by Joe Joey

Created on: August 11, 2009   Last Updated: August 14, 2009

Aside from bowlers, there are no other sport participants that are questioned more for their athletic prowess than golfers. Are golfers athletes? The short answer is yes. Athletes have abilities over others in their niche. For example basketball, baseball, football, and hockey players have specific skill sets that make them better than others in their respective sport. By this definition, Golfers are not different. Golfers are athletes because they have skill sets that allow them to be better than others in the sport of golf.

Just as a shortstop can field a ball better than most people in baseball, golfers can strike a golf ball better than most in golf. The majority of people wouldn't argue that home run machine Albert Pujols isn't an athlete. Using the same flow of logic it can't be argued that multiple major champion winner Tiger Woods isn't an athlete. Others may argue that Tiger might be an athlete because he's in great shape while other golfers like John Daly clearly are not. It's true that some golfers are not chiseled masterpieces, but for golf they don't have to be. The same goes for baseball, 2009 Home Run Derby winner Prince Fielder isn't the sleekest guy out there, but he's still considered an athlete in baseball. It could be argued that they are not as athletic as other athletes, but that would concede that golfers are athletes.

Others may argue that although golfers play golf greater than others, they are not athletes because golf isn't a sport. Traditionally, a sport is a competition requiring some kind of physical activity. By this definition, golf is a sport. Granted golf may take less physical activity than other sports, but it still requires mental and physical skill to do well. Now just because golf is a sport, it doesn't mean that it is a sport as physically demanding as others. This, however, doesn't change its worthiness of being called a sport. Golf meets the minimum requirements of being a sport, which is being a competition requiring some kind of physical activity.

Just as this is the case, golfers meet the minimum requirement of being an athlete. As previously stated, golfers are better than others in golf. Golf is a sport. Athletes are those with abilities that make them better than others in their niche or sport. Therefore, golfers are athletes. It takes skill to drive a golf ball 475 yards in a specific direction. It also takes skill knock a golf ball out of the depths of a sand trap. In addition, it takes skill to make a putt 9 feet away from the hole. For these reasons golfers are indeed athletes.

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