(ST. ANDREWS, SCO) – The University of Edinburgh in conjunction with the Golf & Health Project released new research about the health benefits of golf spectating, showing those who attend golf events could potentially gain benefits similar to those playing in them.

The study is the first to assess spectator physical activity while watching golf, showing that of the fans surveyed, 82.9% met the recommended daily step-count levels by achieving on average 11,589 steps.

The study suggests that golf spectating can provide health enhancing physical activity; whilst also allowing spectators to spend time in green space, socialise with friends and family, and watch their sporting heroes compete in real life.

Those surveyed rated obtaining exercise as an important reason for attending golf events, equal to seeing star players, being part of the ‘atmosphere’ around an event, and getting fresh air.  60% also said they would like to be more physically active after the tournament.

These reasons for attending events could have benefits for event promoters in terms of engagement with spectators, local communities and funding organisations, along with wider public health implications in encouraging people to be more active more often.

The studies, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, and BMJ Open Sports and Exercise Medicine are part of the Golf & Health Project, which is supported by the World Golf Foundation.

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Find out more about the Health Benefits of Golf Spectating at www.golfandhealth.org/spectating

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Researcher, Dr Andrew Murray, from the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre at the University of Edinburgh, urges golf executives to emphasise the physical benefits of golf spectating:

“Walking is one of the best things you can do for your health, adding years to life and increasing health and happiness.  These pilot findings show golf spectators can experience physical activity to benefit their health while watching a top quality sport at close quarters.  This could have huge implications on event attendance and encouraging more people to attend a professional event or begin playing the sport.”

Further research could include assessing how best to provide physical activity information to spectators at events, larger and more representative samples allowing for a better estimation of accrued physical activity and potential gender and age differences, along with whether golf events could be used as ‘teachable moments’ to help educate and inform people on the benefits of physical activity in general.

Anecdotal evidence found that over 20,000 spectators had tagged all the checkpoint locations around the 2014 Ryder Cup site at Gleneagles walking 5 miles each, and collectively walking a distance equal to four times around the world.  6500 spectators completed a health walk of 10km each during China’s Shenzhen International in 2016, collectively walking the equivalent length of the Great Wall seven times.

The health benefits for spectators at tournaments may vary depending on weather conditions, culture, types of tournament and golf course terrain.

Further information, news and features on the Golf & Health Project: www.golfandhealth.org, @GolfAndHealth on Twitter and ‘Golf and Health’ on Facebook.

For queries relating to the Project, contact [email protected] and for media queries contact [email protected].

EDITORIAL NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.

Cedrick Smith MD

Subject: Change Venues From Trump Courses
8-16-2017

Pete Bevacqua, CEO
PGA of America
100 Avenue of the ChampionsPalm Beach Gardens, FL 33418
(561) 624-8400

Mr. Bevacqua,

There is accumulative evidence of the moral compass of Donald Trump and it is counter to all the initiatives of the golf programs and foundations teaching our golfing youth of today – from honesty and integrity to courtesy and respect espoused by organizations like The First Tee to The Little Linksters. Your organization fired former president Ted Bishop over a sexist tweet and rightly so.

Tiger Woods has not competed since February because of a back injury and is not expected to return this year.

August 9, 2017

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Tiger Woods has agreed to plead guilty to reckless driving and will enter a diversion program that will allow him to have his record wiped clean if he completes the program, a prosecutor said on Wednesday.

Woods, 41, was charged with driving under the influence in May when he was found asleep in his Mercedes-Benz, apparently under the influence of a prescription painkiller and sleeping medication. No alcohol was found in his system.

Woods did not appear at the Palm Beach County courthouse for his arraignment. Prosecutor Adrienne Ellis said Woods agreed to plead guilty at an Oct. 25 hearing and enter the county’s program for first-time D.U.I. offenders.

“He is not being treated any different than anyone else,” Ellis said.

Woods’s lawyer, Douglas Duncan, entered a not guilty plea to the D.U.I. charge on Woods’s behalf and declined to comment as he left the courthouse.

RELATED STORY: Tiger Woods Arrested and Released In Florida for Suspicion of DUI

Under the plea deal, prosecutors would drop the D.U.I. charge, which is a more severe charge than reckless driving. If he completes the program, he can ask a judge to expunge the reckless driving conviction.
In the diversion program, Woods will spend a year on probation, pay a $250 fine and court costs, attend D.U.I. school and perform 50 hours of community service. He would also have to attend a workshop where victims of impaired drivers detail how their lives were damaged and face other conditions. Since the program began four years ago, almost 2,400 defendants have enrolled, according to the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office.

If convicted of driving under the influence, Woods would have faced a fine of $500 to $1,000, had his car impounded for 10 days and other conditions. He also could have been jailed for up to six months, although that was unlikely; received probation; and lost his driver’s license for six months to a year.

Read more of this story at AssociatedPress.com

We’ve followed Micaa’ Thomas since her younger years, in 2013-14, when she was the National and International AAU Golf Champion in her age group,” says Debert Cook, publisher, African American Golfer’s Digest.

“It was back in 2015, as a recent graduate, she was a three-time high school golf champion at Archbishop Spalding in Severn, Maryland. Now, Micaa’ has developed into an even more skilled golfer who is following her dreams at the College of Art and Design in Atlanta, Georgia.  We’re so proud of her accomplishments.”

Thomas also captured the attention of AAGD when the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) held its annual golf championship at the Lake View Course at Calloway Gardens, Pine Mountain, Ga., on April 26-27, 2016.

The two-day tournament featured 11 AAC Women Golf teams battling for an appearance at the National Association of Interscholastic Athletics (NAIA) National Golf Championship that coming May, in Savannah, Ga. Thomas, then a Freshman and member of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Atlanta Campus, Women’s Golf Team, was the Medalist for this major event and won her way into an opportunity to battle on the national stage in Savannah.

RELATED STORY: Micaa’ Thomas, African American Golf Hall of Fame Inductee, Wins Optimist International Qualifying Tournament

Now, coming off of her most recent flight win at the Maryland State Golf Association’s Women’s Amateur Championship, Thomas, 19, a Bowie native and Archbishop Spalding graduate, notched her third career win at an MSGA event when she won at Hillendale Country Club in Phoenix, Maryland in July.  Not surprising to many, knowing the ambitious personality and notable history of this May 2015, inductee into the African American Hall of Fame (West Palm Beach, FL).

Following 18 challenging holes of stroke play, it became the determining factor as to the fate of Thomas and which women would compete in the championship flight. Handicaps of the golfers lined-up match-play on the rest of the field.   Being a strong player, Thomas is a 1-handicap golfer. She went on to compete in the second flight and out-placed her first two opponents. After 19 holes with her final opponent, Julia Calomiris, Thomas claimed Championship title.

It was a tightly contested round of match play the entire round. After Thomas won the 17th hole, she moved to 1-up with one hole to go, but Calomiris forced an extra hole when she sank a 20-foot birdie on 18 to beat Thomas’ par and tie the match.

Both Thomas and Calomiris returned to the par-5 first hole to resume their heated round of play. On her second shot, Thomas’s ball went far right, landing under a tree at approximately 114 yards from the hole. Some presumed this would be the end for Thomas, however, with her mother (and caddie) Cheryl Thomas by her side words of encouragement flowed, “My mom, she’s telling me, ‘You know it’s OK if you don’t win this. At least you got here, to this point,'” Thomas’ mom reportedly said. But Thomas’ confidence rose and she admitted, “I’m just like, in my head, ‘No, I have to do this, for me.'”

With that positive attitude Thomas hit a 9-iron, and her ball skidded past a greenside bunker and came to rest on the fringe of the green. She had a downhill, left-to-right breaking, 10-foot birdie putt — This gave her just what she needed to hit, “the slightest tap possible” — but it just missed, and left her with having to shoot a four-footer for par.

But Calomiris unbelievably missed her par putt.   Thomas had one more opportunity to and took full advantage of it. “I analyzed the mess out of that putt,” Thomas said.

Thomas put the ball in the cup and put an end to the match. She said it was the first time she played a playoff hole in match play.

The round may well be the greatest moment of the summer for Thomas, but she can’t sit on her laurels, as she will soon start her junior year at Savannah College of Art and Design’s on the Atlanta campus this fall.

The focus that she plays with is increasing each year and her rise in the game has lead her to competed in local events on the Golf Channel Am Tour, an amateur golf tour in which women and men compete side-by-side, and tied for second in one tournament in Havre de Grace.

Her ultimate golf is to continue to play at her very best, staying focused, with her eyes on earning her LPGA Tour card after she graduates.

To pass along her golfing skills and tips, Thomas lends her time teaching golf to youngsters aged 4-11, twice a week, at Bowie Golf Club in partnership with the Sisters Who Swing Golf Association, a non-profit that has supported Thomas in the past.

“With me growing up, I had role models that I looked up to,” Thomas told reporter Zielonka. “I feel like with me doing all these tournaments and wanting to follow my dreams, that (younger people) should also have that as well. What better way to do it than actually being there and helping them, hand on hand?”

Nicole West and her sister Dionne serve as strong role models for Thomas, who met the Wests and their father, Bill, at Langston Golf Course in Washington through he First Tee of Greater Washington that had her involved there.

“It’s been great to see her grow and mature over the years and just become a great young woman overall,” Nicole West said to reporter Zielonka. “Not just in golf, but overall.” Cheryl Thomas admits to witnessing how Thomas has matured, and, how as a mom, she is able to keep her calm while caddying for her.

“She’s more mature. The maturity is definitely there,” Cheryl Thomas said. “She’s learning how to analyze things better and not get so riled up in her mind. She’s always focused.”

Companies and others can make tax-deductible contributions in Micaa’s name online to the Sisters Who Swing Golf Association (SWSGA).  “This will help to cover golf instruction fees and summer college tournament expenses, including entry fees, airline fares, food, gas, car rental, hotel, and other expenses,”  says Micca’s father, Michael Thomas.  As an alternative, tax-deductible contributions may also be mailed to: Michael Thomas, P. O. Box 1243, Bowie, MD 20718. Contact Michael Thomas for more information on how to support Micaa’s golf via email at [email protected] or at 240-432-2997.

Certainly a bright future in golf is still on the horizon for Micca’ Thomas.