As somebody who prefers to walk and carry my bag, I’ll be the first to admit that there’s a little bias here, but I firmly believe that the ability to walk 18 holes – or 72 holes – should be a prerequisite for any golf tournament where cash prizes are being handed out.
If you’re playing in your weekend club competition, then good luck to you and if you want to be sped around on four wheels, then more power to you. It’ll likely speed up play for whoever’s behind and if you end up beating me by a point or a stroke, then I’ll take my beating graciously. Weekend and social golf is primarily about enjoyment after all.
But the issue of cart riding in professional events has once again reared its ugly head at this week’s Senior Open Championship, where John Daly withdrew after being denied the right to ride, Paul Broadhurst, Bernhard Langer and Vijay Singh also had their requests turned down but played regardless, and Tim Herron was the sole player whose request was granted.
Since each case is assessed on its own merits, and Herron has used a cart in each and every competitive round he’s played in the past four years, his was deemed worthy, but rule No. 1, which states that if you’ve walked during a tournament in the past 12 months, then you are deemed fit to do so, was the stumbling block for each of the others.
It’s a dicey subject though, particularly when we’re talking about the elder generation, and brings into question exactly what constitutes golf. Is golf merely the execution of a series of shots, or is golf the execution of those shots and walking unaided in between?
We all know that golf, especially at elite levels, is as much a mental game as it is physical, and physical fatigue leaks into the mental side. That’s one of the reasons why the vast majority of the game’s leading players are physically in peak condition.
This is one area where I’m at odds with Pádraig Harrington, who came out in support of the players who’d had their requests turned down.
“I don’t think we should have golf carts for all the players in a senior major, but I certainly think the guys who are medically injured are different,” said the three-time major winner, whose own left knee is in need of surgery. “Vijay is a genuine case as he doesn’t walk well. He was struggling to walk out there this morning. Paul is another one and also Bernhard. I’m surprised they aren’t in carts. Look, we are on the Champions Tour. We could just ease off a little bit. I know this is a major, but we are also an exhibition. It’s our last hurrah to wave at the crowd and enjoy it.”
Is it really an exhibition when there is a $2.85 million prizefund up for grabs and the winner’s share, which is yet to be formally announced, is expected to be in the region of $500,000?
I believe that if one player is to be allowed take a cart, then the same courtesy should be extended to all 154 in the field and if a player opts to walk instead or ride, then that’s their own prerogative.
Tiger Woods has famously said that he won’t ever ride a cart while playing in PGA Tour events or Major Championships, even though the likelihood is that it would make him competitive again. It will likely be a different story once he turns 50 and becomes Champions Tour eligible, but even as much as I look forward to seeing Woods play competitively and try to complete the USGA set and add the U.S. Senior Open title to his U.S. Junior Amateur, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open titles, the question remains, should he be allowed and others not?
Carts for all or carts for none would be my preference, but then again, players in carts and a few million dollars on the line wouldn’t exactly be my preference either.
Maybe I’m just hard pleased.