You Know We're Doomed When There's A Push Cart Debate

The electric golf cart, which makes grown men and women look utterly ridiculous as they tootle around a perfectly walkable links while doing immeasurable turf damage, does not offend.

But some young lads with nice GPA's at one of the world's great universities deciding they have a physical advantage using a small, harmless-to-turf push cart? Now that's just wrong!

Bo Van Pelt, who pays someone to carry his oversized piece of luggage around every week, expressed disdain for the players not carrying their bags with outraged former NFLer Trent Dilfer, as John Strege noted in an excellent piece at The Loop about the positive role push carts may play in having a healthy back (I'm pretty sure the walking aspect doesn't need to be explained).

Strege talked to Dr. Neil Wolkodoff, medical director of the Colorado Center for Health and Sports Science, who has conducted a study on the physical benefits of using a push cart vs. carrying.

As for the the notions that a push cart looks bad or was not how the game was meant to be played is an archaic one, Wolkodoff said.

“That’s a stupid way of looking at the game of golf,” he said. “Think about it, 1880 in Scotland, guys…didn’t have near as many clubs as we lug around. As for a cart, you would have to have taken wagon wheels, and a two-wheel cart would have weighed 400 pounds. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it now.

“Things have changed. Golf has accelerated the demands on the body over the last 20 years. Practice schedules are far more rigorous. It’s a full-time endeavor [at the college level]. If we can do something to help ameliorate it we should do it.

Of course this is an entirely American phenomenon, as the rest of the world has no issue using trollies. I noted this in a Golf Digest story on The Australian Way three years ago. Also note the quotes from the USGA's Mike Davis supporting their usage.

State Of The Game Podcast 39: Ran Morrissett

Yes, two weeks and two State of the Games. Last week's chat with Richard Gillis was excellent in case you missed it, and this week we welcome another one of the game's brightest people in Ran Morrissett, co-founder of GolfClubAtlas.com, a member of the Cabot Links team and one of the most trustworthy critics of golf architecture on the planet.

As a resident of Southern Pines, North Carolina, Ran kicks off our discussions about Pinehurst and the golf mecca that it is as the U.S. Open is less than three weeks away.

As always, iTunes is a super place to listen or download episode 39, or you can subscribe there, or if you haven't been sucked into the Apple ecosystem, there's always the option to download it as an MP3 or listen below.

Top Golf: "Not Your Grandfather's Driving Range"

Luke Kerr-Dineen travels to Austin for a May Golf Digest look at TopGolf, part of the fast growing network of driving ranges that have taken the bowling alley concept, switched in golf and made the entire thing cool for just $20 an hour, $40 on weekend.

If you've been to one, I'd love to hear your thoughts?

It's 4 p.m. on a typical Thursday in February, and the TopGolf Austin driving range is packed. All of its more than 100 hitting bays are full. If you want to hit balls today, put your name on the nearly two-hour wait list and head to the bar.

Most people aren't used to waiting to hit balls on a range, but for the people of Austin, a few hours spent in line for one of the city's hottest social spots is expected.

Here golfers don't simply bash balls into the distance. They aim at various targets around the range. Hit into one and you're automatically assigned points that appear on the television screen at your bay. The farther the target and the closer you hit to its center, the more points you get. Think darts.

Add loud Top-40 music, a menu that wouldn't seem out of place in a New York City gastropub, a sleek design, and out pops TopGolf—a self-styled "sports-entertainment facility" that's ascending through the golf industry unlike anything in recent history.