Golf at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Golf at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad
Venue	Olympic golf course, Reserva de Marapendi, Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Dates	11–14 August (men) 17–20 August (women) (provisional schedule)
Competitors	60 men, 60 women

Golf tournaments at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, are scheduled to be held in August at the new Olympic golf course (Portuguese: Campo Olímpico de Golfe), built within the Reserva de Marapendi in the Barra da Tijuca zone.

It will be the first time for golf to be played at the Olympics since the 1904 Summer Olympics and it is to feature two events, the men's and women's individual events.

Changes

Though golf has not featured in the Olympics since the 1904 Summer Olympics, the session of the 121st IOC Session held in 2009 chose to re-introduce the sport for the games. With the rapid expansion and globalisation of the sport, the 121st International Olympic Committee recommended adding golf back into the Summer Olympics.

Ty Votaw, who was the Executive Vice President of Communications and International Affairs and Vice President of the International Golf Federation, along with Peter Dawson, who was the president of the IGF and chief executive of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, were at the forefront of making golf once again an Olympic sport.

Prior to the vote to reinstate golf into the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympic Games, a presentation by a group of golf ambassadors helped sway the 121st session of the International Olympic Committee. These ambassadors included: Dawson and Votaw, along with golf professionals Pádraig Harrington of Ireland, Michelle Wie of the United States, Suzann Pettersen of Norway and 16-year-old 2009 British Amateur champion Matteo Manassero of Italy. Dawson was quoted saying: "We are extremely grateful that Padraig, Michelle, Suzann and Matteo were able to join us to help communicate the genuine interest world-class players of all ages share in golf becoming an Olympic sport." On 9 October 2009, the International Olympic Committee had their final vote and the vote passed, which officially made golf an Olympic sport for the 2016 and 2020 Summer games.

Format

A proposal was made to have a 72-hole individual stroke play tournament with the official rules of golf. In the event of a tie for any of the first three positions, a three-hole playoff will determine the medal winners.

Location

File:Campo Olímpico de Golfe.jpg

The golf course as of March 2015

The new Olympic golf course was built at the Reserva de Marapendi in the Barra da Tijuca zone. Hanse Golf Course Design was chosen from eight contenders to build the course. Founder and President Gil Hanse reacted to the news in saying: "I'm excited that the selection panel felt that our efforts were the ones that best matched the criteria set by organisers." They have signed up with World Golf Hall of Famer Amy Alcott to work on the project.

The President of the Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Rio 2016 Carlos Arthur Nuzman said: "As [the 2016 Games] marks the return of golf to the Olympic Games after over a century of absence, this course represents the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the sport. It will enable Rio to host important events in the international calendar and it will be an example of sustainability and preservation of an environmentally protected area. This course will be an excellent facility for the practice and development of golf and will inspire millions of youth across Brazil and the globe. We look forward to welcoming the athletes and spectators to the course in 2016."

After the games, the course will become a public facility and will be used to enhance golf's profile within Brazil and, according to the organising committee, this would represent "one of the most important Olympic Games legacies for sport development in the country."

The Olympic Committee has said that one of their goals for the Olympics was to create an environmentally sustainable Games. In building the golf course, the grass selection was critical for sustainability and water use. The quality of the water as an irrigation source for the course was in question, so the grasses selected had to be salt tolerant. The grass sprigged on the greens of the course is SeaDwarf Seashore Paspalum, a highly salt-tolerant grass variety. The grass planted on the tees and fairways is Zeon Zoysia, developed by Bladerunner Farms in Poteet, Texas. Zeon Zoysia is a warm-season turfgrass that requires little fertilizer and minimal maintenance. Both grasses were grown on a sod farm in Brazil at Green Grass Brasil. The sod farm is a licensed producer of both grass varieties.

Competition schedule

The competition is provisionally scheduled for 11–14 and 17–20 August.

Qualification

Main article: Golf at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Qualification will be based on world ranking as of 11 July 2016, with a total of 60 players qualifying in each of the men's and women's events. The top 15 players of each gender will qualify, with a limit of four golfers per country that can qualify this way. The remaining spots will go the highest-ranked players from countries that do not already have two golfers qualified. The IGF has guaranteed that at least one golfer from the host nation and each geographical region (Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania) will qualify. The IGF posts weekly lists of qualifiers based on current rankings for men and women.

Participating

Competitors

Main article: List of golfers at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Events

Medal summary

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Great Britain	1	0	0	1
	South Korea	1	0	0	1
3	New Zealand	0	1	0	1
	Sweden	0	1	0	1
5	China	0	0	1	1
	United States	0	0	1	1
Total 6 NOCs		2	2	2	6

Winners

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Men	Justin Rose	Henrik Stenson	Matt Kuchar
Women	Inbee Park	Lydia Ko	Shanshan Feng

See also

• Golf at the 2015 Pan American Games

External links

• rio2016.com/en, the official website of the Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Rio 2016