Is Golf A Game Than A Sport Essay Sample

📌Category: Sports
📌Words: 595
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 21 June 2022

Ever since its origins in the sixteenth century, players and spectators have debated whether golf qualifies as a sport. The Oxford dictionary defines a sport as “an activity involving physical exertion and skill, in which an individual competes against others for entertainment.” By definition, golf does not meet the necessary criteria to classify as a sport. Rather, society should consider golf a game. Golf does not require its players to physically exert themselves during play. Furthermore, athleticism does not translate to golf skill. Additionally, due to the game’s social aspect, many players become intoxicated while on the course. This, in any “real” sport would hinder the player’s ability. Nevertheless, some argue for golf’s classification as a sport due to its competitive nature. But this alone cannot quantitate a sport. While very competitive, golf does not qualify as a sport because of the lack of physical exertion, athleticism, and sobriety required.

Golf does not require very much physical exertion, and therefore does not meet the definition of a sport. When sports scientists evaluated the physical demand of sixty sports, golf ranked 51st: only beating sports such as archery, bowling, and fishing (McCleery). In Fact, one burns more calories spectating sports than playing golf (“Calories Burned During Activities”). A recent study shows how the golf swing does not require muscular strength, but neuromuscular control. Professional and amateur golfer’s injuries usually result from repetition, rather than muscular strain (about 80%). Golf requires about 6 miles of walking per round. However, spread over an average five hours, this poses no problem to any individual with a healthy cardiovascular system (Brink). Although seemingly long, golf does not add much more walking distance then other activities such as gardening, and housework (Reick). Additionally, while playing golf, walking does not constitute the competition. Therefore, golf demands no physical exertion for healthy individuals. 

Also, athleticism in other conventional sports will not transfer to golf. Most professional athletes who start to play golf will not perform better than any other beginner. For example, during Michael Jordan’s first round of golf, he shot bogey or worse on 17 holes. But as he continued to play, he became a much better golfer (Ross). Many other pro athletes’ golf handicaps fall into the medium-high range. The athletes who do have low handicaps have practiced extensively over many years (Schrock). When they begin, pro athletes still need the same amount of time to hone their skill as any other player.

Due to the game’s social nature, many players choose to drink and smoke on the golf course. When consulted about drinking and golfing, PGA pros suggest moderate drinking will not affect performance. In fact, alcohol in small amounts can actually prove beneficial (Kerr-Dineen). Not only do amateur golfers drink while playing, but some PGA players have admitted to drinking during tournaments. One time at the L.A. Open, PGA player John Daley shot over par on the front-nine. But at the turn, he drank five beers and shot four under par on the back-nine (Kalland).

Despite these reasons, some still argue for golf’s classification as a sport due to its competitive nature. All amateur golfers compete to start a professional career. But only one in 16,000 players go pro (“What are the odds of becoming a professional golfer?”). On tour, Bryson Dechambeau and Brooks Koepka have feuded ever since Koepka insulted Dechambeau in an interview. During this time, competitive instinct between them has driven hatred toward each other. Some use this competitiveness to classify golf as a sport. But by that logic, competitive card and board games are considered sports. Therefore, proving the competitiveness argument invalid.

For these reasons, one cannot consider golf a sport. Rather, golf conforms better with the definition of a game. Games can manifest as competitive, like golf. Or, games can manifest as social and relaxing, also like golf. Ergo, society should consider golf a game rather than a sport.

+
x
Remember! This is just a sample.

You can order a custom paper by our expert writers

Order now
By clicking “Receive Essay”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement. We will occasionally send you account related emails.