This article originally appeared in the February issue of NCGA Golf Magazine
By Derrick Ow
You may have been enjoying the snow or taking a winter vacation from your golf game. In Northern California, the sun is starting to shine more again, which makes it a perfect time to head back to the golf course.
If you are still on your New Year’s Resolutions, there is a perfect way to start your season on the right foot. Trade the golf cart for a walk during your next round on the course.
In a 2023 study published by BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, Finnish researchers compared the heart-related benefits of brisk walking, Nordic walking and an 18-hole round of golf on foot.
Twenty-five golfers who were 65 and over participated in the study. The findings saw that all three activities lowered blood pressure and cholesterol. However, the researchers concluded that golf seemed to have a slightly more beneficial effect on lowering blood sugar and cholesterol.
Playing an 18-hole round of golf can involve walking distance of 4-8 miles and burn almost 2,000 calories depending on the layout, statistics say.
Dr. Omar Abdalla is a family medicine physician at Montage Health. Dr.Abdalla recently shared with us how more golfers can improve their cardiovascular health by playing more rounds consisting of walking 18 holes.
“With playing golf or playing any other sports, it always provides that reduction for cardiovascular risk disease,” Abadalla said. “You will also see an improvement in cardiometabolic conditions.”
Abdalla said walking an 18-hole round can improve your mental health & increase your flexibility as well.
“You have increased range of motion with your shoulders and hips, even the active movement of muscles themselves helps strengthen your muscles and avoids deconditioning or weakness of the muscles,” Abadalla said. “Walking 18 holes and playing golf, especially for golfers who are 65 and above, will help improve your cognitive ability because just being under the sunlight and playing outside will help improve your mental health.”
The American Heart Association recommends that one person gets 150 minutes of moderate to physical exercise per week. Abdalla said that brisk walking is included in those recommendations.
Abdalla shared how golfers can get started in playing more golf walking.
“Any time of movement is better than no movement at all,” Abdalla said. “One beautiful thing about golf is that you can incorporate all of those minutes of walking into one day a week just because you are outside playing 18 or 9 holes.”
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About the NCGA Foundation
The NCGA established its original foundation more than 35 years ago to support and grow the game of golf, including launching and expanding Youth on Course. This year, the NCGA created a new NCGA Foundation dedicated to using golf as a unifying force for good—enriching society through the game’s unique values. The Foundation champions programs that strengthen the future of golf by engaging youth and other deserving communities, while bringing Northern California golf organizations together around shared goals. For donations or more information about the NCGA Foundation (New EIN #30-1441168), please visit ncga.org/about/ncgafoundation