Olympic Golf

Olympic Golf

SummaryArticle NameGolf at the OlympicsDescription“Faster, higher, stronger”, is this the next plan from Bryson Dechambeau to dominate golf ? No, it is the motto of the modern Olympic games, which were revived in 1896 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin and held in Athens, Greece.Author SGT Team

“Faster, higher, stronger”, is this the next plan from Bryson Dechambeau to dominate golf ? No, it is the motto of the modern Olympic games, which were revived in 1896 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin and held in Athens, Greece.

I think most golfing fans would be aware that golf was in the Rio Olympics in 2016. The Men’s gold was won by Justin Rose of Great Britain, ahead of Henrik Stenson of Sweden, and Matt Kuchar of the USA. The Women’s gold was won by Inbee Park of South Korea, ahead of Lydia Ko from New Zealand, and Shanshan Fang of China. A lot of the world leading male players decided not to play due to the threat of a virus called Zika.

The 2016 tournaments were hosted on a new course, The Olympic Golf course. This course was designed by Gil Hanse, who also designed the Craighead course at Crail near St. Andrews in Scotland, and co-designed the Castle Stuart course in the Highlands, both of which can be booked through Seaside Golf Tours.

However, I was quite surprised when I found out that golf has been in the Olympics before, in 1900 and 1904.

In 1900, the Olympic host was Paris, France and the golf tournament was held at Compiegne golf club, which is about 80km North of Paris. There were 12 competitors and the tournament was a 36 hole stroke play tournament played on 1 day. The Gold was won by Charles Sands of the USA, ahead of Walter Rutherford and David Robertson of Great Britain. Sands also competed in the tennis tournaments at the 1900 games.

In 1904, the Olympic host was St. Louis, USA and the golf tournament was held at the Glen Echo Country Club. The were 75 competitors in total, 72 from the USA and 3 from Canada. The 1904 tournament started with a 36-hole stroke play qualifying round. This was followed by the top 32 qualifiers playing a 5-round match play tournament with each round consisting of 36 holes. No bronze medal match was played, with both semi final losers receiving bronze medals. The gold was won by George Lyon of Canada, who defeated Chandler Egan from the USA 3&2 in the final. Burt McKinnie and Francis Newton, both from the USA won the bronze medals.

Golf was meant to also be played in the 1908 Olympic games hosted in London, UK, but a dispute over the format led to all the home golfers boycotting the tournament. The 1904 champion, George Lyon had travelled over to defend his Olympic title, and after the boycott was left as the only entrant. He was offered the gold medal by default, but he refused to accept it. He was the reigning Golf gold medallist for 112 years, until Justin Rose won in 2012.

The 2020 Olympic golf tournaments will be played on the East course at Kasumigaseki Country Club, which is located in Saitama, Japan about 25km from Tokyo . This golf club was founded in 1929 and has hosted many professional events. Both tournaments are 4 round stroke play, with the Men’s tournament between 29th July and 1st August, and the Women’s between the 4th and 7th August. With many of the leading male and female golfers going for gold, it should be an interesting tournament.