Walking the course can have mental health benefits as well as the noticeable physical improvements. The time taken to cover 18 holes on foot clears the mind and erases the current tensions of everyday life. Physically, walking burns calories and indeed, for older golfers, provides the standard amount of exercise that doctors suggest per week.
Not only are there numerous health benefits to walking 18 holes but keeping the cart off the course helps the grounds heal and stay in great shape.
Here’s a guide to how walking the course is excellent for the body and mind but also helps the environment.
Physical Exercise
According to Harvard’s Dr. William Kormos, briskly walking 18 holes burns roughly 800 to 900 calories over the course of a four-hour round. The American Heart Association suggests that to keep a healthy heart that an individual should have a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week. Although a round of golf has a start-stop element, when you consider the exertion involved in swinging clubs, walking the course a couple of times per week should provide a serious chunk of your needed exercise time.
In contrast, if you ride in a cart, your walking distance is cut almost by three-quarters to just one mile per round. And with this reduction in mileage, your caloric burn is severely hampered, and you’ll have to supplement your weekly exercise regiment. Don’t forget that this 150 minutes a week rule-of-thumb is the minimum exercise needed to curb your risk of heart attack and stroke.
So how do you start? Perhaps you’re not ready to walk 18 just yet but worried that this is an all-or-nothing proposition. Well, the secret to improving your health through the game of golf is by starting small. Before you begin, know what the ultimate exercise goal is for your life. If you want to carry a bag across 18 holes but don’t already have an exercise program, then you’ll need to build your stamina slowly.
A great way to do that is by using a push cart over just nine holes. If you want to continue the round, then grab a regular golf cart for the final nine. By doing this for a few months, you’ll build the muscle memory and stamina to carry you through a full 18-hole round.
Mental Exercise
Let’s talk about what walking a course does for your mind. In this high-paced life of ours, a casual walk while playing golf can reduce stress and offer an opportunity to get away from cell phones and the distractions of the office. Being among the natural surroundings, and away from the noise of traffic and large groups of people, can benefit you tremendously. Making time to play golf in a peaceful and unhurried environment can act as a type of therapeutic release.
Another positive aspect of walking the course is how it improves your overall golf game. With the rinse-repeat method of hitting shots then driving the cart quickly to the ball and hitting the shot again, much of the nuance of the great game is lost in the process. Walking to your ball allows for a few minutes of reflection on the upcoming shot. By using better mental focus in preparation for the shot ahead, you’ll see your scores drop, and your enjoyment of golf go through the roof.
Keeping the Course Green
What we don’t take into account when we finish a round of golf is the footprint we’ve left behind on the course itself. When using a golf cart, we wreak havoc on the environment. We race through rough, stop quickly along the areas around bunkers and sometimes get too close to greens.
With modern advancements in golf architecture, courses are more plush and sustainable than ever. As clubs utilize less water and fewer fertilizers, the courses have become growing palaces that demand respect. However, when you look at the typical number of rounds played at a club over the course of a weekend, then you can begin to imagine the toll of tens, if not hundreds, of carts can have on the turf.
90-degree cart rules were created by clubs to minimize the damage to fairways and surrounding hazards. But we know that most golfers fail to properly maintain this rule when driving their carts.
By walking the course, we preserve and maintain the high quality of the grounds. And although it may seem to go against reality, walking the course is actually faster than sharing a cart with another partner. Walking streamlines the time spent on the course as the golfer only walks to their ball to play instead of alternating driving to each partner’s golf ball location.
One Last Thing
If you are thinking of starting a walking tradition at your local municipal course, then start small and work your way to achieving your goal of covering 18 holes with just your stride. Walking the course improves the health of the golfer as well as the course. If you play at a local club, then you should take an interest in how the grounds are maintained because by playing the course the right way, it should last for many generations to come.
]]>First, they were rivals. Then, they were friends. And now, they are spending Thanksgiving weekend playing for $9 million.
In early August, it was announced that Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson would be taking their talents to the desert and lights of Las Vegas for a made-for-TV Pay Per View grudge match with $9 million on the line.
Let’s first dive into the matchup with a little background on Tiger's and Phil’s shared history on the golf course.
History of Phil vs. Tiger
The two golfers have been linked over the past twenty-five years as the two-headed face of golf. Their rivalry has not only been on the course but off as well. Tiger’s ascent to becoming one of the world’s most popular athletes in the world was in large part due to the brilliant marketing as the face of Nike during the peak of his career. Phil also seized popularity, and hundreds of millions of endorsement dollars, when he became the photogenic star of numerous commercials and the face of Callaway Golf.
On the course, Tiger and Phil have had strange trajectories that divided their careers once each golfer turned 33 years old. Tiger won all of his 14 major championships before he became 33 whereas Phil won all five of his major titles after his 33rd birthday.
Woods became the poster child of fitness once he stepped into the spotlight with his first win at the Masters in 1997. Many contributed Phil’s late-career resurgence to his new devotion to diet and exercise.
The two golfers have been paired together in tournaments 37 times with Tiger leading the head-to-head with a record of 18-15-4. In majors, when the two golfers played a round together, Tiger’s lead is slimmer with a record of 5-4-1.
The last time the golfers shared the course was in May’s Players Championship where Tiger’s 72-71 bested Phil’s 79-73.
Before the duo played at the 2018 Players, Tiger was asked about playing with Phil and shared the admiration he has for Mickelson. “We both have done this throughout our careers, (as) we’ve always looked at each other and said, ‘Where is he on the board,’” Woods said. “And it’s been that way for our entire careers, and now that we have the opportunity to play against each other again on the first day when the gun blows, it’s gonna be fun. And I enjoy either competing with him on the first or second day or whether it is the last day. It’s always been a blast. And he’s one hell of a competitor. And so it’s going to be a challenge to try and beat him.”
Format
The format of the PPV event will be match play. The winner will take home a 9 million dollar payday.
If you are looking for an advantage with all-time match play records, then the clear winner is Woods. Tiger’s all-time record in match play tournaments is a staggering 50-16-2. Woods is 4-1-2 in Ryder Cup play. Phil Mickelson’s all-time match play record is 33-24-4 with a 5-5-1 career record in Ryder Cup competitions.
Course
Tiger and Phil’s match will take place at the Tom Fazio-designed Shadow Creek course. Widely considered to be one of the most beautiful courses in the world, Shadow Creek has been recognized by Golf Digest and Golf Week with an esteem that is shared by few other courses. The course features creeks, waterfalls, and gardens all set against the backdrop of mountains.
The two golfers will have their work cut out for them over the final four holes. The 15th is a tight par-4 with a fairway that is cut narrow by a long creek that runs along the left side of the hole. The 17th is an elevated tee par-3 where the golfers will hit into a green that is surrounded by a lake that is fed by a gorgeous waterfall.
Finally, the 18th hole is a stunning par-5 where the tee shot must clear one of three lakes that run along the right side of the fairway. The second shot into the green must clear a creek that runs in front of the green.
Shadow Creek will be a formidable course for the two golfers and a perfect setting for the televised match.
Let’s Make Some Bets
With the match in Vegas, of course, there is betting already being taken at local casinos on the match. Tiger Woods is the presumptive favorite with odds of -160 to Phil’s +140. Basically, to win $100 on Tiger, you have to bet $160. The opposite is true for the underdog Mickelson as a bet of $100 will win the bettor $140.
The purse for the match is a whopping winner-take-all 9 million dollars. According to the press release, Woods and Mickelson will also make side-challenge bets with each other for such contests as longest drive, closest-to-the-pin or other typical golf betting challenges with the money going to charity.
Smack Talk
Since the announcement, Tiger and Phil have traded barbs on Twitter. Tiger struck first with a tweet that just said, “It’s on.” Phil responded with his own tweet that read, “I bet you think this is the easiest $9 million you will ever make.” with a laughing emoji as punctuation.
What is not commonly known about the duo is that Woods and Mickelson have become closer as the years have progressed in their careers. Both golfers have previously shared text messages of support when one of them was in contention for a tournament win. And they’ve both shown empathy when struggling with their game.
Those text exchanges have gotten salty with trash talk at times. As Phil Mickelson told Alan Shipnuck in Golf Magazine, “The tough thing is that he has the trump card: his career record. Whether’s it’s 14 majors, 79 wins, however many player-of-the-year awards, FedEx Cups. He owns all the trump cards. So I have to be very careful and strategic in my smack talk, because if I lay something down, in comes a trump card, you know, and that shuts me right up.”
With word that both golfers will be mic’d up for the entire match at Shadow Creek, viewers will likely get a strong sense of this warm, yet competitive, friendship.
Putting aside the 9 million dollar prize, the event will draw viewers who want to see the two greatest golfers of the past 25 years put it all on the line.
]]>Koepka’s wins at the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship in 2018 marked the first time a PGA golfer had won those two specific titles in the same year since Tiger Woods pulled the double in 2000. So it was fitting that Koepka outlasted the 14-time major winner to take home his third career major title and the second of his 2018.
Where it Began for Koepka
If you were looking hard enough, this three-victory run over six major tournaments by Koepka was foreshadowed with his performance in the 2016 Ryder Cup. At Hazeltine, Koepka shined brightly over the course of the three-day tournament.
Truth be told, Koepka wasn’t even supposed to be there in Minnesota. Nursing a bad ankle, Koepka had to qualify for Team USA by finishing well at the 2016 PGA Championship. With that gutsy performance, Koepka turned heads and earned the respect of his fellow pros. His fourth-place finish at the PGA punched an automatic ticket for Kopeka onto the US Ryder Cup squad.
Partnered with Brandt Sneaker for group play, the duo defeated Team Europe for two emotionally charged wins. But it was his singles play on Sunday that made Koepka the story of Hazeltine. Squaring off against 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett, Kopeka played a dazzling and mistake-free round of golf. Koepka needed only 14 holes to dispatch Willett as the American golfer shot 6-under over the shortened round for a dominating 5 and 4 win.
After the U.S. team claimed the 2016 Ryder Cup, Snedeker started sounding the alarm on the talent of Koepka. "This guy needs to know how good he is," said Snedeker. ”And he's starting to figure it out right now.”
After his coming out party at the Ryder Cup, Koepka began 2017 on a note of success with two 2nd place finishes and a top 11 showing at the Masters. But it all came together for the golfer at the U.S. Open at Erin Hills. With a flurry of birdies down the stretch, Koepka ran away with his first major title. His final score of 16-under tied Rory McIlroy’s 2011 performance for the lowest total in a U.S. Open.
2018 U.S Open
After offseason wrist surgery, Kopeka had to drop out of the 2018 Masters citing a slow recovery. “They said I would be about 80 percent, but I can’t play 80 percent,” Koepka said. “I either have to go full bore or not at all. I don’t want to risk getting it re-injured and then be out a long time.” Secretly, Koepka was aiming to be healthy enough to play at Shinnecock to defend his 2017 U.S. Open title. If he could pull off the back-to-back, Koepka would be the first golfer to earn the U.S. Open repeat since Curtis Strange in 1988-89.
On a tough layout, Koepka was five shots back of the tournament leader, Dustin Johnson, after the cut on Friday. Not having to worry about golfers like Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth left Koepka fighting off a pack of relative unknowns looking for their first major title.
When Johnson faltered with a 77 on Saturday, Koepka’s steady 72 left him in a four-way tie for the lead. On Sunday, Koepka minimized his mistakes and clipped Tommy Fleetwood, who shot a final round 63, for a one-stroke win.
Koepka’s second major was remarkable considering that just two months prior he didn’t feel he was healthy enough for the Masters.
2018 PGA Championship
The 100th PGA Championship was held in early August of 2018 at the Bellerive Country Club, close to St. Louis, Missouri. After a solid, yet unspectacular, 39th place finish at the Open Championship, Koepka was once again among the favorites heading into the annual PGA Championship.
Koepka’s first round score of 69 was followed with a jaw-dropping 63 vaulting the golfer into 3rd place heading into the weekend, two shots behind the leader, Gary Woodland. Koepka took control of the tournament in the third round as he posted his third straight score in the 60s with a 66 for a two-shot lead with only championship Sunday on the horizon.
As Koepka chased Woods’ 2000 double dip title run mark, Tiger began to mount his pursuit of the leader. Opening five strokes behind Koepka, Woods got within a single stroke twice during the final round but each time Koepka’s steady putter knocked down birdie after birdie on the back nine for a two-shot win.
Koepka’s final score of 264 strokes gave the golfer the all-time overall lowest score record at the PGA Championship. The score also tied Henrik Stenson’s 2016 Open Championship total for the best overall score in a major championship.
Only five golfers in history have won the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship in the same year. Koepka added his name to the impressive list that includes Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.
Nicklaus’ Admiration
After Koepka’s PGA win, the Golden Bear added his seal of approval on the golfer’s incredible 2018 season. In a social media post, Nicklaus said, “For Koepka to not play the Masters because of injury, to be unsure of his near future in golf, then to come back and win the U.S. Open and PGA Championship — to return and win two of the three majors left in the year — you have to believe it's one of the best years any golfer has ever had!”
With the all-time major leader’s admiration in tow, Koepka looks ahead to the Ryder Cup at the Albatros Course of Le Golf National in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, a suburb of Paris. The Ryder Cup is where it all began for Koepka and for the foreseeable future, Koepka will continue to be one of the world’s most feared golfers.
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