Sunday, July 27, 2008

Golf Adds Five Years to Life


Just a couple of days ago The Arizona Republic, the daily newspaper of Phoenix, published an article on the findings of a study by the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. The conclusion: playing golf can add five years to a person’s life.

There are several important points to note here. First of all, it is nice to see that other countries shank away tax dollars with less than critical social-physical-economic studies. The investigation involved 300,000 golfers. Now the only way to study that many golfers is to go to the golf course. The implications here are obvious. I have already forwarded by credentials to volunteer as a staff member for the next golf-related study in Scandinavia.

Secondly, the study concluded that the lower than handicap the greater the benefits in playing the game. The reason is self-evident. In order to maintain a low handicap, you must play and practice more. Ergo, more golf equals better health. I have without hesitation informed my loving and supportive spouse that in the interest of my good health and longevity upon this planet, it is mandatory that I spend more time working at my game. Reaction and results here are yet to be determined.

And, finally, I can now plot out my time on earth with these five years taken into account. I feel I can safely get to somewhere around 80. I can add these five years for golf to the 2x7 that I am already calculating based on the fact that we have two canines. A television commercial, which I am sure in no way intends to mislead, has informed me that having a dog can add seven years to your life. The math is simple: two dogs equal fourteen years.

I now think the next study by the SJMSS should bring this present study to a logical conclusion – an investigation to determine how many years can be added to your life if you bring your dog to the golf course. I volunteer to be a participant.