15 Reasons Why Golf is the Best Sport

To us at Golf Monthly golf is more than a sport, it's a way of life. Golf is the best sport, and here are our top 15 reasons why.

Golf is the best sport

Arguments all over the world take place day-in day-out over which sport is the best with everyone believing their sport is the best of them all. Ultimately it comes down to a matter of opinion. Here at Golf Monthly we state our claim that golf is the premier sport.

-Etiquette

Golf is known for its un-written rules like never walking on your playing partners' putting lines, shaking hands at the end of each round, and the way everyone in the group gets together to help look for strayed golf balls. The game teaches good manners and respect, and this is something we should be very proud of as golfers.

-There's nothing better than playing a lovely course on a sunny day

Golf on a warm, summer's day with your pals on a lovely course cannot be beaten can it?

See our Top 100 Golf Courses in UK&I list.

-There's plenty of different formats

You can play medal, stableford, texas-scramble, foursomes, greensomes, the list goes on. There are so many different ways to score and enjoy your golf meaning that it never gets boring.

Pros and Cons of Golf Formats

-Versatility

Golf is such a versatile game. You can play on your own or with up to three of your mates at one time. Four if you’re feeling rebellious.

-You can compete with anyone despite contrasting abilities

Thanks to the handicap system, golfers of all different abilities can compete against one another on a level playing field. You can compete against a professional, what other sport can you do that in without a blindfold or a weapon?

-You can eat and drink while you play

You can walk down the fairway eating anything from a banana to last night’s dinner out of a tupperware container. What other sport can you do this in? This is the same with beverages. If you fancy a coffee you can have one, if you fancy a beer that’s doable, or why not bring your own hipflask and celebrate a birdie with some port?

-Different ways of transporting your clubs

There are various ways of transporting your clubs. Most golfers carry, use a trolley, or a buggy but you can even transport them on a GolfBoard.

-No age limit

Tiger Woods started playing when he was two, and the world’s oldest golfer is 103. Every club has its senior section and every club has its junior section. Golf is enjoyed by people of all different ages which is unseen in most other sports.

-You can play as many holes as you want

You can play the standard 18 or nine but if you fancy less it’s usually easy enough to just play certain loops of five or six holes. If you’re feeling ambitious you can play 100 holes in a day, just make sure you wake up early.

-Rewarding

Golf can be extremely rewarding. It’s also very painful, agonising, and frustrating but that just makes it even more rewarding when it all comes good, and it does, eventually. That feeling when you first break 90, 80 or even 70 is a momentous occasion and makes you realise all the pain was worth it.

-You can practice anywhere (literally)

You can practice at the club, on the range, the garden, the living room - anywhere.

-Professional careers are longer in golf than most sports

Take Tom Watson for example, if he was a footballer he’d have retired 30 years ago. Yet in 2009 at the age of 59 he came one shot away from winning the Open Championship at Turnberry.

-You can play as a team or an individual

Golf is commonly played as an individual game but can be played as a team event in all sorts of different varieties. You can have teams of any number: pairs, three-balls, fourballs or 12-man Ryder Cup style teams.

-No round of golf is ever the same

If you're a member of a golf club you'll inevitably have been asked by your non-golfing companions "don't you get bored of playing the same course over and over again?" Well the answer is always no. The conditions are never the same, the company is never the same, and your golf is certainly never the same. Every single round of golf is different and that's why we love it and keep coming back to it.

-Exercise 

Whilst it's not the most physically demanding sport out there, many forget that golfers walk over six miles on an average 18-hole round. That's up hill, down hill, on sand, in thick rough and through all sorts of different terrains. We've all sprinted back to the tee in a medal like Usain Bolt when we've lost our tee shot - great exercise.