"GOLFING" - is it a word?

[The Hook Meister]

I always knew that I would run into a lot  of different things in golf, but an english exam never crossed my mind. Golf is a verb so the word golfing is exceptable, just like fishing or bowling.

[Maric771]

3 hours ago, The Hook Meister said:

I always knew that I would run into a lot  of different things in golf, but an english exam never crossed my mind. Golf is a verb so the word golfing is exceptable, just like fishing or bowling.

I think the word you are looking for is acceptable, not exceptable.  Sorry I couldn't resist 

[NM Golf]

While the word "golf" is a verb now, it just sounds so wrong to me when used that way. "I golfed my ball" sounds ridiculous to me. My wife asks me time to time, "Are you going golfing?" Being the smart ass I am I normally reply, "No, I am going to play golf." To me golf will always be a noun, others though are certainly correct in using it as a verb.

[yogolf]

It's all about splitting hairs.  Read an article which referred to Tiger Woods as Golfing great Tiger Woods.  Hmmmmm, Footballing great Joe Montana, Baseballing great, Sandy Kofax.  Hmmmmmm.  Can go either way.  You know like people.  :)

Sorry, meant to say Golf can be golf or golfing, the others cannot.  It's play baseball, football, volleyball, basketball, soccer, tennis, badminton.  Hey you can even play Fish.  🙂

[RandyBobbitt]

I bristle when I hear someone say he or she is "going golfing" or he or she "likes to golf." It may not be grammatically incorrect, but it tells me that he or she is probably not a serious golfer. 

BTW, I was a USGA volunteer many years ago and picked up three other finer points of golf vocabulary -- it's a bunker, not a sand trap. It's a hole location, not a pin placement. And the one that irritates USGA folks the most is when they hear announcers on TV refer to a player as someone's "playing partner." Except for team events, that's not the right term. The rulebook uses the term "fellow competitor."

Just my .02 worth. 

 

Edited August 28, 2018 by RandyBobbitt

[dennyjones]

1 hour ago, RandyBobbitt said:

I bristle when I hear someone say he or she is "going golfing" or he or she "likes to golf." It may not be grammatically incorrect, but it tells me that he or she is probably not a serious golfer. 

BTW, I was a USGA volunteer many years ago and picked up three other finer points of golf vocabulary -- it's a bunker, not a sand trap. It's a hole location, not a pin placement. And the one that irritates USGA folks the most is when they hear announcers on TV refer to a player as someone's "playing partner." Except for team events, that's not the right term. The rulebook uses the term "fellow competitor."

Just my .02 worth. 

 

Golf / golfing isn't much different than run/running.   You'll hear people say all of the time, "I'm going for a run".   Run can be both a noun and a verb.  It has become acceptable language.   Google / googling...

Don't get too comfortable with your nitpick golf vocabulary.   It will change with the new rules in 2019.    

[billchao]

1 hour ago, RandyBobbitt said:

I bristle when I hear someone say he or she is "going golfing" or he or she "likes to golf." It may not be grammatically incorrect, but it tells me that he or she is probably not a serious golfer. 

The things people can presume from trifling details will never cease to amaze me.

[Carl3]

4 hours ago, RandyBobbitt said:

it's a bunker, not a sand trap

Wow, I guess that @iacas messed up when he named this website. And I thought he knew his golf 😊

[iacas]

4 hours ago, RandyBobbitt said:

I bristle when I hear someone say he or she is "going golfing" or he or she "likes to golf." It may not be grammatically incorrect, but it tells me that he or she is probably not a serious golfer. 

Wow. Assume much?

I have probably answered "golfing" or something within the past six months when someone has asked me "what are you doing?" or "where are you going"? It's shorter than typing out "going to play golf" or "playing golf."

The point of communication is to be understood. If someone understands what I say when I say I'm "golfing" then I've succeeded at communicating with that person.

4 hours ago, RandyBobbitt said:

BTW, I was a USGA volunteer many years ago and picked up three other finer points of golf vocabulary -- it's a bunker, not a sand trap.

I'm with the USGA now, as a rules official (not on staff or anything), and the golf association for my half of the state (PA has two golf associations), and yeah, while that's the proper "Rules of Golf" terminology… people still know what you mean when you say "trap" or "sand trap."

Hence the name of the site. Plus "thebunker.com" might sound like a forum for talking about war or something.

4 hours ago, RandyBobbitt said:

It's a hole location, not a pin placement.

Meh. You'll hear both. But yeah, the former is "better" slightly. But why judge if someone says the other?

4 hours ago, RandyBobbitt said:

And the one that irritates USGA folks the most is when they hear announcers on TV refer to a player as someone's "playing partner." Except for team events, that's not the right term. The rulebook uses the term "fellow competitor."

I don't think they actually get irritated. It sounds like you might though. 🙂

People use the words "rub of the green" all the time. Unless it's in the Rules forum here, I rarely mention that those words actually have a defined meaning, because generally you know what they mean: bad luck.

[boogielicious]

16 hours ago, billchao said:

The things people can presume from trifling details will never cease to amaze me.

I bet he hates ending a sentence with a preposition too.

[billchao]

46 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

I bet he hates ending a sentence with a preposition too.

Well then he probably won't be interested to know the next course I'm golfing at.

[Vinny Cap]

Me and my playing partners are going golfing and wanna know where the pin placement are gonna be.  If they are near the sand traps we are not gonna go golfing then!

[Fourputt]

On 8/28/2018 at 11:53 AM, RandyBobbitt said:

And the one that irritates USGA folks the most is when they hear announcers on TV refer to a player as someone's "playing partner." Except for team events, that's not the right term. The rulebook uses the term "fellow competitor."

Just my .02 worth. 

 

I don't know that it's an irritant, but for clarification I use "playing companion" to refer to a member of my group when there is no match or competition involved.  As a long time rules aficionado, I like to use correct terminology when possible so that I don't have to explain my explanation.  

[Shankapotomuses]

On 1/3/2008 at 4:41 AM, tiger_who said:

i dont care it should b put on every golf course :D

Well, being a woman and a golfer, I am very insulted by that rude remark if tiger really meant it.  By the way, I say, "I am lying 2".   Some of my playing partners say, "I am "laying" 2".  Which one is correct?

 

 

[Shankapotomuses]

No worries.  I stand corrected.  Of course, you didn't answer my question.  I'm calling a one stroke penalty for "unnecessary pettiness".

[boogielicious]

8 hours ago, Shankapotomuses said:

Well, being a woman and a golfer, I am very insulted by that rude remark if tiger really meant it.  By the way, I say, "I am lying 2".   Some of my playing partners say, "I am "laying" 2".  Which one is correct?

 

 

Welcome to The Sand Trap. You responded to a comment from 12 years ago. That user has not been here for a while.

[Papa Steve 55]

9 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

Welcome to The Sand Trap. You responded to a comment from 12 years ago. That user has not been here for a while.

Is renecromancing a word? Spell check says no........

[Yukari]

As with any word, the more it gets used and becomes accepted, it will/is a correct word.  There is no set rule, IMHO, as to whether a particular word is proper or not.  All language changes overtime.