![\"Cycling](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/New-Project--4-.jpg\")
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Culture<\/a><\/p>\n What is it about golf that appeals to a bunch of pro cyclists? We hit the links with one to find out.<\/p>\n By his own admission, Cyrus Monk<\/a> isn\u2019t \u201canywhere near the best cyclist in the world\u201d. He\u2019s ridden at the ProTeam level, raced some of the biggest races<\/a> in the world, but the majority of his career has been spent racing on the Continental circuit (most recently for Chinese team FNIX-SCOM-Hengxiang).<\/p>\n But among pro cyclists, Monk stands out in a rather different way. With a golf handicap of 9, the Australian is in truly rarified air when it comes to the professional peloton.<\/p>\n \u201cMy goal was to have a 6 watts\/kg threshold, and then play off single figures,\u201d he tells Escape. \u201cI think at this point I’m not far off 6 W\/kg \u2013 I’ll have to do a FTP test \u2013 [but] I think that would be a very rare combo worldwide. For the non-golfers out there, single figures in the golfing world is probably like 5 W\/kg. But it’s just so rare for cyclists to be good on the golf course.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019ve met at the Yarra Bend Golf Course just east of central Melbourne, to play nine holes together and talk about the intersection between cycling and golf. The ways the sports are similar, how they\u2019re different, what it is that draws him to both.<\/p>\n \u26f3<\/p>\n Golf handicap explained<\/p>\n In simple terms, a golfer\u2019s handicap is a numerical measure of their playing ability, allowing players of different abilities to compete against one another. When calculating scores, each player\u2019s handicap is deducted from the total number of shots they take. The lower the handicap, the better the player.<\/p>\n Teeing off<\/p>\n It\u2019s clear from Monk\u2019s first tee shot that we\u2019re fighting in different weight classes. His swing is a thing of grace and power that cannons the ball well down the fairway. My tee shot is more garish than graceful but by some miracle, I make good contact and follow him into good position. As we walk down the fairway together, I joke that I\u2019ve hit my best drive of the day. It\u2019s a prediction that will prove painfully accurate.<\/p>\n Like many Australians who golf, Monk followed a family member into the sport. As young as three he was out the front of his grandfather\u2019s house, whacking balls around a makeshift hole, and by his teens he was playing regularly at his local course, the Drouin Golf & Country Club, 75 minutes south-east of Melbourne. Weekly lessons laid the foundation for a solid technique and while he\u2019s played less ever since he committed himself to cycling, he still plays whenever he can.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were definitely times [where] I wish I committed more to golf than cycling and kept going a bit longer,\u201d he says as we walk. \u201cBut I\u2019m pretty happy that I started young and [I\u2019ve] still got a decent swing without having to work on it too much.\u201d<\/p>\n Monk says he\u2019s definitely a better cyclist than golfer, noting that golf has a way of keeping you humble.<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever I start thinking I’m going OK at golf, I’ll go out and play with some old blokes locally that are still hitting it better than I am, or scoring better than I am, even if they’re not necessarily hitting it better,\u201d he says. \u201cBike riding, for sure, is the only way I can make a career as a sportsperson.\u201d<\/p>\n But was that always going to be true for him? Or putting it another way, what do genetics have to say about our proficiency at various sports?<\/p>\n Athlete level World-class elite Serious amateur Weekend warrior A rough comparison of how cycling and golf ability might line up.<\/p>\n Choosing your parents<\/p>\n Most people can swing a leg over a bike and go for a ride but the upper echelons of the sport are almost exclusively the domain of the genetically blessed. Don\u2019t have genes that predispose you to a sky-high VO2max? You can forget about making it as a pro cyclist. Golf, though, might be a different story.<\/p>\n This post is for paying subscribers only Already have an account? Sign in<\/a><\/p>\n Did we do a good job with this story?<\/p>\n \n \ud83d\udc4dYep![\"Matt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Matt-de-Neef-150x150.jpg\")
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\nThreshold power (cycling)
\nHandicap (golf)<\/p>\n
\n6 W\/kg
\nScratch (0) or better<\/p>\n
\n4-5 W\/kg
\nSingle digits (1-9)<\/p>\n
\n2.5-3.5 W\/kg
\nMid to high (15-25)<\/p>\n
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\n \ud83d\udc4eNope\n <\/p>\n