Home   >   Activities   >   The health benefits of golf

The health benefits of golf

By on February 14, 2023

“Golf is a good walk spoiled” was probably not said by Mark Twain, but is certainly an excellent summary of how a lot of people feel about the game; that is – if they don’t think it’s a game played only by wealthy, unathletic people who have too much time on their hands.

However, golf (and the world) has moved on since the days of Huckleberry Finn, Bing Crosby and John Daly. The average professional golfer now spends around 4 hours a day in the gym; the natural social distancing involved and the simple fact that many golf courses stayed open when other activities were shut down by Covid restrictions, has brought many new people to the game; and research is increasingly showing that golf is not only good for your physical health, but also for your mental health and well-being. So what are the benefits to your health from playing golf?

Golf gets you out into nature.

It was the naturalist Edward O’Wilson who popularised the term ‘biophilia’, the innate human love of the natural world. His research and that of a growing number of others has given us fresh insight into this ancient drive to connect with the countryside. Particular attention has been given to the benefits to mental health, and time spent in nature has been shown to reduce depression, anxiety, stress and mood disorders and to increase the quality of sleep, levels of happiness, ability to concentrate and remember, and the number of positive social interactions.

This is very important, not least because mental health issues are on the rise across the world and now account for roughly one third of years lived with disability. Current research points to between 3 and 5 hours per week being the optimum time to spend in nature to give your mind the maximum benefit. After this, the returns diminish. In Japan, the majority of golf clubs recommend golfers play each hole in no more than 15 minutes, so playing an 18 hole round once a week is just about perfect.

Golf enhances a good walk.

Of course, all of these benefits can be had without paying money to walk around with a heavy bag full of metal sticks. So, in what ways could golf not spoil a walk but potentially enhance it? There are many. The first is very simple: golf is a healthy addiction. Once you have caught the bug, you want to get out there at every opportunity, and once you make that decision, the exercise follows automatically. If you walk 18 holes, the distance you cover is around 4-5 miles and, unless you are that rare golfer who hits the ball perfectly straight every time, you will probably walk quite a bit further. In Japan, golfers typically use a buggy that follows a path. Estimates of how many steps a round of this type entails vary but, speaking from experience,  I can say that I do not do less than 10,000 and sometimes as many as 20,000 steps on a golf day including walking to the station etc. It’s not only those who participate who can benefit in this way. At the 2014 Ryder Cup, played at Gleneagles in Scotland, the spectators collectively walked the equivalent of 4 laps of the globe!

Another way golf adds value is that it is an inherently social activity. Being connected to people you like and trust, ‘social capital’ in the psychological jargon, is estimated to have a positive effect on health similar to giving up a 15-cigarette-per-day tobacco habit. Golfers can be a moody bunch, but a shared love of the game and the convention of playing in groups of 2 to 4 people has a tendency to dissolve divisions such as age and occupation and provide a natural way to form new friendships and alliances. This is a particular boon for urbanites who live in areas that do not form natural communities and are thus, potentially isolated. In the case of golf, the internet, which can otherwise enable isolation by providing solitary distractions, provides a boost to social capital by making connecting with fellow enthusiasts even easier. In Tokyo, and, no doubt everywhere golf is played, there is an abundance of social media-based golfing groups that organise regular outings, social events and competitions for players of widely varying abilities and resources.

Overcoming Barriers

It is true that there are still several barriers that deter people from experiencing the real benefits of taking up the sport. One of these is the obvious one of all – cost. Golf is not free like a walk in the countryside and there is also the investment in equipment and perhaps lessons and practice sessions. However, the growth of popularity in golf in recent years has lead to a large number of courses that are both accessible to non-members and affordable for the majority of working people. This is especially true for people who can play on weekdays and/or who are prepared to play in the less popular winter and summer months when the cost can be as little as half the high season and weekend prices.

Another justifiable perception of golf is that it is difficult to learn. I sometimes think back on my own learning curve and wonder if, had I known how much time, effort and heartache it would take to reach my current, exceptionally average level, I wouldn’t have stuck to hiking! However, learning is both satisfying in itself and good for the brain. A Japanese study for example found that of the almost 44,000 seniors they surveyed, men who engaged in more leisure time pursuits, such as golf, that required focussed cognitive activity were 28% less likely to have a dementia diagnosis in the following 9 years.

In their report ‘Golf & Health 2016-2020’ the R & A (the governing body of golf in the UK) states that: “The growing focus on health is likely to have contributed to the increasing inclusivity and diversity within the sport.” The desirability of good health, if not the means of achieiving it, is something almost everybody can agree on and the growing evidence that golfing is good for mental and physical health in manifold ways, has lead to initiatives involving an increasingly diverse range of groups. Thirty six countries, for example, now have golf for the disabled programs. Additionally, the perception of golf as unwelcoming to women is changing with Ladies Professional Golf Associations in the US, Japan, Korea and Europe becoming increasingly popular and lucrative. Indeed, women’s golf in South Korea far exceeds the popularity of men’s events with the top ladies even having fan clubs with memberships of well over 10,000.

Prescribing Golf

It’s surely the dream of every golfer who is married to a non-golfer to be able to say to their spouse: “Honey, of course I’d rather spend Saturday with you and the kids, but my doctor has prescribed a round of golf and you wouldn’t want me to ignore the advice of a health professional, would you?”

Since 2018 doctors in the Shetland Islands have been allowed to prescribe nature-based activities. Even a half round of golf (9 holes) is very close to the weekly 150 minutes which the World Health Organisation (WHO) makes a requirement to meet their exercise guidelines. This is also the amount of time Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) recommends that adults over the age of 65 do ‘moderate intensity activity’.

Golf is increasingly seen as good for older people. There are the aforementioned benefits in terms of reduced risk of dementia; but also grip strength, essential for good golfing, is a significant indicator of vitality in older age. In Japan, golf is already popular among retired people, many of whom took up the game in the boom years which peaked in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Encouraging younger generations would thus, seem an easy and obvious benefit in a nation with an aging population and a crisis in healthcare funding. Add to this the estimated $6 trillion annual global benefit to mental health outcomes that getting out into nature provides and it’s easy to see why the medical establishment would be minded to prescribe a round of golf over expensive drug treatments and, increasingly, be willing to subsidise the cost of a round for those who need financial help.

The Jarman Cup is an event held monthly at Eastwood CC in Tochigi. Its philosophy is that people of all ability levels are welcome no matter how they identify in terms of ethnicity, nationality, gender or occupation. The Saturday April 29th event will be held to benefit TELL, the Tokyo-based mental health NPO. Contact <rob@coachtokyo.net> for details.

About Rob Russell

Rob Russell is a lecturer at Aoyama University and former supervisor at the Tokyo English Lifeline (TELL).