I love to play golf and I love to walk the golf course. After all, the Pros walk when they play golf and if walking is good enough for them why not me? Ideally I would love to have a Caddie carry my bag but it's not an option at my golf club. So the question comes down to carry my golf bag or use a push-cart or pull-cart. I've tried them all and I choose to carry my golf clubs. Here are the reasons:

? TIME

? CONVENIENCE

? HEALTH

Time ? I want to play golf without standing around waiting all the time and most golf courses require you to play at a certain pace in a specified amount of time. With a carry bag I can play at a quicker pace then when using a handcart. To be honest, if I could always hit the ball down the middle it wouldn't make that big a difference, but hey, once in a while my ball flight doesn't go exactly as planned and I occasionally find myself off the fairway. Now at the golf course where I play, if you are "off the fairway" you might be in the woods or down the side of a canyon or next to the creek. If I were using a cart I would have to leave my golf cart, go after the ball to hit it or retrieve it and then come back to my cart. But with a light carry bag I just bring it along for the adventure. I am able to walk just about anywhere and still keep my golf clubs with me. You can save a lot of time when you don't have to go back and forth to your golf cart.

Convenience ? Another thing about my golf course is the size of the greens. We don't have the small "postage stamp" greens but mostly rather large greens. Everyone knows you can't roll a golf cart across the greens but if you are carrying your golf clubs you can walk across the greens instead of having to walk around every single one. I sometimes get a little annoyed when the slow group in front has some "hand cart" golfers who seem to always want to park their cart at the front of the green. Then when the group is done putting you have to wait for the guy to walk back towards you and get his cart and then push it around the green.

Health - Let's face it. The natural way to walk is with your arms and hands are down at your sides and free to swing as you move along. A natural way to walk is NOT with your hand held out behind you or in front of you so you can pull or push a cart. When you are carrying your golf clubs with a carry bag it just is a more natural walk, which has to be healthier. Also, I think there is less fatigue involved when you can use a natural walk. Try taking a 5-mile walk with your hand stuck out behind you. I don't think so!

So you must agree that when walking for your round of golf it only makes sense to use a carry bag for time, convenience and health. Try it and find out for yourself and remember to hit it down the middle.

Ron Lute is an avid hacker and wannabe golfer. When he is not on the golf course he is working on his website Wholelottashopping.com where you will find other thoughts on various things along with shopping guides and product reviews.