Golf Course Architecture and the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics

[David Kelly]

In all seriousness, given today's news, I think the chances of an American winning the job is ~0.01%

On what do you base that?

[Don_Mahaffey]

There's no Putney Swope option this time...

OK, who else had to google Putney Swope?

And...if every finalist did have a vote but couldn't vote for themselves...what's the outcome?

[Michael George]

There's no Putney Swope option this time...

OK, who else had to google Putney Swope?

+1

[Kalen Braley]

Looks like Putney Swope was the distant cousin pre-cursor to the Hudsucker Proxy....which I loved!!

[Mark Johnson]

In all seriousness, given today's news, I think the chances of an American winning the job is ~0.01%

On what do you base that?

The increase to politics in the process.   Worldwide anti-americanism is still huge..   same reason US didnt get the 2016 Olympics even though we had by far the best bid.

By having the IOC more involved, the importance of golf in the design  is going to significantly decrease.

[Randy Thompson]

There's no Putney Swope option this time. Nobody involved among the eight has any idea what is going on and who is favored and who is not. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying or just speculating. And there's an awful lot of speculation among the remaining principles.

All I know is that such delays, standard with golf and with the Olympics, do not bode well for finishing on time.

http://golfweek.com/news/2012/feb/03/delay-signals-tough-call-build-legacy/

Earth to Brad, I guarantee you Tom and Jack know exactly what has transpired. The other six may not, although there is a good chance RJT Juniooorrrr and Hawtree or what ever his name is may also know!

[Jud_T]

I say just let Tom and Jack arm wrestle for it...

[Brad Klein]

Earth to Randy, I'm a reporter, and I bet my phone has been busier than yours lately. You can guarantee all you want on the basis of abstract speculation, but I couldn't write on that basis.

[Randy Thompson]

My appologies Brad, didnīt realize you had spoke to all eight candidates and they infromed you they knew nothing.

[Brad Klein]

Randy, this whole thing has been surprising.

[Tom_Doak]

Earth to Brad, I guarantee you Tom and Jack know exactly what has transpired. The other six may not, although there is a good chance RJT Juniooorrrr and Hawtree or what ever his name is may also know!

Randy:

I can't speak for the rest, but I can tell you I was very surprised the committee didn't make a selection as they had planned.

I could speculate as to the reasons, but it would be pure speculation on my part, and I'm not that stupid.  I'd like to think we still have a good chance, because we made a very good presentation, but the further we get away from those presentations the less likely I think it is that we will get the bid, so I'm disappointed by the delay.

[Kalen Braley]

Tom,

Have you had a chance to speak to any of the other groups submitting a proposal to get an idea of how things went for them? Or is that generally discouraged during such a process?

[Tom_Doak]

Tom,

Have you had a chance to speak to any of the other groups submitting a proposal to get an idea of how things went for them? Or is that generally discouraged during such a process?

Kalen:

There are only a couple of the others whom I know very well.  But, I don't think any of us want to do anything that might be interpreted as "tampering" while the jury is still deliberating.

After it's over, I might approach some of the other participants and offer to trade a copy of our proposals, so we can each see what the other was thinking.  I think that would be okay, since both sides are still bound by the non-disclosure agreement.

[Carl Johnson]

That's the best news out of this whole story. It implies they will take their time going over the designs. Lets hope they can conceptualize, well.

For what it's worth, based my personal experience in international athletics, in a different sport, it's 100 percent politics.  The designs will be largely, if not wholly, irrelevant.  But, having said that, I'm not familiar with the folks who're making this decision, either.