My playing partners insist on walking when I want take a cart. What should I do?

So everybody else in your group decides to walk, but you want to take a cart. What should you do next? We asked GOLF.com’s resident low-handicappers for some advice, golfer-to-golfer…

1. Go for a stroll!

Dylan Dethier (+3.3 handicap): Depending on your physical limitations, I’d recommend taking a stroll with your buddies! Walking has a ton of benefits. It’s good for your health, good for conversation, keeps the flow of the round going and makes that post-round beer that much more satisfying. There are often halfway solutions, too: Can you walk the front nine and take a cart for the back? Whatever you do, don’t hold it against ‘em. When it comes to golf, to each their own.

2. Follow the group

Luke Kerr-Dineen (2.5 handicap): Personally, I prefer to walk. But I’m a big go-with-the-flow guy on matters like these. It’s not bad etiquette to take a cart when everybody else is walking (or vice versa), but it always just feels a bit awkward. Unless you have a good reason, my advice on walking vs. riding is to follow the lead of everybody else. I’m not a purist either way.

3. Compromise with a push cart

Ashley Mayo (3.1 handicap): There’s no rule that says everyone in a foursome needs to adopt the same mode of transportation! I’d recommend you try walking, it’s a great way to exercise while playing and I firmly believe golf courses were designed specifically with walkers in mind, But if you’d really rather not walk, just grab a cart and ride slowly alongside your walking buddies. Also, before you forego walking altogether, try using a push cart. Or strike a balance and walk the front nine then ride the back nine. There truly are no hard and fast rules!

4. Walking is better

Zephyr Melton (5.5 handicap): I’d recommend getting out and walking! I started walking a majority of my rounds last year, and it’s really enhanced my enjoyment of the game.

5. Do what you want

Josh Sens (6 handicap): I don’t see a big issue here, unless your riding irritates them, or their walking irritates you. In some cases, you might have to be patient, like on holes with long hauls between greens and tees. But in other cases (cart path-only courses, for instance), you might have to take special care not to hold them up. (In my personal experience, walkers are often faster players than riders). Lastly, at the risk of sounding preachy—have you tried walking the course with them? You might like it more than you think.

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Dylan Dethier

Dylan Dethier

Dylan Dethier is a senior writer for GOLF Magazine/GOLF.com. The Williamstown, Mass. native joined GOLF in 2017 after two years scuffling on the mini-tours. Dethier is a graduate of Williams College, where he majored in English, and he’s the author of 18 in America, which details the year he spent as an 18-year-old living from his car and playing a round of golf in every state.

Luke Kerr-Dineen

Luke Kerr-Dineen is the Game Improvement Editor at GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com. In his role he oversees the brand’s game improvement content spanning instruction, equipment, health and fitness, across all of GOLF’s multimedia platforms.

An alumni of the International Junior Golf Academy and the University of South Carolina–Beaufort golf team, where he helped them to No. 1 in the national NAIA rankings, Luke moved to New York in 2012 to pursue his Masters degree in Journalism from Columbia University. His work has also appeared in USA Today, Golf Digest, Newsweek and The Daily Beast.

Zephyr Melton

Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com where he spends his days blogging, producing and editing. Prior to joining the team at GOLF, he attended the University of Texas followed by stops with the Texas Golf Association, Team USA, the Green Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists on all things instruction and covers amateur and women’s golf. He can be reached at zephyr_melton@golf.com.

Josh Sens

A golf, food and travel writer, Josh Sens has been a GOLF Magazine contributor since 2004 and now contributes across all of GOLF’s platforms. His work has been anthologized in The Best American Sportswriting. He is also the co-author, with Sammy Hagar, of Are We Having Any Fun Yet: the Cooking and Partying Handbook.