golf player vs player

golf player and player both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
golf player	Yes	No	No	No
player	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, player is a hypernym of golf player; that is, player is a word with a broader meaning than golf player:

Other hypernyms of golf player include participant.

golf player (noun)	player (noun)
someone who plays the game of golf	a theatrical performer
	a person who participates in or is skilled at some game
	someone who plays a music as a profession
	a person who pursues a number of different social and sexual partners simultaneously
	someone who takes part in an activity