What sport is harder, Billiards or Golf?

:)
john schmidt said:
well i must chime in here.first of all i think to have an opinion that carrys any weight i think you should have played golf and pool both.here is the way i look at it.to play pool say like mike sigel in his prime or vijay singh at golf will be equally as hard and take as much work and talent.now to play golf like crap and play pool like crap is easy, but if someone thinks becoming world class at either game is easier than the other i think they are way off.now you might be thinking well john you play pro pool what do you know about golf.your right im by no means world class at golf .i did play many years on a high school and a college team well before i knew anything about pool and believe me the road to becomming great at either game is extremely tough.i will tell you this though my girlfriend and i play golf and she plays pool now to and after playing golf about 15 times she has the object of the game down hit the ball on the green and in the hole.after playing pool a few hundred games she has no idea what she is doing as far as decision making goes not to mention executing that decision. the things you have to know to play say world golf are many and executing them are insanely tough.but the things you have to know to play world class 9ball,14.1,1hole etc are many many more . let me tell you a story i played sawgrass last year and on the first hole the caddy asked me what i did and i told him pool .well he says thats cool and that vijay singh plays great pool and that he has been at his house and seen him play pool and he could be pro.of course i laughed and told him he has no chance playing me pool and that i would be more than happy to play him a hole of golf and a game of 8ball for money.now this guy has caddied on the pga tour etc so when he told me he could line that up because he sees vijay every other day as he works at sawgrass etc i kind of became irratated with him.i thought wow this guy thinks vijay in his spare time can beat me at something that i do all the time ,well anyway i told him to come down to bankshot billiards because i was in town for a pro 9ball tourney and he could watch me play and then see if he liked vijay to beat anyone in the field playing pool.well anyway he showed up and watched a few of my matches and came up and laughed and told me you are right vijay has no chance. but it just shows that people who play golf think pool is easier and people who play pool think golf is easier.well i play both and trust me they are just as hard as the other to play world class.
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OK, I like John, and his pool game is spot on.
But one of the two sports he did in high school and college and the other took up later in life, he gets paid to play one of them and not the other and the one he gets paid at pays less than the other, so which one is harder to master?
 
Memikey, I have to agree with you after you put it in those terms as to the 3% of the population of pool players as compared to golf. I also have played both sports all my life and I am a 7 handicap at 59 years old and at pool about the same. When I reach 85 years old I will probably be an 18 to 22 handicap at golf and I feel that I will still be able to play jam up pool way into a long life. So as you get older I think golf is definitely more difficult than pool. Also I think that a natural talent exists for both sports as I honestly feel that if I devoted everyday to golf I could only get to a scratch handicap at best and at pool I would still be a shortstop and not anywhere near professional status. Therefore, I feel that talent for the game is the deciding factor. My best friend is a plus 2 golfer at 59 years old and his weakness is his chipping and putting or he would be a professional golfer. I say both are difficult to master to a pro level and some people have an innate ability that can not be learned. And the champion has the other factor that separates pros from champions, and that is Heart!
 
One name comes to mind as mastering both....Dave Bollman. I heard he was a pro golfer at one point and one hell of a pool player.
 
Hey guys...........there's got to be the germ of an idea here for a nice little AZB golf and 8 ball combined tournament, everyone off scratch at both disciplines:)

Think we could get 32/64 runners at a reasonable but worthwhile entry fee without getting silly.....maybe 1k a head or similar to keep it friendly?

The scoring points/credits weightings etc assuming only 18 or 36 holes of golf stroke play and for pool a "round robin groups" followed by knockout stages would have to be fairly worked out for a balance.....but hey.......what a great weekend with the golf daytime and the pool evenings!!!:)
 
Terry Erdman said:
My best friend is a plus 2 golfer at 59 years old and his weakness is his chipping and putting or he would be a professional golfer.
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:eek:
What!! That is strong!! Just an FYI for those of you that don't follow golf, that means that he gives the course 2 stokes when he plays, not the other way around.
That old boy could make some change on the minitours around here as well as the senior mini, and could more than likely monday qualify for quite a few Senior pro events and some PGA ones. I have been as low as a 1.3, but not a +1.3 I could never break that barrier.
Here is a bit of useless knowledge:
Tiger woods in the USGA handicap system: Tiger Woods' plus 10 home-course handicap at Isleworth (which we computed using his 20 most recent PGA Tour scores), we commissioned Fran Scheid, a member of the USGA's handicap research team, to figure out average tournament course handicaps (the number a player would be expected to play to at a pro event) for Woods and some other prominent tour players.
Tiger's 2000 handicap, plus 9.7, was a full shot better than David Duval's (plus 8.7 when he had game), and Karrie Webb (plus 8) was less than half a stroke better than Juli Inkster (plus 7.7).
A few top players were within hailing distance of Woods in the men's game, but we were startled to see just how much better Tiger was than the average tour pro. Brad Faxon won once and finished 46th on the money list, but at plus 5.6, he gets four strokes from Woods. And as good as Seve Ballesteros (plus 1.9) is in match play, he'd still need to get four a side--or 32 strokes in a 72-hole event!
 
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I've been playing golf since I was about 7 years old. I played college golf and probably play to around a 3 handicap right now since I work so damn much. I am probably a C+ in pool and can run a rack of 8 ball every now and then. I hardly ever play pool anymore and only if I am in a game that I have way the best of. I played college basketball and have competed at high levels in other games and sports. I think that most athletes with good hand eye coordination can pick up most sports and games easier than others.
All that being said, I think that pool is probably harder, but only because I'm better at golf than pool. To become world class at anything, it has to be viewed as a job and practiced intensely. All the talent in the world can get you only so far. I like to use Bruce Berrong as my example here in pool. He has the most natural talent on the pool table as anyone I've ever seen, but he doesnt work at it. Which is fine if thats what you want. I also have a buddy that hits it 325 yards off the tee and can shoot 65 anywhere, but earns a ton being a bookie and could care less about practicing golf for 8 hours a day. In the end, I think its like John Schmidt said. They are both extremely difficult to attain world class speed at and all opinions at lower speeds will vary depending on who you talk to.
 
If Terry's friend's +2 is from a course of a good standard and if he can play close to it under tournament conditions he could almost certainly with a good performance and reasonable luck gain a European Seniors PGA Tour card at the Seniors Q school. As regards The USPGA Champions Tour Q School that would be a lot harder to win a card but he'd definitely be accepted to try.

For sure he should be playing in The US Seniors Amateur Open and would gain automatic entry into The British Seniors Amateur Open if he wanted to enter. I have been informed that a combination of my handicap and two successes so far in qualifying competitions for amateur starting slots in European Seniors PGA Tour events will get me straight into both USA and British Senior Amateur Opens next year and he sounds very much better than me so he would have no problem. Impressive....gee him up to do something about it Terry, what a waste:) :D
 
memikey said:
If Terry's friend's +2 is from a course of a good standard and if he can play close to it under tournament conditions he could almost certainly with a good performance and reasonable luck gain a European Seniors PGA Tour card at the Seniors Q school. As regards The USPGA Champions Tour Q School that would be a lot harder to win a card but he'd definitely be accepted to try.

For sure he should be playing in The US Seniors Amateur Open and would gain automatic entry into The British Seniors Amateur Open if he wanted to enter. I have been informed that a combination of my handicap and two successes so far in qualifying competitions for amateur starting slots in European Seniors PGA Tour events will get me straight into both USA and British Senior Amateur Opens next year and he sounds very much better than me so he would have no problem. Impressive....gee him up to do something about it Terry, what a waste:) :D
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It is a waste with his talent, but he has rheumatoid arthritis (not real bad but he's a whiner). We played a few times with Peter Jacobsen and Peter said Paul hits it tee to green as good as a tour pro and he does. He usually hits 16-18 greens in regulation and I can out chip and out putt him. Go figure? He played in a member/guest with my brother (also a 7-8 handicap) and they shoot gross 67. Guess how many strokes my brother helped Paul? You guessed it. None! Funny but true. He has talent and was the Oregon senior am champion 2 years ago but to make in on the senior tour is a big step and when professional seniors have a tough time making it into tournaments I seriously doubt if my friend could qualify.
 
Many on here have said golf involves more variables such as hitting out of the rough, the wind, angled ground, longer stroke, further distance, traps, etc........ What about draw, follow,stun, stun run through, sqirt, jumping the ball, masseing the ball, being able to kick, bank, tight pockets, loose pockets, etc.......... I think pool requires much more knowledge and is much more difficult to master. The difference in pool is your playing field,the table is always the same. In golf you may play for months with no wind, or rain etc..... It is harder to get better at simply because you cant duplicate the conditions whenever you feel like practicing. Never seen a wind tunnel you could hit golf balls in, in order to learn to play in the wind. Golf also allows every player the same opportunity to win. Every one starts out on a level playing field and is allowed to tee off from the same place. Pool on the other hand could care less if you even get a chance. Your opponent may win the lag and break and run 5 racks on you in a race to nine. When you finally get to the table, all you have is a near impossible kick. You miss and your opponent ran out the set. You never had a chance to break or even shoot at a ball.
Sorry the post is so long, just my opinion.
Pool all the way!
 
Having played golf and hitting in the 10s of thousands of practice balls and probably close to a million practice shots in pool, I,m saying golf is harder; but maybe that's cause I like pool better.
 
From just the standpoint of the swing I think Golf is more difficult. Pool you have a tripod to maintain balance. You only have two legs/feet to keep your balance playing golf.

Rod
 
Pool and golf

I am a big time pool nut. But I don't think it is even close. Golf is much, much more difficult. Ever had to hit a pool shot in a 30 mph wind? 14 different clubs to hit. Side hill lies, uphill lies, elevated tees, water hazards, etc., etc., etc.

I have seen guys that are good pool players that would have no prayer being a good golfer. But I believe most all good golfers with a little time could be good pool players.

Played a ton of both and play both adequately. My personal opinion for what it's worth is that they are not even close. Golf wins.

Jimmy
 
While I think golf is the more difficult sport to try and master, I think it is more difficult to win consistently at the professional level at pool than at golf.
 
sicbinature said:
Many on here have said golf involves more variables such as hitting out of the rough, the wind, angled ground, longer stroke, further distance, traps, etc........ What about draw, follow,stun, stun run through, sqirt, jumping the ball, masseing the ball, being able to kick, bank, tight pockets, loose pockets, etc.......... I think pool requires much more knowledge and is much more difficult to master. The difference in pool is your playing field,the table is always the same. In golf you may play for months with no wind, or rain etc..... It is harder to get better at simply because you cant duplicate the conditions whenever you feel like practicing. Never seen a wind tunnel you could hit golf balls in, in order to learn to play in the wind. Golf also allows every player the same opportunity to win. Every one starts out on a level playing field and is allowed to tee off from the same place. Pool on the other hand could care less if you even get a chance. Your opponent may win the lag and break and run 5 racks on you in a race to nine. When you finally get to the table, all you have is a near impossible kick. You miss and your opponent ran out the set. You never had a chance to break or even shoot at a ball.
Sorry the post is so long, just my opinion.
Pool all the way!
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Golfs answer to english is also spin...draw, fade, hook, slice, etc. I can hit 50 yard pitches that land, hop once, and stop dead; or hit a high flop that just sits right were it lands; or even hit a bump that runs 3/4s of the way to the green (major touch needed for speed on these - see links courses LOL). As far as jump shots go...back in the day guys could stymie an opponent (leave their ball in your line on the green), and there were some guys VERY skilled at hopping over the ball to hole their own. I'm glad that's no longer a part of the game...YIKES - I'd wanna bring a jump cue on the green for that.

Both are tough, but figureing speed on a table vs. a green are WAY different. I've hit a putt that on flat ground woulda rolled 3-4 feet go downhill 100 ft, with two seperate breaks before it reached the hole....sheesh. Next hole you may have a 40 footer that you have to hit the speed of a 60 ft.er, plus read the correct break, etc.

I guess it all depends on how good you wanna get, or what you can settle for. If I could get to SCRATCH in golf, Tiger'd hafta give me 4 a side on his home course.....and a scratch golfer IS very good. I'm not good enough at pool to know what the equivalent would be???? sorry.
 
Putting in Golf is very similar to shooting Pool. You must have a steady hand, a good touch and a strong heart. Everyone knows that putting is where tournaments are won and lost.

It may be harder (and take longer) to become a B player in Pool than to break 80 in Golf. It is getting from there to being a scratch golfer or an A player where the biggest differences lie. I suspect there are more scratch golfers on the planet by far, than there are A level pool players.

Maybe that is a reflection of how many people are playing each game on a serious basis. Although, there may be just as many poolplayers worldwide trying to excel at this game, as there are golfers trying to be the best they can at their sport.

I actually think it may be harder to become a pro level (A+) pool player than to become a pro level golfer. I doubt that there are more than one to two thousand pro level pool players on the entire planet. There may be several thousand professional level golfers.

This is just my GUESSTIMATE!
 
PoolBum said:
While I think golf is the more difficult sport to try and master, I think it is more difficult to win consistently at the professional level at pool than at golf.
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Exactly what i was trying to say, but it took me 50 lines and ten min to do. lol.
 
jay helfert said:
Putting in Golf is very similar to shooting Pool. You must have a steady hand, a good touch and a strong heart. Everyone knows that putting is where tournaments are won and lost.

It may be harder (and take longer) to become a B player in Pool than to break 80 in Golf. It is getting from there to being a scratch golfer or an A player where the biggest differences lie. I suspect there are more scratch golfers on the planet by far, than there are A level pool players.

Maybe that is a reflection of how many people are playing each game on a serious basis. Although, there may be just as many poolplayers worldwide trying to excel at this game, as there are golfers trying to be the best they can at their sport.

I actually think it may be harder to become a pro level (A+) pool player than to become a pro level golfer. I doubt that there are more than one to two thousand pro level pool players on the entire planet. There may be several thousand professional level golfers.

This is just my GUESSTIMATE!
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I hear ya Jay, I know local guys that are +2s and +3s (better than scratch) that couldn't sniff the minor leagues (Nationwide Tour, Canadian Tour, etc.). Then making it from those tours to the PGA....tough, then there's the difference in making it there and STAYING there.

I couldn't make it to the top level of either. 1) I'd like to keep my wife 2) I traveled enough playing baseball to know that I wouldn't want to do it for a living and 3) I can't practice one thing that much without getting burnt out. Now, ask me if I would take Tiger's agents job... not sure exactly, but certain % of 100 mil in endorsements - NICE. Or even his caddy - one year his caddy Steve if ranked on the PGA Tour money list, woulda been in the top 50 - just off of his cut from Tigger's winnings. How heavy is that darn bag :)
 
trustyrusty said:
I hear ya Jay, I know local guys that are +2s and +3s (better than scratch) that couldn't sniff the minor leagues (Nationwide Tour, Canadian Tour, etc.). Then making it from those tours to the PGA....tough, then there's the difference in making it there and STAYING there.

I couldn't make it to the top level of either. 1) I'd like to keep my wife 2) I traveled enough playing baseball to know that I wouldn't want to do it for a living and 3) I can't practice one thing that much without getting burnt out. Now, ask me if I would take Tiger's agents job... not sure exactly, but certain % of 100 mil in endorsements - NICE. Or even his caddy - one year his caddy Steve if ranked on the PGA Tour money list, woulda been in the top 50 - just off of his cut from Tigger's winnings. How heavy is that darn bag :)
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I heard that Steve Williams is now on a Million a year salary with a bonus at the end of the year (maybe 250-500K). He IS an integral part of Tiger's team. Another Pro golf caddy told me this.
 
I actually think they are fairly similar in difficulty. Both require a huge time commitment to even become proficient, and are sports that can take a life time to learn. I think that developing a consistent stroke in pool that allows you to pocket balls on a reasonable level is easier than developing a golf stroke that allows a repeatable ball flight. However, pool does not stop there. You also have to be able to control and move the cue ball to cerrtain locations at precise speeds. Both are very much feel sports that only few will master at any level. If I had to choose, I would golf a slight edge, but this could be argued over and over with legitimate cases being made for either game.
 
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