Association, Walgreens launch 'Get GAP Fit' initiative

  The Golf Association of Philadelphia, in conjunction with Walgreens, is taking a step toward good health and well-being through the “Get GAP Fit” — an initiative that promotes golf’s fitness side.

   “There are many benefits to the game of golf, and exercise is certainly one of them,” Mark Peterson, the Association’s Executive Director, said. “This initiative allows us to highlight the total amount of steps and calories burned while on the course. I encourage all of us to try to walk more while playing golf, even when taking a cart you can always walk to your next shot. Or better yet, take that rewarding walk to the green with only your putter in hand.”

   During each event this season, pedometers will be distributed to 10 golfers at their starting tee. Those players will then equip a pedometer — a small, user-friendly device that tracks steps taken, calories burned and distance traveled — for the duration of their competitive round. Upon completion, GAP officials will collect the average of the each pedometer’s data and apply it to the overall field to establish statistics for each event. That data will be featured prominently in a rolling ticker powered by Walgreens on the Association’s Web site.

   The Get GAP Fit initiative aims to showcase the health benefits that golf provides. According to a study conducted by the Walker Research Group, a walked 18-hole round, carrying a bag or using a hand/pull cart, is approximately equal to a five mile walk. The study also found that regardless of handicap, gender, or course played, golfers exceed 10,000 steps during a typical round of golf, which meets the guideline for exercise recommended by most medical and clinical physicians.

   As part of Get GAP Fit, GAP members are encouraged to enroll in Walgreens’ Balance Rewards program, which awards participants for their daily activity thru a points system. Click here to sign up.

   As the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2012 sales of $72 billion, Walgreens’ vision is to become America’s first choice for health and daily living. Each day, Walgreens provides more than six million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America. The company operates 8,072 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

   Founded in 1897, the Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) is the oldest regional golf association in the United States and serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. Its 143 Member Clubs and 57,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. As Philadelphia’s Most Trusted Source of Golf Information, the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.