Another stupid thread from me: golf is harder than pool

[David in FL]

They are not really comparable. One is a individual sport and one is a direct competive sport like tennis or boxing.
They both use balls but that is about it.

I've played golf for close to 60 years. My best guess would be over 2 thousand rounds. I don't think I played more than 5 by myself.

With the exception of the relative few represented by stroke play tournaments, virtually every one of them were directly competing against one or more or their individuals.

I've played a lot more pool "competing" against myself, either playing the ghost or 14-1, than I ever did golf.

Just sayin'...

 

[Kris_b1104]

There are only 72 players in the whole world who can play pool at a 800 or higher Fargo. I'm guessing there are thousands of players worldwide who are world-class/elite in golf. I may be wrong though, I don't really keep up with pro golf.

 

[trob]

Being a player of both they share a lot of similarities . I do think the fundamentals of swinging a golf club with the changes that have to made for many different shots and the mechanics are more difficult.

 

[Frosty]

I play both, and have done so for the better part of my life. Regarding difficulty, it’s like anything I guess, you do it enough and it isn’t really difficult after a point. I will offer this though, a 4 1/2’ x 9’ GC, or Diamond tables are mostly the same everywhere, other than pocket size refinements. Golf Courses are all different, and I think that’s for a good reason. If all Golf Courses were exactly the same, there’d be a LOT more scratch golfers. Given this factor, I’d say pool and billiards is the tougher game. YMMV.

 

[gerard soriano]

There are only 72 players in the whole world who can play pool at a 800 or higher Fargo. I'm guessing there are thousands of players worldwide who are world-class/elite in golf. I may be wrong though, I don't really keep up with pro golf.

I don't Golf . I once heard a top Pro comparing the 2 and said ,Yes Straight Pool is Easy Try Running 300. I agree with previous post Apples and Oranges

 

[dendweller]

If all Golf Courses were exactly the same, there’d be a LOT more scratch golfers.

Not sure I agree here, people that golf a lot often spend 90% of their time on there home course and don't come close to scratch, some can't get into the 80s consistently.

 

[dendweller]

I am not a golfer. I tried it many years ago and decided it wasn’t for me.

I am watching The Masters. I have previously thought that golf is inherently harder and crueler than pool. And pool can be pretty darned cruel: the rattle leaving the $ ball in the pocket; the roll that lands 1/4” too long or too short hooking yourself; the scratch after hitting a ball on the table you didn’t account for; the missed straight-in long shot where the CB is 4’ from the OB and OB in turn 4’ from the pocket. All these can be avoided or fixed by experience, and better focus.

But playing pool I’ve never missed a shot by fractions of an inch and had the OB run down a hill dozens of yards away. I’ve never had an OB land in sand or water because I misjudged a shot maybe 1% short of the power I needed, or behind a tree. I’ve never had to calculate how much the CB or OB will curve because the slate is uphill the first half of a shot and downhill the second half (well, maybe at some halls, lol.)

Pool is tough and frustrating enough for me. Golf seems much more so.

I think one good comparison between the two is the process of starting either. With pool, a beginner will normally get the hang of stroking the cue and sending the cue ball toward the object ball. Success is when the ball goes in the intended pocket. With golf, success for a beginner is getting decent contact on the ball regardless of where it goes. That goal, solid contact with the ball stays with you as long as you golf. You'll often hear golfers say, I scored well, hit the ball like crap.
Funny thing is, you can hit the ball like crap most of the round but the couple times you flush it have you coming back the next day.