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Why do many call golf a game?

63dot

63dot

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jun 12, 2006
5,269
339
norcal
Years ago, a head pro in Pebble Beach corrected me when I called golf a "sport" and he said it is a "game"...much more than merely a sport. Golf etiquette and tradition are huge in Pebble Beach and to outsiders, it may all seem a bit strange and over the top.

After fooling around with the sport, I mean game, I can see why. Pure athleticism cannot get you out of trouble as much as knowledge of the sport and good strategy to handle to greens conditons and the wind.

While I don't consider golf a great sport that will shed the pounds off, and though it is one that requires me to think and reflect more than any sport I have tried, I still consider it a sport.

What are your thoughts?
 
Golf is in the sport section of every major newspaper and news outlet, not in with chess and backgammon. It's a sport in my book.

Slightly off-topicly, I read an article about Barack Obama over the weekend which said he was going 'golfing'. Is that a frequently-used verb over in the US? Golfing? Instead of 'playing golf'?
 
teeing off requires strength and precision and physical ability, sinking a put requires timing strategy and just the right touch.... sounds like a sport to me. albeit not a physically strenous sport, but a sport nonetheless
 
If you can take steroids and become better at it, then it's a sport. You can't really become better at "Checkers" from taking steroids, therefore "Checkers" is a game.
 
Blue Velvet said:
Golf is in the sport section of every major newspaper and news outlet, not in with chess and backgammon. It's a sport in my book.

Slightly off-topicly, I read an article in about Barack Obama over the weekend which said he was going 'golfing'. Is that a frequently-used verb over in the US? Golfing? Instead of 'playing golf'?
Click to expand...

Yes, golfing is very much a frequently-used verb here in the US
 
Golf is a gentleman's game. Gentlemen don't play common sports. You must remember it originated ages ago in the British Isles and was popular with people of stature and note.

That's my take..
 
Blue Velvet said:
Slightly off-topicly, I read an article in about Barack Obama over the weekend which said he was going 'golfing'. Is that a frequently-used verb over in the US? Golfing? Instead of 'playing golf'?
Click to expand...

Sure. I went golfing this weekend with family and friends. Played great on the front nine then fell apart on the back nine. :( I guess it's a weird verb as I would say "I played baseball" not "I baseballed.," but then again I never really thought much about it.

I consider it a sport. It's a competition requiring physical skill and mental toughness. They won't even allow physically handicapped golfers to ride in carts during PGA competitions, since everyone else must walk.
 
I tend to disagree that golf isn't physically or mentally strenuous. I'm relatively fit and in an average week I gym twice, play competitive soccer twice, road cycle ~100kms, and play 18 holes every sunday. I pull my clubs on a buggy and I can tell you that after 4+ hours of golf with my mates I'm pretty exhausting both physically and mentally. I don't think people appreciate how strenuous it actually is until they play regularly, especially on a hot day when the scores are close and the stakes are high. It's a great game though.
 
Most sports are called games:
Basketball game, baseball game, etc.
Some are called matches;
Tennis match, soccer match.
Golf is called both.
 
Golf is both a game and a sport.

It takes strength, stamina and a great amount of athleticism. Two words: Tiger Woods. He is a machine and one of the best atheletes to ever walk the earth.
 
melrose said:
Gentlemen don't play common sports.
Click to expand...

FAIL.

Gentlemen don't play sports? What is wrong with you? Some of the best players in major league sports are all gentlemen. Gretzky? Farve? Teddy Williams? Come on....
 
melrose said:
Golf is a gentleman's game. Gentlemen don't play common sports. You must remember it originated ages ago in the British Isles and was popular with people of stature and note.

That's my take..
Click to expand...

That sounds sooo Pebble Beach for sure, too :)

And no course in that city allows jeans as far as I know but for some years now, people wear spandex like jumpsuit golf apparel similar to what track and field athletes wear which I never saw much, or at all, before Tiger modernized the look of the sport.

I have seen bodybuilders wearing the skin tight clothing showing off their bodies on the golf course even though, he he, many are not that good, especially when it comes to putting. Those old guys in those checkered pants and ugly hats still do much better when the ball gets closer to the hole.

I guess there's still hope for a middle aged guy like me in that sport, because if I ever try and fit into a game of basketball with some leate teen-early twentysomethings, I get my butt handed to me on a platter. And saying "If I was only your age, I could take you on" is not a viable excuse. But one day they will be old and some young kid will run circles around them. That's the beauty of life.
 
I didn't mean modern-day people who exhibit gentlemanly behaviour - I am not so crass as to suggest pre-judgement and bias based on someone's behaviour and treatment of others. 'Gentlemen' in the sense of Edwardian, 1800th-century England. You know, bowler hats and walking sticks kind of gentlemen..
 
yg17 said:
I don't think it should be considered a sport, after all, it's even more boring than watching paint dry ;)
Click to expand...

funny that you say that...my neighbor was in tom watson's entourage when he hit that most famous clutch shot at pebble beach (17th hole chip in), which is the most famous shot in golf history, and she confessed to me that was even boring to watch

she much more enjoyed golf when she was on the tour

golf is so much more interesting to play, even though i find a more physical sport like basketball, track and field, or football much more fun

when you are the one wielding a putter in a very long shot and it goes in, it's a very exciting feeling, and maybe only to you but it's a personal achievement that has to be felt in first person
 
It is a game, like a lot of others. Not sure why it's classed that way, but it's easy to see why in terms of how we refer to it:

"Anyone for a game of cricket?"
"Anyone for a game of football?"
"Anyone for a game of golf?"

c.f.

"Anyone for a game of running?"

Doesn't quite work, does it?
 
alFR said:
It is a game, like a lot of others. Not sure why it's classed that way, but it's easy to see why in terms of how we refer to it:

"Anyone for a game of cricket?"
"Anyone for a game of football?"
"Anyone for a game of golf?"

c.f.

"Anyone for a game of running?"

Doesn't quite work, does it?
Click to expand...

actually, you would play a round, not a game, of golf.
 
Actually, you can say either round or game. The official rules of golf refer to it as a game, anyway.
 
alFR said:
It is a game, like a lot of others. Not sure why it's classed that way, but it's easy to see why in terms of how we refer to it:

"Anyone for a game of cricket?"
"Anyone for a game of football?"
"Anyone for a game of golf?"

c.f.

"Anyone for a game of running?"

Doesn't quite work, does it?
Click to expand...

that's an interesting thing

i picked up some newsstand golf mags and saw the world game everywhere, but never once did i see the five letter word sport, even though i am sure the word does pop up in a golf magazine somewhere at times

now if i picked up each magazine and read it slowly for two or three hours, i am sure somewhere i could find the word "sport"

i just went to the wikipedia site and under the heading golf, they use both terms but mostly "game", but in such a furious way as to make it known that golf is a game

but when kimbo slice is on the cover of espn, refelcting our times and culture, i can't see where a golf cover could attract as much interest

perhaps golf is a unique activity that is unlike any other, which is actually both sport and game in equal portions
 
bigjnyc said:
teeing off requires strength and precision and physical ability, sinking a put requires timing strategy and just the right touch.... sounds like a sport to me. albeit not a physically strenous sport, but a sport nonetheless
Click to expand...

Yep, definitely a sport.

If it doesn't require judging, it's a sport. Anything that solely relies on judging for the outcome isn't a sport. Even chess is more of a sport to me than something like figure skating, where cheating and biased judging is rampant.

swiftaw said:
Yes, golfing is very much a frequently-used verb here in the US
Click to expand...

It's a slang-verb, but it's common enough that people think it's a regular verb, like "I'm going to google (something)".

melrose said:
Golf is a gentleman's game. Gentlemen don't play common sports. You must remember it originated ages ago in the British Isles and was popular with people of stature and note.

That's my take..
Click to expand...

Never thought about it like that. I think you're right.

*shock horror!* :p
 
alFR said:
Actually, you can say either round or game. The official rules of golf refer to it as a game, anyway.
Click to expand...

i use the term game, but a lot of the older golfers i know like to use the term round
 
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