Is Golf a Sport or a Game?

[djbarnes]

IMHO, golf is a sport when the player chooses to turn it into one.  That is to say, it can be played as a "game" by someone who has never touched a club before but only seen it.  They'll figure out how to hit the ball enough times in the general direction of the hole to eventually get it in and move on.  They won't score well, most likely, and they still might enjoy themselves in the trying.  Have they played it as a "sport"?  Not really.

But if they get hooked and start to practice and get serious about it, then I think it's definitely a "sport."  I feel like the difference is adding focus and practice to become competitive at something.  With golf, it certainly takes physical and mental skills to be competitive.  Sure, some might feel it's more physical than mental, whereas the 100 yard dash is pretty much the opposite, but the point is both are required.

Plenty of people have played golf, baseball, and even basketball without considering themselves anything resembling an "athlete."  But plenty more certainly do.  Race car drivers, bowlers, etc, can be "athletes" playing "sports", IMHO.

--Donnie

[Deryck Griffith]

Originally Posted by Gresh24

No other major sports have 17 year old (out of shape) kids and 55 year old men competing for the biggest tournaments.

Are you a baseball fan?  If so, have you watched Bryce Harper play for the Washington Nationals?  He's 19 instead of 17 but still, is an example of someone so young tearing it up amongst a game of adults and veterans on a daily basis.

Taking Beau Hossler's performance at the US open as a extrapolation of how he "beat" 55 year old's is dangerous and wrong way of looking at it.  There have been many young phenoms that have come and gone in golf.  Beau had a "good" tournament and while performing how he did was great to watch, in the big picture it doesn't really mean much yet.  I can guarantee if Hossler decided to turn pro tomorrow and was given a PGA Tour card, he would lose it by the end of the season.

[Gresh24]

Originally Posted by Deryck Griffith

Are you a baseball fan? If so, have you watched Bryce Harper play for the Washington Nationals? He's 19 instead of 17 but still, is an example of someone so young tearing it up amongst a game of adults and veterans on a daily basis.

Taking Beau Hossler's performance at the US open as a extrapolation of how he "beat" 55 year old's is dangerous and wrong way of looking at it.  There have been many young phenoms that have come and gone in golf.  Beau had a "good" tournament and while performing how he did was great to watch, in the big picture it doesn't really mean much yet.  I can guarantee if Hossler decided to turn pro tomorrow and was given a PGA Tour card, he would lose it by the end of the season.

You missed my point completely.  I didn't suggest Hossler would always be able to compete.  But just the fact that he can (on golfs biggest stage), even one time, differentiates golf from other sports.  An out of shape junior in high school would not be playing and having a 'good tournament' in other sports.

My point about "55 year olds" was not that Hossler can compete with them, it's that someone 55 years of age can also (along with a kid) compete in golf - you don't see that in other mainstream sports.

And I see a bit of a difference in the athleticism between Bryce Harper and Beau Hossler - the point I've pretty much been trying to make.  I see Harper as an athlete with speed, agility, quickness and power.  Others see that in Hossler....

[jamo]

Off topic, I know, but can I say that I think people are drastically overstating how overweight Hossler is? Does this kid really look fat to you? Look at his waist. He has big shoulders, large hips, a pudgy face, and was wearing slightly ill-fitting shirts. [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/image/id/280458/width/600/height/399][IMG]http://thesandtrap.com/image/id/280458/width/600/height/399[/IMG][/URL]

[Gresh24]

I never said he was fat, although he does have a gut on him (at 17).  I said he is out of shape and not "athletic".  Not an athletic build, that's all - but you don't need it for golf

[bunkerputt]

I would be willing to bet that if you took 100 golfers who thought golf wasn't a sport, made them use their bodies to swing like a PGA tour pro 6 hours a day for 4 days straight on a 7400+ yard course they had to walk, 90 of them would think differently by Sunday.  The 10 that remain would be stubborn less-than-25 year olds who would look like idiots trying to win an argument they don't have grounds for.

And if the fact that golf has a higher age limit where you can compete makes it less of a sport, does the fact that there was no NFL saftey over 38 for the 2011 season and there were three people over 40 at different positions mean those guys over 40 weren't playing sports?  How about QB's?  You can be an effective QB at an age long past where you can't be an RB anymore.  Using that idiotic line of reasoning would mean Rugby is not a sport, because there is a guy currently playing who is 90.

[dlance]

Dictionary.com: Sport - an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature.

Sounds like golf to me...

The main argument i hear from people is how "out of shape" some of the golfers are, or that old people can still play. I have taken people to the driving range that are gym junkies and by the next morning they are complaining that they are sore in spots that they didn't know they had. Golf may not require you to be a body builder, but it does take a lot of body control, muscle memory, endurance, and hand eye coordination to play well.

I would like to see some of these people even try to swing the club hard enough to generate the club head speed attained by these so called out of shape people and if they can even get to 80% of this power, can they hit the ball at the same time? Then do it over and over again....

Baseball is a sport right? Nobody argues that....DH hitters (has to bat what 4-5 times a game) ? Relief pitchers (1-2 innings they they are spent) ? Heck even regular pitchers have a pitch count limit around 115 until they get 5 days off.

Hockey goalies stand there blocking a net barely bigger than their pads. What is their skill? endurance to stand there the whole time, reflexes, and hand eye coordination (sound familiar?)

do i really need to keep going?....

[Deryck Griffith]

Originally Posted by Gresh24

You missed my point completely.  I didn't suggest Hossler would always be able to compete.  But just the fact that he can (on golfs biggest stage), even one time, differentiates golf from other sports.  An out of shape junior in high school would not be playing and having a 'good tournament' in other sports.

My point about "55 year olds" was not that Hossler can compete with them, it's that someone 55 years of age can also (along with a kid) compete in golf - you don't see that in other mainstream sports.

And I see a bit of a difference in the athleticism between Bryce Harper and Beau Hossler - the point I've pretty much been trying to make.  I see Harper as an athlete with speed, agility, quickness and power.  Others see that in Hossler....

In other sports, there have been young kids whom have competed with the veterans in a singular moment.  Someone else mentioned tennis which was a great example.  To say it only happens in golf and to use that as the reason to prove why Golf isn't a sport is not something I agree with.

[Gresh24]

Once again guys, I'm not saying golf is not a sport.  I've said multiple times in this thread that it is.  I'm only pointing out the amount of athleticism it takes to compete.

[Gresh24]

Originally Posted by Deryck Griffith

In other sports, there have been young kids whom have competed with the veterans in a singular moment.  Someone else mentioned tennis which was a great example.  To say it only happens in golf and to use that as the reason to prove why Golf isn't a sport is not something I agree with.

Sure there are some young phenoms in other sports, although I'm unfimiliar with tennis.  Who was the last 17 year old to compete in men's tennis successfully?  And how often does it happen?  And when did a 55+ year old compete in a major tennis tournament?

[Deryck Griffith]

Originally Posted by Gresh24

Once again guys, I'm not saying golf is not a sport.  I've said multiple times in this thread that it is.  I'm only pointing out the amount of athleticism it takes to compete.

Sorry, than I misread what you meant.  Golf certainly takes a different type of athletism than other sports and I can buy that it is at a different level.

I just don't agree that Golf is not a sport at all because the athletism different or less than other sports which I now understand is not what you are saying.  You are saying it's a sport that requires a lesser amount of athletism.  That I can accept.

[x129]

I am not a big tennis junkie but off the top of my head (and a quick google)

Borris Becker won wimbledon at 17

Michael Chang was 17 when he won the french open

Agassai & Sampras went pro at 16

Nadal reached the 3rd round of wimbledon at 17

In swimming guys like Phelps are winning golf medals at 18 and 19. In track and field there are occasional 17 and 18 year old guys competing (with some question about ages of the africans) and winning world class events.

At the older end there are very few guys in any sport. It happens in golf because half the sport isn't power based (putting,most greenside shots) and even in the power section, you can compesate for lack of it with better technique.

Originally Posted by Gresh24

Sure there are some young phenoms in other sports, although I'm unfimiliar with tennis.  Who was the last 17 year old to compete in men's tennis successfully?  And how often does it happen?  And when did a 55+ year old compete in a major tennis tournament?

[tiger187126]

basketball, baseball, football, hockey, and so on are also all games when we go out and play instead of the best in the world doing it.

i mean people argue all the time about which sport is the hardest and most physically demanding, or has the best athletes, but it's all subjective at the end of the day.

[MackJL06]

Originally Posted by dlance

Dictionary.com: Sport - an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature.

Sounds like golf to me...

The main argument i hear from people is how "out of shape" some of the golfers are, or that old people can still play. I have taken people to the driving range that are gym junkies and by the next morning they are complaining that they are sore in spots that they didn't know they had. Golf may not require you to be a body builder, but it does take a lot of body control, muscle memory, endurance, and hand eye coordination to play well.

I would like to see some of these people even try to swing the club hard enough to generate the club head speed attained by these so called out of shape people and if they can even get to 80% of this power, can they hit the ball at the same time? Then do it over and over again....

Baseball is a sport right? Nobody argues that....DH hitters (has to bat what 4-5 times a game) ? Relief pitchers (1-2 innings they they are spent) ? Heck even regular pitchers have a pitch count limit around 115 until they get 5 days off.

Hockey goalies stand there blocking a net barely bigger than their pads. What is their skill? endurance to stand there the whole time, reflexes, and hand eye coordination (sound familiar?)

do i really need to keep going?....

not sure why you chose hockey goalies. i play about 5 sports, 2 of which i played competitively in college, and hockey goalie is by far the most physically and mentally demanding thing I have ever done in any sport.

[dlance]

Originally Posted by MackJL06

not sure why you chose hockey goalies. i play about 5 sports, 2 of which i played competitively in college, and hockey goalie is by far the most physically and mentally demanding thing I have ever done in any sport.

MackJL06,

no Disrespect intended. I have never played hockey myself. I picked it because they don't have to be able to run fast, throw hard, or  or jump high (as people seem to think are the only things that make people athletic). I was trying to us it as an example that may compare to golf of alternate sports.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by jamo

Off topic, I know, but can I say that I think people are drastically overstating how overweight Hossler is?

Does this kid really look fat to you? Look at his waist. He has big shoulders, large hips, a pudgy face, and was wearing slightly ill-fitting shirts.

He's only 17.  He has another 13 years until he gets fat :)

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by x129

In swimming guys like Phelps are winning golf medals at 18 and 19. In track and field there are occasional 17 and 18 year old guys competing (with some question about ages of the africans) and winning world class events.

Track is a great example.  When I was in high school, a young phenom named William Obei-Moore (sp?) at 17 or so, was the fastest person I had ever seen at that age.  He qualified for the US Olympic trials which, for people that don't know the sport well, happens for a sprinter maybe once every 4 Olympics or so.  He made it to the semi-finals of the US Olympic trials before finishing in last place as a sr in high school.  That was the same year Michael Johnson set the 200m and 400m records (the latter of which still stands).  It was amazing to watch a kid I ran a relay against, performing in the Olympic trials against the fastest man in that event ever.

On another note, he is somewhat legendary, because he may have gone down as the fastest man ever, but he couldn't even success in junior college and eventually fizzled out.  Even in the below video, he (as a junior) beats a future world champion by a full half second:

[Kapanda]

Originally Posted by Deryck Griffith

Sorry, than I misread what you meant.  Golf certainly takes a different type of athletism than other sports and I can buy that it is at a different level.

I just don't agree that Golf is not a sport at all because the athletism different or less than other sports which I now understand is not what you are saying.  You are saying it's a sport that requires a lesser amount of athletism.  That I can accept.

But the level of athleticism required seems to be so low that it devalues the notion of sports as physical, competitive endeavours when grouping golf along with, say, soccer.

With that said, since I've been misinterpreted before, I should clarify that, though I don't see golf as a sport (and who cares what I think anyway), I can see how the argument for it can be made.