In an article by Becky Sauers posted on Tallahassee.com, research conducted by Neil Wolkodoff of the Rose Center for Health and Sports Sciences (Denver, Colo.) was used to show roughly how many calories were burned playing an average 9-hole golf course. According to the article golfers who walk and carry their own bag burn 721 calories, golfers using a pull cart burn 718 calories, golfers walking with a caddie burn 613 calories and golfers riding in a golf cart burn 411 calories on average.
According to research presented in the article, burning 2,500 calories a week can greatly reduce the risks of heart disease, diabetes and cancer. As such, it is easy to see how playing more rounds of golf can factor into a healthy lifestyle.
In addition to measuring the healthy benefits of golf, Wolkodoff’s study looked at how a golfer’s score was affected by the way they transported their bags. According to those findings, golfers using a pull cart were able to post the lowest average scores. For more specifics on Wolkodoff’s findings, click HERE to read the Sauers article in its entirety.
In related golf / health news, it is important to recall a recent study conducted by the Karolinska Institutet (Sweden) that found the death rate for golfers is 40 percent lower than for other people of the same sex, age and socioeconomic status. This equates to a 5-year increase in life expectancy for regular golfers.
The study was published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports and is based on data compiled from studying 300,000 Swedish golfers. For more information on this particular study, click HERE to view an article posted last year on redOrbit.com.