Playing Golf could Add Five Years to your Life

If you’re looking for the perfect excuse to get out on the course this weekend here it is – playing golf could help to add five years to your life!

According to new research from the University of Edinburgh there are a multitude of health benefits, both physical and mental, associated with the game of golf. The findings published earlier this week in the British Journal of Sports Medicine looked at almost 5,000 studies and discovered that golf could help to prevent 40 major chronic diseases, including diabetes, anxiety, dementia, depression, breast and colon cancer.

Lead researcher Dr. Andrew Murray explains, “Evidence suggests golfers live longer than non-golfers, enjoying improvements in cholesterol levels, body composition, wellness, self-esteem and self-worth.”

The study by Dr. Murray and his team is part of the Golf & Health Project, led by the World Golf Foundation. The initiative looks to better understand the correlation of golf in health and wellness. Future research will aim to address the effects of the sport on mental health, muscle strengthening and balance.

At the moment less than one percent of the world’s population plays golf.  Researchers hope this latest study will go a long way to help grow the game globally. With scientific evidence pointing to the incredible benefits associated with playing the sport, now is the perfect opportunity to take up golf for the first time or to get back into it.

“Given that the sport can be played by the very young to the very old, this [study] demonstrates a wide variety of health benefits for people of all ages,” says Dr. Murray.

So what are you waiting for – book those Saturday and Sunday tee times now!