If you are concerned about your health and fitness, some studies have shown that playing golf can easily be a very good workout. Simply by walking instead of riding in a cart, especially carrying your own clubs, you can make your 18 holes equal a 45-minute fitness class. According to cardiologist Edward Palank, walking while you golf can even decrease your cholesterol.

During a typical game of golf, you can expect to walk about 5 miles or more. This can of course, promote cardiovascular fitness and burn about 300 calories, lowering your cholesterol and possibly speeding up your metabolism which makes weight loss easier. By carrying your clubs, you can also turn your golf game into a weight bearing exercise, which builds muscle as well as prevents bone degeneration and osteoporosis.

Through your golf swing you can exercise muscles that don't ordinarily get any attention. Your golf swing can not only impress your co-workers, business partners and friends, it can also build your strength, increase your flexibility and improve your agility and coordination.

In additional to such physical health benefits, golfing can reportedly have tangible effects on your mental and emotional health. By being outside in the sun, you can absorb Vitamin D, boosting your mood and encouraging psychological well-being.

It's also more difficult to play golf well if you are stressed and unable to concentrate, in order to focus on the game you must relax. Accomplishing this relaxation and focus can balance and improve your state of mind as well as keeping you sharp and aware. Playing golf requires an ability to capitalize on opportunities and minimize the intensity of your mistakes, a useful skill in business, in life, and also a valuable mental exercise for people of all ages.

With regular exercise, studies show you can fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly at night, increasing the quality of your rest. The benefits of a good night's sleep are numerous, I'm sure everyone can agree that you feel better overall after a healthy rest! Your muscles repair themselves from the damage of your daily activity while you sleep, but that is not all. Sleep also affects how quickly you can heal, as well as increasing your metabolism while improving your immune system and memory processing.

Golf is largely a social sport; this in itself facilitates some health benefits. When we interact with people, especially new friends, endorphin production is increased causing you to feel better and creating a more positive outlook overall!

If you're not already a golfer, isn't now a good time to start? And if you play regularly, isn't it time you use your own two feet and turn your game into a leisurely workout? If you have any personal experience with the positive health benefits of golfing, we urge you to share it with our online community!

Throughout history, many cultures have left evidence of stick-and-ball games which are now considered distant ancestors to modern golf and several other sports, but the origin of modern golf is often debated today. Many believe the Scottish can be credited with the one thing that sets golf apart from most other stick-and-ball games – the hole!

At Saint Andrews in Scotland, the first known golf course was created as early as the 15^th century. It featured only 11 holes, golfers would play to the end of the property and then turn around and play their way back for a total of 22 holes. The 18-hole course used today reportedly originated in 1764 after the Saint Andrews course was shortened to 9 holes.

Mary, Queen of Scots may have been the very first woman to take up golf, it was during her reign the Saint Andrews course was built, and it is rumored Mary's habit of calling her assistants "cadets" inspired the term "caddy".

According to Golf Digest, almost 32,000 golf courses were operating in 2005, most prominently in English-speaking countries. Scotland, New Zealand and Australia were calculated to have the most courses in relation to their populated, however almost half of the courses they recorded were in America.

Talented professional golfers and tournament competitors come from all walks of life; there are no age, race or gender restrictions, contrary to the old acronym "Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden". Like Mary "Queen of Scots" Stuart, women from all over the world have taken up golf as a profession, as a hobby, and even for fitness.

The sport of golf has often been utilized in business as a tool to test a new business associate or prospective employee, an opportunity to get to know them and also to see whether the person can handle stress and relax. It is an opportunity for a person to impress their new associate or future employer, not only by the skill with which they play the game, but also by their manners. Some universities even offer golf classes for students in business-related fields.

Playing golf can be a great asset for any woman, for business, for pleasure, or for health. Since 1811, with the creation of the Musselburgh Golf Club in Scotland, many local, national, and international clubs for women golfers have been founded worldwide, drawing women together in friendly competition and camaraderie. The popularity of Women's Golf can only continue to grow with the advent of many successful female golfers to inspire and encourage a world of women and young ladies alike.