GolfStinks

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Hacking Away At Calories

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Back in August of 09′, fellow Stinky Golfer Chris posted “Is Golf Exercise?” His point was that golf is supposed to be enjoyed and who cares what issues the nay-sayers have with golf not being considered “exercise.” Taking it a step further, I decided to revisit this issue and focus on the benefits golfing HAS towards a healthier lifestyle.

We all know a lot of people push golf aside as a legit form of exercise. Granted, it isn’t quite as rigorous as the P90X workout but it is definitely a way to HELP shed some excess weight. As new data surfaces and the concern for better health, diet and so on pursues, we look for different ways to keep the ol’ ticker in tip-top shape.

It seems there are new diets coming out every day such as the obvious Atkins and South Beach to the more obscure and weird ones. You know, where all you can eat is steamed cauliflower roots and drink sea weed shakes for 2 weeks. I think everyone has that one strange friend who swears by this diet they learned of from their “spiritual leader.” This is the same person who looks like he or she is 90 years old but is actually only 35.

I’ll put it this way; Losing weight equals burning more calories than you take in…period. I know because I did it. How? By raising my activity level and lowering my caloric intake via a healthier diet. So, how does this relate to golf? Easily – carry your clubs for 18 holes. If you golf a couple times a week, carry your clubs and eat a little healthier – you will lose weight.

“Well, what if I can’t carry my clubs?” Don’t worry, you still burn calories using a cart. According to Healthstatus.com‘s Calories Burned Estimator, here’s a chart estimating the calories burned by golfing with a cart and carrying your own bag broken down by body weight

Please note: This is just an estimate and should not be used in medical decisions. Duh…


Also note that this table uses 4 hours as the time to complete 18 holes based on the national average.

As you can see, golfing does in fact burn calories. Now if I couple that with the 6 or 7 hundred calories I burn sleeping…Who needs the gym?

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!!

Related posts:
Is Golf Exercise?
The Truth About Walking the Golf Course

Golf…An Athlete’s Game?

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What the hell does this mean? Well the more I play, or should I say “suck at” golf, the more I realize that this game requires a multitude of athletic skills, with each skill drawing from a different sport. I believe the worse you are at golf the more you develop as an all around athlete.

How is this so? Let me explain. You see, besides the swinging of the clubs, golf offers us many opportunities to engage in other sports. For example, let’s take track and field, more specifically – the hammer throw. You can probably see where this is going. The hammer throw is pretty much launching the hammer* as far as possible. Just like when you screw up that 50 yard chip onto the green after smashing a 300+ yard drive – you launch your club as far as the eye can see.

Let’s look at another sport – soccer. When your ball is stuck behind an obstacle impeding on your next shot what do you do? Some of us hacks find ourselves summoning the fancy footwork of soccer great, Pele. Don’t give me that “Well, I chip out to the fairway” crap! You use the ol’ toe iron and get on with it. GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAL!

All joking aside, golf season is just about in full swing across the country. Let’s enjoy the fact that we can get out there and play! This week has been pretty crazy and made me stop and think about what how lucky I am to have the opportunity to golf.

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!

* hammer throw is an athletic throwing event where the object is to throw a heavy metal ball attached to a wire and handle. The name “hammer throw” is derived from older competitions where an actual sledge hammer was thrown. Such competitions are still part of the Scottish Highland Games, where the implement used is a steel or lead weight at the end of a cane handle.

Golf: A Royal And Ancient Mess

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With the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton today, the whole relationship thing was on my mind. As long as there have been relationships, there has also been something to screw them up. That being said, why does it seem like golf is associated with one of those things?

Whenever I want to golf, there’s an issue. I’ll bet that if I just lay on the couch all morning there wouldn’t be a problem. As soon as I say I’m going golfing…world war III erupts and the garage needs to be organized. Wait a minute, laying on the couch is a viable reason to NOT do work around the house?

So, is there really an underlying reason why golf is a catalyst for quarreling? Maybe it’s not just the actual golfing that’s a problem. Could it be the extra-curricular activities after the round that ruffle the feathers? After some self-analysis I’ve come to the much researched conclusion that sand traps are like bars…rarely do I get out after one shot.

Now, I’m pretty sure there’s a few golfers that get stuck at their local “sand trap” but, in my case there are potential dangers. This could lead to coming home late, which leads to friction and problems on the home front, which could possibly lead to an unfortunate result – the ol’ split up. Golf is already an expensive sport, who would have thought it could drain you for half your net worth too?

Looking at this on a grand scale, we can use Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Boo Weekley and Mark Calcavecchia as examples. They shelled-out a lot of dough to their ex’s. All I’m saying is, don’t be statistic and take a second to analyze your situations…Do the right thing.

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!!

Golf by the Numbers

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What really fuels the golf market and keeps courses up and running? Pro’s? Scratch golfers? Avid golfers? The answer is quite simple – the average or moderate golfer. If there are 27 million or so golfer’s in the U.S. and less than 1% are pro or scratch golfers, count them out.

Ironically, a lot of pro’s who can afford the game rarely pay for it or get great deals. As for avid golfers (25+ rounds per year), they only account for roughly 3-5% of the market, which leaves the average and beginners (less than 7 rounds per year).

The average golfer is statistically a mid to upper-mid working class person playing around 20 rounds a year. Funny thing is if it wasn’t for this demographic, 80% of golf courses would probably shut their doors. Here’s a reality check: average golfers use more golf balls, period. They or we go through 3-5 balls (or more) a round.

Let’s do the math; say an average golf ball costs $1.00 times 4 balls a round times 20 rounds a year. That comes out to $80 dollars in golf balls per average golfer per season. Now multiply that times the roughly 20 million average golfers and there you have 1.6 billion dollars spent a year on golf balls. Sounds crazy, huh…how about those greens fees?

These numbers represent a driving but unheard voice in the golf community. We can take these stats and apply them to other commodities in the golf industry like clubs, apparel and accessories and get a good idea of the revenue we spill into this game we love.

What’s in store for the future? I guess only time will tell…but as long as average golfers keep losing balls on the course, the golf economy will continue to drive forward…

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!! Love your balls.

POLL: U.S. Open…Public or Private?

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Fellow Americans, is this not land of the free? So, why is this years U.S. Open being held at a private course? I understand it’s at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda but that doesn’t make it any better. In fact it makes it worse. Let me break this down…

Last time I checked “U.S.” meant the United States, our country. This should be our tournament. In the past they have held it at municipal courses and that’s the way it should be.

Diving deeper into this I realized that hosting tournaments at muni’s gives the game of golf such a unique position in the world of sports. What other sport allows regular old hacks, such as you and I, to play where the pro’s play. I really don’t see the Yankees letting the ol’ local Bronx beer league have their Thursday night softball games there. Never in a million years plus the beer can pyramid on top of the dugout might not bode well.

I think a lot of golfers would enjoy playing where their favorite golfer has played. I know I would. Not to mention it would probably attract more golfers and help out the declining golf market. According to the National Golf Foundation (NGF), they found that 37% of public courses have had to lower their course maintenance standards, and 71% have had to defer capital improvements in recent years due to financial considerations.* In a nutshell this means the courses are not kept as well as they should be…damn recession.

So what do you think?

Where should the US Open be played?

*Click here for the NGF story

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