Controversy for today: Golf is not a sport…
I don’t like golf. I never have and probably never will. It seems too arduous to be lazy yet too flimsy to be considered physically strenuous.
To the avid golfer, the conversations always reverb around “we’ll it’s not as easy as it looks” or, “it’s one of the most skill demanding sports going”. I don’t doubt for one second it’s easy, and nor do I doubt it’s extremely skillful. I do however doubt it should be classed as a sport.
Physically it’s demanding on your lower back, core and rotator cuffs. Fine. Whilst Greg Norman and more recently Tiger Woods have pushed home that being physically fit is no longer an advantage but a necessity in golf, I still can’t for the life of me see why it should be classed as a sport.
I have nothing against golfers, golf courses, golf clubs or anything related to golf, I just don’t understand the “sport” element about it.
Darts is yet again, for me, in the same category. The skill level is unique, throwing consistent 180’s is hard enough and like Golf, hours of practice are required to achieve it, but is it really a sport?
The both have a competitive nature, they both have a skill level and by the English dictionary this would constitute them as a sport. I still don’t see how.
I love my motor sports, Formula 1 in particular. The physical, mental and skill ability combined with tactics, rivalries and pure state of the art technology and competitiveness makes this for me a sport. And the same goes for Football, American Football, Basketball, Rugby, Volleyball and so on.
Like I said at the start, I don’t like golf and I probably never will, so my argument is probably mis-guided bias but if you can think of a reason why I should call it a sport, please let me know.
