Why golf is so healthy:

The findings of a targeted study yielded the following facts:

Net weight loss per round is 700 to 900 grams (although the players drank at least 0.7 litres of water and ate a banana during the study)
The golf swing uses 124 of the body’s 434 muscles, in a coordinated way
The pulse rate can reach peak levels of up to 150 beats per minute
After a round of golf, cholesterol levels fall by 15% on average
Body weight falls by approximately 1000 g
Golf has a positive effect on the human psyche and helps to reduce stress
Golf is ideal for recovery from everyday stress and calms the soul

SOURCE: Study by assistant medical director Dr. Wiebke and university professor Dr. Jeschke, chair and policlinic for preventative and rehabilitative sports medicine at Munich Technical University.

But not without good supervision!

Golfers primarily indicate problems with the lumbar region of the spine, the non-dominant shoulder and the elbows.

Injury patterns differ between elite and amateur golfers; in professionals and elite golfers, most complaints are linked to overstraining, while the causes in amateur golfers are more likely to lie in defective swing technique as well as overstraining.

Within the framework of the study, it was recommended that therapeutic interventions should include assessment and treatment of deficiencies in the kinetic chain, and that professional instruction be sought to modify the swing.

It was further recommended that the biomechanical forces should be reduced, for example through instruction to enhance the efficiency of technique and/or shorten the swing.

SOURCE: Current Sports Medicine Reports. 2007 Dec;6(6):362-5. Wadsworth LT.