Walking Golf Is the Best Exercise You're Not Counting

Let's be honest. By the time you reach the 14th hole, you know exactly how your round is going to end... not just on the scorecard, but physically.

If you're carrying your bag or wrestling a push buggy up another rise, fatigue isn't a feeling you're fighting off anymore. It's already winning, and that's when your concentration dips, your swing gets sloppy, and the back nine that started with promise turns into something you'd rather forget.

Here's the thing: the problem might not be your game. It could be the load you're carrying getting there.

Most golfers don't think of themselves as athletes mid-round - but the numbers tell a different story.

The R&A's Golf & Health Report, led by Dr Andrew Murray of the University of Edinburgh and incorporating findings from the R&A's own Strength & Balance Study, confirmed what many golfers already know from experience: walking the course is genuinely good for you.

An 18-hole round covers, on average, 6–8 km of walking and roughly 13,000 steps. Well above the widely recommended 10,000 steps per day. Even a 9-hole round logs around 5,000 steps and 3–4 km. Walk 9 holes once a week at a brisk enough pace, you'll clock at least 150 minutes of activity, meeting the World Health Organisation's weekly physical activity guidelines.

Beyond the step count, walkers also benefit from sustained moderate cardiovascular activity, where heart rate is maintained in a healthy aerobic zone for 3–5 hours. Other benefits include improved balance and coordination, time spent in green space (proven to reduce cortisol and anxiety), and meaningful social interaction. Research has even shown that regular golfers live, on average, five years longer than non-golfers.

Walking golf isn't exercise pretending to be recreation. It's both.

Here's where most golfers get the equation wrong.

The health benefits above assume you're walking the course, not that you're doing so while carrying heavy clubs on your shoulders, or pushing a manual buggy up a gradient with your lower back doing the work.

That energy deficit compounds over 18 holes. What begins as physical effort becomes fatigue. Fatigue becomes tension. Tension becomes inconsistency in your swing.

Carrying or pushing clubs around the course also measurably increases the risk of back, shoulder, and knee injuries, as well as muscular strains. You're not just tired by hole 14, you're also putting your body under unnecessary load, round after round.

Dr Antoni Jakubowski, a leading chiropractor who has helped Major champions including Justin Rose and Sir Nick Faldo overcome back injuries, is direct on this point:

"Speaking from a professional point of view, a powered trolley is a necessity for amateur players — not just for the performance benefits, but long-term injury prevention as well… For an amateur player, an electric trolley is as important as a caddie is to a professional, and I strongly advise all my golfing patients to use one over carrying or pulling their clubs around a course for future enjoyment and continued good health."

An electric buggy doesn't reduce the exercise of walking golf. It removes the penalty that carrying and pushing inflict on top of it.

Think about your last 18 holes. When did you feel freshest? When were you most focused... shot selection, putting, recovery from hazards?

For most amateur golfers, the answer is the front nine. Energy is up. The body hasn't accumulated the fatigue of kilometres walked and kilograms carried. The mind is clear.

The back nine is where equipment choices show up most clearly. A golfer who has used an electric buggy all day arrives at the 14th tee without compensating for a sore shoulder or a tired lower back shortening their swing.

That golfer enjoys the whole round more.

For Australian golfers who want to get more out of the game, the evidence is clear:

Walk the course. An 18-hole round averages 13,000 steps and covers 6–8 km. Above the recommended daily step count and enough to meet WHO weekly exercise guidelines in a single Saturday morning.

Protect your body. Carrying clubs increases energy expenditure and injury risk. Carrying or pushing extra weight doesn't add to the health benefits of walking itself.

Use an electric buggy. It's not the lazy option; it's the smart one. You get all the cardiovascular and mental health benefits of walking without the compounding physical toll of carrying or pushing. As Dr Jakubowski tells us, for long-term enjoyment and good health, an electric buggy isn't a luxury. It's a necessity.

Motocaddy is the world's leading electric golf buggy brand, trusted by over 1 million golfers worldwide to get more out of every round. Our range of electric buggies are built around one goal: helping you walk further, play better, and enjoy the game for longer.

_{Sources: The R&A Golf & Health Report (2020), supervised by Dr Andrew Murray, University of Edinburgh. Motocaddy Trolley Market Report (Sporting Insights, 2026). Inside Golf Australia walking distance study. Dr Antoni Jakubowski, leading chiropractor.}