Olympic Golf
With the Olympics finally upon us, it seems an appropriate time to cast our eyes forward to 2016, Rio and golf’s reinstatement in the schedule.
Including golf in the Games will never be met with unanimous approval. I understand the argument that Olympic gold should be the pinnacle of a sport for it to warrant inclusion (and therefore it’s not really the place for football, or tennis etc). However, the official line is that its inclusion isn’t to make Olympic gold the greatest prize in golf (no chance) but to encourage the international development of the game, and it’s certainly fair to say that this is an admirable goal that we should all encourage. The cynic might say that the IOC won’t have been blind to the commercial interests either, but who am I to say?! Probably fair to say all arguments carry some weight.
From a competitive point of view, the chance to win a gold medal would be an exciting prospect, and I’m sure it will hold pride of place in the trophy cabinet of the future winner. But we all know that a professional golfer would swap it in an instant for one of the four Major titles, and so (and I realise this may sound a tad strong) the event is immediately relegated to a lower tier. Still, the debate needs to move on as golf WILL now be an Olympic event, and the benefits of it being so definitively outweigh the arguments over the merit of its inclusion.
But what do we know of the plans for Olympic golf in Rio? Well, for starters, it won’t be the first time golf has been played at the Games. Admittedly, the last time was a little way back – 1904 to be precise – and only the USA and Canada competed, but 2016 won’t be able to claim that record. Still, Rio is likely to show off how much the game has grown, globally, with at least 30 golfing countries from five continents likely to compete. The course is being purpose-built by architect Gil Hanse, with an ‘Olympic legacy’ at the core of the plans and an emphasis on both environmental and economic sustainability.
As for the golf itself, much has been made of the potential format, with certain players campaigning for matchplay over strokeplay, however recommendations for a 72 hole individual strokeplay format have already been made, as it is felt that this is the fairest and best way to identify an Olympic champion. Needless to say, there is one event for men and one for women, and immediately one can see a benefit to the women’s game of having a tournament of equal stature being played alongside the men. What the IOC would make of the equality debate that continues to drag on at certain golf clubs around the world heaven knows, though one would assume they’re willing to put the blinkers on for the time being.
We also know that the top 15 world-ranked players will be eligible, regardless of nationality, as well as two players from each country outside of the top 15 (unless there are two representatives for a country already within the top 15). Nearer the time, it will be interesting to see how many of the top 15 ranked players choose to incorporate the Olympics into their schedule, or whether the money of a regular tour event elsewhere will be too much temptation to resist. You’d like to think the best players would opt for a chance of gold, but you have to remind yourself some of these same players have argued for pay at the Ryder Cup!
In golfing terms, Rio is a long way away. There will be 16 Major titles settled before then and 2 Ryder Cups fought. Some careers will have ended and we’ll be familiar with new names. Tiger will be 40. Then again, McIlroy will still be in his 20s and Beijing doesn’t seem that long ago does it? I guess it will be here before we know it.
I read in the week that the majority of this year’s British Olympians (sorry, Team GB) believe hosting the Games has benefited their sport. Bearing this in mind, and regardless of your take on the merits of golf in the Olympics, I like to think that golf in Brazil and throughout the world will benefit from its inclusion in 2016. Perhaps we might even hope to see the emergence of a contender from the host nation over the next four years?