medalist vs golf player

medalist and golf player both are nouns.

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

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

Other hypernyms of medalist include golfer, linksman.

medalist (noun)	golf player (noun)
(golf) the winner at medal play of a tournament	someone who plays the game of golf
someone who has won a medal