bag", try visualizing one shot at a time.


Photo by Peter Lewicki on Unsplash

How to Play Boring Golf Like Jordan Spieth

The game plan for Jordan Spieth last week at Pebble Beach was to play "boring golf" and it paid off, winning the AT&T, tying Tiger Woods for most PGA Tour wins before his twenty-fourth birthday and securing a bucket list dream.

What is boring golf and what tips can we take away from Spieth's AT&T Pebble Beach win to help improve our round?

1. On the tee box, Jordan's caddie reminded him to play boring golf, in other words, play it safe, don't be a hero. Remind yourself to aim for center of fairways, avoid trouble taking the correct clubs to go short of trouble and look to land in the center of the green, not necessarily right at the pin.

2. Be patient - Spieth spoke about taking calm and easy swings - improve your tempo and take a breath or two before you swing away.

3. Visualization: Jordan picks specific targets and stays with it. He didn't go for the pin, especially with Pebble Beach winds gusting, instead planning how to shape his shots so that they land where he wanted.

Watch Jordan's Spieth Pebble Beach Interview.

What can we learn from Spieth's overall return to the winner's circle?

1. Set goals each week and look to accomplish them.
2. Stay with the process - keep practicing what you need help with to better your game.
3. Hard work pays off - off-season, work on your long game, ball striking and putting, like Spieth did and you will see alot more fairways in the spring!

What do you do to play "boring" golf? Comment on our golf blog (below) and on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.

Which Golf Shot Gives Tiger Woods and Amateurs The Jitters

While scanning through posts on a Google Plus golf community, I came across an interesting question which I address here, on our Golf for Beginners blog.

Originally posed by Michael Breed, host of The Golf Fix on Golf Channel and posted by Adam Young from Turnberry Performance Academy, the multiple choice question was...

Which golf shot gives you the most pressure?

For most golf beginners, almost every shot comes with its hair-raising moments, from setting-up to standing over the ball and then taking the shot, but there is one time which most players agree gives them that extra shudder.

Choices for most anxious-laden shot included:

Opening Tee Shot
Shot Over Water
Pitch Over a Bunker

Can you guess which golf shot was selected?

Yes, it was the dreaded drive on the first tee. Why would this shot cause more stress than flying your shot over water? Perhaps it's the pressure while people are watching or not knowing that you have visualized the shot properly - and would you believe that even the former number one golfer in the world steps up to the tee with reservations?

Tiger Woods definitely has first-tee jitters, says former teaching pro Hank Haney. "He has no problems finishing, but he's had problems starting, Most players are the other way around."

If, as Hank Haney states, golfers have the most trouble finishing a hole, it would be safe to assume that putting offers almost as much anxiety as driving the ball.

In my opinion, putting or finishing out the hole, can lend itself to a yip or two with about three hundred thousand mentions of "The Yips" on Google. Putting to save par or when you have the opportunity to make birdie or even EAGLE, can bring out a cringe or two in almost any level of player.

What can be done to help you relax before your shot and relieve some of that "in-the-moment" angst?

Visualizing your shot and focusing on your game, hole-by-hole, instead of your score with your mental thoughts being "one shot at a time" can take the worry out of a round and help you perform with confidence.

Taking a deep breath before you're ready to "pull the trigger" definitely helps, writes Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club Director of Instruction Jerry Mowlds, and having confidence, knowing that you are going to make a great swing, is another way to help calm the nerves as you start your round.

Performance anxiety is a normal part of any sport; it's how you rise to the challenge which will determine how you finish. Believe in yourself and your score will take care of itself.

How do you deal with golf course jitters? Let us know on this golf blog and on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.

photo: DailyMail.uk

How Boosting Your Confidence Will Improve Your Golf Performance

Is the mental game of golf more important than the physical nature of the sport? Dr. Bob Rotella stated, "having control of your mind and using it properly can separate you from the competition, whether it's at your club or on the PGA Tour."

Enjoy this guest golf blog written by US Grass and Greens which explains How Visualization and Boosting your Confidence will Improve your Golf Performance.


"Golf is a game that is played on a five-inch course - the distance between your ears." - Bobby Jones

Picture the perfect shot you want to hit in your mind. Imagine the ball slowly rolling towards its intended target and then finally hitting that sweet spot where everything feels perfect and the world makes sense. Perhaps you hear the all-too-familiar "thunk" sound as the ball sinks into the place it was, in your opinion, always destined to be. Visualizing the arc of your swing BEFORE you actually hit the ball engages your state of mind, relaxes your body, and gives you a sense of purpose.

Imagining a positive outcome to your game is one of the many visualization methods that golfers - both amateur and professional - use when they need to calm their nerves, and to help banish any anxious and/or worried feelings they have about their own shortcomings. Sure, it can sound a little too pompously highfalutin', but it's a psychological technique that players swear by. Never think of the result of messing up your shot, because this can eventually contaminate your confidence and lead to a disastrous swing in real life!

The two principal traits that you need to boost your inner-confidence are focus and concentration.

Utilizing both of these characteristics is key to your success on the green, because aggressive, obnoxious and negative energy will never yields anything but bad results.

You may have read famous quotes, such as Gardner Dickinson's "They say golf is like life, but don't believe them. Golf is more complicated than that", or Bob Hope's legendary "If you watch a game, it's fun. If you play it, it's recreation. If you work at it, it's golf" line. Essentially, both of these words of wisdom draw attention to a highly emotional state where a simple game of golf becomes EVERYTHING to you. All-encompassing, all-pervading, omnipresent: To win is to live and to lose is to fail, to fail at life itself. Yes, a game can become that grandiose at times in some people's minds.

But that shouldn't be the case. Golf, after all, is a GAME. We all know that it's played professionally all over the world with millions of dollars at stake but, first and foremost, it's a game to enjoy. Games are played for fun, no matter how competitive they get. It's important to remember how to maintain a pleasant, optimistic, lighthearted disposition and, ultimately, you need to enjoy yourself.

"Golf is a day spent in a round of strenuous idleness." - William Wordsworth

Additionally, a little modesty is always nice in any competitive game, and know-it-all "I win everything!" types of players are unbearable to play either against or alongside. Because golf is a Gentlemen's Game built on the fundamental notions of both etiquette and mutual respect, a quiet kind of confidence is the mainstay of a strong mindset that positively encourages and supports a great game. Some people may have the tendency of focusing on what is going right or wrong with their game. However, lending frequent attention to your wrongdoings can end up becoming a distraction that actually interferes with the confidence you require.

To reiterate: Concentrate on what you're doing correctly, and don't dwell on what's going wrong. Examine what you're doing right, so that you can build upon your strengths and hone your particular skill set. The road of self-improvement is a long, bumpy and arduous one, but not without its inherent rewards.

Many see practice as not enough, but it's obviously a good start. Phil Mickelson once commented: "Last year my confidence just slowly, slowly dwindled. After the time off I took and the work I accomplished on my conditioning and my game, I couldn't wait to get out and start playing. I was just itching." When stuck in an extended rut of poor game playing, nothing seems to go well. But golfing confidence is about feeling good about your skills and retaining positive thoughts every time you play.

"They say 'practice makes perfect.' Of course, it doesn't. For the vast majority of golfers it merely consolidates imperfection." - Henry Longhurst

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photo credit: YourVoiceofEncouragement.com