By Design - Spring 2019

5 Health benefits The healing power of golf? T he United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) is prescribing golf to patients, following pilot schemes that found it boosted levels of fitness, muscle strength and happiness in middle- aged people. The program, backed by fitness body ukactive , is funded by England Golf and leisure operator Mytime Active, and is part of a wider NHS policy of ‘social prescribing.’ Almost one million patients will be referred for classes and activities to boost health and reduce loneliness. Trials conducted in London found that patients with heart disease and respiratory conditions who were referred for golf coaching saw increased levels of grip strength and improved mental health. Professor Sir Muir Gray, an advisor to Public Health England, said: “Golf on referral is an excellent high-value health service because we now have strong evidence that physical activity can not only prevent disease but that it can also prevent disability, dementia and frailty in people who are already affected by disease.” Steven Ward, ukactive CEO, said: “Golf is a fantastic way to encourage people to be more active, particularly among parts of the population who may not be too engaged with other activities.” England Golf’s head of club support Abbie Lench said: “We’re thrilled to see this scheme developing from our earlier research into the impact of playing golf on health and wellbeing, which we carried out with the support of Mytime Active and ukactive .” Driving distance continues to rise S tatistics from 2018 show that driving distances increased by an average of 1.7 yards on pro tours. The previous year’s gain was more than three yards. These results come from the R&A and USGA’s 2018 Annual Driving Distance Report , which reports on driving-distance data of golfers playing on the world’s major tours. The game’s governing bodies adopted a Joint Statement of Principles in 2002 to monitor the effects of advancing equipment technology on golf. Driving data has been provided by the PGA Tour, European Tour, Japan Golf Tour, Web.com Tour, PGA Tour Champions Tour, LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour. Average driving distances are measured on two holes at each tournament, covering almost 40,000 shots over a season on some tours. A progress update on the Distance Insights project, which includes insights from ASGCA members, will be delivered by summer 2019. The R&A and USGA intend to distribute the comprehensive Distance Insights report in the latter half of 2019. The 2018 report can be found at: www.randa.org/~/media/files/ distance-insight/2018-distance- report.ashx