I hate courses that are unfriendly to walkers...

[greatish.ten]

Yep, I'd rather walk the course and enjoy it. I hate having to park and then walk to find your ball. I golf mainly for the exercise anyway.

It's not like the ground is hard on the feet anyway, it's all nicely mown grass!

[Snufles]

[quote name='jbrunone' timestamp='1307654129' post='3296294']
walking a golf golf course in the A.M with the morning dew is one of my favorite things to do
[/quote]

Teeing off just as the sun is coming up just isn't the same in a cart. I don't care if you ride or walk but there should still be the choice of either.

[GatorNate11]

[quote name='tjy355' timestamp='1307661005' post='3296559']
[quote name='GatorNate11' timestamp='1307653794' post='3296276']
I certainly prefer to ride. How does riding or walking change your game? You still have to hit that little white ball, and get it into the hole (just ask Tiger! I kid, I kid) but seriously, I have never understood the "walk or bust" mentality.


[/quote]

Try it sometime. It truly improves the pace of the round and your ability to see and feel and understand the course.
[/quote]

Oh I walk plenty. I would just rather ride given the chance. I'm neither out of shape or lazy, and quite honestly I can think of better places than the golf course to work out. I would just rather ride when I play.

[peanutandjelly]

[quote name='sgniwder99' timestamp='1307646391' post='3295898']
+A million on the whole topic. Hate carts. Hate. Hate. Hate. Drives me nuts when one of my friends wants to get a cart. "Really? You mean I can pay more, ruin my score, AND get no exercise? Where do I sign up?"

I have nothing against anyone else using one, but I just cannot stand them.
[/quote]


then don't take one, this is not russia is it danny?

funny how the hate cart guys don't mind a ride back to the tee to hit their drive after an OB or don't mind help in a guy going ahead and finding his ball..

casey martin said when he finally got to play using a cart, he was with arnold palmer who along with jack tried very hard to keep him from using a cart. arnold lost a ball and had to go way back to the tee. casey gave him a ride and arnold accepted.

[peanutandjelly]

[quote name='msean' timestamp='1307655127' post='3296331']
[quote name='GatorNate11' timestamp='1307653794' post='3296276']
I certainly prefer to ride. How does riding or walking change your game? You still have to hit that little white ball, and get it into the hole (just ask Tiger! I kid, I kid) but seriously, I have never understood the "walk or bust" mentality.


[/quote]

Like I said in an earlier post I have no issue with how anyone else plays. Walk, ride, carry, pushcart, makes no difference to me. It changes [b]my[/b] game by changing my pace. Sharing a cart takes away from my focus a little as well. THere's just an all around different feel that I get from walking, far more relaxing. I'm also incredibly cheap so the thought of paying for a service I don't want (cart) makes my blood boil.
[/quote]

the one HUGE difference is when it comes to lost balls, etc. Especially if the guy has hit a provisional way left and his first ball is way right. after looking for both balls, he has to WALK back to the tee to hit his third tee shot...of course, most just drop a ball where they think it might be but then you are no longer really playing golf...you are just walking a ball along the way.

[sgniwder99]

[quote name='peanutandjelly' timestamp='1307668255' post='3296823']
[quote name='sgniwder99' timestamp='1307646391' post='3295898']
+A million on the whole topic. Hate carts. Hate. Hate. Hate. Drives me nuts when one of my friends wants to get a cart. "Really? You mean I can pay more, ruin my score, AND get no exercise? Where do I sign up?"

I have nothing against anyone else using one, but I just cannot stand them.
[/quote]


then don't take one, this is not russia is it danny?

funny how the hate cart guys don't mind a ride back to the tee to hit their drive after an OB or don't mind help in a guy going ahead and finding his ball..

casey martin said when he finally got to play using a cart, he was with arnold palmer who along with jack tried very hard to keep him from using a cart. arnold lost a ball and had to go way back to the tee. casey gave him a ride and arnold accepted.
[/quote]

Perhaps you missed the part of my post where I specifically said I have no problem with others using them.

Nice assumption about my habits of accepting rides on the course, too. Have we played together? Oh, that's right. We haven't.

If you were going to be offended by someone saying they hate carts--especially when they make it a point in their post to say that they don't have a problem with other people using them--you shouldn't come to a thread entitled "I hate golf carts."

[Marrrk]

as was said by Rony, the riding vs. walking thing has been beat to death on here and i was not trying to reignite the debate. that's my fault. i apologize for not being more clear and for using some inflammatory terms and frustrations.

what i should have titled the post was "[b]i hate golf courses that force you to ride[/b]" - because really, that's what bothers me most. i've done my share of riding and dont begrudge anyone their druthers. i just simply die a little inside when a course doesn't allow walking, or is designed only for carts.

[bigmoneyp]

I do both. I play by myself at least once a week and I always walk. Generally when I play with others I ride because its easier if both people are in a cart. I like to walk but I don't mind carts. I think every course should have the options for both and if should definitely be cheaper for the walkers.

[Shipwreck]

One thing I cannot stand about carts is the exuberant amount that courses charge you (mainly Municipal courses) for a cart that might die on you half way through the round. One course I went to charged $20 for a single rider....and the greens fees were $15.

GTFO!

[dkirk51]

I love to walk and carry my bag. I hate to ride, especially with someone I don't know. It's a myth that taking a cart speeds up play and I think courses use this as an excuse to generate more income from cart rentals.

[sgniwder99]

[quote name='Marrrk' timestamp='1307676816' post='3297248']
as was said by Rony, the riding vs. walking thing has been beat to death on here and i was not trying to reignite the debate. that's my fault. i apologize for not being more clear and for using some inflammatory terms and frustrations.

what i should have titled the post was "[b]i hate golf courses that force you to ride[/b]" - because really, that's what bothers me most. i've done my share of riding and dont begrudge anyone their druthers. i just simply die a little inside when a course doesn't allow walking, or is designed only for carts.
[/quote]

For someone with a shot of a young Ron Hextall as his avatar, you are remarkably good-natured and conciliatory.

[tembolo1284]

[quote name='Marrrk' timestamp='1307654333' post='3296304']
[quote name='GatorNate11' timestamp='1307653794' post='3296276']
I certainly prefer to ride. How does riding or walking change your game? You still have to hit that little white ball, and get it into the hole (just ask Tiger! I kid, I kid) but seriously, I have never understood the "walk or bust" mentality.


[/quote]

i'll be the first to admit that my swing issues go far beyond walking or riding as the cause

i just enjoy the game more when i'm walking. i like having my entire bag with me at each shot. i find lost balls easier. i don't have to worry about sharing a cart and all that jazz. i play more efficiently and with less stress. but most importantly, far more important than all that, is that when i think about golf i think about walking down a fairway on a beautiful summer afternoon. that's golf to me. walking along and looking out at all the other fairways and flag sticks and fescue and just taking that time to appreciate being alive. for me, at least, that's a feeling i rarely get in a cart.
[/quote]


That's deep sir...very deep. Sums it up perfectly.

[utkochster]

my last choice is to ride in a cart..... it is just not the way golf was meant to be played. I dont make a big stink of riding when everyone else is or weather conditions that make sense to ride... but i always ride passenger

my preference for a round:

1. caddie
2. push cart - i am young but i dont mind
3. carry
4. cart w someone, make them drive so i can walk
5. ride in the cart

[deadsolid...shank]

[quote name='dkirk51' timestamp='1307684303' post='3297450']
I love to walk and carry my bag. I hate to ride, especially with someone I don't know. [b]It's a myth that taking a cart speeds up play[/b] and I think courses use this as an excuse to generate more income from cart rentals.
[/quote]


It really isn't a myth. For people who know how to utilize a cart effectively, it is faster. If all everything else you do in your time on the course remains the same, you will travel between shots quicker. Two of us routinely play 18 in under two hours if we're not held up, but if we are walking it's going to take another hour. If you use the cart correctly, it will be faster. But that is a big IF because it seems that most don't. And I do agree that they won't speed up play if "car path only" is in effect.


I agree with the majority, I very much dislike a course that requires you take a cart ( not that I'm probably going to walk anyway, but you should be able to choose). I really believe that should be optional, but it is about the money. I ride most of my rounds, but really do enjoy the occasional walk with the bag on my back, it's very peacful and relaxing, but since I'm usually trying to finish and return back to work, something that I don't get to do too often.

[richard t]

I listened to no less than Arnold Palmer on TV one day. More or less he said when four guys are walking they hit the tee shot, each heads to his ball, and then plays his/her shot. Then they are off again. When four guys are in two or more carts there is a lot more riding around (as others have said here) to much conversation, watching each other, and slowing people up.
I totally agree. Hey, if you need a cart, for whatever reason, by all means use it and have fun. And Cart Path Only: I've stood on the tee, how many times, and watched some moron drive to his ball, get out and take a look, walk back to the cart, come back... ughhhhhh!
I also agree with whoever said they hate course where you HAVE to take the damn cart. One day ,just to be an a------, I left the cart at the 2nd tee and started walking. Rager comes up and yells, "what do you think you are doing'? I say, oh, ah, the cart broke down. He gives me a dirty look, drives off. A little while later I'll be damned if two cart boys don't come with Mr. Ranger and another cart. I smile, say thank you and never go back again. For $75.00 you ought to be able to walk, ride or crawl if you want too.

[Optimus_Prime]

As someone who walks a lot too I will join the hate train……….Although I have used a cart before and did find it quite a lot easier on my knee as it's been reconstructed, as with everything theres pros and cons but in the case of the cart definitely more cons

[ND Fan]

Able bodied people should walk, although many modern courses are designed specifically to reduce walking and increase cart revenue. I generally walk now, I ride occasionally with no gripe I play about the same whether in a cart or not. You'll all be in carts one day as your body just wont be able to make it 18 holes. It's easy for you now to say that you would never ride. But the fact is that if you truly love the game you 'll play it in a wheelchair if you had to. LIve and let live, If you want to walk, walk, for those that wish to ride... maybe you should thank them, in times like these, those are the guys paying the bills at these golf clubs. Cart revenue is huge to the operation of a golf course, without it most clubs would literally fold. So hate them if you wish but know without them you'd have very limited places to play. Just trying to keep things in perspective.

[zukszoo]

If people used better cart etiquette, carts would be better for pace of play.

Around the greens, park the cart where you will be exiting to the next tee.
Put your club away when you get to your next shot or when your partner is selecting a club.
Write the score down on the next tee box. I hate when people sit there, for what seems like 5 minutes, writing all the scores down.
Once both people are in the cart, GO! Don't you love it when the riders are in the cart and it sits there while they tell each other about their shots they just watched each other hit.
But most people will never care enough to worry about moving along faster, they paid for their cart and they will get their moneys worth.

I agree with the OP. Bugs me to no end when a course does not allow you to walk. Played the TPC Sawgrass in 2003, on the last day it was open for play before The Players. There was no walking allowed that day AND it was cart path only. Those cart paths are a long way from the other side of some of those fairways. It added at least 45 min to the round that day. At least the course was perfect and fun to play to help make up for the frustration of not even being allowed to carry a bag.

[Marrrk]

[quote name='ND Fan' timestamp='1307712230' post='3297817']
Able bodied people should walk, although many modern courses are designed specifically to reduce walking and increase cart revenue. I generally walk now, I ride occasionally with no gripe I play about the same whether in a cart or not. You'll all be in carts one day as your body just wont be able to make it 18 holes. It's easy for you now to say that you would never ride. But the fact is that if you truly love the game you 'll play it in a wheelchair if you had to. LIve and let live, If you want to walk, walk, for those that wish to[b] ride... maybe you should thank them, in times like these, those are the guys paying the bills at these golf clubs. [/b] Cart revenue is huge to the operation of a golf course, without it most clubs would literally fold. So hate them if you wish but know without them you'd have very limited places to play. Just trying to keep things in perspective.
[/quote]

now this is the kinda reply i was hoping for in this thread.

while that may technically be true, it's just... a shame. a big, fat shame. there are a million other things golf courses could do before and after they are built to save money, but course architecture in the US over the past 50 years has gone in the opposite direction, rearranging the culture of the game, and leaving us all holding the bag.

i'm just as impressed with gloriously massive expanses of green and danger cut into the sides of mountains as the next guy. but i'd give all that up for a shorter, browner, firmer, faster, wider course any day. a course where the challenges are less obvious but no less challenging. a course that encourages walking and a swifter pace of play, yet still requires the same amount of strategic decisions as an Augusta. they do exist.

[Jordan J. Caron]

[quote name='tjy355' timestamp='1307661005' post='3296559']
[quote name='GatorNate11' timestamp='1307653794' post='3296276']
I certainly prefer to ride. How does riding or walking change your game? You still have to hit that little white ball, and get it into the hole (just ask Tiger! I kid, I kid) but seriously, I have never understood the "walk or bust" mentality.


[/quote]

Try it sometime. It truly improves the pace of the round and your ability to see and feel and understand the course.
[/quote]

It's amazing how walking in a straight line to your ball can be quicker than riding in a cart with someone. As you mentioned though being on a golf course is more than just hitting a white ball and I find walking helps me embrace many of the elements I enjoy on the course. Whether it's talking with my playing partners (something you can't really do when riding) being more aware of the environment/nature and getting connected to the course with my feet.

I also enjoy preparing myself for the shot ahead as I walk up to my ball. Where's the pin? What's the wind doing? What's likely to be my yardage? All things that many golfers do when they get to their ball rather than before which slows things down.

I'm sure a few have heard of this site but it ties into the topic of this thread.

[url="http://www.thewalkinggolfer.com/"]http://www.thewalkinggolfer.com/[/url]

[Marrrk]

[quote name='sgniwder99' timestamp='1307706002' post='3297664']
[quote name='Marrrk' timestamp='1307676816' post='3297248']
as was said by Rony, the riding vs. walking thing has been beat to death on here and i was not trying to reignite the debate. that's my fault. i apologize for not being more clear and for using some inflammatory terms and frustrations.

what i should have titled the post was "[b]i hate golf courses that force you to ride[/b]" - because really, that's what bothers me most. i've done my share of riding and dont begrudge anyone their druthers. i just simply die a little inside when a course doesn't allow walking, or is designed only for carts.
[/quote]

For someone with a shot of a young Ron Hextall as his avatar, you are remarkably good-natured and conciliatory.
[/quote]

haha.[i] [/i]he was just misunderstood.

[larrybud]

[quote name='eisen99' timestamp='1307647942' post='3296020']
So you complain because you choose not to pay attention where you hit the ball....
[/quote]

I'm not anti-cart, but certainly some people don't know how to use them. I'll walk when I can, but enjoy a ride once in a while.

I will agree, however, that it's often more difficult to find a ball in a cart. When I'm walking, I can make a beeline right to my ball. In cart, I may have to drop the other guy off, and by then, I've lost my sightline.

[larrybud]

[quote name='GatorNate11' timestamp='1307653794' post='3296276']
I certainly prefer to ride. How does riding or walking change your game? You still have to hit that little white ball, and get it into the hole (just ask Tiger! I kid, I kid) but seriously, I have never understood the "walk or bust" mentality.
[/quote]

I tend to focus on my own game more when walking, because I generally don't have to worry about the other guy and getting to his golf ball.

I also stay more loose when walking.

But when it's cold (<45) I'm riding, because I'm bringing out the cart cover and heater.

[tElihu]

I REALLY miss walking all the time, but being in So. FL, carts are not only the norm, but walkers are looked at as pariahs by other golfers. It's so ingrained down here that you MUST take a cart to play golf that you'll get less looks playing shirtless than you will by walking.

[tnord]

i always walk when i can. i just joined a club which can easily be walked, but also has carts included with the monthlies. the ability to decide on a whim at 7pm to go play an emergency 9 before it gets dark is very appealing. or to grab a cart and play 9 in a little over an hour on my way home from work before dinner.

however.....i do agree that walking adds an element to golf you don't get in a cart. i'm one of those guys that takes the first available tee time before sunrise, walks and carry, likes links-style courses without gimmicky greens, and generally enjoys old courses far more than the new ones. unfortunately in my area there were a bunch of courses built in the last 15 years or so during the housing boom that are so spread out in order to get the maximum amount of lots on the course that you really have to ride. when i got to play Tom Watson's course here in KC, i was extremely happy to see that the place is very walkable without a bunch of houses in the middle of everything mucking it all up.

[ND Fan]

It is a shame but it's also just an economic fact. I am on our clubs golf committee. Our club does not allow for private carts. Cart revenues runs about $340,000 annually. That money is really needed to support the club, without it the club would not exist. We have a shortish old style course that is a joy to walk but still maintains a 133 slope rating. I walk more than half my rounds and I get the second class treatment at times when i do walk. I am not a slow player by any means, I am scratch golfer who also enjoys the game the way it was meant to be played. My cousin is a member at East Lake where I do not believe they allow carts, it's caddy only as far as i know. Now East Lake doesn't have to worry about money as their membership rates are astronomical as compared to most other clubs. Carts don't bother me that much at our private club because our membership is made up of primarily well informed golfers, who the respect the golf course and other players, slower groups allow faster groups to play through etc. Seeing that this is the case where I play, I do not have the disdain for golf carts many on here have. If someone wants to ride so be it. The money they pay for that privledge is enough for me to sit back and be thankful I have a nice place to play for a reasonable rate where I can get up and tee off any day of the week any time of day and not worry about getting done in less than four hours. For me it's a small price to pay for that kind of freedom.

Mandatory carts is a jerky move and I wouldn't play a course that required them.

[Marrrk]

[quote name='tElihu' timestamp='1307724176' post='3298355']
I REALLY miss walking all the time, but being in So. FL, carts are not only the norm, but walkers are looked at as pariahs by other golfers. It's so ingrained down here that you MUST take a cart to play golf that you'll get less looks playing shirtless than you will by walking.
[/quote]

that, i think, is the worst part about all of this. a change in the culture of the game completely for the worse.[b] i'm glad carts exist, sometimes they truly are a benefit, [/b]but beyond the carts themselves, who have no voice in this fight, the golf culture in the states has been irreparably harmed. and that is what makes me sad. literally. it's just a sadness.

[msean]

[quote name='zukszoo' timestamp='1307712683' post='3297839']
If people used better cart etiquette, carts would be better for pace of play.

Around the greens, park the cart where you will be exiting to the next tee.
Put your club away when you get to your next shot or when your partner is selecting a club.
[b]Write the score down on the next tee box. I hate when people sit there, for what seems like 5 minutes, writing all the scores down.
[/b]Once both people are in the cart, GO! Don't you love it when the riders are in the cart and it sits there while they tell each other about their shots they just watched each other hit.
But most people will never care enough to worry about moving along faster, they paid for their cart and they will get their moneys worth.

I agree with the OP. Bugs me to no end when a course does not allow you to walk. Played the TPC Sawgrass in 2003, on the last day it was open for play before The Players. There was no walking allowed that day AND it was cart path only. Those cart paths are a long way from the other side of some of those fairways. It added at least 45 min to the round that day. At least the course was perfect and fun to play to help make up for the frustration of not even being allowed to carry a bag.
[/quote]

Not to get too far off topic but I've thought about that bolded section above before and always end up thinking that if they would design carts so that the scorecard was on the passenger side rather than on the steering wheel this wouldn't be an issue.

To the OP's point, I think that cart revenue is only half of the reason (at least in my area) why there are so many walking unfriendly courses. I think the other half is that developers must have insisted on having too many homesites on the actual golf courses and the courses ended up sprawling through these huge neighborhoods. There are courses around me where hole after hole you cross streets and cover ridiculous amounts of ground while getting a view of the back of every house in the neighborhood, not very scenic.

[ND Fan]

Nobody in the last 20 years has designed a golf course with the intent of making it walker friendly and hence less revenue generating. Money makes the world go 'round.

[ABT]

I work out at the gym at my work 5 days a week from 6AM to 8AM. That's 10 hours of hard exercise than most people do per week. When I play golf on the weekends, I only ride but I have no problem with people walking. Hate is a big word to use for something that you dislike or don't want to do. It doesn't make you fitter or better than me because you walk. Chances are that you have higher fat percentage than people like me that work their a** off at the Gym (where it belongs) and go enjoy golf on the weekend.