Thursday starts the first day of the 72-hole competition for the men’s golf tournament at the Paris Summer Olympic games.
The event will be played at Le Golf National, just outside of Paris in Saint-Quention-En-Yvelines. The par-71 course will play 7,174 yards and the facility previously hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup matches and the 2022 World Amateur Team Championship (Eisenhower Trophy).
Golf returned to the Olympics in 2016 after having been first staged over a century ago (1900 and 1904).
The competition marks the third Olympiad in which golf is now played with men and women competing separately. There is only an individual competition for each with no team play provided.
The push by a number of the major golf organizations – most notably the United States Golf Association (USGA) and the R&A– lobbied the International Olympic Committee (IOC) heavily. The belief was a return to the Olympics would generate a far wider visibility platform and help grow the game on several fronts.
When golf re-emerged back into the Games eight years ago a number of key players opted to sit out – some citing concerns about contracting the Zika virus. For others trekking to South America for the event when other key tournaments were scheduled immediately prior or after was also a consideration.
This year’s competition was smartly scheduled to follow all but one of the traditional major championships associated for each gender. The lone exception being the AIG Women’s Open to be played at The Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland in late August.
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| Golf was part of the Summer Olympics in 1900 (Paris) and 1904 (St. Louis). After waiting 112 years the sport returned to the Games.
2016 (Rio de Janeiro) Men: Justin Rose, Great Britain (Gold); Henrik Stenson, Sweden (Silver); Matt Kuchar, USA (Bronze). Women: Inbee Park, South Korea (Gold); Lydia Ko, New Zealand (Silver); Shanshan Feng, China (Bronze). 2020 (Tokyo) Men: Xander Schauffele, USA (Gold); Rory Sabbatini, Slovakia (Silver); Pan Cheng-tsung, Taiwan (Bronze). Women: Nelly Korda, USA (Gold); Mone Inami, Japan (Silver); Lydia Ko, New Zealand (Bronze). |
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32 countries are represented in the 60-athlete field (36 in 2020, 34 in 2016); Interestingly, Switzerland will be represented for the first time this year with Joel Girrbach competing.
10 of the top 15 players in the current Official World Golf Ranking, including all of the top seven are in the field and highlighted by world-ranked number one player Scottie Scheffler.
One of the main negatives that kept golf from returning to the Olympics even sooner is how the sport separated itself historically for so many years and now its re-emergence is seen by Olympic games traditionalists as an out-of-place interloper.
The Summer Games have traditionally been the primary domain for such recognized sports as swimming, gymnastics and track and field. Those competing in the aforementioned sports place the Olympics as the pinnacle of achievement.
In men’s golf there are clear benchmarks of significant achievement annually contested with the four major championships (Masters, PGA, US Open, The Open).
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Gold medalist benefits Exemptions into all major championships during the 2025 season Exemption into THE PLAYERS Championship 2025 Exemption into The Sentry 2025, provided the gold medalist is a member of the PGA TOUR at the time of his victory in the Olympic Golf competition Official World Golf Ranking points |
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Given the limited field of players the stature of winning even a gold medal does not at this point in time have the resonance of the long-established major championships whose respective histories date back many years and are enhanced by acknowledgement from fellow players, the general public and media.
Winning any of the four majors provides a clear elevation in one’s standing and an enduring legacy when one’s days ofcompeting draw to a close.
In simple terms – would a golfer trade the green jacket from a win at the Masters for a gold medal? Or the Claret Jug and a win at The Open? That seems highly unlikely.
However, proponents of golf in the Olympics promote a wider impact in laying the seeds to gain even more traction. The Games provide golf the wherewithal to build a more far-reaching public consciousness.
Given the global reach of the Games the expectation is to entice countries where golf has not previously been on the radar screen so that needed governmental funding can help build a golf footprint where none existed previously.
While golf has a global involvement, that connection is primarily carried out through Westernized countries such as the USA, UK, South Africa, Japan, South Korea and Australia, to name a few. Vast areas of the globe – including much of Africa and South America, as well as parts of Asia, have little to no intersection now with golf.
The sport has also long had to fight off unpleasant but true realities such as the increasing costs associated with it and then being tagged with the related pejorative label – “a rich man’s game.”
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Vive la France ! France’s Matthieu Pavon will compete in his first Olympics on home soil after a career-changing season on the PGA TOUR that saw him claim his first title at the Farmers Insurance Open in January and a 5th place finish in the US Open at Pinehurst. Fellow countryman and three-time DP World Tour winner Victor Perez will also make his debut at this year’s Olympics after earning PGA TOUR membership for the 2024 season. |
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The sport has also been ill-served by its shameful past history in separating itself from others who were not white and male. From 1934-1961, the PGA of America had a “Caucasian only” clause as part of its official bylaws. The Masters did not formally invite its first African-American (Lee Elder) until 1975.
Since the Summer Games are only played once every four years the overall impact of the sport for a broader and more sweeping movement will bear close observation.
The fanfare of achievement secured from the Olympics will take time to build and grow. On the positive side – the staging of the ’28 Games in Los Angeles at famed Riviera Country Club could be the next important step in sustaining the momentum generated.
Many of the leading figures within golf see the connection to the Olympics as a net positive with little to no downside.
Can golf ultimately change its face and be more open to newer players and countries looking to embrace the sport? The Paris Summer Games will add the next chapter in this developing and intriguing story.
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