For Some Golfers, Walking is the Only Way to Go on the Road

By Shane Sharp,
Contributor

FORT MILL - Gene Ballard is 71 years young, has been teeing it up at the Fort Mill Golf Club for 30 years, and would never consider taking a golf cart.

He may only be able to walk a few holes in the oppressive summer heat, but you'd have a better chance of finding a dozen Titleist Pro V1's golf balls in stock than finding Ballard buzzing down the fairway in some EZ-Go.

"As far as I am concerned, it is the only way to play the game," he says. "I do it for exercise. If I play in a foursome and they are in carts, I will walk all 18 holes. It makes a lot of difference. You can walk off shots to see how much yardage you have, and you are not tied to a cart."

Paul Schaefer and Jamie Lightsey are 13 and 14-years-old, respectively. Neither are old enough to rent a golf cart, and frankly neither of them seem to care. Both say that even when they are old enough to rent a cart, they will keep on walking if given the choice.

"I play better when I walk," Lightsey says. "I have made a lot of friends that way, too. I just have the most fun when I walk. That is the way it's supposed to be played. It hasn't turned out that way, but it's still not too bad."

Ballad and Lightsey are generations apart, but philosophically on the exact same page in terms of what walking means to the game of golf. So why is it that the golf cart has become as much a part of the game's landscape as greens, fairways and bunkers?

According to local golf professionals, it's all about time and money.

Bud Welch, head professional at Carolina Downs Golf Club in York, says cart usage has become as common as using tees and golf gloves.

"Carts have become like the round ball," Welch said. "If people want to walk, they will mow the yard. They like to ride so they can relax and carry their drink. But not to fool anybody - courses need the revenue from carts."

Jeff Holler, head professional at Waterford Golf Club in Rock Hill, says he prefers to see golfers walk despite the potential loss in revenue from cart fees. Waterford has liberal walking policies that allow golfers to hoof it before 10 a.m. and after 2 p.m. any day of the week.

Still, Holler estimates, 90 percent of the courses' patrons opt for golf carts.

"The modern courses built within the last 30 years are just bait to sell real estate," Holler says. "On paper, they are routed through the development. I would like to see more walking. I wish it were more accessible, but I don't think we'll see that change."

One advocate for change over the years has been the United States Golf Association. The USGA requires walking in all of its qualifying events, and promotes a "right to walk" faction that pushes for walk-friendly policies at all courses.

Happ Lathrop, the Executive Director of the South Carolina Golf Association, says that the USGA's advocacy doesn't necessarily trickle down to its member associations.

"More times than not, golf courses donate their facilities to us, so they require carts to recover the revenue they are losing," Lathrop says. "The state amateur championship allows walking, and of course, the juniors can't use carts. We try to encourage, but actually discourage walking because of revenue."

Walking and its relationship to golf have entered the national spotlight as of late.

On May 28, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of letting professional golfer Casey Martin use a golf cart between shots on the PGA Tour. Martin has a circulatory disorder in his right leg called Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome that makes it painful for him to walk long distances.

In its ruling, the Court held that the act of walking is not fundamental to the game of golf, and the requirement that players walk the course during tournaments could be waived in certain situations.

Local figures would support the Supreme Court's interpretation of walking not being a fundamental part of the game - at least at the recreational level.

Officials at Tega Cay Golf Club say that approximately 98 percent of their patrons use golf carts. Carolina Downs estimates are only slightly lower, at 96 percent. The recently opened Springfield Golf Club in Fort Mill, espoused as a "traditional" golf course, estimates that 95 percent of players use carts to get around its hilly terrain.

The Fort Mill Golf Club is one of a small group of local courses that may truly be traversed on foot by almost any player. Head professional Carl Jamison estimates that the classic Donald Ross/Gene Hamm designed track gets 20 percent of its play from walkers.

Jamison laments the popularity of the golf cart, but agrees with the Supreme Court ruling in the Martin case.

"I don't think it is (an integral part of the game) anymore," he says. "Golfers are wanting to ride. When I first got into this business, we walked. We didn't have any carts. But now you have a lot of courses designed for housing developments later on. The distances between greens and tees keep people from walking."

Mike Bartholomew, head professional at Springfield, says his Leroy Springs-owned layout was never conceived as being walkable, simply because of the rolling terrain. He agrees with Jamison that walking is a dying part of the game, but he also sees hope for walkers in the future.

"It is coming back," Bartholomew says. "Significant architects are designing them that way. Pete Dye is designing courses for walkability, like his new course at Barefoot Resort in Myrtle Beach. But if there is development around it, forget about it."

Golf course architect Clyde Johnston, who designed Springfield, says that most architects are proponents of walkability. However, Johnston acknowledges that course architects can only incorporate as many walk-friendly design elements into a layout as their clients see fit.

"It's a negotiating position," Johnston says. "We try to emphasize (to developers and owners) that there is a decent size of the population that likes to walk. But they are looking at it from a standpoint of how many course front lots can I get."

The Course

Fort Mill GC may be one of the last remaining "hidden gems" in the Charlotte metro-golf scene. The cliché is so overused when it comes to out of the way golf courses, but it actually applies in this case. The course is as well conditioned as many private facilities, and with two of golf's greatest architects represented in one course design, variety is the name of the game.

Ross's front nine is a bit more wide open, whereas Cobb's back nine plays through the rolling hills of the lower Piedmont. As you might expect, the greens are harder to solve than a Charlotte murder case. Ross has provided his typical turtle shell dance floors, and Cobb's larger greens offer only a slight reprieve.

Where to Stay

All that walking is going to make you tired. Fight the temptation to stay in one of the Holiday or Ramada Inns along the I-77 exits. Instead, head back down to Rock Hill and check in at The Book and the Spindle Bed and Breakfast (803-328-1913). The "B and S" is set in a circa 1930's house that is as luxurious a digs as you will find in this little South Carolina town. If you are the type that likes to eat in, the suites actually have kitchens for your cooking pleasure.

About the Area

The Fort Mill city limits brush right up against Charlotte, and thousands of Charlotteans go in and out of this little border town every day without realizing it. But Ft. Mill has managed to put itself on the map by housing the Charlotte Hornets' practice facility and the Charlotte Knights (AAA White Sox), as well as one of the area's better public golf courses in Regent Park.

Shane Sharp is vice president of Buffalo Communications, a golf and lifestyle media agency. He was a writer, senior writer and managing editor of TravelGolf.com from 1997 to 2003.