In this guide we will talk about how golf can be a great form of fitness and exercise due to the high amount of calories burned golfing. You’ll learn how many calories are burned during a round of golf for the average male and average female, but like any statistic, there will be variances so nothing is 100% accurate.
Variances that will impact how many calories are burned golfing include:
- Are you a male or female golfer?
- How much you weigh
- Are you walking or riding in a golf cart?
- How many holes of golf are you playing?
- Walking and carrying clubs vs walking and pushing clubs
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How Many Calories Does Golf Burn?
The Average Calories Burned for a Male and Female
Whether you’re a male or female will impact how many calories are burned golfing since male’s tend to burn more calories naturally than females. Your weight will also play a factor in calories burned golfing. Heavier individuals tend to burn more calories than lighter weight individuals during exercise.
Male Calorie Burn Playing Golf:
- Looking at a 200 lb. male, it would be expected that calories burned golfing would be between 400-500 calories per hour.
- A 150 lb. male would burn between 250-400 calories per hour.
Female Calorie Burn Playing Golf:
- A 170 lb. female would burn between 250-400 calories per hour
- A 130 lb. female would burn between 200-350 calories per hour
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Walking vs Riding Calories Burned
You should also consider whether you’ll be riding in a golf cart or walking the golf course during your round of golf. Those who choose to walk the golf course will burn more calories since they’ll finish with more steps taken as compared to a golfer who elects to ride in the cart.
Riding in a golf cart can still burn a significant amount of calories per hour and for the entire round of golf as a whole. There will still be plenty of walking around on the golf course for those who are riding in a cart for their rounds.
According to a recent study by Harvard, it was found that the average male burns 100 calories more per hour by walking as opposed to riding. For example, if walking the golf course typically burns 400 calories per hour, then riding an electric golf cart would be in the range of 300 calories per hour.
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The Number of Holes Played Impact Calories Burned
Golfers who play 9 holes will usually burn less calories than golfers who play 18 holes. This is because 18 holes takes longer than 9 holes so the golfer spends more time and energy at the golf course, thus resulting in more calories burned golfing.
The average round of golf for 9 holes can take 2 hours to 2.5 hours and for 18 holes this can range from 4 hours to 5 hours.
Therefore, if a male golfer burns 400 calories per hour on average, we can estimate a 9 hole round of golf would burn 800-1,000 calories roughly.
For 18 holes, this same male golfer would burn between 1,600 – 2,000 calories playing golf.
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Walking While Carrying Clubs
Let’s assume you decide to walk the golf course instead of riding in an electric cart. You feel like walking will help you get more exercise while playing golf and you’ll burn more calories playing golf by walking.
Now you’ll face the decision of whether or not to carry your golf clubs on your back or if you’ll choose to use a push cart and push your golf clubs around the golf course as you walk it.
If you choose to carry your golf clubs, studies have found that you’ll burn around 1,600-1,800 calories with some people burning close to 2,000 calories.
Walking with a Push Cart
Walking the golf course while pushing your golf clubs in a push cart surprisingly burns a similar amount of calories as you do carrying your golf clubs. You can expect to burn between 1,600 – 1,800 calories during the 4.5 hour golf round using a push cart.
Riding in a Golf Cart
An electric golf cart can be a time saver, helping you move from the tee box to your golf ball in the fairway much faster than walking. But this also means less time spent exercising. Time is a big part of the equation when calculating calories burned golfing, so shortening up the time spent on a golf course will mean less calories burned.
But you’ll still get plenty of steps in walking from the golf cart to the tee box and back. Same with walking from the golf cart onto the fairway to hit your approach shot. And once you’re near the green, you’ll have to get out of the cart and walk several yards to get onto the green to putt your ball into the hole.
These steps add up. Golfers will see over 10,000+ steps on a golf course over their 18 holes and this should also lead to 1,000-1,400 calories burned for the average male golfer.
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Final Thoughts on Calories Burned Golfing
Overall, golf is a great form of exercise. It works your entire body from your leg muscles to your core as well as your arms and back muscles. Make sure to stretch well before playing a round of golf and make sure to stretch after to help get the lactic acid out of your muscles, especially your legs after all of that walking.
The amount of calories you burn while golfing will depend on if you’re a male or female as well as how much you weight. It also matters if you’ll be walking the golf course or riding in a cart and how long you’ll be golfing for, which depends on if you play 9 holes or 18 holes.
So as you can see, there are many variables which makes it impossible to calculate the exact amount of calories you’ll burning golfing.
But a good rule of thumb is the average male golfer will burn 300-400 calories per hour and the average female will burn 200-350 calories per hour. Multiply this by how long you were at the golf course to get a rough estimate of total calories burned golfing!
For more accurate calories burned golfing, try wearing a fitness watch when you go play like the Apple Watch or Fitbit Versa 3.
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