Does riding in carts compromise competitive golf?

John Daly's Open Championship petition revives an old debate.
John Daly, pictured here during PGA Tour Champions competition in 2016, has increasingly relied on getting around via cart in tournaments, even petitioning to use one in the 2019 PGA Championship and 2019 Open Championship. He received special permission for a cart in the former, but not the latter.

ORLANDO, Fla. - It was the strangest sensation.

I had qualified for the 2016 Florida Open, easily the most prestigious tournament I'd ever competed in. The pristine range at Orange Tree Golf Club in suburban Orlando buzzed with dozens of really good golfers. The putting green was roped off, open only to competitors. Florida State Golf Association signage announcing the event abounded. In other words, there were all the trappings of serious competitive golf.

But there was something extra: rows and rows of golf carts, loaded not only with competitors' stand bags but plenty of cart and bulky staff bags, too.

I knew about this going in, having read the entry information that appears on the FSGA website:

The cost of a cart fee is included in the entry fee. All players must ride and their bags must be on the cart. Caddies are welcome but must walk.

That's right - the golf association with America's most extensive schedule conducts all of its events, except for junior tournaments - with players riding, not walking.

Having grown up in Connecticut, I had assumed all other associations' events were walking-only, too. That this wasn't the case was was a surprise at first, but it makes some sense on further investigation.

"Carts are a near necessity in Florida," said FSGA executive director Jim Demick, who told me the association has provided carts for players for more than 30 years. He added a fairly comprehensive defense of the policy.

The mandatory-cart policy's chief concerns have to do with Florida's aforementioned climate. "Florida is the lightning capital of the U.S. and we must frequently evacuate all players very quickly," Demick said. "Carts are the most dependable method."

And, he added, when the storms hold off but heat and humidity beat down on golfers,"carts provide shade, can carry extra drinking water and provide cooling when moving."

Course routing (particularly distances from one green to the next tee) and pace of play are other reasons Demick cites as motivation for the policy. But the most telling one regarding Florida's general golf culture is that players who compete in state tournaments simply prefer carts "by a very wide margin...particularly during the extended summer months in Florida."

In light of John Daly's denied application to use a cart in next week's Open Championship, Demick feels the FSGA's policy is helpful, especially in allowing players with health issues to compete because they "feel more included and don’t have to ask for any special accommodations."



I find it hard to argue very spiritedly with any of these points. Still, despite Demick's cogent argument, I doubt playing scorecard-and-pencil, grind-it-out competitive golf from a cart will ever feel totally comfortable to me.

Since threesomes are used for most tournaments and qualifiers, I'm often hoping that I'll be the odd player in the group who gets his own cart for the day, not because I'm antisocial but because I find it easier to deal with the emotional roller-coaster of a competitive round of golf when I can keep to myself. And when I end up being part of the cart with two players and am in the passenger's seat, my inner control freak gets antsy. None of these concerns crop up when everyone is walking; players can walk and chat or separate whenever they wish. That said, I will happily continue playing in FSGA events because I would rather compete from carts than not compete. I will get my steps in elsewhere.

One historical argument against carts in competition stems from the assumption that players play better from carts than on foot. When Casey Martin requested dispensation to use a cart in the 1998 U.S. Open, Jack Nicklaus said, "I am concerned for Casey Martin; however, I very much believe that to play the sport, you have to have the physical part of it, too," speaking in opposition to Martin's petition.

Casey Martin, a Stanford University teammate of Tiger Woods, was able to use a golf cart in the 2012 U.S. Open. He has been through several protracted legal battles over petitions to use a cart in competition, owing to his having a degenerative leg condition called Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber syndrome.

For what it's worth, I actually find I play a little better when I walk. The physical exertion helps slow my tempo down - I can't jump in a cart and speed off angrily after a poor shot - and I take in the course in a more logical, linear way than I do when zigzagging and looping from station to station and approaching greens unnaturally, from the sides or rear.

"Those who walk in golf," says my colleague Bradley S. Klein, "have a fuller experience of the game - and of life."

Living in a state whose main tournaments require carts has given me a newfound appreciation for my opportunities to walk the course, in competition. If I play in a 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifier here in Florida this August, it will be on foot, because even though the FSGA will oversee the round, the historically cart-averse (just ask John Daly) USGA's policies supersede those of any state association, though they do permit caddies to use carts to carry players' clubs at several qualifying sites.

For my part, I look forward to the exercise, but I'll be sure to drink plenty of water.

(Note: the Golf Channel Am Tour does not have a strict carts-only policy. When its events visit courses where walking is allowed, competitors have the option to walk or ride during play.)

Weigh in below - how do you feel about tournament golf played from carts?

Tim Gavrich is a Senior Writer for GolfPass. Follow him on Twitter @TimGavrich and on Instagram @TimGavrich.
126 Comments
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I think it should be up to the individual to walk or use a cart in everyday golf for amateurs. As you get older it becomes more physically challenging to walk 6 or 7 miles while playing a round. I play at resorts in northern Michigan and most courses there have long stretches between holes. It would be almost impossible to walk some courses there and maintain a decent pace of play.

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Walking for all non-senior tournaments on the PGA should be required. If a NFL player is hurt he decides to play or not to play but can’t request special dispensation in order to play. Same for golfers. In the Champions your I think exceptions should be considered.

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The use of a cart should be at the option of each player

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Can’t imagine more carts than supporting services. However, golfers with a limited time disability would not add that much confusion.

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I believe I played better when I walked.
It gives you time to look around and check the conditions before you get to the Ball.
Pulling a 2 wheel cart bothered my back and I started riding.
Don’t have caddies where I play, never tried a remote bag cart or 3 wheeled cart.

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Carts are a part of golf every single day and actually speed play up so therefore they should be used especially when a player has a physical disability

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I did enjoy walking the golf course. Due to my physical disabilities I can no longer walk. I have played the game for 54 years and have no plans to quit. By eliminating carts for the physically challenge players the tournament eliminates someone chance to see a favorite golfer. In the United States we have the American Disability Act. It has allowed me to keep playing. It has also allowed many Senior Players to still compete longer. Why penalize players that have the ability, but have a physical issue that limits ability to walk the golf course.

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In competitive professional golf - walking the course is the only proper way to play. If golf is going to be classified as a professional game, played by athletes, then walking the course has to be mandatory. The fitness of the golfer should be a factor in their performance. If the FSGA claim that the weather is so intense and unpredictable, that riding in a cart is the only way to ensure a golfer's safety, then what they are really saying to the world is - Florida is not the place for professional golf to be played. As for Daly's petition - get real John! If he is out of condition and needs to spend some time in the gym in order for him to compete, then so be it. Easier to do that, than for the world of golf to change just for him. This ios just so typical of the "Me First" generation.

I prefer to walk, because then and only then Golf totally is a body and spirit experience, which I cannot match with a cart and which I don't want to miss. But please, I accept all other opinions and practices. Using a cart, should not be a matter of To be or Not to be. Specially Oldies or handicapped people may profit from carts to be able to enjoy this game. But: the use of carts needs new rules! Why? Simply because they change the Competition of human beings.

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If you ever had leg or back issues and still could play/wanted to play I see no reason not to let a person use a cart. This old belief of you must walk to be equal is crazy.

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Does riding in carts compromise competitive golf?