How many calories does golf burn? 18 holes, 9 holes and an hour in a simulator

How many calories does golf burn? There are measurements, and they are clearer than people expect: a 2025 study followed sixteen players over 18 holes, once on foot and once in a cart. Walking, it was 880 kilocalories; riding, 456 (2025 study). The difference is the walking, and that is the whole story.

Eighteen holes, measured

	Walking	With a cart
Energy expenditure	880 kilocalories	456 kilocalories
Steps	17,007	6,274
Mean heart rate	109 beats a minute	94
Share of maximum heart rate	around 55 per cent	around 47 per cent

The measurements were taken on sixteen men on a course 6,587 metres long. The authors classify walking, by the criteria of the American College of Sports Medicine, as moderate physical activity, and riding in a cart as low-intensity activity. Individual values vary widely, plus or minus 279 kilocalories on foot, because weight, pace and terrain all play a part.

The sum for your own weight

To work it out for yourself, take the MET value. One MET is your consumption at rest, and the formula is: kilocalories an hour equals MET times body weight in kilograms. The Compendium of Physical Activities lists these values for golf (pacompendium.com):

Activity	MET	70 kg, per hour	85 kg, per hour
Golf, general	4.5	315 kcal	383 kcal
Walking, carrying clubs	4.3	301 kcal	366 kcal
Walking, pulling clubs	4.5	315 kcal	383 kcal
Using a power cart	3.5	245 kcal	298 kcal
Driving range	3.5	245 kcal	298 kcal

A round of 18 holes takes about four hours. At 4.3 MET and 70 kilograms that is roughly 1,200 kilocalories, more than the 880 that were measured. Table values usually sit above measured ones because they do not know about the pauses: waiting on the tee, searching, standing on the green. If you need one number, take the measured one.

Nine holes and the range

Nine holes on foot is roughly half: around 440 kilocalories and 8,500 steps, in two hours. Which is why the nine-hole round after work does more for you than its reputation suggests: it delivers half the effect in half the time, and it counts for your handicap just the same.

For a driving range the Compendium lists 3.5 MET, about 245 kilocalories an hour at 70 kilograms. The hitting itself is the smaller part; what is missing is the walking between shots.

And an hour in a simulator

For that there is no study, and anyone quoting a number is calculating. The nearest calculation takes the driving-range value, because the movement is the same: 3.5 MET, so around 245 kilocalories an hour at 70 kilograms and 298 at 85. Play as a four and take only every fourth shot and you are well below that.

That is a table value, not a measurement of your evening. What is certain: an hour in a bay is movement while standing, not endurance training. The part of golf that counts as sport is the walking, and indoors it is missing entirely. To use the winter anyway, combine the bay with a walk there and back; what else helps against the winter break is in Golf in winter in Switzerland.

What moves the number

880 kilocalories is an average, and the spread of plus or minus 279 is wider than most people expect. Five things move it:

• Your weight. Expenditure rises almost proportionally. At 90 kilograms you use about a third more than someone of 68 at the same pace.
• The terrain. The study took place on a course of 6,587 metres. A hilly Swiss course with 100 metres of climb sits above that, a flat one below.
• Carrying or pulling. The Compendium gives 4.3 MET for carrying and 4.5 for pulling. The difference is small, because a trolley takes weight off you but costs pace.
• The pace. A round in three and a half hours is more movement per hour than one in five, but less time moving. On balance the two almost cancel out.
• The waiting. Time standing on tees lowers the average. Which is exactly why table values sit above measured ones.

The 17,000 steps, in context

A walked round brings more steps than most people take in two ordinary days together. 10,000 steps is a widely used daily target, and 18 holes on foot are clearly above it at 17,007; nine holes at about 8,500 sit just below.

That is the sober strength of the sport: not the intensity but the duration. Four hours of moderate movement is something you can still do at 60 as easily as at 30, which is true of few sports.

A week with golf in it

Week	Kilocalories	Steps
Two rounds on foot, 18 holes	around 1,760	around 34,000
Two rounds with a cart	around 910	around 12,500
Two nine-hole rounds on foot	around 880	around 17,000
Two hours in a bay	around 490	a few hundred

The first and the last row describe the same sport and two different things. So the honest answer about winter is: the bay keeps your swing, the walking keeps you. If you want both, walk to the venue.

Why the cart costs half

17,007 steps against 6,274: the cart takes two thirds of the distance off you, and with the distance goes most of the expenditure. Heart rate falls from 109 to 94 beats a minute, which is the range between walking and standing.

That makes the decision for or against a cart the only one that really changes the athletic value of a round. Everything else, from the set of clubs to the format, leaves it untouched.

How much of it is the hitting

Surprisingly little. A round of 18 holes off 36 means about a hundred shots, and each takes two seconds. Together that is a good three minutes of movement in four hours.

The rest is walking, standing and waiting. Which is why the choice of club changes nothing about the expenditure, and why an hour in a bay in which you hit sixty balls remains, energetically, an hour of standing with short movements. Anyone wanting golf as exercise uses the distance between the shots.

Golf and weight

880 kilocalories is roughly one meal. Playing twice a week on foot adds up to a respectable amount of movement over a season, and sitting in the clubhouse afterwards takes some of it back. Both are fine, as long as they are not confused.

As a promise the number is useless, as a frame it works: golf is not a diet but regular moderate movement over many hours. If you want that, leave the cart where it is, and that is the whole measure.

More on this: Is golf healthy?.

How to get more out of it

• Walk, with a trolley or carrying. That is the difference between 880 and 456 kilocalories.
• Nine holes after work rather than nothing. Two hours, about 8,500 steps.
• Warm up first. Five minutes is enough and lowers the risk to your back; the drills are in Golf and back pain.
• Count the journey. Walking or cycling to the venue puts back the walking that indoor golf lacks.

And the honest framing: golf is moderate movement over a long time, not intense training. That is exactly what makes it sustainable for many people who no longer run, and exactly why the 17,000 steps count for more than the 880 kilocalories.

Frequently asked questions

How many calories does 18 holes burn?

Measured on sixteen players in 2025: 880 kilocalories walking and 456 with a cart, at 17,007 against 6,274 steps. The spread is wide, plus or minus 279 kilocalories, because weight, pace and terrain all matter.

How many steps is a round of golf?

About 17,000 walking 18 holes and about 6,300 with a cart. Nine holes on foot is around 8,500 steps in two hours. Walking rather than riding is the biggest lever a round has in athletic terms.

How do I calculate it for my own weight?

Kilocalories an hour equals MET times weight in kilograms. For golf the Compendium of Physical Activities lists 4.3 MET carrying the bag, 4.5 with a trolley and 3.5 with a cart. At 70 kilograms that is 301, 315 and 245 kilocalories an hour.

How many calories does an hour in a golf simulator burn?

There is no study for it. Using the driving-range value of 3.5 MET gives around 245 kilocalories an hour at 70 kilograms. As a four you are well below that, because only every fourth shot is yours. The walking, the part of golf that is actually athletic, is missing entirely indoors.

Is golf endurance training?

On foot it is moderate physical activity: mean heart rate in the study was 109 beats a minute, about 55 per cent of maximum. With a cart it drops to 94, which counts as low-intensity activity. Neither is intense training, but both last a long time.

Sources

• Riding a Golf Cart Versus Walking, 2025 (16 Spieler, 880 gegen 456 Kilokalorien, 17'007 gegen 6'274 Schritte)
• Compendium of Physical Activities: Sports (MET-Werte für Golf)