medalist vs golfer

medalist and golfer both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
medalist	Yes	No	No	No
golfer	Yes	No	No	No

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

Other hypernyms of medalist include golf player, linksman.

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