"Golfers aren't Athletes"...

[KB1982]

Heard this yesterday driving home from work yesterday on the Dan Patrick Show on ESPN Radio. Dan Patrick wasn't on, but Max Kellerman was filling in. I only caught a portion of the show/rant but he went on to say that Golfers aren't athletes and said something along the lines of that there is nothing athletic about golf.

I caught a bit of his followup rant today (he was filling in again) and gave a reasoning that while Tiger Woods, along with other golfers display incredible hand-eye coordination, there is no real athletic measure. Where as boxing, baseball, football, etc, there is a measurement of how fast you run, how high you can jump, how strong you can punch, etc, golf displays no real measure of athleticism.

I almost stopped my car dead when I heard his rant. While I did like Kellerman when he did Around the Horn and when he did the boxing show on ESPN, I have to disagree with him completely. I know that I'm basically preaching to the choir here, but this is something that I just needed to speak out about. And the reaction from callers to emailers in response to this claim on his show was split about 50/50 if I recall correctly.

 

[Rockford35]

Those that golf and love it think it's athletic. Those that struggle and hate the game think the opposite.

Not suprising that the calls were 50/50. The fact that people even debate this is funny in itself.

If you don't like the game, don't play. And certainly don't talk it down because you suck.

R35

 

[VtDivot]

I love this game and respect people's opinion but I would say that golf at best is marginally athletic.


You do not have to be in shape to play (see 1/2 the guys on tour) You need to practice and practice and then practice.

Hockey, Football, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing all for the most part very athletic in people in top physical condition playing those sports. Yes football (amer) has it's share of slobs, but that size is required at that position.


I feel a lashing coming on here...

 

[DaveE]

It's fair to say that not all golfers are athletes just like it's fair to say that not every guy or girl who picks up a bat and plays softball is an athlete.

I don't think you can really define who may or may not be an athlete by the sport they play. It would be tough to agrue that Tiger is not but reasonable to question if a Craig Stadler really is.

Maybe a point could be made that you don't have to be an athlete to play golf even though most of world's top players certainly are.

 

[the Anomaly]

I agree that golf isn't the most athletic sport out there but, golf is definately more mental than any of the previously mentioned sports.

 

[Lamma]

I don't know. I'm in pretty good shape; I can lift weights for 45 minutes and then run 4 miles. But I'll be damned if I'm not pretty tired at the end of a four hour round of golf. For whatever reasons I've never quite figured out, a round of golf can really take it out of you.

And to walk a course four days in a row a person has to posess an endurance like quality to their body. How some of the pros look the way they do-all tubby and gooey is something of a mystery to me. You gotta figure that they walk about 4 miles a day usually five days a week and they're still fatbodies. They must actually be on the Wienershnitzel Chili Cheese Dog Diet. They have to be consuming so many calories fortified with copious amounts of trans-fats. Even a fairly loose but sound nutritional program would drop the tonnage off those guys in pretty short order.

But in reality, the Craig Stadlers of the golfing world have become exceptions rather than the standard. The vast majority of players these days are in pretty good shape.

But are they athletes? Like many other athletes in other sports, pro golfers played more than just the sport they're playing now before settling professionaly on one. Many NFL players also played basketball. Many NBA players played football or baseball etc.
So overall, I'd have to answer in the affirmative to pro golfers being athletes.

 

[FreedomJess]

People who go around saying things like "golfers aren't athletes" are mostly losers who have never played a sport or stuck to one long enough to get good. The guy who said that is probably a fat couch potato. Jess

 

[Rockford35]

Good comments, all around.

I could honestly care less either way. I wouldn't step accross the room to argue it one way or another. Golf is a game. Athletic or not, it's fun as hell, and that's all that's important to me.

R35

 

[obagain]

My response to these questions:

If golf is not a sport, why do so many athlete try to become golfers and can't make it?
Watch the pebble beach pro am and see all the big time athletes making fools of themselves.

 

[shortwavez]

im a newbie here and love golf. Been playing it since i can remember. Like one of the other members, i dont care who calls golfers atheletes and who doesn't. i know i have fun each and every time i walk out there. i dont think there's anything to prove. -val

 

[VtDivot]

My response to these questions:

If golf is not a sport, why do so many athlete try to become golfers and can't make it?
Watch the pebble beach pro am and see all the big time athletes making fools of themselves.

Good point. I think maybe because golf is such a difficult and humbling game. These pro athletes are usually very excptional at their sport like the top .00001 percent, and also can do quite well at most others. Not sure if Pebble is them trying to "make it" in golf though.

I agree with Rock that it can be debated either way. I am a sports nut by this I mean player and fan of just about anything ESPN can throw out there (maybe not the spelling bee)... I guess I'm just one of "those dumb couch potatoes that never played a sport in my life"

 

[Mister Bater]

When Lee Westwood was ranked 5th in the world, he was asked about his physique. His reply was "I'm a golfer, not an athlete".

 

[mediaguru]

What about caddys? Michael Campbell said that Stevie Williams was the "most popular Australian athelete"

 

[caddyshackgolf]

Well, I do think golf is a sport. But I do see where people come from saying that it isnt athletic. Because you see somepeople who are in good shape and can walk 18. Then you see others who drive a cart,play 9, and weigh 300 pounds. But i do consider golf to be athletic because I always walk and I have a god only knows how much the bag on my back weighs. So carry that for a couple miles would be athletic.

 

[Mister Bater]

What about caddys? Michael Campbell said that Stevie Williams was the "most popular Australian athelete"

No he didn't.

He's from New Zealand.