It’s easy to joke that perhaps golf, as frustrating and confounding as it can be, isn’t good for our mental health. But the benefits are obvious. Just ask the founder of the golf snack company, Bunchies. Hally Leadbetter, who also runs a golf content company (working with Golf Digest, her former full-time employer) and played golf professionally briefly after college, has been open about her own struggles with OCD and ADHD, and sees her time on the course as a way to find some serenity.
“If I’m on a course where the only electronic I’m allowed to have is a range finder for five hours, I walk off feeling so calm regardless of how I played, because I think in a world where we’re just so glued to technology at all times, being able to be disconnected for that long a time is very rare and really underrated for anybody’s mental health,” Leadbetter says. “Just to be out in nature and not be looking at our phones or checking social media or checking emails, just completely unplugging … it’s a very meditative experience even without actually meditating.”
Just by being outside in the sunlight, getting Vitamin D, your mood can improve. But being outside does more than that. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America says that being outside in green spaces, like golf courses, reduces stress levels and enhances brain function. In other words, golfers are experiencing mental health benefits every time they play, even if they aren’t actively seeking those benefits when they make a tee time.
When Leadbetter created Bunchies with the help of nutritionist Amy O’Donnell, who’d been making homemade protein snacks for the European Solheim Cup Team, she knew she wanted the company to have a charitable element. It didn’t take long for her to reach out to Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter Noah Kahan. Kahan’s charity, the Busyhead Project, is raising money for mental health organizations. One of his fundraising tools is a golf tournament in Vermont. He’s already raised more than $5.5 million, and for the month of May, Mental Health Awareness Month, Bunchies is donating 10 percent of its profits to the charity (click here to order products).
Throughout his career, Kahan has spoken openly about his own experiences with depression, anxiety and OCD. He picked up golf during the COVID-19 pandemic and has fallen in love with the game. In a 2024 interview with the PGA Tour, he said he likes using golf as an escape while on tour, getting in rounds before playing in front of sold-out crowds.
He told Rolling Stone in 2026 that after his breakout album, Stick Season, and subsequent tour, he was feeling anxious and unhappy. He thought about taking a break from music and working on the grounds crew at his local golf course, thinking the experience would be “therapeutic.” Though he didn’t pursue the idea, he clearly has felt what many golfers feel on the golf course: a comfort and sense of place.
“To be so successful and talk about the struggles that he has with mental health is just so important,” Leadbetter said of the Bunchies partnership with Kahan’s charity. “If Noah Kahan can share it with Rolling Stone, then certainly I can confide in my best friend that maybe I’m struggling with something. I love that Noah leads with example, and the organization really helps people find resources.”
No matter where you might be with your own mental health journey, we could all use some more time on the golf course, where presence of mind is demanded, outdoors, amongst friends. Despite the infuriating three-putts, golf is a powerful mental-health tool.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
