The background and pro and con arguments were written by ProCon.org staff based upon input from the following sources.
Footnotes:
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10. | Bill Lubinger, "Inside the Life of a PGA Caddie," Cleveland Plain Dealer, Aug. 3, 2011 |
11. | John Koshuta, "Calories Burned During Sports," Livestrong.com, Jan. 19, 2010 |
12. | Brett Zarda, "Is Golf a Sport?," Popular Science, Jan. 2, 2009 |
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38. | Katie Kieffer, "Whiffed up Olympic Politics," KatieKieffer.com, Feb. 15, 2010 |
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40. | Gallup, "What Is Your Favorite Sport to Watch?," Gallup.com (accessed May 23, 2012) |
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42. | Malcolm Campbell, "Battles Lost But a Game Won the Illustrious History of Scottish Golf," Worldgolf.com, July 16, 1999 |
43. | Paul Kelbie, "Chinese 'Invented Golf 1,000 Years Ago,'" The Independent, Jan. 12, 2006 |
44. | National Library of Scotland, "Acts of Parliament Banning Golf," Digital.nls.uk, 2010 |
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46. | US Golf Association (USGA), "Rules and Decisions," USGA.org (accessed May 23, 2012) |
47. | Joseph F. Beditz, PhD, "The Future of Private Golf Clubs in America," National Golf Foundation website, 2008 |
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49. | William J. Morgan, Ethics in Sport, 2007 |
50. | Lincoln Allison, The Politics of Sport, 1986 |
51. | Tim van Vrijaldenhoven, Reaching Beyond the Gold: The Impact of Global Events on Urban Development, 2007 |
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55. | EM Swift, "Is This an Olympic Sport?," Sports Illustrated website, June 6, 2005 |
56. | Simon Turnbull, "Golf and Rugby Turn Back Clock in Re-entering the Olympics," The Independent, Oct. 10, 2009 |
57. | International Olympic Committee, "Golf and Rugby to Join 2016 Olympic Programme," Olympic.org, Oct. 9, 2009 |
58. | Gene Wojciechowski, "Something Smells Rank in this System," ESPN.com, May 10, 2012 |
59. | Rolex, "Rankings," Rolexrankings.com, Sep. 2011 |
60. | PGA Tour, "2012 Tournaments," PGATour.com (accessed May 23, 2012) |
61. | Mason Levinson, "Masters TV Ratings Fall 22% as Bubba Watson Wins in Playoff," Bloomberg News, Apr. 9, 2012 |
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63. | Michael Fitzpatrick, "Golf's Decline in America: Work/Life Balance Is the True Culprit," Bleacherreport.com, Mar. 29, 2011 |
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65. | Bill Stieg, "How Rory McIlroy Won the Honda Classic," Men's Health, Mar. 2012 |
66. | PGA Tour, "About PGA Tour," PGATour.com (accessed May 23, 2012) |
67. | Karen Crouse, "Augusta National Adds First Two Female Members, New York Times, Aug. 20, 2012 |
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69. | National Golf Foundation, "2015 Golf Participation in the US - A Slight Dip Tempered by Strong Positive Indicators," ngfdashboard.clubnewsmaker.org, Mar. 2016 |
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78. | Allie Flinn, ""6 Health Benefits That Prove Golf Is Great Exercise for Your Body and Mind,"" wellandgood.com, Aug. 17, 2021 |
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80. | Stephen W. West, et al., "Beyond Physical Load in Golf – the Tip of the Load Iceberg," blogs.bmj.com, Sep. 25, 2020 |
81. | Gi Broman, Lena Johnsson, and Lennart Kaijser, "Golf: A High Intensity Interval Activity for Elderly Men," Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, Oct. 2004 |
82. | Golf Educate, "Is Golf Luck Or Skill?," golfeducate.com, July 26, 2022 |
83. | Gianni Magliocco, "Golf 101: Is Golf a Sport?," golfwrx.com, July 25, 2020 |
84. | Don Spetner, "Spetner: I'd Rather Be Lucky Than Smart," prweek.com, Oct 31, 2017 |
85. | Chris Mile, "Competitive Golf," milesofgolf.com (accessed Aug. 9, 2022) |
86. | Fergus Bisset, "Competitive or Social Golf: Which Is Better?," golfmonthly.com, May 2, 2015 |
87. | GolfGurls.com, "Golf Is NOT Your Usual Competitive Sport," golfgurls.com (accessed Aug. 9, 2022) |
88. | Kingdom Golf, "What Does It Take to Win a Major Championship?," kingdom.golf (accessed Aug. 9, 2022) |
89. | Kathy Bissell, "Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Others Explain Why It's Hard to Win a Major," bleacherreport.com, Aug. 10, 2013 |
90. | Gary N. Smith, "The Paradox of Luck and Skill," mindmatters.ai, Aug. 12, 2019 |
91. | Merriam-Webster, "Athlete," merriam-webster.com, Apr. 16, 2023 |
92. | Ian McMahan, "Do You Think of Yourself as an Athlete or an Exerciser? Here’s Why It Matters.," washingtonpost.com, Feb. 22, 2022 |
93. | Francesco Campa and Giuseppe Coratella, "Athlete or Non-athlete? This Is the Question in Body Composition," ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, Frontiers in Physiology, Dec. 17, 2021 |
94. | Nike, "Our Mission," about.nike.com/en (accessed Apr. 17, 2023) |