Play golf and live longer!

The health benefits of golf are endless. Even a professor of sports science can attest to it. Read about Elin Ekblom Bak's study on golf and lifespan - and hear about the Gillberg couple who have truly taken her words to heart.

At times, golf seems like the most frustrating thing you can spend your time on – when the clubs won’t obey you, the putts don’t go in and you’ve left your rain gear at home. But not much comes close to that feeling of being out on the course on a sunny afternoon in June with good friends, great coffee in your Thermos and walking to the next tee with two solid pars behind you.

But exactly how well do you actually feel?

As part of the golf boom during the pandemic, the Swedish Gold Federation felt it was time to update its toolbox with arguments for how good golf actually is from a health and wellness perspective. So the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences with Elin Ekblom Bak, Associate Professor of Sports Science, at the helm, were given the task of compiling a report on the health benefits of golf.

In terms of heart rate and maximum pulse, golf doesn’t compare to football, cross-country skiing or running. Depending on the player’s age and fitness level, golf is a low to medium intensity sport. On the other hand, we generally play for a lot longer than other sports which brings with it many positive health benefits. In addition, golf has the second-lowest risk of injury of all sports in Sweden, after Varpa (an ancient throwing game similar to boules or horseshoes).

After an 18-hole round of golf, you’ve walked an average of 11,000 to 16,500 steps. Even using a golf cart, you’ll get up to around 6,000 steps. Staying regularly physically active, playing two-three rounds a week, for example, is associated with lower risk for up to 40 common diseases. Such as type 2 diabetes, stroke and dementia. The physical activity counteracts underlying risk factors such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, obesity and poor fitness.

It might sound obvious, but reaching the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended number of steps per week is good for your health. Still, golf has a few more health benefits to its name. The report even shows that golfers actually live longer than non-golfers.

Golfers have a higher expected life expectancy of a full five years compared to non-golfers. Regardless of gender, age and social class. Those who live longest of all are the golfers with the lowest handicaps, which isn’t too surprising considering that you have to play quite often to maintain your low handicap. It’s the active lifestyle that plays the biggest part in life expectancy, but the researchers consider it likely that the game of golf itself is a major factor too.

When you hit a driver or longer iron, where greater force is required, you’re basically activating the muscles throughout the entire body, especially in the hips, trunk, back and shoulders. The shift of weight in your stance when you swing, from both the legs to the front leg, also involves an important element of balance. The fact is that our balance actually starts weakening in our 20s if we don’t exercise it frequently. Your golf swing, as well as while walking up and down slopes and on uneven surfaces, exercises your balance without you thinking about it.

For people over 65, falls are a common cause of broken bones and other injuries. The consequences of a fall also reduce quality of life, as fear of falling again becomes a factor. The report shows that confidence and trust in your balance is significantly higher in elderly people who play golf compared to those who don’t.

Was there anything about the results that surprised you?

“Maybe not surprised but a penny definitely dropped. Of course, many people play golf for the love of the sport, the challenge and the social aspect, and perhaps not principally for the physical activity. But then you get this enormous amount of activity as a bonus. When you stand on the first tee you have, almost inevitably, somewhere between a two and a four-hour walk ahead of you. In my work in the public health arena, we try to get people to take a ten minute walk at lunch. Telling an office worker ‘now you need to go out for a two to four hour walk’ just doesn’t work”, says Elin Ekblom Bak.

In addition to the number of steps, the activation of muscles and balance, we can’t forget the brain – the concentration, coordination and precision of the short game. And a little frustration from time to time. But it doesn’t stop there. A significant part of the well-being and the longer life expectancy in golfers comes from meeting other people.

Golf is very unique in its sense of community. You can play with and against all ages and players of different levels. You meet up in the clubhouse for lunch or a drink or get put together with a couple of friendly strangers. The golf course gives you the occasion to socialise with existing friends but also to meet new ones.

What can be said for golf’s impact on mental health?

“Even though there are few studies specific to golf, we can draw parallels with other studies that have looked at the significance of socialising, outdoor activities, walks and similar pursuits. Things that counteract loneliness. The experience of being outdoors and socialising is very positive regardless of whether it’s to play golf, go bird watching or go hiking”, says Ekblom Bak.

There’s even evidence to show that physical activity out in nature, called “green exercise”, reduces stress, anxiety and depression.

So the next time you end up in an annoying position, with one foot in the bunker and the other up on the edge, try thinking about how good it is for your balance. The next time you’re wandering around in the rough looking for your ball, remember how good it is for your blood sugar levels. And next time you get to rejoice a birdie with friends or strangers, just keep rejoicing for as long as you can.

Elin Ekblom Bak, Associate Professor of Sports Sciences and former professional golfer.

One couple who’ve really adopted the golfing lifestyle are Göran, 78, and Ann-Britt, 77, Gillberg. During the summer season, they live out on Askersund Golf Club outside Örebro, just three minutes’ walk from the first tee.

The couple started playing golf over 50 years ago, actually by pure coincidence.

“I was working at an advertising agency here in Örebro and one day my manager came in and said ‘Göran, now you need to start playing golf.’ They’d started something called the Swedish Advertising Agency Championship in golf and for our advertising agency to take part and win, there needed to be two of us, so I just had to start. Then Ann-Britt started playing as well at the same time.”

Ann-Britt and Göran Gillberg

If I were to tell you that studies show that golfers live five years longer than non-golfers, what would you say?

“Yeah, that’s what I usually say as well, that it’s thanks to golf that we’re so energetic and healthy. They say you should walk ten thousand steps a day to feel good and you get that with a round of golf”, says Göran.

The ten thousand step recommendation isn’t necessarily aimed at the over 75s, but it obviously seems to work.

How much golf do you play during the high season?

“Göran plays every day! OK, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but at least four times a week minimum, on average. And I play maybe twice a week”, says Ann-Britt and continues:

“You know, when you start at the onset of spring it’s gets a little more intensive, since we live on the golf course as well. Then you step down a little as the season goes on.”

What do you think is the best thing about playing golf?

“Ah, just being able to get some exercise in an enjoyable way, to walk and to meet people. There are so many benefits, but most of all it’s being out in the fresh air. And just having a plan for what to do; today we’re playing golf and that takes 4.5 hours”, says Ann-Britt.

Fanny Persdotter