Golf Approved for 2016 Olympics

I’m looking forward to the Oktoberfest 5k run on Sunday. I’ve only completed a few 5ks so far this summer, and this will likely be the last for the season. Hopefully I can better my previous best time of some 25 minutes and change.

This past Thanksgiving Monday saw the first and only staging of the famed Peace Street Classic. A great old friend and I, both of us having grown up on Peace Street, get together periodically to contest for the Classic trophy. The historical results are noted towards the bottom of the right hand column of this blog. Despite my clear losing record, and after an extensive frost delay, I did manage to squeak out a 2 and 1 victory at Mill Run, near Uxbridge, ON.

The golf world recently enjoyed some very big news, as our grand game ... er ... I mean our grand sport has been brought into the summer Olympic fold. The world’s best will compete for Olympic gold starting in 2016 in Rio De Janeiro. Golf News Now provided great coverage available here, and included inline below.


Golf Is Approved for 2016 Olympics

October 9, 2009 by GNN

Golf has received final approval from the International Olympic Committee for play starting in 2016 in Rio De Janeiro.

“We are elated that the IOC membership has accepted golf as an Olympic sport and look forward to seeing the world’s best golfers compete for gold at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro,” said Ty Votaw, Executive Director of the International Golf Federation Olympic Golf Committee.

“We thank the IOC for its support, and also congratulate rugby sevens for its inclusion in the 2016 Games,” said Votaw in a release.
Golf and rugby sevens were recommended for the Olympic Programme by the IOC Executive Board in August following an extensive review process involving seven sports that were vying to be added to the 2016 Olympic Games.

Although they emerged as the finalists, both sports still required final approval on Friday in Copenhagen by a majority of votes cast by the members of the IOC.

“We strongly believed that golf deserved to be added to the Olympic program and felt that we presented a compelling case to the IOC,” Votaw said.

“We have received unprecedented support from international golf organizations throughout this process, as well as from the world’s top-ranked men and women players, which was critical to our success. We also stressed the universal nature of golf, with 60 million people playing the sport in more than 120 countries.”

Based on player feedback, the IGF has proposed a format of 72-hole individual stroke play for both men and women. In case of a tie for either first, second or third place, a three-hole playoff is recommended to determine the medal winner(s).

The IGF also has recommended an Olympic field of 60 players for the men’s and women’s competitions, using the World Golf Rankings as a method of determining eligibility.

The top-15 world-ranked players would be eligible for the Olympics, regardless of the number of players from a given country.

Beyond the top-15, players would be eligible based on the world rankings, with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top-15.

Current world rankings from both the men’s and women’s games show that at least 30 countries would be represented in both the men’s and women’s competitions, from all continents, under this proposal.