Golf is a sport that is seemingly non-existent unless you are a professional (generally male) golfer. Even then, most people do not know who you are. I am a female golfer, and honestly, I am one of the most underrated and unappreciated athletes at my school. I suppose one reason is because we do not have any home matches that anyone can just come and watch. Secondly, we get no recognition from our school about anything. Only after we finish a match do we get a small article containing our scores and recycled pictures for the athletics page to make it look like the women's golf team actually does exist. However, I am not writing this article to throw a pity-party for my team and my sport. I am writing this article because these are things that golfers are tired of hearing.

"You play golf?"

Wow! Of course, I play golf. What else requires talking about birdies, greens, fairways, or that time I about killed us on the golf cart? I guess there is some stereotypical image of golfers that I am unaware about, but I do play golf. When I talk about matches, I promise, I am not talking about tennis.

"I didn't know we had a golf team!"

Yes, our school has a golf team. It would be great if they actually advertised about us, or gave us some recognition when due, but we get recycled pictures on our "articles" (if you can even call them that). It's not even that women's golf is underappreciated because of the patriarchy or anything. The men's golf team has about as recognition as my women's golf team does, and that is the bare minimum. A prime example was when my athletic department held a banquet for all the teams, and the chancellor of our school even forgot about the golf teams. That's some real appreciation for an athletic team, if you ask me.

"Do you get to ride on the carts?"

Yes, for our practice rounds. Other than that, no we do not get to ride around in the golf carts. We have to tote our bags up and down mountains (We play mostly in the Appalachian mountains in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee). Walking eighteen holes while playing is rough to do, but we are expected to perform two, three, or four days consecutively. Walking is the least fun part about golf, unless I am playing bad. In that case, I would rather just walk myself off the course and go home.

"Golf isn't a real sport, and you're not an actual athlete."

Are you serious?!? We walk almost six miles every eighteen holes we play. I guarantee some people that say this to me could not make it up half of the hills that I have to walk while playing golf. I do not think that these people understand the amount of focus, dedication, and ability it takes to play a round of golf. When we play in competitions, it is not just to go out there and screw around. It gets serious, and then these people cannot even tell me the difference between a driver and a pitching wedge. It is just frustrating because these people judge a sport because there is no physical contact like there is in football.

Honestly though, golf is one of the most complicated sports I have ever played. I joke about it to people who understand my pain (and sometimes dislike) for golf. I have a love/hate relationship with the sport, but I will defend it until the day I die because no one understands the complexity of the sport until they actually play it. My word to the wise is to just not ask a goofy question to golfer.