There\u2019s a moment in almost every walking round when it clicks. You\u2019re not rushing. You\u2019re not waiting on batteries, paths, or traffic. You\u2019re simply moving through the golf course the way it was designed to be experienced\u2014one step at a time. <\/p>\n
It might happen on a quiet walk with a putter in hand, already reading the green before you reach it. Or between shots, when a conversation stretches naturally because no one has peeled off into a different cart. Or when you notice a contour, a bunker edge, or a wind line that somehow escaped you for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWalking golf isn\u2019t some alternative version of the game. It\u2019s just golf. It\u2019s how courses were designed, how conversations were meant to flow, and how the experience makes the most sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Stewart<\/p>\n
That belief sits at the center of a wide-ranging AmateurGolf.com podcast conversation with Stewart\u2014Co-Founder and CEO of Stewart Golf\u2014and Rob Rigg, Founder of the Walking Golfer Society. What begins as a discussion about walking quickly turns into something deeper: golf culture, health, community, technology, and why walking may be the most overlooked upgrade in the modern game.<\/p>\n
Falling in love with the game on foot<\/p>\n
For Rob Rigg, walking golf isn\u2019t a preference\u2014it\u2019s where the game took hold. Growing up in Toronto, golf wasn\u2019t a daily fixture. Hockey was. But summers spent in Ireland changed everything. Long days on foot. Caddying for family members. Walking 36, even 54 holes when daylight allowed. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat hooked me wasn\u2019t just hitting shots. It was being out there all day, walking the course, talking, laughing, finishing in the clubhouse. Golf felt bigger than a score\u2014it felt like a shared experience.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u2014 Rob Rigg <\/p>\n
Stewart\u2019s path was different but arrived at the same conclusion. Raised in England, surrounded by walking-only golf culture, he never thought twice about whether you\u2019d ride or walk. Walking simply was the game. What stayed with him wasn\u2019t scoring\u2014it was time. Time spent with people, drifting between conversations, truly present in the round. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a realization many golfers have only after returning to walking: riding fragments the group. Walking keeps it whole. <\/p>\n
The Walking Golfer Society: born from a simple question<\/p>\n
The Walking Golfer Society didn\u2019t begin as a business idea. It began during a wet Portland winter, fueled by golf architecture rabbit holes and a practical frustration: how hard it is in the U.S. to know whether a course is genuinely walkable. <\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t trying to change anyone\u2019s behavior. I just wanted golfers who enjoy walking to have better information before they booked a tee time.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u2014 Rob Rigg <\/p>\n
Courses built through housing booms, routed over hillsides, or stretched across rugged land can be wonderful\u2014but punishing to walk. The Walking Golfer Society aimed to bring clarity: simple walkability ratings, honest reviews, and an emphasis on experience rather than dogma. <\/p>\n
When technology supports the walk, not replaces it<\/p>\n
Stewart Golf entered the conversation not as a disruptor, but as a supporter. Stewart describes electric caddies not as replacements for walking, but as enablers\u2014tools that make walking accessible to more golfers without changing the soul of the round. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe best technology in golf should almost disappear. When you\u2019re thinking about the tech more than the course, something\u2019s gone wrong.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Stewart <\/p>\n
Stewart compares follow technology to cruise control: invaluable at the right moment, invisible when not needed. The philosophy is simple\u2014engineer everything around stability, ease, and flow, so the golfer\u2019s attention stays where it belongs. <\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my favorite moments in golf is a long walk with a putter in my hand. You\u2019re already in the hole before you reach the green. That\u2019s golf thinking time\u2014and walking gives it back to you.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Stewart <\/p>\n
COVID, community, and a quiet shift<\/p>\n
The pandemic accelerated something already waiting to happen. Forced into single carts or separated groups, many golfers discovered walking\u2014and realized they preferred it. More conversation. More awareness. Less fatigue. <\/p>\n
\u201cI kept hearing the same thing: \u2018I never walked before, and now I don\u2019t want to go back.\u2019 People noticed parts of courses they\u2019d played for years without ever seeing.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u2014 Rob Rigg <\/p>\n
The challenge now isn\u2019t convincing golfers walking is good. It\u2019s sustaining momentum\u2014supporting a community that already understands what walking gives back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a moment in almost every walking round when it clicks. You\u2019re not rushing. You\u2019re not waiting on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[16669,16668,64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-344186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-amateur-golf-news","tag-amateurgolf-com","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}