Golf Clubs � As Cool as Andy Roddick's Racket?

Golf is still shaking off the image of being a recreational game for retirees. Is golf a real sport?

Is golf a real sport?

Is golf a real sport? It's a controversial question and many men and women who love to swing their golf clubs will no doubt be outraged at the suggestion it was anything but.

Recreational hobby

Golf is such a big recreational hobby and pastime for the retired that it can be hard to shake off the image. Besides, some people may think that walking and swinging a few golf clubs isn't exactly an exacting activity.

American controversy

 Here in the States, golfer John Daly has certainly fuelled the controversy as to whether you need to be a true sportsman to swing golf clubs. Renowned for his rough-and-tumble personal life, the Californian's career has been punctuated with alcohol � including harassing a flight attendant on a British Airways airplane when drunk. With multiple divorces, he's said to have had a gambling problem which lost him around $50million over 15 years. He also sheds doubt over whether swinging golf clubs is a real sport by the fact he is known for his excessive cigarette smoking and weight problems.

Daly seems to show you can play golf and not be physically fit, which seems to be at odds with the idea of sport.

But although many golf clubs may be gentle places where retirees socialise and pass away a few hours on the green, there are still professionals who insist it is a real sport and you do need to be very fit to do 36 holes in an eight hour day.

Macho attitude

Perhaps there's a macho attitude to the sport because swinging golf clubs isn't as testosterone-fuelled as rugby or soccer and the fact is anyone can play the sport from young kids to the retired. It is the most democratic of sports.

The idea that an eight year old could swing his golf clubs and theoretically beat Tiger Woods on a particular hole of a par 3 golf course perhaps also undermines the idea of it being a true sport. After all, you'd never get that eight year old beating athlete Andy Roddick at tennis. The handicap system encourages everyone to play.

But perhaps it's this quality that makes swinging golf clubs more sportsman-like than any other sport out there.

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