Golf round worth a week of exercise

GOLF widows might suspect their partner’s leisure pursuit is merely a euphemism for a gentle stroll followed by a few G&Ts in the club house.

In fact, the game is a superb form of exercise and its health benefits are often overlooked, according to a leading cancer charity.

During a typical round of golf, players walk four to eight miles, taking between 11,245 and 16,667 steps, Mac- millan Cancer Support said. If you are carrying your own golf clubs, this would burn around 1,564 calories, the charity added, citing research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

A round of golf amounts to 240 minutes of moderate to intensive activity – way beyond the Department of Health’s recommendation that adults take at least 150 minutes of such exercise every week. Research among 300,000 Swedish golfers found their death rate was 40 per cent lower than others of the same sex, age and social status.

This amounted to a five-year increase in life expectancy.

Macmillan is organising a fundraising event in which golfers will play four rounds over the 16 hours of daylight on June 21, the longest day of the year.