It is generally known that playing golf has health benefits,
particularly if one walks instead of taking a cart—and carrying your bag as
opposed to using a push- or pull-cart increases the benefit. But did you know
that watching golf can also be good
for you?
Of course, we’re not talking about sitting on the sofa with
snacks and a cold beer, watching the weekend’s pro tournaments—that’s not a pathway to better health. But
studies have shown that spectating, on site, at a live tournament, carries
health benefits. It’s not difficult to figure why, either—it’s all about
walking.
Depending upon the length and layout of the golf course,
walking while playing a round of golf involves anywhere from three to four and
a half miles of walking, and spectators following a favorite golfer during a
tournament will log a similar distance. A study conducted by the University of
Edinburgh in conjunction with the Golf
and Health Project at the 2016 Paul Lawrie Match Play, an event on the
European Tour, showed that of 339 spectators surveyed, 82.9% met the
recommended daily step-count levels while at the event, averaging 11,589 steps.
The full text of the report on that study can be found at http://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/3/1/e000244.
Golf is unique among sports in this regard. Spectators at a
tennis match, or a football, baseball, or basketball game—basically almost any
other type of sporting event—are generally sitting down, in the same location,
for the duration of the event, fulfilling the promise of the origin of the
word, which is from the Latin spectare,
which means “to gaze at or observe.”
Spectators at a golf tournament, however, are afforded the
opportunity to engage in an activity while observing play; in fact, if they
want to see all of the play of a certain player or group of players, they are required
to be active, because not even the most compactly laid-out golf course can be
viewed from a single location. Walking along outside the ropes to follow a
group of players is the only way to see an entire round of golf.
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Some information on the health benefits of
walking while watching golf.
(Graphic sourtesy GolfandHealth,org)
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Dr Andrew Murray, from the Physical Activity for Health
Research Centre at the University of Edinburgh, urges golf chiefs to emphasize
the physical benefits of golf spectating:
“Walking is one of the best things you can do for you
health, adding years to life, and increasing health and happiness. These pilot
findings show that golf spectators can gain physical activity that could
benefit their health—while watching top quality sport at close quarters. This
is something that could have huge implications in terms of event attendance and
encouraging more people to get interested in the sport.”
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