Golf: Sport or Not?
There is a rumour in town and it’s not very nice one. People are saying that golf is not a sport and should not be considered one. When asked to compare golf and football, there are obviously a lot of differences. No two games are totally alike. However, these two are extremely different. Where players run in football, they walk in golf. Where in football you need to work on biceps, your stature and posture matters in golf. The difference in what these two sports portray has made people re-consider whether golf is a sport or not. There are always two sides to a story and hence there are some who believe that golf is a sport whereas some who think that golf isn’t a sport.
For those who think that golf isn’t really a sport, well they do have valid reasons. Reason one being that one doesn’t do much that tests athletic abilities. Seriously, walking around freshly mowed lawn with a stick in your hand- this is not modelling now is it? They play there with their freshly ironed clothes and have got their perfect country club smiles, golfing and modelling actually have a lot in common. If they call golf a sport, who knows tomorrow they will be calling Tyra Banks the hottest ‘athlete’ of America? Some also argue that a lot of technique and skill is required in golf. Well it is also required in chess, we don’t call chess a sport do we?
Not only is Golf considered a sport, by some weird unknown way, golf is also called the ‘rich’ sport. Many people think it is just a reason for rich people to show off their clothes and pretty blonde wives. Rumor has it that it used to be an old excuse for Doctor’s to get Wednesday off and it just happened to grow from there. Yes that’s right, grow as a sport. Even Mark Twain has said, “Golf is a good walk spoiled.” You don’t sweat in golf. You don’t run in golf. You don’t jump, throw or catch in golf. Senior citizens who should be smoking cigars in a rocking chair at home are out there beaming to be professional golf players.
On the other hand people debate that golf is most definitely is and should be considered a sport. Legends like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson didn’t emerge out of dust. Tiger Woods can drive a golf ball over 250 yards from his knees; now that does take a lot of skill. They have something, a certain talent that others don’t have. Baseball is hitting a ball with a stick and it's a sport, hockey is hitting a ball with a stick and it's a sport, golf is hitting a ball with a stick so it must be a sport. People not only think that Golf is a sport but also name it the HARDEST sport. The players have to trust their instinct and be aware of the exact amount of swing they need in order to score well.
One sports scientist went this far to scientifically prove Golf as a sport. With the amount of calories burned during a round of golf, it is most likely to be a sport than a hobby. In his research about Golf, Neil Wolkodoff who is the director of the Rose Center for heal and Sport Sciences in Denver experimented with eight male volunteers. Hooking them up to heart rate, carbon dioxide production, oxygen consumption and distance measuring devices, he had them play four nine-hole rounds. The volunteers burned sufficient calories that caused Wolkodoff to consider golf a sport. "One of the more interesting things I found was that the actual act of swinging a golf club takes significant energy," he said.
He does imply that the physical exertion is not as much as during boxing, but it is much more than people assume it to be.
Nevertheless, with the amount of golf championships and tournaments going on around the world shows which side of the story is winning. There are always people who refuse to believe no matter what, but a fact is fact. Golf is a professional Sport and it should be considered one.
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