Interesting question....

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Kevin Shields

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To me at least.

A student asked me how many people worldwide could win a PGA Tour event. Then it morphed into another question. With 125 cards available on the US Tour, and about the same on the European Tour and there are other tours worldwide that you can make a living, and so on and so forth. If that number is less than 1000 "jobs" available, how many players worldwide have enough legitimate talent to compete for those jobs.

In other words, any opinion on whether golf is harder, easier, or no different to get on the professional ranks when it comes to competition? With 32 NFL teams and around 1500 players, the complaint sometimes is the talent is watered down, same with baseball. Does that mean those sports have tapped the real talent and are going second tier. How many more guys that don't have cards or privileges have what it takes. Does this line of thinking affect how a parent encourages a child in sport, I wonder?

I would think with the quality of quarterback play and the thinning out of the pitching pool in baseball, that would be the way to go but I don't know. Seems like there are so many potential guys now that have what it takes I thought I'd ask for some opinions.

Thanks
 
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JDMAC

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I think one needs to consider how big the starting pool is... Most of the kids in the world, at least as it stands now, simply do not have the means to compete for those jobs... So while there are relatively few spots at the top in golf, those trying to get there around the world is a small group relative to other sports. Also, the game is not full fields of freak athletes... Just exceptional golfers.

I think baseball has more "freaks" in there... Throwing a ball the speed of a ML pitcher is not something most people can be taught, nor is hitting one.
 
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Jim Kobylinski

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Excluding golf, i remember reading statistically, NBA was hardest to break into and i think we can all agree they have too many teams and it is already watered down.

I think golf still has a monetary component that makes it hard to get into even if you are talented similar to hockey. It's not like baseball or basketball or football or soccer where all you need is a ball and a field.
 
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Jared Willerson

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Being from Georgia, I have to ask a question. What makes hockey so expensive? Seems similar to football to me, equipment wise and all you need is some ice, ice skates, stick and puck.
 
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Cloran

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Hockey parents buy all he gear, nothing is given to the teams as in football.
Ice time is costly as there are a limitted number of rinks and multiple diciplines looking to use them.

Example:
My nephew plays both sports. My sister pays annually:
$500 football
$1,500+ hockey
 
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Jared Willerson

Super Moderator
There is a kid in the school I teach and coach that is supremely talented in golf and baseball. Georgia plays golf in the spring unlike a lot of other states, so this kid is having to make a choice. Numbers wise he should choose baseball, there are simply more spots.

However, down south, travel "select" baseball is ridiculously expensive, even if someone pays your way. These kids play80-100 games per summer in tournaments everywhere. If you want the proper exposure and competition for your child $10-20,000 is not unheard of for parents to spend per year. Especially if your child is part of an elite organization like East Cobb Baseball Inc. in Atlanta. They are the premier but there are 5-10 organizations that essentially do the same thing around where I live.

There are lots of kids that don't get the opportunity in any sport simply because of the costs involved. Basketball and Football being the exception because basketball is so cheap and football is essentially state subsidized.
 
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BIGBALL

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Jim Kobylinski said:
Excluding golf, i remember reading statistically, NBA was hardest to break into and i think we can all agree they have too many teams and it is already watered down.

I think golf still has a monetary component that makes it hard to get into even if you are talented similar to hockey. It's not like baseball or basketball or football or soccer where all you need is a ball and a field.
Click to expand...

Yea, I agree Jim. I think many intelligent, athletic children could be taught to play good enough golf to get on tour, but the money needed for lessons, practice, tourneys, etc keep most of them away.
 
mgranato

mgranato

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I think basketball, then football, is the most physically discriminating to play professionally. Far fewer to “choose” from given the typical size of the gen pop. Golf, physically speaking, is right in the wheel house of the gen pop from a physique standpoint. I guess in theory there is more competition for the X number of spots in professional golf compared to some of the more physically specialized professional sports.
 
bcoak

bcoak

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Jared Willerson said:
Being from Georgia, I have to ask a question. What makes hockey so expensive? Seems similar to football to me, equipment wise and all you need is some ice, ice skates, stick and puck.
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Ice time, equipment, tournaments all add up. The price of sticks alone have become outrageous. Add in having a goalie (like I do) and it adds up quickly.
 
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Lindsey Newman

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The thing about golf as compared to football, baseball and basketball is the length of time in ones life to be exceptional.

In golf, you got the money and talent? Then nothing can stop you. All other sports are highly political. The number one one thing is the window for opportunity. In golf you can try for 30 years to make it. For everything else you have about a 3 year window post college.

So, while there are fewer spots in professional golf worldwide, the timeline and opprtunity has far less hoops to jump through.
 
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birly-shirly

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With no real rigor, I suspect that the pool of candidates competing for golfing success is small - relative to other sports.

Golf's demographic is skewed away from kids towards older guys - that's the reverse of what I'd expect to see in most sports. On the 2 courses I've been a member at in the last 10 years, it's been very rare to see juniors either out on the course or hanging around the clubhouse chipping and putting.

On the other hand, if I drive 30 miles out of town to a mountain biking centre, the place is rammed with kids - having a good time AND PRACTICING. Same if I go to a climbing wall. 2 hardly mainstream sports - but you can readily see the next generation coming through. At the weekend, there's soccer in every park that allows it.

I see the logic of Lindsey's point above. But most people, if they don't find the time to put in the necessary hours as a kid growing up, it's never going to get any easier.
 
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Kevin Shields

Super Moderator
Jared Willerson said:
There is a kid in the school I teach and coach that is supremely talented in golf and baseball. Georgia plays golf in the spring unlike a lot of other states, so this kid is having to make a choice. Numbers wise he should choose baseball, there are simply more spots.

However, down south, travel "select" baseball is ridiculously expensive, even if someone pays your way. These kids play80-100 games per summer in tournaments everywhere. If you want the proper exposure and competition for your child $10-20,000 is not unheard of for parents to spend per year. Especially if your child is part of an elite organization like East Cobb Baseball Inc. in Atlanta. They are the premier but there are 5-10 organizations that essentially do the same thing around where I live.

There are lots of kids that don't get the opportunity in any sport simply because of the costs involved. Basketball and Football being the exception because basketball is so cheap and football is essentially state subsidized.
Click to expand...

In baseball, if you're that good, they'll find you.
 
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Kevin Shields

Super Moderator
Time out!!

Lets start over. Of the EXISTING people already into the sport, at least 17 or 18 years old, competing somewhere....college, mini tour, minor league baseball. Which sport is easiest to break into.

The whole young child, money, opportunity is a great discussion, not the one I had in mind.
 
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wulsy

New
Golf is probably the only one where you don't need some clown from a club/team/college to "select" you at a young age for you to have any chance to make it. Here on my Island of Hardship and Unequal Opportunity (the Disunited Kingdom) if you don't get in with one of the big soccer clubs before you're 14 you can forget it. And that is dependent of some know fek all low level tw@t regarding you as talented. Once you're in, you've a great chance of making it.

In golf you do it on your own, at least here in Europe. You can keep trying until you make it, no one can stop you entering the tour school if you've got the money. On the other hand there are so few places on the big tours.

All in all, I think it's harder to make it in golf because of the ridiculously few spots.
 
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DCgolf

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Golf is not size, strength or speed dependent. I can't teach kids to be big or fast. They don't have to be in golf. The existing crop will hit the physical wall somewhere in the other sports. The only wall in golf is the mental one. How bad do you want it?
 
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