Sports of bowling, golf share both similar and different traits By Mark Miller
06/17/10
Professional golfer Jeff Sluman, an avid bowler since age 5 in his native Rochester, N.Y., who put two bowling lanes in the Hinsdale, Ill., home he's now selling, knows well the basic similarities between two of his favorite sports.
Pictured: Author Mark Miller.
"You have to have tremendous concentration for those three, four or five seconds when in bowling you are rolling it down the lane or in golf hitting a shot," he once said. "You have to be able to relax in between shots. And in the pros, both are individual sports."
Observing the recent HP Bryon Nelson Championships in Irving, Texas, however, one can see the major differences between these sports many people play. Here are some examples:
1. As an outdoor sport, golf has plenty of space for spectators, parking and hospitality tents. As an indoor sport, bowling is limited in these areas but isn't dependent on the weather.
2. Golf is featured on network television and boasts its own TV network - the Golf Channel. Bowling is primarily featured on cable channel ESPN and doesn't have its own network.
3. Pro golfers wear hats to keep hair and glare out of their eyes and sunscreen to avoid skin cancer. Bowlers wear no hats because its rude to do so indoors.
4. Bowlers carry their own bags called ball caddies. Golfers have their bags carried around the course by people called caddies.
5. Bowlers wear their names on the back of their shirts to help the crowd know them. Caddies wear their golfers' names on their backs for the same reason.
6. Golfers can clearly see the hazards in front of them in the trees, sand traps, water and high, rough grass. Bowlers can't see their hazards because the lane oil is invisible.
Sluman believes another difference is that technology has changed bowling more than golf. Because of that, he had a suggestion to make things fairer for everyone in professional and major amateur bowling events.
"I would make them have to state the ball they would use," Sluman said. "That's what they did on our tour. You have to use one ball the whole round. Say we start with a Titlist Pro-V. You have to use that the entire round."
Now there's something new for the bowling purists to debate.
Column
Republished courtesy of Examiner.com (June 16, 2010)
Professional golfer Jeff Sluman, an avid bowler since age 5 in his native Rochester, N.Y., who put two bowling lanes in the Hinsdale, Ill., home he's now selling, knows well the basic similarities between two of his favorite sports. Pictured: Author Mark Miller.
"You have to have tremendous concentration for those three, four or five seconds when in bowling you are rolling it down the lane or in golf hitting a shot," he once said. "You have to be able to relax in between shots. And in the pros, both are individual sports."
Observing the recent HP Bryon Nelson Championships in Irving, Texas, however, one can see the major differences between these sports many people play. Here are some examples:
1. As an outdoor sport, golf has plenty of space for spectators, parking and hospitality tents. As an indoor sport, bowling is limited in these areas but isn't dependent on the weather.
2. Golf is featured on network television and boasts its own TV network - the Golf Channel. Bowling is primarily featured on cable channel ESPN and doesn't have its own network.
3. Pro golfers wear hats to keep hair and glare out of their eyes and sunscreen to avoid skin cancer. Bowlers wear no hats because its rude to do so indoors.
4. Bowlers carry their own bags called ball caddies. Golfers have their bags carried around the course by people called caddies.
5. Bowlers wear their names on the back of their shirts to help the crowd know them. Caddies wear their golfers' names on their backs for the same reason.
6. Golfers can clearly see the hazards in front of them in the trees, sand traps, water and high, rough grass. Bowlers can't see their hazards because the lane oil is invisible.
Sluman believes another difference is that technology has changed bowling more than golf. Because of that, he had a suggestion to make things fairer for everyone in professional and major amateur bowling events.
"I would make them have to state the ball they would use," Sluman said. "That's what they did on our tour. You have to use one ball the whole round. Say we start with a Titlist Pro-V. You have to use that the entire round."
Now there's something new for the bowling purists to debate.
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