In high school, I remember having this debate with a teacher who claimed that golf wasn't a sport.  The guy was a lacrosse player who thought that golf could not fit the definition of a sport.  He said you're not really exerting yourself, you can ride in a cart, play while drunk (he later got cited for coming to school drunk), and be a fat slob and still be good at it.  I disagreed with about half of his reasons, but talked more about the emergence of golf fitness, mountainous courses, etc.  We never settled it.

Well, science settled it for us as they declared that GOLF IS A SPORT!

``One of the more interesting things I found was that the actual act of swinging a golf club takes significant energy,'' said Neil Wolkodoff, director of the Rose Center for Health and Sports Sciences in Denver.

The conclusion was that the act of swinging the golf club could actually be considered good exercise - a theory many on the ``not a sport'' side of the golf debate have long questioned.

``As far as physical exertion, it's not the same as boxing, but it's definitely more than people thought,'' Wolkodoff said.

Screw you, Mr. Finn!  Thanks, Neil!

The AP piece describes how the study was conducted, but among the more interesting findings - aside from the manna from heaven in all of my future golf arguments:

There was virtually no difference in calories burned between carrying (721) and using a push cart (718) - a surprising result to many, who figured it would take more work to push the cart.

Not surprisingly, walking the course with a caddie carrying the clubs burned fewer calories (613) and playing while riding in a cart burned even fewer (411).

Players in Wolkodoff's tests scored best when using push carts and playing with a caddie. Their nine-hole averages (40 with push cart, 42 with caddie) were better than when riding in the motor cart (43).

I figured all of those were true, except that it is basically null as to whether you use a push cart or carry.  Might be time to invest in a push cart!