Golf allows you to get outdoors, socialize and burn some calories. How many calories you burn is determined by how much you weigh and the way you prefer to play golf. Mary Sayler and Lori Siegel, authors of "The Encyclopedia of the Muscle and Skeletal Systems and Disorders," note that weight has a significant impact on the number of calories a golfer burns. Using a motorized cart decreases the number of calories you burn, while playing a regulation course, which usually takes three or four hours on average, ups your caloric burn rate. Two hours of golf likely will get you through nine holes and give you a decent, relatively low-impact workout.
The Math
The number of calories you burn performing a physical activity can be calculated rather simply if you have the correct information, according to a study published in "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise." To figure the calories for golf, start by multiplying your body weight in kilograms by 3.5. Multiply the product of this equation by the activity's "metabolic equivalent intensity level," or MET, using levels specific for golf. Divide the total product of the equation by 200 to get the number of calories burned. The equation generally is expressed as: (MET x body weight in kg. x 3.5)/200 = calories burned.
Walking and Carrying Clubs
Obviously, the greatest exercise benefit to golf is the amount of walking required. Those who carry their clubs while playing, as opposed to using any kind of cart, benefit from the extra weight and resistance that their clubs present as they walk. The MET for walking and carrying clubs has been calculated at 4.5. If you weigh 150 lbs. and carry your clubs while golfing, you burn about 640 calories in two hours; a 200-lb. golfer burns 860 calories and a 250-lb. golfer about 1,080 calories after a two-hour round of golf.
Walking and Pulling Clubs
Walking and pulling your clubs in a cart burns fewer calories than carrying your bag but still provides a decent two-hour workout. The resistance offered by the cart, particularly when going uphill, enhances the MET for the activity to a number that is still considerably above walking without any form of resistance. The assigned MET figure for walking and pulling a cart is 4.3. Using the equation, a 150-lb. golfer uses 500 calories during a two-hour round. If you weigh 200 lbs., you burn about 660 calories; if you're closer to 250, you shed approximately 840 calories.
Using a Motorized Cart
Because little walking is done when using a motorized cart, playing golf in this manner burns relatively few calories. A golfer who uses a motorized cart walks only about 20 to 25 percent of a course, usually carrying only a single club. Riding in a car has a MET figure of 1.0, while walking has a MET of 2.5. A cart golfer spends around 30 minutes of a two-hour round walking and the rest of the time riding. Thus, a 150-lb. cart golfer burns about 240 calories over a two-hour period. If you are heavier, you burn more calories: 330 calories at 200 lbs. and around 415 calories at 250 lbs.
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