A golf trip sounds like the perfect vacation.

Great courses. Good friends. Beautiful scenery. Maybe a bucket-list destination like Ireland, Scotland, or another place you’ve wanted to play for years.

Then you look at the itinerary:

• Travel day.
• 18 holes.
• 18 holes again tomorrow.
• Another round the following day.

Maybe you’re walking some of the courses. And somewhere in between, you’re sitting in airplanes or cars, handling luggage, changing hotels, and trying to recover enough to play well the next morning.

That’s when an important question comes up:

Is your body as ready for the golf trip as your golf game is?

For golfers over 50, preparing for a multi-round golf vacation requires more than hitting extra balls at the range.

You need enough walking endurance, lower-body strength, rotational mobility, balance, golf-specific capacity, and recovery ability to play repeatedly without feeling like your body is progressively deteriorating with every round.

Golf can provide moderate-intensity physical activity and meaningful health benefits, particularly when the course is walked¹. But golf also places repetitive physical demands on the body, and appropriate strength and conditioning may help improve performance while reducing injury and illness risk¹.

At Kriz Mobility and Vitality in Bonita Springs, Florida, that’s why golf travel fits naturally into our Travel Ready philosophy:

Don’t just prepare your golf bag for the trip. Prepare your body for the golf, the travel, and the recovery between rounds.

Why Is a Golf Trip Different From Playing at Home?

Suppose you normally play golf once or twice per week. You play Saturday morning. Then you have several days before your next round.

A golf trip might look very different:

• Sunday: Fly to destination
• Monday: 18 holes
• Tuesday: 18 holes
• Wednesday: Travel + sightseeing
• Thursday: 18 holes
• Friday: 18 holes
• Saturday: Travel home

Or perhaps you play four or five consecutive days.

Your body isn’t simply being asked to play golf. It’s being asked to tolerate the accumulated load of golf + walking + travel + reduced recovery time. That’s the key difference.

A single round may feel perfectly manageable. The question is: How do you feel standing on the first tee the following morning?

Golf Is More Physical Than Many People Realize

Golf is sometimes described as a leisurely activity. Your body may disagree after several rounds.

An 18-hole round involves repeated:

• walking,
• bending,
• squatting,
• rotating,
• swinging,
• balancing,
• getting in and out of a cart,
• and carrying or handling equipment.

If you walk the course, the cardiovascular and lower-body demands increase further.

The International Consensus Statement on Golf and Health concluded that golf can provide moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity and that health benefits are likely greater for golfers who walk rather than ride when they are able¹. Current physical activity recommendations for older adults also emphasize a combination of aerobic activity, muscle strengthening, and balance work², core elements also reflected in the broader U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans⁵. Ongoing efforts to standardize injury and illness surveillance in golf further reflect just how physically demanding repeated rounds of play can be on the body⁴.

Those are remarkably similar to the physical qualities needed for a successful golf trip.

The Biggest Golf Trip Mistake: Training Your Swing but Not Your Body

As a golf trip approaches, what do many golfers do? They go to the range more often. That’s understandable. Nobody wants to arrive at a bucket-list course with a swing that feels completely unfamiliar.

But hitting more golf balls doesn’t necessarily prepare your body for:

• walking 18 holes,
• climbing hills,
• playing on consecutive days,
• recovering after a long flight,
• carrying or pushing equipment,
• or repeatedly generating rotational force for four or five rounds.

You should prepare your golf swing. But also prepare the body producing the golf swing.

1. Build Your Walking Endurance Before the Trip

If you plan to walk any of the courses on your trip, walking endurance should become part of your preparation.

Don’t assume:

“I play golf regularly, so I’ll be fine.”

If you usually ride at home and plan to walk in Ireland or Scotland, your physical demands may be very different.

Start several weeks before departure. Gradually increase:

• walking duration,
• walking frequency,
• hills,
• time on your feet,
• and consecutive walking days.

If possible, walk some rounds at home before your trip. If 18 holes is currently too much, start with nine. You can also build capacity away from the golf course through regular walking.

For adults 65 and older, the CDC recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week, along with muscle-strengthening and balance activities².

Golf can contribute to that activity, but preparing for multiple rounds requires considering the demands of your particular itinerary. Ask yourself: Can I comfortably walk the expected course distance? But also: Can I do it again tomorrow?

2. Train for Hills, Not Just Distance

This becomes particularly important for destination golf. A five-mile walk on relatively flat terrain is not the same physical challenge as a hilly golf course.

Walking uphill increases cardiovascular and muscular demand. Walking downhill requires your quadriceps, hips, knees, ankles, and feet to repeatedly control your body as you descend.

If your destination courses are hilly, gradually add:

• outdoor hills,
• treadmill incline,
• stairs,
• step-ups,
• and controlled step-downs.

Don’t make your first hilly 18-hole walk the opening round of your golf vacation. Train for the course — not simply the mileage.

3. Strengthen Your Legs

Your legs are the foundation of both walking and the golf swing. Lower-body strength helps you:

• walk hills,
• climb stairs,
• maintain your posture,
• control your body during the swing,
• get in and out of bunkers,
• pick up your ball,
• and tolerate several hours on your feet.

Useful exercises may include:

Sit-to-Stands

Stand from a sturdy chair and slowly sit back down.

Squats

Use an appropriate depth and support based on your ability.

Step-Ups

Useful for developing strength needed for hills and stairs.

Calf Raises

Helpful for walking capacity and lower-leg strength.

Split-Stance or Lunge Variations

When appropriate, these can develop leg strength and control in positions that challenge each side somewhat independently.

The International Consensus Statement on Golf and Health recommends appropriate strength and conditioning because it can improve performance and reduce injury and illness risk¹.

4. Don’t Ignore Your Hips

The hips are important for both walking and golf. They need to provide:

• Mobility to allow rotation.
• Strength to support your pelvis and legs.
• Control to transfer force through the swing.

If hip mobility is limited, your body may find rotation elsewhere. And if your hip muscles fatigue from walking a hilly course, you may notice changes in your balance, posture, or swing later in the round.

Golf-trip preparation may therefore include:

• hip strengthening,
• hip rotation mobility,
• hip flexor mobility,
• glute strengthening,
• and single-leg control.

The goal isn’t to become extraordinarily flexible. The goal is to have enough usable mobility and strength for your golf swing and your walking demands.

5. Prepare Your Thoracic Spine for Repeated Rotation

Your mid-back — or thoracic spine — plays an important role in golf rotation.

During a single round, you may make dozens of full swings plus practice swings, chips, pitches, and other rotational movements. Now multiply that by four or five rounds. If your body isn’t accustomed to that volume, fatigue and stiffness can accumulate.

Useful preparation may include:

• gentle thoracic rotations,
• open-book variations,
• standing rotations,
• controlled golf-posture rotations,
• and golf-specific mobility exercises.

The goal isn’t simply to stretch. It’s to maintain enough rotational capacity that your swing doesn’t have to find motion by excessively compensating elsewhere.

6. Strengthen Your Trunk

The trunk connects your upper and lower body during the golf swing. But “core strength” for golf shouldn’t mean doing hundreds of sit-ups.

Useful trunk training may include the ability to:

• resist unwanted rotation,
• control rotation,
• maintain posture,
• transfer force,
• and stabilize while your arms and legs move.

Depending on your abilities, exercises might include:

• Pallof presses,
• dead-bug variations,
• bird-dog variations,
• carries,
• cable or band rotations,
• and controlled rotational exercises.

The specific exercise matters less than whether it prepares you for the demands you need to tolerate.

7. Train Your Balance

Every golf swing requires you to manage your center of mass while generating force. Then golf adds uneven lies — uphill lies, downhill lies, sidehill lies, bunkers, wet grass, and perhaps windy conditions. Balance becomes even more important when fatigue sets in.

Current CDC recommendations for adults 65 and older include balance activities in addition to aerobic and strengthening activity².

Golf-specific balance preparation may include:

• single-leg balance,
• staggered-stance exercises,
• stepping exercises,
• weight shifts,
• rotational balance activities,
• and practicing golf posture on appropriately varied surfaces.

Balance shouldn’t be an afterthought. It’s part of both golf performance and travel readiness.

8. Practice Playing on Consecutive Days

This is one of the most important strategies before a multi-round golf trip.

If you normally play once per week, your body is accustomed to having several days to recover. Then you arrive on vacation and ask it to play four rounds in five days. That’s a major change.

Several weeks before departure, occasionally practice back-to-back golf days if appropriate. You might begin with:

• Saturday: 18 holes
• Sunday: 9 holes

Then perhaps:

• Saturday: 18 holes
• Sunday: 18 holes

Or combine:

• Friday: Walking/strength activity
• Saturday: Golf
• Sunday: Moderate golf or walking

You don’t need to exhaust yourself. You’re trying to determine: How does my body respond when golf happens again before I’m completely recovered from the previous round? That information is valuable before you travel.

9. Don’t Try to “Peak” the Week Before Your Golf Trip

Golfers sometimes become anxious as departure approaches. So they play more. Hit more balls. Work out harder. And try to squeeze several weeks of preparation into the final seven days.

That’s usually the wrong time to dramatically increase your workload. Your final week should be about arriving at the trip feeling prepared, not exhausted.

Maintain movement. Keep your body mobile. Continue appropriate strength work. Hit enough golf balls to feel comfortable. But avoid suddenly introducing large amounts of new activity.

Fitness is built over weeks and months — not during the final few days before departure.

10. Warm Up Before Every Round

If you normally arrive at the course, hit six balls, and head to the first tee, a multi-round golf trip is a good time to change that habit.

A systematic review of golf warm-ups found that dynamic warm-ups and warm-ups incorporating resistance exercise tended to improve measures of golf performance, while the evidence linking warm-ups to injury prevention was less conclusive³.

The International Consensus Statement on Golf and Health recommends a sequence of: aerobic activity → golf-specific mobility → practice swings¹.

A practical warm-up might include:

3–5 Minutes of General Movement

Walk briskly. March. Perform gentle bodyweight movements. The goal is simply to get moving.

Dynamic Mobility

Consider movements for hips, thoracic spine, shoulders, and ankles.

Golf-Specific Movement

Perform controlled rotations, partial swings, and progressively larger practice swings.

Gradually Hit Balls

Rather than starting immediately with the driver, progressively work toward fuller and faster swings. Prepare to swing before asking your body for maximum swing speed.

11. Think About Recovery Between Rounds

Golf-trip preparation isn’t finished when you walk off the 18th green. You need to prepare for tomorrow.

Recovery doesn’t need to be complicated. Focus on fundamentals.

Keep Moving

After sitting at dinner or during transportation, gentle movement can help prevent the entire evening from becoming another long period of inactivity.

Eat Normally and Refuel

Multiple rounds require energy. A golf trip generally isn’t the ideal time to dramatically restrict food while simultaneously increasing physical activity.

Prioritize Sleep

Travel, unfamiliar beds, time-zone changes, alcohol, and early tee times can all interfere with sleep. Give sleep a place in your itinerary.

Address Problems Early

If your back, knee, shoulder, elbow, or foot begins bothering you on Day 1, don’t ignore it until Day 4. Small problems are generally easier to manage before they become trip-limiting problems.

12. Hydration Matters — Especially in Warm or Humid Conditions

Golf can keep you outdoors for several hours. Heat and humidity increase the challenge.

The International Consensus Statement on Golf and Health specifically recommends that golfers maintain hydration, particularly in hot or humid conditions¹.

Have fluids available. Drink regularly according to your needs and conditions. And remember that destination weather may be different from what you’re accustomed to. Heat, humidity, altitude, wind, and sun exposure can all influence how physically demanding a round feels.

13. Prepare for the Travel Days Too

Your golf trip doesn’t begin on the first tee. It begins at the airport or in the car.

Long flights can leave your hips, back, knees, and ankles feeling stiff before you ever reach the course. During long-distance travel:

• move your ankles and legs periodically,
• change positions,
• stand and walk when appropriate,
• avoid remaining completely motionless for hours,
• and give yourself time to move after arrival.

If you’re flying overnight and playing golf shortly after landing, recognize that you’re combining travel fatigue, prolonged sitting, disrupted sleep, and golf. That first round may deserve different expectations.

Whenever possible, build some recovery time into the itinerary before your most important round.

14. Be Strategic About Walking Versus Riding

Walking can provide additional health benefits and is part of the traditional experience at many destination courses¹. But your golf trip doesn’t need to become an endurance competition.

If your itinerary involves several demanding rounds, consider the total workload. For example:

• Day 1: Walk
• Day 2: Ride if available
• Day 3: Walk
• Day 4: Rest or lighter activity

The best strategy depends on your health, fitness, course requirements, terrain, and goals. If walking every round means you’re physically depleted by the course you’ve been most excited to play, that may not be the best tradeoff.

Manage the entire trip — not just today’s round.

15. Consider the Golf Bag

If you’re walking, how will your clubs travel around the course? Will you carry your bag, use a pushcart, use a caddie, or ride?

Carrying a golf bag adds another physical demand. If you plan to carry during your trip but rarely carry at home, practice before you leave.

The same principle applies throughout this article:

Don’t introduce major new physical demands for the first time on vacation.

A Simple 8-Week Golf Trip Preparation Plan

This is a general framework rather than an individualized exercise prescription.

Weeks 1–2: Establish Your Baseline

Assess walking endurance, lower-body strength, hip mobility, thoracic rotation, balance, golf tolerance, and recovery after a round. Continue playing while adding basic strength and mobility work.

Weeks 3–4: Build Capacity

Gradually increase walking, lower-body strengthening, trunk strengthening, rotational mobility, balance training, and golf-specific movement. If you’ll walk the courses, begin increasing walking volume.

Weeks 5–6: Make Training Look Like the Trip

Begin incorporating hills, longer walks, walking golf when appropriate, consecutive active days, and occasional back-to-back golf. Continue strength and mobility work.

Weeks 7–8: Rehearse the Golf Trip

Try combinations that resemble your itinerary. For example:

• Friday: Moderate workout or walking
• Saturday: 18 holes
• Sunday: 9–18 holes or another moderate activity

Then ask: How does my back feel? How do my hips and knees feel? Are my legs recovered? Does my swing feel different when I’m tired? Could I comfortably play tomorrow?

This is your golf-trip stress test.

Golf Trip Readiness Checklist After 50

Before your trip, ask yourself:

Walking

• Can I comfortably walk the distance required by the courses I’m playing?
• Can I handle hills?

Strength

• Can I comfortably climb stairs and hills?
• Can I repeatedly get into golf posture?

Mobility

• Can my hips and mid-back rotate comfortably?
• Do I feel stiff after sitting for long periods?

Balance

• Can I comfortably handle uneven lies and varied terrain?

Golf Capacity

• Can I play 18 holes without significant physical decline late in the round?

Recovery

• How do I feel the next morning?
• Can I play on consecutive days?

Travel

• How does my body respond after a long flight or car ride?

Confidence

When you look at four rounds in five days, do you think “I can’t wait” — or “I’m not sure my body can handle that”?

If it’s the second answer, that’s useful information. Start preparing.

Frequently Asked Questions About Golf Trips After 50

How far in advance should I prepare for a golf trip?

For many golfers, beginning more specific preparation approximately 6–12 weeks before departure provides time to progressively build walking endurance, strength, mobility, balance, and tolerance for consecutive activity. Your appropriate timeline depends on your current fitness, health, and golf schedule.

How should I prepare for playing golf several days in a row?

Gradually introduce consecutive active days before your trip. Depending on your current golf volume, this might begin with 18 holes one day followed by nine holes or another moderate activity the next day. Progress should be individualized rather than suddenly playing several consecutive rounds.

Should golfers over 50 strength train?

Strength training is recommended for older adults generally, and golf-health consensus recommendations support appropriate strength and conditioning for golfers^1,2. A golf-focused program can emphasize lower-body strength, trunk control, rotational capacity, and other movements relevant to the individual golfer.

Should I walk the course to prepare for a golf vacation?

If you expect to walk during your trip and can do so safely, practicing walking golf beforehand can be useful. Golf-health consensus recommendations encourage walking rather than riding when able because it provides greater physical activity and health benefits¹.

What’s the best warm-up before golf?

Evidence suggests dynamic warm-ups may benefit golf performance³. A golf-health consensus statement recommends beginning with aerobic activity, progressing to golf-specific mobility exercises, and then performing practice swings¹.

What if my back, knee, or shoulder already hurts when I play?

Don’t wait until the golf trip to investigate it. If pain consistently affects your swing, walking, or ability to finish a round, having it evaluated before departure gives you more time to identify contributing factors and develop an appropriate plan.

Your Golf Game Isn’t the Only Thing That Needs to Travel Well

A destination golf trip may represent years of planning. You may have waited a long time to stand on those first tees.

You don’t want to reach Round 3 and discover that your legs are exhausted, your back is tightening up, your hip isn’t rotating, or you’re thinking more about getting through the round than enjoying the course.

Golf-trip preparation isn’t about turning yourself into a professional athlete. It’s about building enough strength, mobility, endurance, balance, and recovery capacity to enjoy the experience you planned.

You want to stand on the first tee of the final round feeling excited — not simply hoping your body survives another 18 holes.

Planning a Golf Trip? Get Travel Ready Before You Go.

At Kriz Mobility and Vitality in Bonita Springs, Florida, our Travel Ready Program can be tailored to golfers preparing for destination golf trips.

We want to know:

• Where are you playing?
• How many rounds are scheduled?
• Are you walking or riding?
• How hilly are the courses?
• How many consecutive days will you play?
• How long are your travel days?
• And what physical issue are you concerned could limit your trip?

A golf-focused Travel Ready assessment may examine walking endurance, lower-body strength, hip mobility, thoracic rotation, balance, trunk control, golf-specific movement, previous injuries, and recovery capacity.

From there, the goal is to create an individualized plan around your body, your golf, and your itinerary.

Because after traveling hundreds — or thousands — of miles to play a bucket-list course, you don’t want your body deciding how much of the experience you can enjoy.

Prepare your swing. Prepare for the travel. Prepare for the rounds. Prepare your body. Get Travel Ready.

Move better. Live better. Play better. Stay Active for Life.

This article is intended for general educational purposes and does not replace individualized medical advice, diagnosis, or physical therapy evaluation. Individuals with cardiovascular conditions, significant joint or back problems, balance difficulties, recent surgery, or other medical concerns should consult an appropriate healthcare professional before substantially increasing their physical activity.

References

1. Murray AD, Archibald D, Murray IR, Hawkes RA, Foster C, Barker K, Kelly P, Grant L, Mutrie N. 2018 International Consensus Statement on Golf and Health to guide action by people, policymakers and the golf industry. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2018;52(22):1426–1436. The consensus supports golf as a form of moderate-intensity physical activity and recommends walking the course when able, appropriate strength and conditioning, hydration, and a golf-specific warm-up.

2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Older Adult Activity: An Overview. Physical Activity Basics, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Reviewed December 4, 2025. Recommends that adults 65 and older combine aerobic physical activity with at least two days of muscle-strengthening activity and activities that improve balance.

3. Ehlert A, Wilson PB. A systematic review of golf warm-ups: behaviors, injury, and performance. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2019;33(12):3444–3462. The review found that dynamic and resistance-based warm-ups tended to improve measures of golf performance; evidence regarding injury reduction was mixed.

4. Murray A, Junge A, Robinson PG, et al. International consensus statement: methods for recording and reporting of epidemiological data on injuries and illnesses in golf. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2020;54(19):1136–1141. Establishes consistent methodology for injury and illness surveillance in golf and recognizes the physical demands and potential health benefits associated with the sport.

5. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2018. Provides evidence-based recommendations for aerobic, muscle-strengthening, balance, and multicomponent physical activity across adulthood.