Olympic Wrestling Brouhaha: "It's golf that should never have been granted access in the first place."

Dan Wetzel is the first to take the outrage over wrestling's departure from the Olympic Games in 2016 and directly blame golf's inclusion.

Thanks to reader Patrick for what may be the first of several questioning golf's inclusion in light of the surprising decision to end wrestling's run as an original Olympic sport.

In part because golf and rugby are coming to the Olympics, something had to go. This time it was wrestling, apparently edged out by the modern pentathlon for survival.

As such, both freestyle (somewhat similar to what you see in American high schools and colleges) and Greco Roman, each of which dated back to the 1896 Games in Greece, will soon be history. Wrestling can try to get back in, but the odds are long.

This is a poor decision and it would be only slightly less poor of a decision if it was modern pentathlon (a five-event competition of fencing, horse riding, swimming, running and shooting) that got the boot instead.
It's golf that should never have been granted access in the first place.

He goes on to make the case that the best Olympic sports are rare collections of the world gathering to compete. And we know that happens multiple times a year in golf.

Update on 2013-02-13 18:33 by Geoff

**Add WSJ's Jason Gay to the anti-golf group following yesterday's announcement:

And while I enjoy watching golf and playing golf, I need Olympic golf as much as my cat needs a Jacuzzi. And golf does not need the Olympics. At all. Golf already has plenty of high-profile professional platforms, both in terms of individual and international team play.

Update on 2013-02-13 19:35 by Geoff

**AP's Jim Litke on the politics behind wrestling's demise and the inclusion of other sports like golf.

Rather, it's the way the IOC tries to cash in by piggy-backing on formerly taboo pro sports and pandering to whatever demographic holds sway at the moment. That's why the Winter Olympics look more and more like the "X Games," and why basketball, soccer and tennis _ with golf and rugby on the way _ are now "core" sports, even though they're chockfull with paid mercenaries and boast championships way more prestigious than anything the Olympics could offer.

Zoysia Fairways For The 2016 Olympic Golf Course

The primary portion of the grassing for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games course was announced at the Golf Industry Show.

For Immediate Release...

SAN DIEGO, CA, February 7, 2013: After more than a century’s absence, when golf returns as an Olympic sport at the 2016 Games in Rio, the grass in the fairways, roughs and tees of the new golf course built especially for the Games will be Zeon Zoysia, it was confirmed today at the Golf Industry Show in San Diego by Dr. Frank Rossi, associate professor in the Department of Horticulture at Cornell University who is a consulting agronomist on the project.

“Everything approaching the greens, 88 percent of the grassed area, will be Zeon Zoysia,” Rossi says.The greens grass selection has been delayed, Rossi says, because the salinity and quality of the water to be used for irrigation is still unknown.

“The decision on the greens and green surrounds hinges on the quality of the water,” Rossi says. “If the water is good, the greens will be an ultradwarf bermudagrass. The surrounds will be another type of bermudagrass. If the water is not good, the greens and surrounds will be some type of paspalum because the bermudagrass may not hold up to poor quality water.”

“As it marks the return of golf to the Olympic Games after over a century of absence, this course represents the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the sport. It will enable Rio to host important events in the international calendar and it will be an example of sustainability and preservation of an environmentally protected area,” said the President of Rio 2016, Carlos Arthur Nuzman.

The choice of Zeon Zoysia as the grass for the majority of the acreage on the golf course, approximately 88 acres of fairways and roughs, reinforces the organizing committee’s desire to create a sustainable golf course. Zeon Zoysia has very low requirements for maintenance and inputs, according to David Doguet, president of Bladerunner Farms, the company that bred Zeon Zoysia.

 “Zeon Zoysia is very environmentally friendly. The grass needs very little water, and very low amounts of nitrogen fertilizer, while still looking and playing great. The grass will create a world-class playing surface for the Olympics, and for many years to come,” Doguet said.

Zeon Zoysia was developed in Texas by Bladerunner Farms, the largest privately held zoysiagrass breeding facility in the world. Zeon is licensed by The Turfgrass Group and Doguet Ventures. The grass will be grown in Rio for use on the golf course by Green Grass Brazil, a licensed sod producer of Zeon Zoysia.

IOC Expresses Concern Over Rio 2016's Lack Of Progress, Golf Course Included

An unbylined ESPN report notes the Olympic golf course and its land dispute as part of the IOC's "time is ticking" (translation: get your act together!) statement.

"Our message remains: There is time, but time is ticking, and they need to carry on attacking this one with all vigour," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said.

Bloomberg TV On Hanse, Rio

A Bloomberg TV feature on Gil Hanse following the awarding of the Olympic design contract for Rio 2016:

Meanwhile, the AP branch in Rio's Tales Azzoni continues his steadfast interest in the land dispute which will not hold up construction, says the IGF's Ty Votaw.

Votaw said the land dispute is “not a concern at this time,” and reiterated that the federation has been reassured by 2016 organizers that all issues are close to being resolved.

“There are some final discussions between the land owner and the organizing committee, and the mayor’s office that are just being finalized,” Votaw said. “We are working closely with Rio 2016 and the land owner to resolve the issues that need to be resolved so we could move forward.”

Votaw acknowledges there is a need to make planning changes for every day that goes by without construction starting, but said it doesn’t mean that current delays will affect the final project or the test events.

“There is some flexibility,” Votaw said. “We could be ready as early as March of 2015 or as late as August of 2015. You could have the test events in 2016 as well.”

The AP story ends by suggesting (yet again) that a different site may still be necessary for the 2016 course, even though a court has ruled that the construction can go ahead regardless of the ultimate decision on the land dispute that may be years away. We also know that from the AP's Azzoni.

Rio 2016 Winning Clubhouse Bid: "Combining an atmosphere of conviviality with nature"

Golf Australia was the only site I saw with a photo of the winning bid for the 2016 Olympic golf course clubhouse which drew interest from 82 design teams.

A large veranda showcasing the lush tropical landscape of Barra da Tijuca, combining an atmosphere of conviviality with nature — in the spirit of Rio — defines the character of the winning project in the competition to choose the design for the Rio 2016™ Olympic Games golf course’s club house, announced on Monday at the Brazilian Institute of Architects, Rio de Janeiro department (IAB-RJ).

The event was attended by the President of the Rio 2016™ Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Rio 2016™), Carlos Arthur Nuzman; the committee’s chief executive, Leonardo Gryner; the President of IAB-RJ, Sergio Magalhães; the competition’s coordinator, Claudio Taulois; and the President of the jury, Fernando Alencar.
Pedro Évora and Pedro Rivera, of Rio de Janeiro, are the author and co-author respectively of the winning project.

Gil Hanse will be designing the Olympic course.

Update on 2012-10-05 20:30 by Geoff

**Thanks to reader Don for more images from the architect's website. Certainly looks like an ambitious plan, especially since it appears to overtake the putting green!

Final & Vital 2012 Ryder Cup Question: How Do We Use This Epic Ryder Cup To Get The Dreadful Olympic Format Fixed?

Lorne Rubenstein said "the golf world itself came alive during the Ryder Cup. There’s nothing in golf like a Ryder Cup. Nothing."

Mark Lamport Stokes notes that the Ryder Cup "has never been more vibrant or in better health." And quotes Rory McIlory saying, "This is the most special and unique golf tournament we have, period."

In case anyone did not know it, last week reminded us that match play with a team and nationality component supersedes stroke play. Looking ahead to the 2016 Rio Olympics, longtime readers here know that golf returns with two 72-hole individual stroke play events. One for men, one for women.

And longtime readers know that from day one, I've viewed this as a highly unfortunate decision by the International Golf Federation that looked to players for input. Players who are good at playing golf, not so good in the vision department.

We also know there are also other issues that stuck us with a format that will not excite "the base" nor will it do much to bring in new fans of our great sport. In no particular order:

- There is the IOC's concern about beds in the Olympic Village, which resulted in just 60 players making the Olympic fields. I'm guessing Luke and Diane Donald, for instance, will not be bunking up in a glorified dorm room with the family come 2016.

- There is the dreadful scheduling mess that 2016 brings with the four championships, the ResetCup and the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National, making anything over four days of competition a concern to the IGF. (It would have been an ideal year for the PGA to be played in the spring, but the PGA of America locked into Baltusrol for PGA anniversary reasons well before Rio was even selected.)

- A field of 60 instead of 64 makes a match play bracket that much more difficult. A small field with limits on the number of players from each country also limits the number of two-player team possibilities.

- There is the time-honored and depressing excuse that match play could leave television with an undesirable final. And that may be true, but as we've seen with the WGC Match Play, television also gets far more compelling action each day of the event instead of only on the final day as you get in stroke play.

- And of course, the relentless, withering, exhausting but consistent resistance to outside-the-box thinking or imagination coming from within the golf establishment's leaders who make up the IGF.

Olympic golf will not move any needle with its current 72-hole stroke play format and the Ryder Cup only reminded us of this. Even before the Medinah Miracle, Nick Faldo reiterated the need to re-think things last week, proposing that a reboot be considered and even mentioned the possibility of a mixed doubles element like Olympic tennis.

This year's Ryder Cup proved that match play, and preferably one with a team element, is more exciting and emotional than any sudden death playoff for the bronze medal will ever be.

So how, intelligent readers, do we begin the process of asking the IGF and the IOC to revisit this dead-on-arrival format so that golf can put its best foot forward in 2016?