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Is Golf a Sport?

Played for the first time this year, and my body is a little sore, so yes, I think with all the exertion, and some skill that I put forth, it is a sport. Did not lose a ball, put 2 snowman on the card, but had one par, and one birdie. Add in a bunch of double bogies, and you end up at 103. Fairways hit was pretty good, but had a quite a few 3 putts, with one 4 putt on a par 3. The birdie came on 18, where I putted from the fringe, at about 30', center of the cup. So, yes, this morning I feel like I played a sport...
 
4hourrule said:
You haven't watched some of the old Black and White Tournaments on The Golf Channel then... Marlboro's everywhere.
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How about Shell's Wonderful World of Golf, where 2 pro's would go at it for prize money. The purses on tour were no where near what they are today. And, some of the long hitters were driving like 265-270. Not too many 300+ drives back then, and they played with TopRocks, and Spaulding balls. That was a sport back then, just to hit those persimmon drivers, you needed a lot of skill...
 
Absolutely it’s a sport. There is physical activity and a ball that requires skill to hit
 
Templet0n said:
@jlew

I will say. To me. LIV makes golf closer to a sport than the PGA. Why? Teams.
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Wait, so a marathon is not sport, since it doesn’t involve teams?
 
I think there is always some weird arguments in these threads. A couple of comments

1) You don't need to be in shape at all to suck at any sport. The worlds fattest man could play basketball it doesn't make basketball not a sport
2) To be good at golf, you need a certain amount of athleticism and skill
3) To be elite at golf , you need even more of the above

hitting a golf ball 300+ with the precision the pros do is incredibly difficult and requires athletic ability. And you couldn't compete without being able to do that

If being good at something requires baseline athletic ability and skill, and it's organized in some form.....it's a sport.
 
Jman said:
You have teams in gymnastics and track and field.
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Mostly they are individual sports. Combining points is not the same as a true team event. Gymnastics swimming and track and field are for the most part individual events that combine scores. The relay is the only true team event and there are like 4 of them out of 100s of single events. No one is helping you pole vault or long jump you do that on your own. Very different than basketball or football
 
pumbaa said:
Mostly they are individual sports. Combining points is not the same as a true team event. Gymnastics swimming and track and field are for the most part individual events that combine scores. The relay is the only true team event and there are like 4 of them out of 100s of single events. No one is helping you pole vault or long jump you do that on your own. Very different than basketball or football
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Then why do they have team championships at most levels?
 
Keith Prater said:
It is a sport. Golf has John Daly, baseball had John Kruk, Football has kickers, ESPN televises corn hole tournaments. There's just some things in the universe that can't be explained. Let's just enjoy it.
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I was a pro kicker...cmon cornhole comps LOL be nice man! In university, the punter on our team had been all-city at defensive end in high school. I was my high school's alltime leading scorer in basketball and finished 4th in the state/province in the 100M

There's not a lot of couch potatoes who can kick 60 yard field goals. And almost every NFL kicker now is a former high level soccer player.
 
MtlJeff said:
I was a pro kicker...cmon cornhole comps LOL be nice man! In university, the punter on our team had been all-city at defensive end in high school. I was my high school's alltime leading scorer in basketball and finished 4th in the state/province in the 100M

There's not a lot of couch potatoes who can kick 60 yard field goals. And almost every NFL kicker now is a former high level soccer player.
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You’re right, 100%. That’s kind of my point. I was referring more to the general perception. Not a lot of couch potatoes would make the cut in a PGA Tournament either.
 
Hitsnmisses said:
Golf , without hesitation is a sport , and far in front of others mentioned as sports ..


Do you use a “ ball “ to play it ? … yes

Do you , change your shoes to play it ?

Do you have a specific venue to play it ?

There is , a element of skill , athleticism,
strategy.

Isn’t a part time , hobby etc .
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You can say the exact same thing about bowling. Is bowling a sport? I am far from a professional bowler but I did bowl a 279 in a league event.
 
Keith Prater said:
You’re right, 100%. That’s kind of my point. I was referring more to the general perception. Not a lot of couch potatoes would make the cut in a PGA Tournament either.
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Oh i def agree. Point i was also making earlier. Anyone can suck at any sport, but to be good at a lot of even the "fringe" sports takes a lot of athletic ability and skill

Even curling, a lot of people mock it, but i've seen guys in decent shape try to sweep at a high level for an hour + and say they can't do it. But you can also curl for fun at 75yrs old if you want
 
Canadan said:
I think the argument is MUCH stronger today than it was 20 years ago, or 30 years ago.
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^^^This^^^^

I‘d argue that the average PGA Tour player is in as good of shape and is a better athlete than most of the MLB baseball pitchers.
 
USAF Retired said:
Case in point ... Lumpy! View attachment 9257078
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Then again Sumo Wrestling is a sport. And the Hot Dog earring contest is on ESPN🙄🙄🙄

I like George Carlin’s bit about what is a sport and what is not. According to him golf is an activity. Any “sport” you can do while drinking a beer is not a sport, it is an activity.
 
If I'm sore after doing it. I have to use muscles to do it. It requires focus and athletic ability to do it well. Yeah it's absolutely a sport.
 
Jman said:
Then why do they have team championships at most levels?
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You always gotta be that guy huh? You got it man.
 
No question it's a sport, and perhaps the most difficult of sports (from a skill perspective, not exertion).
 
pumbaa said:
You always gotta be that guy huh? You got it man.
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How is that being “that guy”, by having a counterpoint in a conversation on a forum driven by and created for the purpose of conversation?

Come on dude. There’s no need to play the martyr card here.
 
jdtox said:
Absolutely it’s a sport. There is physical activity and a ball that requires skill to hit
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In the end, this is why I consider it a sport.

But, I also see why some consider it a game of skill.
 
Jman said:
In the end, this is why I consider it a sport.

But, I also see why some consider it a game of skill.
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Being able to hit a hop and stop wedge is a skill, golf in it’s entirety is a sport
 
jdtox said:
Being able to hit a hop and stop wedge is a skill, golf in it’s entirety is a sport
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I agree entirely.

It’s why I like these thread topics, there’s no hard and fast answer, so we can talk about all the nuances and converse on them. It’s fun.
 
Templet0n said:
Running in general is not a sport. Its torture.
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Jimmy Fallon Help GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
 
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