Is Golf a Sport or a Game?

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Kapanda

It's not technically a sport, by the mere fact that what constitutes a sport is generally ambiguous. It just has so little of the elements that constitute a sport that it is hard to really call it a sport.

And by the way, NASCAR is demanding on the body, so it's definitely more of a sport than Golf (though less than Formula 1).

Surgery (performing it OR having it done to you!) is demanding on the body too. Guess that's more of a sport than golf too.

Doing construction is demanding on the body. More of a sport than golf, eh? Who knew? :P

[showtime583]

What about Nascar? Sport or not?

[Mr3Wiggle]

Originally Posted by x129

I bet 5 bucks that you can't hit a golf ball while smoking a cigar and drinking a beer. No way you can pivot without spilling your drink.   If you do it in between shots, then baseball isn't a sport either. Go look back when the old timers used to smoke in the dugout and take sips from their flasks.

If there is an athletic component and a winner and loser, it is a sport.  Of course by this definition Jeopordy is a sport (pressing the button is more important than knowing crap). Different sports test different athletic components.

If I do it and post the video on here you owe me $5.  LOL.

[Mr3Wiggle]

Originally Posted by showtime583

What about Nascar? Sport or not?

Can it be a sport if the drivers are not athletes?  If so, I say yes.

[dsc123]

I like Wiggle's position re nascar.

Similar to Erik's remark about breaking it down by handicap, I wonder whether riders/walkers have different opinions.  Not that walking is a particularly athletic activity, but something about driving a car from spot to spot makes the entire activity less of a sport.

Either way, I still say its a sport.  Its a physical activity engaged in for competition.  Its closer to baseball than checkers.

[B-Con]

See what I'm saying? It's easy to find fault with any explanation. To each his own (definition), I say. What more is there to say?

Given that there were about 200 more posts, my guess is "a lot". :-D

[iacas]

Originally Posted by B-Con

Given that there were about 200 more posts, my guess is "a lot".

Well, I did merge several threads. ;)

[x129]

I guess I also need to specify no beer helmets or camel packs I am sure I would also find it depressing to learn how good some people can play 1 handed (or legged for that matter).

Originally Posted by Mr3Wiggle

If I do it and post the video on here you owe me $5.  LOL.

[bunkerputt]

If we are going to be consistent in the way we think about the world, we must conclude that since we cannot classify it adequately, golf therefore does not exist.

[Jimdangles]

There is a difference between is golf a sport and are golfers athletes. There are people that play in my hockey league that I would not consider athletes but they are playing a sport. There is a different between being an athlete and being athletic. Golf is a sport. The technique and physical activity of it make it a sport. When you play golf you can tell who is athletic and who is not. If the lack of athleticism shows I would definitely say its a sport.

[rossvanwyk]

Maybe I came into this thread late but I can't for the life of me figure out what being athletic has to do with defining a game or activity as a sport. To me, golf is 100% a sport. It's a game and a sport. Soccer is a game and a sport. Baseball is both too. You can be overweight, unable to run a mile or be light on your feet and still be a crazy good golfer. You're still playing this sport. Your physical limitations have absolutely nothing to do with that. Golf is a sport for me, lumped into the sport category with  almost any competitive game.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by rossvanwyk

Maybe I came into this thread late but I can't for the life of me figure out what being athletic has to do with defining a game or activity as a sport.

From dictionary.com:

sport

/ spɔrt , spoʊrt / Show Spelled [ spawrt , spohrt ] Show IPA

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.

Although its debatable how much "physical process" you need to fish.

EDIT:  Although, that same dictionary defines golf as "a game ..."

[dsc123]

Well that settles that.

[Kapanda]

Originally Posted by iacas

Uhm, then how the heck do you define "athleticism"? Because from where I'm sitting, athleticism has a huge part in the success.

Every "sport" has its fat guys. Charles Barkley. John Daly. Cecil Fielder. Any lineman. Tim Thomas.

I'm curious, btw, how this breaks down by handicap. I doubt many low single digit handicappers would call golf anything but a sport, and I bet most of the people saying "not a sport" have higher handicaps. They don't really understand how far removed they are from the upper levels of the game. I could be wrong, but that's just a thought.

I don't know about Charles Barkley being fat, Or Tim Thomas. Scratch that, Tim Thomas is not fat.

I definitely know about linemen being "fat". While they might have fat on them, it's fat they use, it gives them an advantage on the field. Are you telling me those beer bellies you see on tour improve a player's game?

Originally Posted by iacas

Surgery (performing it OR having it done to you!) is demanding on the body too. Guess that's more of a sport than golf too.

Doing construction is demanding on the body. More of a sport than golf, eh? Who knew? :P

Your wits are failing you iacas. Surgery is hardly considered a sport or a game, or an activity or whatever. So, the fact that it is more demanding on the body than golf only goes to prove that golf is likely not a sport, not the other way around.

Spot the fallacy: All animals have ears. Therefore, all ears have animals.

[Kapanda]

I think all that we came to conclude was what we already know: It's ambiguous.

Some will say yay, some will say nay.

Personally, I don't say nay. I say, it's embarrassing to say yay and compare it to real sports.

Definitely a fun game though!

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Kapanda

I don't know about Charles Barkley being fat, Or Tim Thomas. Scratch that, Tim Thomas is not fat.

Martin Brodeur is. :) Charles Barkley was too. He didn't earn the nickname the "round mound of rebound" for nothing.

Originally Posted by Kapanda

I definitely know about linemen being "fat". While they might have fat on them, it's fat they use, it gives them an advantage on the field. Are you telling me those beer bellies you see on tour improve a player's game?

I don't know. Did they help Charles? Cecil Fielder? You can't diminish everyone who plays a sport because of a few guys, or else baseball's out. And every sport is out if you count recreational players.

Originally Posted by Kapanda

Your wits are failing you iacas. Surgery is hardly considered a sport or a game, or an activity or whatever. So, the fact that it is more demanding on the body than golf only goes to prove that golf is likely not a sport, not the other way around.

It's not wit. You said "NASCAR is demanding on the body, so it's definitely more of a sport than Golf." Construction is demanding on the body. So is exercising. Is exercising a sport? I'm just trying to figure out why "demanding on the body" is part of how you define "sport."

Besides, I could cite several ways in which golf is demanding on the body, both in terms of actual stress as well as demanding incredible precision.

Originally Posted by Kapanda

Spot the fallacy: All animals have ears. Therefore, all ears have animals.

Depending on how you define "ears," that's not a great example, because plants don't have ears, nor do rocks, minerals, etc. Just animals. So if you find "ears" (again depending on the definition), you can pretty much bet they're attached to or came from an animal.

And last time I checked, not all animals have ears under other definitions either. I haven't seen many snakes with ears. :)

FWIW, it's not ambiguous to me. It's a sport, and those who play it at the upper levels are athletes.

[Kapanda]

Originally Posted by iacas

Martin Brodeur is. :) Charles Barkley was too. He didn't earn the nickname the "round mound of rebound" for nothing.

I don't know. Did they help Charles? Cecil Fielder? You can't diminish everyone who plays a sport because of a few guys, or else baseball's out. And every sport is out if you count recreational players.

It's not wit. You said "NASCAR is demanding on the body, so it's definitely more of a sport than Golf." Construction is demanding on the body. So is exercising. Is exercising a sport? I'm just trying to figure out why "demanding on the body" is part of how you define "sport."

Besides, I could cite several ways in which golf is demanding on the body, both in terms of actual stress as well as demanding incredible precision.

Depending on how you define "ears," that's not a great example, because plants don't have ears, nor do rocks, minerals, etc. Just animals. So if you find "ears" (again depending on the definition), you can pretty much bet they're attached to or came from an animal.

And last time I checked, not all animals have ears under other definitions either. I haven't seen many snakes with ears. :)

FWIW, it's not ambiguous to me. It's a sport, and those who play it at the upper levels are athletes.

The problem with your fallacious thinking is that for some reason you link an argument that raises a point - for example, it allows fat (really meaning out of shape) people to be competitive - and assume it can be stretched to the whole discussion. Stating a fact - that out of shape people are competitive in golf - and arguing that such a fact therefore diminishes golf's stance as a sport does not mean that it is the one fact that determines what is and is not a sport. But that one point is supportive of the argument against golf being a sport.

You can be out of shape, it doesn't really require much athletic prowess, etc etc., what I'm saying is that those points together show that golf is hardly a sport. That does not mean that I'm arguing that any game that allows you to be out of shape is not a sport. That's just one criteria golf lacks. Other sports may lack it as well, but they make it up in other ways. Baseball being one of them.

But again, it certainly is ambiguous. We aren't the first ones having this debate, and stronger minds have also concluded that it is ambiguous. Both sides have fair arguments.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Kapanda

The problem with your fallacious thinking is that for some reason you link an argument that raises a point - for example, it allows fat (really meaning out of shape) people to be competitive - and assume it can be stretched to the whole discussion. Stating a fact - that out of shape people are competitive in golf - and arguing that such a fact therefore diminishes golf's stance as a sport does not mean that it is the one fact that determines what is and is not a sport. But that one point is supportive of the argument against golf being a sport.

Fallacious? Nice try, but no. I responded to a guy who said "athleticism" had little or nothing to do with success in the sport by pointing out that fat people play other sports. You'd commonly associate fat people with being non-athletic. You replied that the other people I listed weren't fat.

I realize that "fat people play it at the highest level" is not the sole determinant for whether golf is a sport or not (or any other sport), but if it's one of the factors that favor it or not, it should be a factor in determining all other sports as well. I never said it was the sole factor.

Originally Posted by Kapanda

You can be out of shape, it doesn't really require much athletic prowess, etc etc., what I'm saying is that those points together show that golf is hardly a sport. That does not mean that I'm arguing that any game that allows you to be out of shape is not a sport. That's just one criteria golf lacks. Other sports may lack it as well, but they make it up in other ways. Baseball being one of them.

Again, the point I'm making is that "fat people can play it" either isn't a supporting argument at all, or it gets the same weight as other "clear sports."

If "golf is not a sport" is your position, what are your reasons? You've only now managed to list more than one, and your second one - "it doesn't really require much athletic prowess," is one with which I disagree wholeheartedly, but it could depend on how you define "athletic prowess." I think golf requires a high level of athletic prowess. A guy who swings 90 MPH and can't control where his clubface is pointing to within a degree is never going to win on the PGA Tour. Never even going to make the Nationwide Tour.

So what are your reasons? Because to this point, all you've said is vague things about how it's not a sport, but NASCAR is "more of a sport" because it's "demanding" on the body and how golf doesn't require "athletic prowess."