Argumentative Essay: Is Golf A Sport?

In the upcoming summer 2020 Olympics billions of people across the world will be watching competitive rock climbing. During the summer X-Games, there will be proclaimed professional athletes competing in eSports, a revolutionary new form of competitive video gaming. Even chess-boxing, a sport that contains a combination of chess and boxing, will make its way into many major sporting competitions. Every year new underground sports find their way into becoming a considerable part of mainstream conventional sports. Although many traditional sport fans refuse to consider unique and niche sports legitimate, sports can be defined on a wide spectrum of required physical or mental skills.

The oxford dictionary defines a sport as “An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” Therefore, no matter how contemporary a sport may be, if it meets the definition requirements, it is

Similar to other nontraditional sports, golf is undoughtably a slower paced game compared to mainstream sports and may often be viewed as not entertaining to watch. Skeptics of golf’s legitimacy argue that it is more appropriate to be described as a “game” rather than a “sport” because its ability to be played by unathletic individuals. Skeptics will go as far to explain that professional golfers are not athletes because golf does not require rigorous physical activity. This is concluded based on biased opinions and oversight on the true definition of what is required of a sport. Skeptics fail to see that golf, an Olympic event, has its own unique challenges. Although golf may not be as physically demanding as other sports, to reject its challenges and legitimacy is inaccurate. Golf requires physical and mental training that lead to improved performance. The same principles are applied to all traditional and contemporary sports