Golf is not a sport; it is a game.
I'll get right to the point here. Golf is not a sport; it is a game.
The Olympics are a memory now but the golf big shots are trying their hardest to make golf a medal event somewhere down the line. Numerous articles by golf enthusiasts call for the inclusion of the "sport" of golf on the grounds that it's popular and the "sport" can only add to the cachet of the Games.
Let's reveal golf for what it truly is. It is a game that is played by millions of people around the world. It can be played by young and old, fat and slim, and those in shape and out. Golf is clearly a game that is accessible to all people (provided you can pay the green fees). But is it a sport? No.
Dictionary.com defines sport as "An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively." It is the first part of the definition that precludes golf from being a sport: "An activity involving physical exertion..."
Unfortunately, I don't think there's a whole lot of physical exertion going on at the local golf club. Every time I drive by a club I see plenty of less than fit human specimens making the rounds. Golf carts, caddies, and the golf bag carriers that people roll behind them remove the majority of the physical (i.e. lugging a heavy bag for several kilometers) side of golf. In my books, if you can get off the couch after several years of inactivity and complete a round without breaking a sweat, it's a game.
Golf is a mind game more than anything else. How can I maximize my drive? How can I use the wind to get the ball where I want it? Which club will do the best job for this situation? This places golf in the category of chess. I don't think that too many people would argue that chess is a sport. Give two people a chess set and tell them to walk through a meadow with it while playing and you've got golf.
Why then is there such a push on to get golf into the sports category. By all accounts, it's already there. It's in the sports pages and the sports news. Still, however, many folks want golf included in the Olympics as well. In a nutshell, calling golf a sport and including it in the Olympics would admit many golf "athletes" into an exclusive club.
Ask the question sometime: "Do you do any sports?" "Sure, I golf." Armchair athletes, has-been athletes and never-were athletes can all proudly proclaim that they are "sportsmen" if they play golf.
The older you get, the more seductive this becomes. You can't run, play basketball, bike or do anything else like you used to but, by gosh, you can play golf! You're still an athlete. Aging boomers are prime candidates for this argument.
Some may point to the buff physiques of the new crop of golfers. Tiger Woods is definitely in shape. Did he get that way from playing golf? Nope. He got that way from lifting weights.
Others may point out the coordination required to get off a really good drive and the precision required for putting. If that's where golf's athleticism lies, let's get pool, darts and bowling on the nightly sports newscasts.
So let's just put golf back into the game category and forget about making it an Olympic event. I somehow don't think that the guy who can do a round or two of golf is in the same physical category as someone who runs 40 kilometers or lifts 600 pounds. Until golfers carry their own clubs around the course and jog between holes, it's a game.
And don't even mention NASCAR…