Source: gettyimages.in
Nowadays, golf is a staple of the Olympic Summer program, but that wasn’t always the case. Get comfortable and dive into reading a fascinating story about the up-and-down relationship between the refined sport and the iconic competition, from its origins to the present day.
The History of Golf in the Olympics
Held in 1896, the inaugural edition of the modern-era Summer Olympic Games comprised only 9 sports. For the following iteration, in 1900, ten more sports were added to the program, and golf was one of them. The club-and-ball game premiered in men’s and women’s individual events, with Americans Charles Sands and Margaret Abbott winning gold, respectively.
Golf was again contested at the third Games in the US city of St. Louis, albeit with some changes. The 1904 edition featured individual and team events for men but none for female golfers. Out of 77 participants, 74 athletes were Americans, so it was no wonder they swept the podiums, except for the individual gold medal earned by Canadian George Lyon.
After the 1904 competition, the relationship between golf and the Olympics took a downward turn. Although the men’s events had been included in the 1908 Olympiad schedule, they never actually occurred. The cancelation was due to an insufficient field: the participants had disagreements over organizational matters, and most of them refused to compete at all.
Source: gettyimages.in
Golf was dismissed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and written off the 1912 Games program. Later, however, the IOC decided to bring it back to the Olympics, specifically to the 1920 edition hosted by Belgian Antwerp. Disappointedly, these Summer Games were robbed of golf for basically the same reason as in 1908: there were too few participants.
What happened next was nearly a century-long parting between the sport and the competition.
The Road to Olympic Return
Golf has come a really long way to hit the Olympic sports list again. It was not until 2009 that the Olympic Committee approved the game’s re-inclusion in the program, which would not have been possible without the serious endorsement and effort of golf organizations and aficionados.
The Push for Reinstatement: Key Advocates and Organizations
Unlike previous failed attempts to re-introduce the sport to the Games, the 2009 petition succeeded thanks to an unprecedented pool of advocates. The International Golf Federation (IGF), the main driving force behind the sport’s re-establishment in the Olympic landscape, enlisted support from top-tier organizations and world-famous golfers, including the following:
- The PGA Tour
- The LPGA
- The R&A
- Tiger Woods
- Annika Sörenstam
- Hisako Higuchi
- Colin Montgomerie
- Matteo Manassero
All in all, over 130 federations and organizations worldwide joined the reinstatement petition.
Source: igfgolf.org
The IOC Decision: Golf’s Official Return in 2016
In October 2009, after a series of meetings and presentations, the contingent of golf proponents gave their final pitch in front of the Olympic Committee. The advocates delivered powerful speeches, provided solid arguments, and eventually received a well-deserved and long-awaited node from the IOC. The Committee voted for the re-entrance of golf to the Games in 2016.
The Olympic revival of golf added a new dimension to online betting, expanding the choice of events. High-class betting websites like 1xBet offer plenty of online golf markets for every Summer Games. Apart from the Olympics, you can bet on golf online daily, as 1xBet gives you access to major international leagues and tournaments and the best odds accessible online.
Format and Structure: How Olympic Golf Was Reimagined
After the IOC announced its official decision, preparations for golf’s Olympic reappearance began, the primary of which was the revision of the competition structure. The format used over a hundred years ago became inevitably outdated and had to be aligned with modern standards. Listed below are the key characteristics of the renewed Olympic look for the club-and-ball sport:
- The format is individual stroke play for the men’s and women’s tournaments.
- Each tournament involves 72 holes, 18 holes in each of the four rounds.
- The overall field is 120 contenders, with 60 male and female participants.
- All participants play across all four rounds of the competition without a cut.
- The player with the least stroke count over 72 holes wins the tournament.
- In a tie, a sudden-death playoff determines the gold, silver, or bronze medalist.
Source: gettyimages.in
Olympic Golf Since 2016
For ardent golf fans, the 2016 Olympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro, the iconic Brazilian destination, were the most anticipated in decades. Let’s recall this momentous event in more detail, as well as what happened at the 2020 Tokyo Games, the next after the sport’s comeback.
Rio 2016: The Historic Comeback
In August 2016, golf was played again in the Olympian setting after a 112-year gap. Male players were the first to step onto the brand-new golf course, specifically built for the Games near the eye-pleasing Atlantic coast and later tailored to junior and beginner events.
The qualifying criteria for the men’s and women’s tournaments were players’ recent world rankings. A total of 41 countries sent between one and seven participants to the Games. With two previous entries in 1900 and 1904, team USA was the most experienced golf Olympian.
Nevertheless, the American squad left the third-ever Olympic golf competition with only one bronze medal, earned by Matt Kuchar. Great Britain and South Korea became the winning nations in the men’s and women’s golf tournaments, respectively. 36-year-old British Justin Rose and 28-year-old South Korean Inbee Park clinched the historic gold medals.
Source: gettyimages.in
Tokyo 2020: Building on the Momentum
Tokyo was home to the 2020 Summer Olympics, second after the re-establishment and fourth overall for golf. The game was contested at the landmark golf venue in Kawagoe, Kasumigaseki Country Club. The format used in the previous edition proved fitting, so it was fully retained.
The geography of contenders slightly changed: Bangladesh, Israel, Brazil, Russia, and Portugal, who failed to qualify players for the 2020 events, were replaced by Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Poland, Slovenia, Zimbabwe, and Slovakia, thus expanding the list of participating nations to 42.
Yet, the biggest change for golf, as well as for most other sports in the 2020 program, was that the game was played in the so-called crowdless mode. The COVID-19 pandemic’s outbreak forced the IOC to run the golf events without fans, so they could only watch them broadcast.
By the second post-revival Games, Olympic golf had begun to gather steam, and the competition grew more intense. The United States took two golds and regained global dominance in the sport, while Japan and Slovakia made waves as promising golf nations.
Source: gettyimages.in
Golf’s Impact on the Olympic Movement
Since rejoining the Olympics, golf’s popularity has skyrocketed on a broad international scale. The sport has spread to numerous new, traditionally non-golf territories and brought in hordes of new fans, either as spectators in the stands of Olympic venues or viewers of the broadcasts.
Not only has the Olympic Movement increased its audience and fanbase, but it has also grown in participation. Since becoming an Olympic discipline, golf has lost elitism and gravitated toward the mainstream, attracting more and more amateur and professional athletes.
The sport’s financial impact has also been immense. The podium and prestige of the Games have been a strong impetus for governments and businesses to fund local golf initiatives and national associations, as well as to invest in young players who can potentially turn Olympians.
Source: gettyimages.in
Challenges and Controversies
Throughout its history, the relationship between golf and the Olympics has undergone a number of challenges. The sport was canceled in 1908 and 1920, completely excluded in 1924, and repeatedly denied a return afterward. Bringing it back to the Games was a long and demanding process that took dozens of organizations to unite and convince the Olympic Committee.
After golf’s re-inclusion, challenges and controversies continued to arise. The sport’s epic return at the 2016 Rio Games and the following 2020 Tokyo Games were marred by the Zika virus and the coronavirus, respectively. The latest 2024 Paris Games were overshadowed by the absence of the stellar golfers Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, who tested positive for COVID-19.
The Future of Golf in the Olympics
Nevertheless, all the recent Olympics have made it clear as day: golf is here to stay. The Games have become as essential and desirable an event for the world’s top players as the Masters or the PGA Championship. Hence, the Olympics are now also a must-see for all golf enthusiasts.
Source: gettyimages.in
The presence of the sport in the Games program is no longer in question, so the closest opportunity to see high-profile golfers compete for Olympic medals will be at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. The legendary Riviera Country Club will host Olympic golf tournaments.
Conclusion
Although golf was among the first sports introduced to the modern Olympics at the beginning of the 20th century, it soon disappeared from the renowned competition for decades. Through their hard work, unity, and love for the sport, the international golf community helped reinstate it.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, the game triumphantly returned to the ranks of contested disciplines. From that moment on, 120 top-level male and female players gather at premium golf courses around the world every four years to determine who will take the coveted Olympic podium.
