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Golf is a popular game with very high-ranking professional players celebrated across the world. However, golf does not share the same popularity as other sporting activities when it comes to the Olympics, which begs the question, how many times has golf been included in the Olympic Games?
Before the 2016 Olympics, enthusiasts felt the absence of the game for 112 years. The memorable return had many golf fans thrilled, and they were significantly happier to learn that the sport was on the 2020 Olympic calendar. They had another chance to watch their favourite players tee off at the Olympic greens and leave lasting memories.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic prevented the Olympics from taking place. The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics to 2021 still has golf as one of the evens to watch out for. If the Olympics still occur, this will be the fourth time for golf to be included in the Olympics games. It is not clear about the number of fans that will have the opportunity to travel to Tokyo to watch their favourite players tee off.
So to answer the question of How Many Times Has Golf Been Included in the Olympic Games? The answer is three, and the next Olympics will make it four times.
Past Golf Appearances in the Olympics
1900
Golf first appeared in the Olympics in 1900, in Paris. The tournament saw a strong Olympics team participate in three events at the Compiegne Golf Club from October 2nd to October 4th.
The events were a 36-hole men’s championship, an 18-hole men’s net handicap championship, and a 9-hole women’s championship. The tournament saw the entry of four nations participating.
The four were the United States, franc, Great Britain, and Greece.
In the 36-hole tournament, the gold went to Charles Sands of the United States, silver to Walter Rutherford of Great Britain and bonze to David Robertson of Great Britain. In the 18-hole net handicap event, Albert lambert of the United States won the gold, and M.P. Deschamps from France won the silver. The 9-hole women’s championship saw an entry of nine participants, with the gold going to Margaret Abbot of the united.
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1904
The second time golf took part in the Olympic Games was in 1904. The summer Olympics held in St. Louis, Missouri, saw only two nations participating in the golf tournament. The two were Canada with three golfers and the United States with 74 golfers.
The golfing events in the 1904 Olympics included putting and driving contests, handicap events, play for the medals and Team Nassau competition. The competitions took place at the Glen Echo Country Club from September 17th to 19th. Albert Lambert was the only player that participated in both the 1900 and 1904 tournaments. The United States won all the golf tournaments during the 1904 Olympics.
After the 1904 Olympics, golf failed to secure a seat in the Olympic events due to a lack of participants and universal golf governing body. It was no until 2016 that the Olympic team included golf in their games.
2016
The 2016 Olympics took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The golf tournaments took place in Rio de Janeiro newly constructed Olympic golf course. The course designed specifically for the event saw 129 players competing for medals in the 72-hole course. Qualification for the golf players participating in 2016 depended on their world golf ranking positions. Some of the qualifying payers withdrew from the tournament because of the Zika virus.
Player qualification for the event was based upon their place within the Official World Golf Rankings. Some that qualified withdrew for concerns over the Zika virus. The medal winners included Justin Rosie from great Britain-gold, Henrick Stenson, Sweden-silver, Matt Kuchar, United States-bronze.
In the women’s event, the medals went to Inbee Park, South Korea-gold, Lydia Ko, New Zealand-silver, and Shanshan Feng, China-bronze.
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Should Golf Be Included In The Olympics Games?
While golf is a popular sporting activity worldwide, many stakeholders as well, as do not think that golf should be a part of the Olympic Games activities. Even though the Olympic team allowed golf into the games three other tines in the past, critics think including the same in the 2021 Olympic will mess with the PGA Tour season program.
Between 2016 and 2020, 554 golf and Olympic officials voted to check if golf should or should not be in the Olympics, the no it should not team won but the voting was too close. Even with the no team winning, we still expect the golf team in the 2021 summer Olympics.
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Wrapping it up
The Olympic Games is one of the largest and most followed sports globally, and inclusion in the list is a great honor for both the players and the tournament. Golf missed several inclusions because it did not have a sold governing body in place, and not many golfers were ready to compete in the Olympic spotlight. However, things changed in the golfing industry, as evidenced by the number of entrants in the 2016 Olympic Games.
The next Olympic tournament expected is in the summer Olympics in Tokyo-2012 and the 2022 winter Olympics in Beijing. The number of golf payers is expected to be higher than in 2016. However, that will depend on the situation on the floor as concerns the Covid-19 pandemic.
