Is snooker harder than golf?

[Deleted member 1147]

I don’t play snooker much so for me that’s harder.
But golf to me is a generally harder game than snooker; due to the infinite opportunities for it to go wrong.
Weather changes, lies change, pin positions change.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Snooker is played in a nice controlled environment on a constant playing surface. You can hit a textbook golf shot and still be at the mercy of the elements or a bad bounce so given the greater variables golf seems harder to me.

 

[Green Man]

Snooker for me is much harder. Getting to single figures in golf is not that hard but getting a break of 50 is extremely hard IMO.

 

[Crow]

Snooker for me is much harder. Getting to single figures in golf is not that hard but getting a break of 50 is extremely hard IMO.

You need to reset the goalposts then; single figure golfer, 35 break at snooker maybe.

 

[jim8flog]

I've never came near losing a ball playing snooker or getting it wet.
Including the time years ago when I was slightly inebriated, my mates had slipped in a trick weighted biased cue ball .
If you hit it hard it would go straight but played slowly it wondered all over the place.
It didn't dawn on me, I thought it was the table we had just moved to

We used to have one of those balls. Every Wednesday night there were these two gentlemen on a night out from their wives. We used to wait until they had a few and then switched the cue ball. They would play an entire frame and not notice!

We also used to play tricks on them like having two blacks on the table and it used to be so funny to watch one of them play a red and then try the black and the other player would pot a red and try the other black.
Sometimes they went half a frame before noticing.

 

[Canary_Yellow]

Snooker is played in a nice controlled environment on a constant playing surface. You can hit a textbook golf shot and still be at the mercy of the elements or a bad bounce so given the greater variables golf seems harder to me.

To be fair Homer, you are a great ambassador for the difficulty of golf ?

 

[williamalex1]

Interesting, so far we've had replies from Yellow, Green and Black, but none from blue, pink, brown, or red yet

 

[Deleted member 21445]

Shaun Murphy is actually a very good golfer, off scratch I think.

Both are extremely hard in my opinion with both only needing to be a fraction out to get disastrous results.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

The main thing that would suggest snooker is more difficult is that there have been so few winners of big events, whereas golf has loads of major winners.
So, fewer players make it big in snooker, suggesting it’s either more difficult to master, or fewer people try.

 

[Dando]

I agree.

I will need to report this post as this isn’t the place to be agreeing with someone!

 

[Imurg]

Concur ?

Now you've lost him......

 

[Foxholer]

Ronnie has 15 in his entire pro career. Hardly routine....

Completely different.
...?

Certainly agree with the above quotes!
Nine Darter somewhat more common.
Both probably moe 'equivalent' to a HIO.
Snooker has the additional 'challenge' of 'playing safe' where necessary and of the threat of leaving an opponent in a position to make a break if your own shot doesn't succeed - something that doesn't really exist in (even matchplay) golf. Even the likes of boxing/wrestling and motor racing has that trait! In that regard, golf is different to most/almost every other sport - certainly the ones that are one-on-one!

 

[greenone]

Snooker is way harder than golf. Snooker is not about potting the other balls it's about controlling the cue ball and it's collisions with the other balls and cushions. Also you can't compare club tables with the pro tables as the shape of the pockets on them reduces the margin of error significantly.

 

[Crow]

Let's put this to bed, golf is much harder.

Starting with greens in reg, it's possible for every green to be a single putt (I'm not even considering hole out shots) so that's 18 under par straight away.
A top player can hit every par 5 in two so that's another 4 shots assuming a standard par 72.
There are usually at least a couple of drivable par 4 holes so that's another 2 shots.

That makes a round of 24 under par perfectly feasible, yet nobody has come remotely close in the history of golf. (Apart from a certain North Korean leader)

147? Pah!

 

[greenone]

Snooker is played in a nice controlled environment on a constant playing surface. You can hit a textbook golf shot and still be at the mercy of the elements or a bad bounce so given the greater variables golf seems harder to me.

No 2 tables or clothes are the same, the way the table plays can vary with temperature. You can be in perfect position in snooker and have a kick or a bad bounce off a cushion and find yourself completely out of position.

 

[Yorkshire Hacker]

And both games affected by wind........from different sources!!

 

[Orikoru]

Golf is way, way harder than snooker!

• The holes are much further away.
• Factor in the fatigue of having walked for 4 hours.
• Golf is affected by the elements, wind and rain, or even heat exhaustion.
• The mechanics of a golf swing are far more complicated. How long does it take a complete beginner to strike a golf ball cleanly? Whereas give someone a cue and they can generally strike a cue-ball well before very long.
• A perfectly hit shot in golf can still have a bad result due to luck, i.e. a bad bounce for example. Whereas a perfectly hit shot in snooker is probably going in.

In comparitive terms snooker is more akin to putting in difficulty, and putting is only an aspect of golf.

 

[howbow88]

I have played a lot of snooker in the past.
For me, it is easier to become "decent" at golf than it is to become decent at snooker.

Let's say decent at golf is single figures and decent at snooker is to make a 50 break.

Pool, is a lot easier than golf.

My experience too. Making breaks of 30+ is so tough, whereas in golf breaking 100, then 90, then 80, I found achievable through working hard on my game.

I did get to a stage where I could make a good amount of pots, including lengthy ones, but cue ball control... That is something entirely different and until you play the game, it isn't easy to comprehend how hard it actually is.

 

[howbow88]

In comparitive terms snooker is more akin to putting in difficulty, and putting is only an aspect of golf.

That is exactly the point I was getting at - it isn't at all! In snooker you don't pot the red and then pick up the cue ball and put it somewhere else on the table. You have to make the pot and then make sure you leave the cue ball in position for a colour.

 

[cliveb]

I find ALL sports difficult.

But the thing that strikes me is that in any sport, one typically has a level of ability (be it good or bad) and tends to play to that level fairly consistently.

Except golf. No matter how good or bad you are, the variability in how you perform on any given day (or even on a shot-by-shot basis) can be enormous. THAT is the thing which sets golf apart from every other sport.