why do people think that golf is easy and not a sport?

[sacm3bill]

The biggest arguement I have heard for it not being a sport, and I use to agree, is that there is no offense and defense. Nobody to compete against.

There's also no offense/defense, and not even necessarily even competition per se, in dozens of activities which are undisputedly considered sports: Kayaking, mountain climbing, cycling, rowing, skiing, etc.

Certainly you've made a good argument that there is, in some sense, an offense and a defense in golf - I'm just saying that's a really bad definition for calling something a sport.

[Where's the Cart Girl?]

people think that golf is the easiest sport to play. how would you make them think otherwise because anybody that actually does play golf knows that it is far from easy.

These are the people who've picked up one of their buddies' clubs once and swung it. The shock of what actually happened compared to what they expected to happened likely caused a mild aneurysm in their brain. Don't blame them.

[yenner]

There's also no offense/defense, and not even necessarily even competition per se, in dozens of activities which are undisputedly considered sports: Kayaking, mountain climbing, cycling, rowing, skiing, etc.

In a sense they can all have defenses though. Sports to me use to mean the 2 team sports. Football, Baseball, Soccer, Hockey, Lacrosse, Volleyball, Tennis, etc. Now I see it a bit differently.

According to Dictionary.com: sport – noun 1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc. And: offense - noun 9. Sports . a. the players or team unit responsible for attacking or scoring in a game. b. the players possessing or controlling the ball, puck, etc., or the aspects or period of a game when this obtains. c. a pattern or style of scoring attack: single-wing offense; fast-break offense. d. offensive effectiveness; ability to score: a total breakdown in offense. Furthermore: defense – noun 7. Sports . a. the practice or art of defending oneself or one's goal against attack, as in fencing, boxing, soccer, or football. b. the team attempting to thwart the attack of the team having the ball or puck. c. the players of a team who line up in their own defensive zone. d. the positions on the field, ice, etc., taken by such players. But also under defense: 1. resistance against attack; protection: Two more regiments are needed for the defense of the city. 2. something that defends, as a fortification, physical or mental quality, or medication: This fort was once the main defense of the island. So by definition we can conclude that Golf is indeed a sport since it is "an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature." There is an offense in the sense that there are "players or team unit responsible for attacking or scoring in the game." There is also a defense in course layout, elements, etc. "providing resistance against attack or protection", summed up in the defenition "something that defends, as a fortification." Under these pretenses we can also conclude that kayaking, mountain climbing, cycling, rowing, skiing, and many others are indeed "sports".

[sacm3bill]

In a sense they can all have defenses though.

Yes, just as golf can, as you pointed out. No argument from me.

Sports to me use to mean the 2 team sports. Football, Baseball, Soccer, Hockey, Lacrosse, Volleyball, Tennis, etc. Now I see it a bit differently.

I was just saying you don't need 2 teams for something to be a sport. I can see now that we agree on that as well, but it wasn't clear from your earlier post.

[NormH3]

Simply point out that archery and target shooting are also considered sport (a sport).

Golf is nothing more than a target sport. Each shot is created to hit a target. Hard to argue with that kind of logic.

[Leftygolfer]

Hardest game ever played. Takes about 10 skills to be good.

[jdub]

I play with friends that trash talk about other golfers whiffing it.

I am no pro but I stomp them in the ground because I practice and figure in the obsticals such as


temper(dont lose it)
control
wind conditions
putting, driving, chipping
tough shots
tee up height
sand, water
smooth swings
the roll of the ball

lots more needs to be added in when playing

sure you can do a par 3 course all day but tough par 5's are a different story

[sean_miller]

Hardest game ever played. Takes about 10 skills to be good.

Balance, strength, hand-eye coordination, planning/logic.

Anything more is an extension of these basic 4. I've played many sports and agree that golf is very hard to play well. Especially difficult for people who aren't any better than "average" at any other sport. I'd say there are more unathletic, and generally bad, avid players of golf than any other popular sport - people who would have either quit or been killed at more physically demanding sports (hockey, football - both kinds - dirt bike racing, snowboarding, etc.). It doesn't help that professional golfers on television make the game look so easy (non-golfers think anyone could do that) and in between the action, TV ads claim with the right clubs anyone can be awesome.

[yenner]

I'd say there are more unathletic, and generally bad, avid players of golf than any other popular sport - people who would have either quit or been killed at more physically demanding sports (hockey, football - both kinds - dirt bike racing, snowboarding, etc.).

Agreed b/c it's not as hard on your body to play golf, especially riding. You do have to be in shape to walk, but I'm pretty outta shape and have played multiple times this year. If I played football as much as I have golfed I'd be hurtin'.

Plus, Golf is a sport you can jump into by yourself or with just a friend or two. Even a full squad pickup game of basketball requires 10+ people. Football? Forget about it. It's hard to grab enough people to consistently play almost any other sport at an entry/amateur level.

[Chris Stack]

They do not think it is "easy". They think that it is a game for overweight, cigar-smoking men who ride golf carts and leer at girls driving the beverage carts around.

Whoa whoa whoa...it's not? Blast. I must've picked up the wrong sport.

PS...you forgot to mention beer-guzzling. Seriously though, who cares? It's a whole heck of a lot of fun. I wish it was called "work" instead of "sport" or "game" so I could play mid-week more often.

[Chas]

One propels a tiny 1.6 ounce ball and knocks it a quarter of a mile in a couple swings of a club, putting it into a 4.25 inch hole in the ground in about 4 total strokes. To swing that club you accelerate it from a stop to over 100 MPH and back to zero in a couple seconds. A tiny fraction of a degree separates a good golf shot from a lost ball. And every single shot has a different lie, different wind, uphill or downhill, etc.

You have exhausted me just reading this. Maybe I should go back to squash, where at least I hardly ever failed to hit the intended wall (as long as I didn't hit my opponent first).

Seriously tho', I would say that golf is one of the most exacting, perhaps the most exacting, game or sport I've ever played. Like the man said, just consider the angles. The tangent of what angle is 40 or 50 yards at 260 yards, say (i.e. about 0.15)? - answer: about 9 degrees, i.e. about 4.5 degrees either side of the average fairway centerline. You are trying to avoid water, sand traps, canyons, out-of-bounds and goodness-knows-what-else. Tournament croquet is also very exacting - try hitting a "croquet" shot across a full-sized lawn to set up your next roquet and place your "Rover" ball where you can use it 3 shots later, or try making a successful 125 ft "roquet" shot under pressure to stay in the game. The idea is to put a really good "break" together, as in pool, and shut your opponent out of the game. I used to play croquet until my nerves couldn't take it any more. [not really - it's hard to find a league around here that plays the serious game] Without a doubt, golf is the most humiliating game I've ever played, esp. early on. But the flip side of that is that it can be the most gratifying of games when you manage to pull off a half-way decent round.

[Chas]

I'll never forget playing a round with some business colleagues a few years ago at a rather tough, hilly course in these parts. One guy in the group of 8 was quite the athlete with a strong tennis game (beat me 2-1 once) and just all-round fit. But I don't think he'd played much golf at all - he was there out of professional obligation to some Japanese visitors.

Of course he had just a miserable time. On one par 4 with water up most of the left fairway I counted 3 shots that ended up wet (bit of a puller I guess), plus a few heavy chunks that hardly moved etc etc. Heaving away the whole time he probably shot about a 10 on that one. After about 9 holes he gave up keeping score, relaxed and enjoyed the view - I don't think he has held a golf club since, sensible fellow ....