Golf Forum banner

Is golf a hobby or a sport?

3109 Views 10 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  ebittner
Just what the title says. Hiking is a hobby, really. Basketball is a sport. But what about archery? What about golf? In the end, I think it's probably a sport, but I think we could have an interesting discussion abou this
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
Golf Could Be!

Golf could be: golf could both ways on that. I think if you go out to win, it's a sport, if you go out to practice and enjoy it, it may well be a hobby. I believe it's in the eyes of the beholder. Sport sounds like a head to head match, where your going to play to win.
I think that may be true, actualy. You can't call what the guys in the Masters are doing a hobby. You also can't go to the local course and call what the beer-bellied 75 year olds are doing a sport. It all depends on what viewpoint you're looking at it from
That is the thing about golf it can go either way. It is a hobby for many, but a hobby we all want to be good at and enjoy. Also, it can be a sport among those who compete. In the end it can go both ways and as for me it is a hobby.
It def. depends on how it's played like ditchweed mentioned. If you're just playing for enjoyement with friends and not for the score, than i'd consider that a hobby. If you're playing for money or in a tournament of some sort, i'd say that qualifies it as a sport.
agree with the above - depending on how much time you put into it, it's either. It's like the guys who play baseball once a month with their pals or those who chug onto the football field way past their prime to show off for the ladies!
Well, for those that Golf while drinking, Golf is not only a sport, it's an extreme sport:laugh:
Michael311 said:
Well, for those that Golf while drinking, Golf is not only a sport, it's an extreme sport:laugh:
Yeah, an extreme sport for everyone else on the course too who have to hurtle out of the way on a moment's notice to evade a wayward ball from cracking them on the head. ;)

Competition is the key to sport, IMHO. So if you're competitive I think you're going to see it as a sport, even your own play, but if you're not that competitive, you'll think your own play is a hobby. Thin line between the two though sometimes. After all, you usually are playing with someone else and it does matter to each of you if you win or the other player wins.
For me I would say it can be both. I would say for top players it is definately a sport but for people playing it for sheer pleasure who are not really competeing at any level I would say its a hobby.
So what would you say in my case? Right now I am an inspiring golfer. I have been practicing like crazy to eventually get good enough to play in some big time amateur tournaments, but at the curren moment, am probably not good enough to compete. Right now it is all about preperation for me, so I don't really know if I can call it a hobby. At the same time, I am not really competing against anyone else right now, so I don't know if it could be considered sport. This is a very interesting conversation and I never really thought of golf in this sense. I always just thought of it as a sport, but now I may revise my opinion slightly.
For me Golf is mostly a hobby but for many other people it is a sport but I do not play that seriouse I do it to relax and have fun.
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top