Are Golfers Athletes?

[Ashtanga 0]

Just wondering what the consensus is on whether or not you consider Golfers Athletes.

[lisamariewillbe 1]

You probley havent golfed huh? Its more tiring then a day at the DZ. The best part of golf is that the beer cart starts early. You can have a tee time of 9 am , be drunk by noon lose the game by 2 and be worn out to no end. I vote yes

Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

[mr2mk1g 10]

What's the phrase... if you can't die doing it it's a game and not a sport.

Lightning doesn't count.

Can you be an athlete and not engage in a "sport"?

[Meux 0]

It depends on what level you play the game. Hackers can go out and hack away. Serious golfers work hard at the game, and it's a hard game.

So, I say yes. Golfers are atheletes. Hackers don't have to be.

FORE

[lisamariewillbe 1]

you can die golfing...

Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

[Ashtanga 0]

Taken from here...

http://www.lkwdpl.org/nworth/golfers.htm

ARE GOLFERS CONSIDERED ATHLETES?


By Bill Nichols



Are golfers athletes?

The so-called physical sports fans scoff at the idea, saying they're just well-fed, well-dressed people who have the ability to hit a little white ball straight.

Arnold Palmer converted many with his muscular sloping shoulders and aggressive style of play. Gary Player made believers of others with him penchant for physical fitness and Jack Nicklaus changed more minds with his awesome power.

STILL, THE DOUBTERS REMAINED when Palmer was named, Athlete of the Decade (1960s) when they said he wasn't qualified.

Bill Fitch, coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, is a believer.

"Sure, they're athletes," Fitch said last summer. "I've played football, baseball and basketball and there's no tougher game to play than golf."

Fitch, by the way, has become a golf addict.

Nicklaus should have helped dispel this non-athlete myth years ago. Few remember, but Jack was an All-City baseball catcher when he was in high school in Columbus.

BOB GOALBY WAS A QUARTERBACK at Illinois, although he said last summer, "The longer I'm away from football, the better player I was."

Inroads are being made every year to convince the non-believers.

The 1971 list of new winners on the PGA tour points out a strong case for the golfer-athlete.

J. C. Snead, winner of the Tucson and Doral Opens, was an all-around athlete in high school and he gave up a professional baseball career to make his living in golf.

Jerry Heard, winner of the American Golf Classic, was a standout athlete in high school and at San Jose State, both in football and baseball.

DeWITT WEAVER is another. He was a high school football star, who turned to golf when he found himself competing with Don Meredith for the quarterback job at Southern Methodist Weaver won the first U.S. Professional Match Play title.

Then there's Hale Irwin, who won the 1971 Heritage Classic. Irwin was a fine girder in high school and at the University of Colorado.

If this doesn't convince you, play 36 holes one day from the back tees at Kirtland Country Club. There's an experience that should convince you.

This article originally appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer January 10, 1972.
Reproduced with permission.

[mr2mk1g 10]

old age and heart attacks while you just happen to be on the course also dont count - I mean die because the sport kills you... I'd give you it where the golfer dies from being struck by his ball if it bounces off a tree or something... still that's a bit of a freak event.

[lisamariewillbe 1]

he could get eaten by a alligator, thats happen before

Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

[mailin 0]

Quote

Its more tiring then a day at the DZ.

You're not packing for yourself on 10 loads in a day are you?


Jen

Arianna Frances

[lisamariewillbe 1]

whats packing???

Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

[RfukfreeflyingW 0]

Quote

What's the phrase... if you can't die doing it it's a game and not a sport.

Lightning doesn't count.

Can you be an athlete and not engage in a "sport"?

Ooh great statement, so lets see what's not a sport in ur definition then:

Golf, baseball, basketball, soccer, cricket, tennis, volleyball, football(american - for the most part), running (since you said having a heart attck from exertion doesn't count), rowing... Just to name a few that your definiton limits out

----
-God, you are the perfect amount of dumb...

[jasonRose 0]

Quote

Just wondering what the consensus is on whether or not you consider Golfers Athletes.

I don't think they are.

Some day I will have the best staff in the world!!!

[hexadecimal 0]

I golf, and I still don't consider golfers athletes.

[masterrig 1]

If, you can't be an athlete... Be an athletic supporter!


Chuck

[Airbender 0]

I don't understand why most of you reply. If someone asks me a question I have no experience with and don't know what I'm talking about I would just tell them I don't know enough about it. Maybe a better question would be how many people think before posting.

[kelel01 1]

Haven't been on the forums long, have you?

Give it time. If you're irritated by this, you'll be done with dz.com in a week.

[mr2mk1g 10]

Quote

Ooh great statement, so lets see what's not a sport in ur definition then:

Golf, baseball, basketball, soccer, cricket, tennis, volleyball, football(american - for the most part), running (since you said having a heart attck from exertion doesn't count), rowing... Just to name a few that your definiton limits out

Well I can't really take credit for that statement unfortunately - been around for ages, long before my time in this sport.

But yeah, pretty much - most of those are games not sports.

Never heard of "soccer" being called "the beautiful game"?

[Adriandavies 0]

Two words....Colin Montgomerie...nuff said

[Spizzzarko 0]

Have you ever been hit by a golf ball? Those things are moving!, and yes you can very easily be killed by a golf ball if hit in the right place.

[tcnelson 1]

some are, and some aren't.

woods is an athlete in every sense of the word while tim herron is not. tim is just a good golfer.

"Don't talk to me like that assface...I don't work for you yet." - Fletch
NBFT, Deseoso Rodriguez RB#1329

[Designer 0]

Race car drivers make more money.I used to like golf until I found Jumping.Yikes,yes played badly as a teenager.(lol)

[Designer 0]

Too Funny,be nice now!(lol)

[Superman32 0]

Golf is a much as a sport as playing cards, or billiards, or bowling, or shuffleboard, or....

Inveniam Viam aut Faciam
I'm back biatches!

[lisamariewillbe 1]

youve never been hit in the head with a shuffleboard puck huh? I had one frisbeed at me as a kid, OUCH

Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

[Adriandavies 0]

Paper cuts from playing cards can really sting as well!