Is golf more expensive to play than baseball ?

[beginner]

Yesterday, I took my young cousin to the batting cages.  I paid $32 for 40 tokens that gave us a total of 600 pitches.  All tokens were used up in just an hour.....While local golf courses charge between $25-50 to play 18 holes on the weekend that I can last for several hours.  Seriously, I think baseball is a very expensive game to play that most people tend to overlook.  What do you guys think?

[Andrew24]

I usually only take maybe 100-150 pitches at the cage so it's a little cheaper.. The gear can get somewhat expensive. I really don't know, golf might be a little more expensive.

[newtogolf]

You can go to a park and play baseball for free.  Unless you're hitting into a net or own a lot of land you're not playing golf for anything close to free.  In terms of the batting range versus golf range, you need to compare apples to apples or cost of 100 balls from each.

Overall in terms of sport, a decent bat is about the same cost as a driver, and most gloves are under $150 unless you're looking for professional Mizuno's then you can spend upwards for $400.  I'd say golf overall is more expensive and as a hobby lends itself to making more add-on purchases such as balls, new clubs, gloves, hats, clothes, etc.

[x129]

I think your trying to justify your golf habit:)  I know I never paid a baseball instructor 80/hour to tell me how to hit a ball. Also never lost 20 dollars of baseballs in one afternoon.

The other way of looking at it 600 swings is hopefully 6+ rounds of golf swings.  You just need to stand around for 3 mins in between baseball swings to make the sessions last longer. Watch Jeter and the rest of the pro players for tips on how to do that

Originally Posted by beginner

Yesterday, I took my young cousin to the batting cages.  I paid $32 for 40 tokens that gave us a total of 600 pitches.  All tokens were used up in just an hour.....While local golf courses charge between $25-50 to play 18 holes on the weekend that I can last for several hours.  Seriously, I think baseball is a very expensive game to play that most people tend to overlook.  What do you guys think?

[bfn18]

I dont play baseball anymore but I play slow pitch softball now and golf is way more expensive. I got 50 softballs balls for 30$ to hit batting practice with (they last for years), I got 3 bats running around $200 each, a $150 glove and new batting gloves every season 15$. To play for each season is $40 ( 3 seasons per year). On the other hand I bought my clubs for some ridiculous price when I did not know better ($1000 just 3-pw and a $500 custome driver), I also have bought many clubs over the years, and I buy a dozen of balls every 2 or 3 rounds usually (pro V's), golf gloves and tees is about $100 a year and then the cost to play golf around me is an average of $35. Golf is more expensive in my book but I enjoy playing golf more.

[jamo]

You can go to a park and play baseball for free.  Unless you're hitting into a net or own a lot of land you're not playing golf for anything close to free.  In terms of the batting range versus golf range, you need to compare apples to apples or cost of 100 balls from each.

Overall in terms of sport, a decent bat is about the same cost as a driver, and most gloves are under $150 unless you're looking for professional Mizuno's then you can spend upwards for $400.  I'd say golf overall is more expensive and as a hobby lends itself to making more add-on purchases such as balls, new clubs, gloves, hats, clothes, etc.

This. The best bats run $200 to $300, less than a typical new driver, and you can get a name brand glove for under $100. Batting gloves are anywhere from $15 to $40 a pair. Plus, if you're really dedicated and have a backyard, you can install your own batting cage for a couple year's worth of greens fees and you don't have to play $40 every time you play baseball. Or you could buy a bucket of balls and go to a local cage, which are completely free. Golf is more expensive, I'd say, but it depends how much of each you play.

[darkhunter139]

I played baseball from ages 10 all the way through high school and it is a lot cheaper then golf.  During the season you will be practicing with the team enough that there is no real reason to go to the batting cages.  I never found the batting cages to be that great of practice anyway, the ball is the same speed and height every single pitch.

[Gioguy21]

i've played ball since i was 6, and golf since i was 7...and i have to say golf is more expensive. even after you factor in the camps for baseball...spring training costs, 2 sets of spikes every year, glove at $350, under armour, the bags, the bats, etc it got up there fast. but no where NEAR what i've spent in golf stuff and greens fees over the same time period.

[ochmude]

I definitely think golf is more expensive, but it's also a lot easier to get out and play.  You can't really go to a local park with a bat and golf and have a starter stick you in with a group of 17 guys just waiting for an 18th so they can start a game.  With golf you can literally play on a whim if you're willing to be paired up.

[Timmy]

I played baseball from elementary until graduation and I was very fortunate to have a dad who was willing to not only get ahold of a few dozen baseballs (two 5 gallon buckets to be exact) and throw me as much batting practice as I could handle.  It was a decent initial investment, but going down to the hitting net in the yard or to the cage at the high school field was always free after that, so golf is definitely more expensive.  Personally, I'm partial to having somebody pitching to me instead of hitting the cages, but I understand that's not always possible for everybody.

[shotly]

It's golf, hands down. If you were to go out and by the most basic equipment needed to start each sport then golf would cost more. That trend continues as you progress with each sport and continue to buy better equipment. A good set of irons can go for 500-600 bucks these days.. No way you're paying that much for anything baseball related.. Not to mention it doesn't cost you 50-100 bucks every time you play.

I played baseball for 10+ years, all throughout high school. I've been playing golf since November and have already spent more on golf than me or my parents ever thought about spending for baseball in those 10+ years.

[LankyLefty]

Baseball is cheap u can get a decent bat and ball for a few hundred and keep then for a decade. Who honestly keeps the same clubs for 10 years?

[Inebriated]

Golf is more expensive than baseball. Like said, you don't lose $20 in balls every game, and you don't carry around $600 in bats with you. The only sport I've played that is more expensive than golf is paintball. $1000 for a competition-level gun like mine, $80 per case (2000 balls) of paint using 1.5 - 2 cases a day, plus however much the field wants to let you play. Let's say that's a minimum of $10... so there's $170 just to play, not including ANY gear (which is pricey). I can play nearly 7 rounds of 18 holes at my local course for that.