Golf is now an Olympic sport

[Kalen Braley]

Brian,

Thats all fine and good.  I would half expect some Suit to be sucking up to the IOC muckety-mucks for thier recent inclusion in the Olympics. 

But ask the fans and players what they think the pinnacle of thier sport is!! 

[Randy Thompson]

RJ,
For the record...I agree 100% with you..my wife wants me to do it for FREE! But I would probably still lose to Nicklaus as they can afford to pay for the opportunity.
Randy

[Mike Nuzzo]

Speaking of Wrestling and the olympics being pinnacle of achievement for a sport....

Tell that to Bob Backlund and Hulk Hogan!

[Melvyn Morrow]

Olympic Sport or is that an excuse to get the architects to design a proper modern course or two in each country every 4 years?

Sound more like jobs for the boys when times are slow. To think the guys who design the Olympic Courses may be considered as The Golden Bollocks of the Industry

Just hope to hell no island greens otherwise they may use the water for the Swimming/Sailing and Rowing events perhaps even for High Diving.

Melvyn

PS Wonder if by 2016 Golf at the Olympics will be a Non Walking Sport, if so they may let motor sports in by 2020.

[Abe Summers]

There are a lot of good things that will come out of this.  Especially for the developing golf nations in Asia, Eastern Europe and South America I am sure this will be a new stimulus towards course creation, player development, coaching training and all of the other things that go along with them.  For the industry as a whole, great news. 

And everyone is going to enjoy watching the pros battle for gold medals -- even if they can't admit it yet.

[Sean_A]

Nope, I don't think many golf fans will have much interest in watching Olympic golf and I don't care if it will potentially "grow" the game.  This is correct speak for folks in the business hoping more markets open up.  To be honest, what is harming the game is that its over-grown now.  Too much of golf is about the corporate crap and fu fu frills that have nothing to do with the game.  All this said, if it was proper amateur golf, I wouldn't mind.  I still wouldn't watch, but I would rather real amateurs have a chance for perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity.

BTW  Ice hockey has a very long Olympic tradition and should very much continue to be part of the Olympics.  Only I wish it was for amateurs.  While I still watch the Worlds and Olympic hockey (because I am a freak), I think some of the greatness of the Olympics has been lost with the entry of the pros.  I understand that in Russia etc Olympic hockey is huge, but the Stanley Cup is growing dramatically in stature.  Anyway, its a different sort of thing with clubs for NHL VS countries for Olympics, much like football with national leagues being huge along with the World and European Cups.  Additionally, ice hockey is a bit unusual in that its fan base will watch all forms of elite hockey, again, much like football, but on a smaller scale.

Ciao

[Jaeger Kovich]

I have no issues in general with golf being part of the olympics, but I am curious to see what kind of format they use. Lots of olympic sports have multiple tournaments for the same sport. (Cycling has a time-trial, a road race, and i think a pursuit (indoor) competition as well. Skiing has downhill/gs/slalom and the jumping. Equestrian, speed skating, and many more as well.)

Personally I think there should be some form or both stroke play and match play. And I think a team event could be great as well. I dont think a Ryder/Presidents cup format would work. Without giving it to much thought, perhaps a 54 hole stroke play event for singles, and 36 holes best-ball for  teams. It would be nice to see match play, but on second thought maybe it takes to much time.


...I wonder if the caddies get gold medals?!!!

[Jud_T]

Now I'm really bummed that chicago got the eurotrash shaft. And what's up with the format? Top fifteen and 2 from each country? That would be like 7 us players. Don't tell me its not about the cash,

[Steve Lang]

  .. and we will introduce an Olympic Competition Ball ..

[Wayne_Kozun]

Where to start in my rant.

First off - rugby is not in the Olympics, seven-a-side rugby is in the Olympics and sevens rugby is not really rugby - it is to real XVs rugby what pitch and putt is to golf.

Hockey belongs in the Olympics and hockey is played on ice.  That game that girls attending private schools play while wearing skirts is not hockey.  Hockey belongs in the Olympics because it gives Canada a very good chance to win two medals in every Olympics.  And Women's Hockey has the Olympics as its "ne plus ultra" event.

Golf belongs in the Olympics because it will help to provide additional funding to the sport in many countries where sports don't get government funding unless they are in the Olympics. Even here in golf-mad Canada it should help golf get additional funding. In places like China it could make a huge difference in promoting the game of golf. In many countries sports federations don't get government funding unless they are in the Olympics.

Golf is a very popular sport and I believe that the Olympics should contain popular sports and get rid of stuff that no one does, like fencing. Who cares if the Olympic competition is not the "ultimate championship" for golf.

Today in golf most major amateur competition are not won by true amateurs - they are won by "pros in waiting" who are in university and haven't yet turned pro. The Mid-Am competition is for true amateurs who have real jobs - kind of like Bobby Jones 80 years ago.

@Sean - when was Olympic hockey last truly amateur? Maybe in 1960, but surely not once the USSR became serious about the sport and started having full time Red Army members on the national team.  Fetisov and Larionov were pros long before they joined the NHL.

The whole professional vs. amateur issue is a load of crap. The distinction between professionals and amateurs 115 years ago when it was originally made for the Olympics (rugyby and golf were at about the same time) was mainly a class issue. Upper class sportsmen were amateurs as they would not sully their hands by taking cash for athletic competitions. Professionals were working class people since they needed money. The Olympics were set up to be an amateur competion in 1896 to only allow the upper classes. Golf was the same way - look up how golf professionals were treated in the UK and US prior to about 1920 - they were generally not allowed in the clubhouse and were thought off as lower-class staff, not unlike one's gardener. Read "Tommy's Honour" to see how there were viewed at the first Open Chapionships at Prestwick.

Incidentally, rugby was the same with the upper classes playing rugby union and the lower classes creating their own version of the game which became rugby league and rugby union did not denigrate itself to the ranks of professionalism until 1995.  The distinction between the two rugby codes was very strictly enforced for 100 years.

[Norbert P]

  It should be synchronized golf with pretty long red, yellow and blue ribbons tied to the hosels for glorious spectacularness.  The players' outfits should be Rio Carnival in style.  The larger the headdress, the more mulligans they get.

[Don Hyslop]

Now that Rio has the Games and golf is included, the next question is where will they hold the event. According to commentators on the President's Cup telecast, Rio at present has no suitable venue. The nearest suitable course was said to be in Sao Paulo which is 429 km away. So who should design the Olympic course if one is built. Names mentioned on the telecast included Norman, Nicklaus, Cabrera/Player and Woods.

[Randy Thompson]

i LEARNED A LONG TIME AGO DON´T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ OR HEAR ON TV TELECAST. The one thing you all need to understand, the golf course will not be built for the olympics only, it will have to be a viable busisness afterwards and as of today no big name architect has done a golf course in Brazil that has turned into a favorable profitable busisness. Many have created plans but none have been built. Sao Paulo has two decent possiblilites but like previously mentioned they are far from Rio. One is Sao Paulo country club recently redesinged by jones Junior and a club which we desinged and opened in the lasrt month Boa Vista. Boa vista is so exclusive that they probably would not except the event. One thinbg is sure, politics will enter....que pena!!! Just have to hide and watch! Boa vista has decided to expand to 36 and Palmer has been contracted for the second 18, but that was almost two years ago and has failed to start..and its Palmer...not more need to be said...fill in the blanks!!!

[Paul Stephenson]

Incidentally, rugby was the same with the upper classes playing rugby union and the lower classes creating their own version of the game which became rugby league and rugby union did not denigrate itself to the ranks of professionalism until 1995.  The distinction between the two rugby codes was very strictly enforced for 100 years.

Dr. Jonathan Webb was England's fullback for a few years in the late 80s early 90s.  He's a surgeon I think.

[Norbert P]

Here's a quote from Grant Spaeth in his 2008 interview with Ran M.

"Previously I have resisted putting golf in the Olympics. It bothers me. It’s like taking coal to NewCastle – not needed, undermines the great events of the world, what’s the World Amateur for, after all . . . and on and on. On the other hand, I am advised that developing countries are prepared to invest in the game ONLY if the sport is part of the Olympics. And that dynamic deserves our attention, because it is the objective of most institutions to spread the game throughout the world for the benefit of all peoples.

So where do I come out? Let golf into the Olympics."   GS



  I agree but I'm still concerned about the format.  Any new news on that issue?

[Will MacEwen]

Where to start in my rant.

First off - rugby is not in the Olympics, seven-a-side rugby is in the Olympics and sevens rugby is not really rugby - it is to real XVs rugby what pitch and putt is to golf.

Incidentally, rugby was the same with the upper classes playing rugby union and the lower classes creating their own version of the game which became rugby league and rugby union did not denigrate itself to the ranks of professionalism until 1995.  The distinction between the two rugby codes was very strictly enforced for 100 years.

Prior to denigrating itself to professionalism, RU had shamateurism, which is the worst of all possible worlds.  Golf has often had the same issue.

[Tim Pitner]

Slag,

It's 72-hole stroke play for men and women, I believe.  I'm disappointed there's no team component.   

[JLahrman]

Slag,

It's 72-hole stroke play for men and women, I believe.  I'm disappointed there's no team component.   

Agreed, hopefully they will reconsider this as the format is probably the one aspect of Olympic golf that is not already behind schedule.

I'd like to see something akin to the old Dunhill Cup (was that the name?) at St. Andrews before they switched it over to be a pro-am type contest.

Let's say you have 32 countries, with three man teams.  There would be eight pools of four teams each.  Round robin against the other three teams in your pool with three individual medal competitions, top two teams advance to a 16-team elimination tournament.

I am not interested at all in an individual competition.

[Wayne_Kozun]

The one thing you all need to understand, the golf course will not be built for the olympics only, it will have to be a viable busisness afterwards and as of today no big name architect has done a golf course in Brazil that has turned into a favorable profitable busisness.

In these parts Stanley Thompson is as big a name as you get and Itanhanga and Gavea have lasted for close to a century! 

And what does profitability have to do with great golf courses - many (most?) great golf courses in the world are managed for the pleasure of their member-owners, not with a profit model.  Brazil has created a lot of wealth in the recent past I would bet that some of the newly wealthy would enjoy belonging to a new golf club.

[Randy Thompson]

Wayne,
My point was, I don´t see the goverment shelling out millions and up to twenty five for a Tiger Woods design and another twenty five million for land for example. But who knows...if you have a 114 billion dollars budget for the overall olympics..maybe it not to much to consider. Rio is a top ten world destination and has no access for tourist to a golf course. In the spirt of the olympic and in order to promote golf I hope they have common sence to make a great public golf facility that can be affordable to all before and after the olympics. The current leader is socialist and a public senario would fit into his political format but another Richy rich private course with multi million dollar homes....just have my doubts! Have you been to Rio? Not much available land and they have to double the hotel room capicity in the next six years...what will that do to land prices. i hope the goverment has some land to put up fairly close but little information presently coming out of Brazil on the matter. Just have to hide and watch!

[Wayne_Kozun]

I have been to Rio several times.  I don't think that you need to build a fancy golf resort or a CCFAD for the Olympics - what is wrong with a private club that would have the infrastructure to host the Olympics?

In terms of Rio not having public golf for tourists - I am a golf nut but when I go to certain cities I really don't care if they have any golf - Rio would be one of those cities, Paris is another (even though there is decent golf around Paris) as would Rome, Venice, etc.  There are lots of great places to go to play golf but there are other cities where there are better ways to spend your time.

By the way I am guessing that if you contacted the existing private clubs in Rio and said that you are a golfer from America (or the UK, etc.) and would like to play their course that they would accomodate you, even if you didn't belong to a club back home.

Yes, President Lula is from the PT (aka"Workers Party") which is a left=leaning party but his actions have been much more capitalist friendly.  I don't know that the working class in Rio is clamoring for public golf courses.

When it comes to land availability - why not use the hills with favelas? Do you volunteer to clear the people off   Sure there isn't that much land right in the city but when you go out in the suburbs you could likely find areas that would be suitable, especially if it was in conjunction with all of the real estate developments taking place.

[J Sadowsky]

If Golf was a "real" olympic sport - ie, if the commitment to the Olympics was complete - you'd have  a team competition and an individual competition.  The women's individual competition would be medal play qualifier on Days 1-2, rest days 3-4, Round of 16 day 4, Quarters and Semis day 5, finals Day 6.  The men's individual competition would be medal play qualifier Days 3-4, rest day 5, Round of 16 Day 7, finals day 7.  Then day 8 would be a rest day, and you'd either have a medal play (4 rounds, 4 days each) team competition, or you'd have a similar medal/match format, for Days 9-16. 

But the relevant Golf tours aren't going to make that competition. 

[Randy Thompson]

Wayne,
If the format will be the best professionals, I don´t think either of the two exsisting clubs will be acceptable and have the necessary infrastructure. Certainly not Gavea whcih five of the first ten holes are par threes and comes close to an executive type golf course. If they have to double the number of rooms years in the next six, it make sense to me that to create a demand for the rooms after the olympics you would have the added attraction of having golf availble to future tourist and a golf course where the olympics was played would help. You may go to Rio and other major cities around the world for other reasons but I am sure there is a big golfing public that would like to go for other reasons but also have the option of playing golf on a good modern course. Access with the current clubs can not be that easy...they have quite a bit of members and a lot of recipical courses throughout the world that will take prioroity over tourist. So, no the working class may not be pressurring for public golf but the overall economical skeme in my opinion will require it. The favelas represent prime time hotel land but unsuitable for golf with the steep slopes and no.no one has the balls to go in there and say time to move guys!