The modern Olympic Games is arguably the world’s largest sporting event, featuring summer and winter sports competitions. Surprisingly, after an absence of more than a century, golf will return as an Olympic sport at Rio this year. After a 112-year absence, it will be the first time golf will be played in the Olympics and it will feature two events: the men’s and women’s individual categories. It was last played in the Summer Olympics of 1904 at St Louis, Missouri, United States.
The Olympic Games would definitely help promote the game globally and has the potential to attract more than 3.6 billion viewers, and create the opportunity to grow the game in so many parts of the world where it isn’t played a lot. But does that really mean that this inclusion of the sport is a wise decision?
Let’s run through a few major concerns:
1. Environmental controversy:
Conservationists have been trying to stop the Olympic golf preparations at Rio. The land chosen for the new golf course lies within the Marapendi Environmental Protection Area (EPA), which is home to rare butterflies, pines and other species not found anywhere else in the world. It is a coastal habitat for sandbank native vegetation and animal life, including endangered species. Environmentalists have noted that golf courses do not have a reputation for being eco-friendly. Today, the golf course covers 970,000 square meters. According to activists, the golf course caused serious detrimental environmental impact, including suppression and fragmentation of native vegetation and reduction of local biodiversity, resulting in the loss of habitat and native species of fauna and flora.
2. The qualifiers and the format:
The top 15 players in the world from either gender will qualify, but only a maximum of four players per country can participate. This means that the tournament won't provide the most competitive field since more than half of the LPGA's top 30 players hail from South Korea. Based on the current rankings, the Games have no place for Open champion Zach Johnson or perennial contender Phil Mickelson, both from the United States. Britain has no room for Paul Casey, while South Africa omitted 2011 Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel.
The format of the competition will be a 72-hole individual stroke-play tournament. Organisers could have chosen a unique team format, putting national teams through a tournament with the entertaining and eccentric events we rarely see anywhere else.
3. Zika Virus:
Fears and concerns about the possible transmission of the Zika virus is what’s driving most of the withdrawals. It’s a bitter blow, as star golfers such as Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Marc Leishman and Vijay Singh have pulled out of the competition. The long line of withdrawals has raised questions about whether golf should be an Olympic sport at all.
4. Over-packed schedules :
The inclusion of golf in the Olympics wreaked havoc on the players’ schedules, particularly towards the latter part of the season. Two majors – the British Open and the PGA Championship – and the Olympics will be held in the five weeks between July 14 and August 14. Two weeks later, the four-tournament FedEx Cup playoffs begin, followed by the Ryder Cup immediately after. Such scheduling conflicts have forced many of the players to withdraw.
How will an Olympic gold medal be compared to the Claret Jug or the Green Jacket? On the flipside, amateur golfers would be more eager, more enthusiastic to win an Olympic medal. It’s unfortunate that the 10 of the world’s best male players have opted out already, citing concerns over the Zika virus and general lack of interest. That leaves us with a golf tournament that isn’t much of a golf tournament and an Olympic event that isn’t much of an Olympic event, all on a course with no history and plenty of opposition.
The real question here is whether golf’s inclusion into the Olympic Games will filter down to countries that haven’t embraced it for a number of reasons, or even revitalise a new generation in major golfing nations. As of now, all the players can do is get over the controversy, play and make the most of any opportunity it creates.