Why Golf is considered a ‘rich’ sport?
What are the first things that come to your mind when you think of golf? Luxury, Country Clubs, Old Rich Men - everything related to golf has that smell of ‘money’ which comes with it. The freshly mowed golf courses and men in their clean cut ironed and
perfect attires - the sport really depicts that all who play golf are rich. No other sport exudes such wealth and luxury than golf. No other sport is really linked to one’s social status or how much they are worth. So is there a link between the rich and golf?
Obviously it’s not true that one has to be filthy rich in order to swing a golf club. If a person has a lot of passion for the game and he knows how to achieve his goals, then he can most definitely play it. It is just the stereotype or perception that
golf has created over the years that it is always linked with luxury. It’s just stigmatized that rich people play golf and talk business while doing so. What started from King James IV of Scotland has continued for centuries amongst the royalty and noblemen
in the West. American President Barrack Obama is a faithful player of the game as well and plays golf quite frequently in Washington D.C.
Some say that maybe history has portrayed the sport as a past time of kings and nobles. Maybe all those in power wanted to continue this trend. However, more or less, there could be some practical approaches to this concept too.
If we look at the price of the golfing equipment, one can say that it’s not an average man’s sport. Good golf clubs are no less than $700 each. The most an official NBA basketball will cost someone is $50 while a cricket bat and ball may not cost more than
$5 – so there you have it. Add golf balls, clothes, specialized shoes and gadgets and the grand sum can mean a lot of cash flowing out of the bank account.
Secondly, if someone wants to play at a decent and recognized golf course, you are looking at another huge cash outflow. For instance, Pebble beach can charge a player up to $600 for 18 holes. Thirdly, if you are a golf fan, you would surely want to join
a nice country club. These country clubs can be very pricey since they require an initiation sum along with a monthly fee.
Now even if a person has the equipment, has paid for the course and the country club membership, he does need the skill to play the game. That would require for training courses. In golf, this is extremely crucial at the early stages. Golf is not an easy
sport to learn, its technicalities can take years to master. Some people say golf is the most difficult sport of them all.
In addition, if there is a college or a high school player who wants to go into professional golf, he needs to be acknowledged first. That means he has to play in various national competitions which can easily sum up to around one thousand or more for a
week.
Many say that one reason golf is so expensive is because it is played on a vast chunk of land. With most of the golf courses being on five star resorts, these are bound to be very posh and expensive. Some golf courses are near beaches and have creeks or
lakes by them. In order to add scenic beauty to the course, the price increases by thousands of dollars. A lot of money is required to build and to maintain them. For example, in Nevada, having water run around the golf course surely looks beautiful but must
cost millions.
Summing up, golf equipment, golf courses, golf training, everything about golf is costly. Courses are scared to increase the prices due to the economy and the same goes for the equipment. In conditions like these, being affluent is definitely an advantage.
The normal man, however, cannot afford more than one game per month.
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