Golf is a very polished and refined sport, with a history of popularity with white upper class citizens. The modern game of golf comes from a traditional Scottish royal activity. The first game of golf was played with sticks, pebbles, and rabbit holes and evolved to wooden clubs and since then steel or graphite clubs with rubber and surlyn balls.  In 1764, the first golf course in St Andrews was established. It has since become an iconic memoriam for the history of traditional golf.

Despite golf having very strict etiquette, it is one of the most frequently debated sports. The laid back clothing and the simple structure of golf make some more hesitant to call it a sport. Golf is also easily accessible to all ages without an intense physical restraint required as there is no running or jumping usually involved. People who discredit golf will often say that golf cannot be considered a sport because drinking and smoking is typical but, to counter, it can make for an increasingly difficult round of golf.  As famous writer Mark Twain once said, ‘golf is a good walk spoiled,’ and although golf is not a sport for all of us, often being called ‘boring’,  personal opinion does not define what makes a sport. Golf’s fierce competitive side, physical aspects, and tough mental stamina all contribute to it most certainly being a sport.

A sport, by definition, is ‘an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment’ (Oxford Languages). This fully applies to golf. Golf is one of those things where the better you are the easier it looks. The idea of golf is fairly simple, get the tiny white ball into the grass hole with a metal stick, but the execution is not so simple. A golf ball is 1.68 inches in diameter and the hole has a diameter of about three golf balls. Getting that ball five-hundred yards or more in five shots takes extreme technical precision and knowledge with almost no margin for error. Furthermore, golf requires players to walk an average of six miles per round carrying a thirty pound bag trekking uneven terrain, which most definitely takes physical endurance. Professionals will compete against one another in the many tournaments hosted by the PGA 

(Professional Golfers Association), which proves a very competitive environment that is streamed across international television. Golf very clearly meets all of these, therefore qualifying it to be a sport. 

Golf in fact, can also be classified as a game and a pastime as well. The official definition of a game is as follows: ‘a form of play or sport, especially a competitive oneplayed according to rules and decided by skill, strength, or luck’ (Oxford Languages). This can be applied to casual golf, golf performed in an amateur, meaning not a professional, manner. The competitive aspect of an activity is what differentiates a game from a sport. This is true as well for any sport no matter the physical exertion, including soccer, basketball, or volleyball. A pastime is ‘an activity that someone does regularly for enjoyment rather than work; a hobby’ (Oxford Languages). As well as being a sport and game, golf can be considered a pastime too. Any activity can be a pastime and a sport both. Baseball is most commonly seen as a sport with over one thousand players in the MLB (Major League Baseball); it is also America’s favorite pastime. The difference between a sport, game, and a pastime is really just the aspect in which it is performed. When played professionally as a career, it is a sport. When played casually, for fun, with an amateur status, which most people are, it is a game. 

In addition to being a sport, What sets golf apart from other sports is the field in which it is played. Many sports are practiced indoors or can be performed both inside and outside. Golf on the other hand is a strictly outdoor sport, played rain or shine, and can be found in some of the most beautiful places in the world. Golf courses are usually eighteen holes on grassy areas spanning about six miles long. The beauty in this is that a golf course can be just about anywhere: mountains, deserts, headlands, and more. Pebble Beach Golf Links is one of the most famous courses in the world, known for often hosting golf’s biggest events such as the US Open and the PGA Championship. The collection of four of golf’s most iconic courses sits majestically over the headlands overlooking the Monterey peninsula. Golfers, unlike other athletes, have access to some of the most sought after scenery around the world, traveling to more than twenty-eight countries annually. Though, golf  is quite often looked down upon in the sporting world, it remains one of the most underrated sports. 

Some may say that golf is more like a game or pastime rather than a sport. This proves to be true but circumstantially. Golf practiced in a competitive aspect meets the requirements and definition of a sport. The PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association) has twenty-seven thousand professional  golfers annually (PGATour). Golf haters will say, ‘golf is easy, anyone can pick up a club and hit a stationary ball.’ This is true, but with all things, anything done well takes skill. The sheer technical and mental capacity required to play a decent round of golf is well above the average person and outweighs sports with an intense physical exertion. With this in mind, it can be concluded that golf is undoubtedly a sport.