Energy left? Fellow initially joins sporting venue (4,5)
I believe the answer is:
golf links
'sporting venue' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how they can define each other.
'energy left? fellow initially' is the wordplay.
'energy' becomes 'go' (go can mean energy or enthusiasm).
'left?' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'fellow' becomes 'f' (abbreviation - of a society etc.).
'initially' becomes 'links' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'go'+'l'+'f'+'links'='GOLF-LINKS'
'joins' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for golf links that I've seen is " Seaside leisure facility".)