Golf in Olympics News Update 22/11/09

Golf to join Olympics  
 
World number one Woods could play at the 2016 Olympics. Golf is set to return to the Olympics after a 112-year absence in 2016, and rugby sevens will also be recommended to be part of that year's Games.
The International Olympic Committee's executive board voted to include both at its Berlin executive board meeting. The recommendation must be rubber-stamped by a full meeting of the IOC congress in Copenhagen in October.

Softball, squash, baseball, karate and roller sports were also hoping to be included, but have all missed out. Golf was played at the Paris Games in 1900 - when Walter Rutherford and David Robertson won silver and gold respectively for Great Britain - and four years later in St Louis, but has never returned to the Olympic agenda. One of the main issues has been whether top players will compete in the Olympics when they already have a full schedule, but superstar Tiger Woods indicated on Tuesday he would play.

The proposed format would be a 72-hole strokeplay competition for men and women, with 60 players in each field. The world's top 15 players would qualify automatically, and all major professional tours would alter tournament schedules to avoid a clash with the Olympics.  IOC president Jacques Rogge said winning an Olympic gold medal would remain one of the main ambitions for top golfers, despite the traditional lure of the four major championships - the Masters, the Open, the US Open and the USPGA. Rogge said: "This is the young generation that will be at its peak in 2016. Peter Dawson, chief executive of the Royal and Ancient club and co-leader of golf's Olympic bid, described Thursday's news as "a historic moment for golf."

He went on: "It will be a huge grow-the-game opportunity for us, not just be in countries where golf is already big but in those countries in eastern Europe and Asia where golf is relatively small. "We were able to show the IOC footage of all the top men and women players coming out in support. We will put the Olympics right at the forefront of golf. It is going to add to golf, no doubt about that." Ty Votaw of the US PGA added: "We presented a very compelling case for our sport to be included. We have had unprecedented, unified support across the entire golfing world."
And European Ryder Cup 2010 captain Colin Montgomerie said: "I heard that Tiger will play, and I'm delighted he's put his name forward."

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General - 13 Aug, 2009
Golf is one step closer to being reinstated as an Olympic sport following the International Olympic Committee Executive Board recommendation to add golf and rugby sevens to the 2016 Olympic Programme.

The IOC final vote on whether to add as many as two sports will take place on October 9 at the 121st IOC session in Copenhagen, Denmark. While the membership of the IOC is not obliged to follow the Executive Board recommendation, the Board decision is based on an extensive review process of seven candidate sports that has included formal presentations, the submission of a detailed questionnaire and responses to questions raised by both the IOC Programme Commission and the IOC Executive Board. The IOC Executive Board announced its decision today following a meeting in Berlin, Germany.

We are obviously thrilled that the IOC Executive Board has recommended that golf should be added to the 2016 Olympic Programme, said Ty Votaw, Executive Director of the International Golf Federation Olympic Golf Committee, which has been coordinating the Olympic bid. We believe we have presented a compelling case as to why golf should be added and we look forward to the IOC final vote in October. Golf was last part of the Olympic Games in 1904, when the United States and Canada were the only competing nations.

Throughout the process, the IGF has stressed the unprecedented unified support by international golf organisations including a commitment by those that conduct Major Championships to adjust their summer schedules to ensure that their respective tournaments won conflict or compete with the Olympic golf competition as well as the resounding support of golf top-ranked male and female players. Player support has been highlighted in various ways, including short films that have been shown to the IOC Programme Commission and Executive Board, a customised brochure detailing the bid that includes player quotes, a letter campaign in which international players sent the brochure with a personalised letter to IOC members from their respective countries, the participation by Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam as Global Ambassadors on behalf of the IGF bid, and the appearance by Sorenstam and 2010 European Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie at the final presentation to the IOC Executive Board in June in Lausanne, Switzerland.

We made it clear from the outset of the bid process that we absolutely needed support from the world leading players to have the best chance of being selected for the 2016 Olympic Games, and we have demonstrated that support; said Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of The R&A and joint secretary of the IGF; We also stressed the united support from the leading golf organisations throughout the world, as well as the universal nature of golf, with 60 million people playing the sport in more than 120 countries.

The IGF Olympic Golf Committee, which originally included The R&A; European Tour; USGA; PGA of America; PGA TOUR; LPGA and the Masters Tournament, has been expanded to 19 organisations. It now also includes The Asian Tour; Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour; Canadian Professional Golf Tour; Japan Golf Tour Organisation; The Ladies Professional Golfers Association of Japan; Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association; Korean Professional Golf Association; Ladies European Tour; Ladies Asian Golf Tour Ltd; PGA Tour of Australasia; The Sunshine Tour and The Tour de las Americas. The IGF has 121 member federations from 116 countries with the most recent additions of the Guam National Golf Federation and Cambodian Golf Federation.

In terms of Olympic competition, the IGF has proposed a format of 72-hole individual stroke play for both men and women, reflecting leading players; opinion that this is the fairest and best way to identify a champion, mirroring the format used in golf's major championships. 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 has recommended an Olympic field of 60 players for each of the men's and women's competition, utilising the official 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 world ranking, with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top 15.

Under this proposal, and based on the current world rankings from both the men and women games, at least 30 countries would be represented in both the men and women competitions, from all continents.