6-17-01, John Shearer's column, 569 words
Is Golf Becoming a Laz-Y Boys Sport
By John Shearer
IPS Features
The recent Supreme Court ruling allowing professional golfer Casey Martin
to ride in a cart in tournaments because of his physical affliction has made me
ponder what has happened to golf.
The Casey Martin case does not really bother me. What does is that 95
percent of golfers nowadays do not consider playing golf without renting a cart.
In the old days before the
invention of the mobile Laz-Y-Boys, golfers would walk 18 or 36 holes a day and
actually look as if they had played a sport when they were finished. Nowadays,
many look as if they have been out for a day on the boat – and not forgotten
to bring their coolers of beer.
The closest many people in 2001
come to making golf into anything resembling an athletic event is when they
imitate discus or hammer throwers by flinging their clubs into the lake after
bad shots.
I guess you can see that I am
one of the few people who prefer walking to riding when playing golf. And, like
Mr. Martin, I have a physical reason for my strong opinion – I am always
battling a bulging waistline.
Being one who tries to burn as many calories as I can so that I am not as
fat as some of my shots, I enjoy walking when I play, even if the terrain of the
course is as rugged and challenging as Pike’s Peak.
About all I want to keep fat is my wallet by avoiding the expensive cart
fees.
I know that most courses in the
country with the exception of crowded resort courses allow people to walk. And
every course, from a public course in the country to a swanky private country
club in the city, has golfers who enjoy walking as much as I do.
For some reason, the vast majority of these walking enthusiasts, however,
are retirees. But maybe that is the reason they have lived so long.
As for this 41 year old, I cannot ever find many golfing partners who
prefer walking. My golfing friends seem to have similar interests as me, except
when it comes to walking or riding.
As a result, I sometimes feel peer pressure to ride. I am afraid if I
tell my playing partner I would prefer walking, he might get offended and think
I am implying that he smells bad and that I do not want to sit by him.
Maybe I should seek out the
local marathon runners club and see if any of its members like to play golf. Of
course, they would probably be so tired from all their long distance running
that they might be ready to ride in a cart.
I have actually thought of a
new sport that combines my love for jogging and other exercise with my love for
golf.
What I have come up with is a game in which one plays golf on foot, but
he must complete 18 holes in an hour to have his score counted.
This, of course, would mean
that he would have to jog, or perhaps sprint, between shots, and he would not
get to stand over his shots long. But maybe I would have an excuse for missing
three-foot putts.
After a round like that, I would definitely be ready to sit down in a
cart, or maybe an ambulance.
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