The Golf Digest 50

**leejo** · 01-10-2007, 02:13 PM

http://www.golfdigest.com/features/i...02top50_4.html

Not bad scratch. Careers can last 40 years or more and the game doesn't give you concussions or destroy your knees. Also, it's played at the finest resorts in the world.

Sigh.

**SmokingTarpan** · 01-10-2007, 02:47 PM

Bowling, my sport of choice, is somewhat similar. Prize fund isn't quite as big, and it's not as publicized as golf, but the potential for money is there in the tournaments and endorsements both. Not to mention that many of the PBA members have sponsors and get jobs with their equipment companies to boot.

Here's the PBA event prize list for the past 4 months of bowling, if anyone is interested: http://www.pba.com/stats/ytdstats.as...Stype=Earnings

I'm all up for sports that place high focus on individual skill and longevity without the need to tear yourself apart. Golf and bowling are two of the prime ones, where you can still play even when you're 80 or more years old. We had a guy in our association last year bowl a 300 (perfect game, all strikes) at age 69, and another dude who is still bowling at age 92. Crazy.

**CingularDuality** · 01-11-2007, 02:05 PM

Golf and bowling are games, not sports.

**Rincewind** · 01-11-2007, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by CingularDuality

Golf and bowling are games, not sports.

Like Magic: The Gathering, right?

**leejo** · 01-11-2007, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by CingularDuality

Golf and bowling are games, not sports.

Both are sports. What definition are you using?

**SmokingTarpan** · 01-12-2007, 09:51 AM

Originally Posted by CingularDuality

Golf and bowling are games, not sports.

Ah, I see what you did there. Like the game of football, soccer or hockey. Clever. All sports are games, correct.

**CingularDuality** · 01-12-2007, 12:58 PM

Originally Posted by leejo

Both are sports. What definition are you using?

Negative. They're games. Let's look at the definition of sports that we're using here:

An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.

Both golf and bowling require skill, but are lacking in the physical exertion part. Unless we're going to start including tiddly winks, chess, and playing jacks, too, simply because they involve physical movement...

**leejo** · 01-12-2007, 01:12 PM

Originally Posted by CingularDuality

Negative. They're games. Let's look at the definition of sports that we're using here:

Both golf and bowling require skill, but are lacking in the physical exertion part. Unless we're going to start including tiddly winks, chess, and playing jacks, too, simply because they involve physical movement...

Sorry, but you don't know what you're talking about if you think golf doesn't involve physical exertion. And if you had watched this year's PGA Championship, you would understand the degree to which Tiger's physical strength and endurance separates him from the rest of the field.

Championship Golf requires precision, flexibility, strength, and endurance. The British Open demands all of these in driving rain and wind and in the cold - you've been there and understand how that saps you physically, right?

Golf and tennis are alike in this I think. For beginners, there's very little physical exertion involved. The better you get the more physical it becomes. If you look at modern golfers, it's easy to see Tiger's influence: back in the day there were lots of tubby golfers who did quite well. Most of the young guys coming into the sport are cut.

I don't want to drag this chat out, but I'd love to get you on a golf course for a few days and see how you feel physically after.

**CingularDuality** · 01-12-2007, 01:22 PM

Bah, that's what all old doctors like to think, but golf is just a game. Walking around (sometimes just riding in a cart!) and swinging a club does NOT count as physical exertion.

**SmokingTarpan** · 01-12-2007, 02:02 PM

Originally Posted by CingularDuality

Bah, that's what all old doctors like to think, but golf is just a game. Walking around (sometimes just riding in a cart!) and swinging a club does NOT count as physical exertion.

In that case, I don't count standing in one place and swinging a stick at a ball, then running 90 feet if you manage to hit it before standing around again as physical exertion either. I exert myself more in a typical day of work.

I'll let leejo take the golf angle, since I don't do that much. With bowling, don't think about league where people go to drink and throw a ball maybe. Think about tournaments and professional. The typical tournament I'm in consists of bowling 8 games in a row. My equipment (each ball) weighs 15lbs. Each game I pick up the ball, hold it to line up for some time, walk 15 feet while holding the weight, then throw the weight out about 6-10 feet. I do this on average about 15 times per game (the number is higher for poorer bowlers). So, for a typical tournament, that's 120 times that I've lifted, carried, and thrown a 15lb weight. At it's base, that's weightlifting. :P This also is pretty much constant; get up, bowl, wait for the other 2-3 guys to go, then bowl again. No waiting 10min between each shot. I'm pretty beat at the end of the day, and I'm a guy who's pretty in shape.

For professional competition (looking at the winner only), it's even more. They do three qualifying rounds (21 games total), three rounds of narrowing the field (3 x best of 7, possible 21 games), then 2-3 games on the championship day depending on format. That could be as much as 45 games in 4 days.

Like leejo, I encourage you to try even one of my tournaments and tell me how you feel afterward if you don't think it's physical exertion. :P I know we won't change your opinion though, most people think there's only about 5 sports in the world, if that.

**OSD** · 01-14-2007, 04:34 PM

Originally Posted by CingularDuality

Bah, that's what all old doctors like to think, but golf is just a game. Walking around (sometimes just riding in a cart!) and swinging a club does NOT count as physical exertion.

Well I see your up to your OLD STuff my friend...

check this out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf

**CingularDuality** · 01-14-2007, 11:49 PM

Originally Posted by OSD

Well I see your up to your OLD STuff my friend...

check this out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf

Ha! Where have you been hiding, old man? Good to see you!

And, yes, I see that Wikipedia (now) says that it's a game. Thanks for supporting my point!

**OSD** · 01-15-2007, 01:40 AM

Originally Posted by CingularDuality

Ha! Where have you been hiding, old man? Good to see you!

And, yes, I see that Wikipedia (now) says that it's a game. Thanks for supporting my point!

I've been out playing the sport of golf

and trying to get my retirement together so I can play the game of gaming again........well maybe on the gaming part..