# is golf a sport?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golf-a-sport/595254>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [September 5, 2011, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golf-a-sport/595254 "2011-09-05T11:54:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golf-a-sport/595254/61 "2011-09-06T20:35:26Z")

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> [@robardin](#):
>
> I don’t think there needs to be a physical element to be a sport. Being a competitive person myself, I would like to think of Chess, Bridge and Scrabble as at least “mental sports”. If you need to practice to improve, keep in training and always be on guard against new techniques from your opponents, it’s a sport.

There is a move to categorize them as “mind sports”, with a World Mind Sport Games - the first was held in Beijing shortly after the Olympics. The next is in Manchester, England, shortly after the London Olympics next year.

Personally, I don’t buy it. I play competitive bridge 2 - 3 times a week and do not consider it a sport in any way. I do regard a physical element to be present for an activity to be a sport. Speed riffle-shuffling anyone?

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**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golf-a-sport/595254/62 "2011-09-06T20:53:33Z")

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> [@robardin](#):
>
> The classic paradigm of sport, the Olympic Games, were meant to showcase athleticism of course, and I agree that’s the most universally appealing expression of sport - as a not-so-subtle metaphor for battle or for warfare, especially one-on-one sports of physical domination like wrestling or boxing.

Yeah, but they don’t hurl the javelins at each other, y’know? And ditto for the archers, sure as the equestrians take turns racing around on horseback? There’s a lot of war-friendly competition going on without employing the ‘active defense’ criterion. (I don’t even want to mess with a biathlon champ on dry land, let alone on turf where he specializes in the ol’ hit-and-run.)

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**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-golf-a-sport/595254/63 "2011-09-06T21:11:17Z")

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> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#):
>
> Yeah, but they don’t hurl the javelins at each other, y’know? And ditto for the archers, sure as the equestrians take turns racing around on horseback? There’s a lot of war-friendly competition going on without employing the ‘active defense’ criterion. (I don’t even want to mess with a biathlon champ on dry land, let alone on turf where he specializes in the ol’ hit-and-run.)

Yeah, I didn’t include the “active defense” bit in my list - though let’s be honest, the purpose of demonstrating how much better Your City-State’s Champion is at hurling a javelin or riding a chariot is clearly meant to remind Everybody Else that in another context, those javelins and chariots could be expertly wielded in a less “let’s grab an amphora after the match and rub each other with oil” spirit.

And that’s not even bringing up the potential for [showmanship in hosting](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUy9OgRRXnw) the sporting event.

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