When I was a kid, I played golf. I would NOT call myself an athlete or even golf a sport.
Bowling gives more of a workout.
At the same time, it is a good activity that at least gets you out of the house.
I think Tiger found another sport that does the very same thing...
It's great for your flexibility. My knees, back, shoulders, elbows, and wrists always feel better during golfing "season". Both of my knees are completely blown after 50 years of playing catcher in baseball and softball, so the walking, bending, and turning keeps them as flexible as possible.
But I don't consider myself an athlete because I golf by any stretch of the imagination. I get more actual exercise by square-dancing.
I know, it’s ridiculous. Golf is a fine game. But golfers as athletes? Compare a golfer to, say, Ray Lewis. In terms of strength, speed, endurance, agility...it’s not even close. And I’m not saying Ray Lewis is athlete of the decade. I just picked him at random. Comparing Tiger Woods’ athleticism to Ray Lewis is absurd. Funny that the top 3 in their vote was a golfer, a cyclist, and a tennis player. I think I would look elsewhere for a great athlete. Probably to football, or maybe an olympian or something.
Well golf could be a workout, if you walked the course and carried your own clubs.
During my last two years of HS, and summers during college, I considered myself a serious bowler. My friends and I would normally bowl 10-12 games a day, sometimes more.
You could work up a pretty decent sweat. Still, playing golf down in Texas or Arizona during the day is a pretty good workout, too.
I like both sports, but I really don't count golfers and bowlers as "athletes", particularly when you consider how technology has taken over both sports.
In bowling, there's a ball for every conceivable lane condition. I've seen kids go from averaging 130 to 190+ in a year, simply because of the equipment. I remember a young man on my scratch team about 15 years ago. From one week to the next, we didn't know what to expect that night. During the year he had at least one 300 series, all the way to a 750+ series...a true wild card. The rest of us were steady enough to carry him on his rockier nights, and we won the league on the final night.
I don't play much golf, but I think it's safe to say that technology has made golf an easier game to play as well.
“Bowling gives more of a workout...”
You must be a vigorous bowler, or you ride around in an electric cart. If you walk, it’s about five miles for eighteen holes, if you go pretty straight tee to green. I used to caddy when I was a kid, and I continued to carry my own clubs until into my fifties, when I started to pull a cart most of the time. Try doing that. It’ll give you a pretty good workout.
“I would NOT call myself an athlete or even golf a sport.”
Try to find someone who is not athletic who can drive a golf ball 300 yards. Or hit a wedge 135 yards, much less land it where it is supposed to go. It’s takes tremendous concentration, coordination, and timing to pull it off.