The True Cost of the Game: How Much Does it Really Take to Play Golf?

So how much does it cost to play golf? Is it really worth playing golf? For business people, it has become somewhat if a necessity rather than a favorite past time or hobby. It has been said that golf is the unofficial sport of the business world and that major decisions of major corporations all across America are decided on the golf course. Schools like Stanford University purportedly have a "business golf" course. The importance of golf cannot be further emphasized. In today's entertainment driven world of making business, golf has somewhat become a necessity.

It cannot be denied that golf is primarily associated with the rich class, the professionals or the business people. It is because probably of the age bracket that are active in the game, or is it because the equipment is too expensive. But how much does it really take to play golf? Can the average John Doe enjoy the game too?

In order to find this out we have to compare golf with others sports in order to see if it is really expensive or not.

Gold equipment cannot be easily shared. An option is to rent a set of equipment. In comparison to other sports it has been said that 22 people can share a soccer ball and 10 people can share a basketball. However it is even more expensive to rent golf equipment rather than buy a basketball. Buying a racquet for a racquet based sport is more cheaper than buying clubs.

On the average it takes $ 36.00 to play a round of Golf in the United States. If you play basketball, soccer or football, the cost is most likely to be free since you can play in a public playground or a school. It is even cheaper to register for a month for a racquet club than it is to play one day at the golf course. Course owners have to charge a reasonable fee for one round of golf game since the course requires daily maintenance. Maintaining a 75 acre property which is the minimum size of most golf courses, is no joke. You need a group of maintenance crew and specialized equipment to handle the job. Maintaining a golf course is not as simple as maintaining a tennis court or a basketball court. In a golf course, the grass continuously grows; hence it requires daily consistent maintenance. Golf course maintenance crew must make sure that no wildlife is straying around the golf course as this may cause damage to the course. No golf course can survive if it does not charge for a substantial amount in order to cover the maintenance expenses.

With regards to practice, people can just simply borrow racquets and practice hitting the wall while in golf it is difficult to practice unless you are in a driving range. In addition many children are exposed more to other sports than golf..

Social status is important in golf. Nobody would want to go to a golf course with outdated golf equipment or wearing on a lousy pair of trouser or shirt. Usually people in the golf course are people doing business so nobody wants to be caught in there not wearing pricey casual attire. This is what makes the game of golf expensive. In contrast when basketball is being played, nobody notices of the ball is already old. For as long as the ball continues to bounce everybody is happy and the game is played. Players in basketball just wear shorts rubber shoes and put in a shirt. Having a nice pair of shoes still can't be compared with having a nice set of golf clubs.

In conclusion, it certainly takes a lot more money to play golf than the usual average sport. If you badly want to play golf but you do not have the money to do so than perhaps you might want to try playing golf on your computer. It is certainly much cheaper.