I feel like this comes up during the NCAA Championships every year: should NCAA Golfers be allowed to use push carts?  Every year I turn on golf channel and there’s a mix of athletes carrying their own bags, and some using push carts.  Granted, these kids aren’t Tour Pros (yet), so they just have your standard run-of-the-mill stand bags, but still, should they carry or push cart it?

Would I use a push cart if I were an NCAA athlete? Abso-freaking-lutely.  Hell, I use one and I’m not playing at any competitive level whatsoever.  I don’t understand why you wouldn’t use one on that stage if given the opportunity to do so.  Pro golfers don’t carry their own bags, so why should an NCAA amateur lug one around?

If I’m an NCAA coach, I would basically mandate it for my team.  Look, I get it.  Some people see using a push cart as “less manly,” or “weak,” but if I’m out there trying to win a collegiate golf tournament, let alone a National Championship, I’m going to want to savor every ounce of energy I can.  And quite frankly carrying a bag takes up more energy than pushing it on a cart with wheels.  Hell, even when I’m walking a casual round, I throw my bag on a push cart.  Post round, my back thanks me for it.

At the end of the day, my point is simple.  Carrying a load on your back is going to take up more energy than pushing that same weight on a golf course.  Why use up that unnecessary energy?  Throw it on a push cart, and give your back a break.  Who cares if you look like a dork?

Also: big shout out to Augusta’s Broc Everett for winning the NCAA Division 1 Individual Championship.  Broc won the event while using a push cart and laying up on the par 5 18th hole twice (making a par then a clinching birdie in a playoff).  Even more impressive is that it was the first collegiate win ever for the senior.  Congrats!