Researcher at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden say golf is good for your health.

People of the same sex, age and socioeconomic status who golf can expect a 5 year increase in life expectancy compared to those who do not, they say. And great golfers live even longer, so work on your handicap.

Why so? People who are good at something tend to enjoy it and do it more and also practiced more to attain their skill, so they end up with better health.

The study does not rule out that other factors than the actual playing, such as a generally healthy lifestyle, are also behind the lower death rate observed amongst golfers. However, the researchers believe it is likely that the playing of the game in itself has a significant impact on health.

It is a well-known fact that exercise is good for the health but the expected health gains of particular activities are still largely unknown. The researchers from Karolinska Institutet presented this study of the health effects of golf - and they had 600,000 Swedes available to help them do it and the results were published in Scandinavian Journal of Medicine&Science in Sports and based on data from 300,000 of those Swedish golfers and shows that golf does have beneficial health effects. 

The death rate amongst golfers by age is 40 per cent lower than the rest of the population, which equates to an increased life expectancy of five years.

Professor Anders Ahlbom, who led the study with Bahman Farahmand is not surprised at the result, as he believes that there are several aspects of the game that are proved to be good for the health.

"A round of golf means being outside for four or five hours, walking at a fast pace for six to seven kilometres, something which is known to be good for the health," he says. "People play golf into old age, and there are also positive social and psychological aspects to the game that can be of help."

Golf players have a lower death rate regardless of sex, age and social group. The effect is greater for golfers from blue-collar professions than for those from white-collar professions. The lowest rates are found in the group of players with the lowest handicap (i.e. the best golfers).

"Maintaining a low handicap involves playing a lot, so this supports the idea that it is largely the game itself that is good for the health," says Ahlbom. 

Citation: 'Golf – a game of life and death. Reduced mortality in Swedish golf players', B. Farahmand, G. Broman, U. De Faire, D. Vågerö & A. Ahlbom, Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 30 May 2008.