Golf is a Sport....as long as you consider darts, Pool, HORSE (basketball) and bowling sports as well.
Golf requires great skill to perform at the highest levels, but its not taxing and can be performed by anyone that can walk or ride. Darts and Bowling require skill to perform at the highest level and also require your opponent to match you shot for shot or roll for roll, to not fall behind. However, you cannot impose your will, skill, tactics, physical prowess or anything else on your opponent. Which makes Golf most like the game of Horse.
I live on a golf course and love the game of golf. But I also play tennis and soccer and Golf simply does not compare to those sports on any level. The Webster definition of a sport is simply outdated, as when it was defined, we didn't know the difference between aerobic and anaerobic activity.
The reality is simply that any sport that allows your opponent to impose his will on you (while you try the same) during a window of performance, should be a sport. Or, any event that requires true athleticism to perform (like gymnastics) as well.
Bowling, darts, golf, billiards, horse, bocci ball, are all games or activities. Yes, they can be competitive as all hell, but they do not contain the dynamic elements (athleticism, skill under pressure) that define athletes.
If you define GOLF as a sport, then you have to define Golfers as athletes. Golfers can be athletes, but 80% would never qualify for that distinction.
SUMMARY:
If you feel that bowling, shuffleboard, billiards, darts and the game of horse are all true Sports, then you must feel that Golf is a sport as well.
THE TRUTH:
If you believe that Golf is a sport, its because you want to define yourself as an athlete and have no other grounds to do so.
Golf is a great game, perhaps the best game.
