Rio A Year Later: Golf Is In Better Place And The Course Is Alive!

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Exactly a year ago the Rio Olympic course opened to the first practice rounds while many of us were getting our first introduction to new smells and brutal takes on coffee. Golf's place in the Games was still very much in doubt and predictions suggested the entire thing was dead on arrival.

The Rose's, Stenson's, Fowler's, Watson's, Kuchar's, Reed's and others of the game showed up and had the times of their lives, followed by the Park's, Ko's, Juntanagarn's, Thompson's and Lewis's of the women's game putting on a similar great show one week later. The course was a huge success and to this day, is believed to be shuttered because some do not know what rustic golf looks like.

The course is very much still alive, despite the latest bizarre Tweet from the courses greatest hater (AP's Stephen Wade) that received pushback from the Mayor. On Instagram you can follow the latest from the course, including wildlife sightings and, less thrilling, images of the new cart fleet.

A year later golf is locked in through the 2024 Games and will be headed to established venues in Tokyo and Paris. However, should golf make it to the LA Games in 2028, it will be contested at private clubs for all three. The impact of such venues is bound to impact atmosphere and venue enthusiasm. But ultimately all of that will be ignored if the format is built around a great competition and the Olympic spirit instead of the schedules of players and tours. The IOC has signaled it wants bold and fresh formats, as evidenced by 3-on-3 basketball. Now it's golf's turn to pitch similar updates to classic formats in hopes of exciting a younger generation while giving us all reason to support Olympic golf.

 

 

We discussed today on Morning Drive...

Olympic Golf Is Coming To The USA In 2028, Maybe?

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LA2024 reached an agreement with the International Olympic Committee to host the 2028 Olympic Games. Paris will host in 2024.

The bid committee's designated venue is Riviera Country Club, though golf is not guaranteed a spot in 2028 as of now. Last month, the IOC unexpectedly gave the sport its blessing through 2024.

The format going forward also remains unsettled and probably key to the sport's survival in Games that are rapidly moving toward shorter, tighter, edgier formats.

Furthermore, taking the Games to an ultra-private club with a mid-six-digit membership entry fee (if not more by 2028) will not be the best look for the game.

The 2028 message...

 

The Rio Effect: More Elite Golfers From More Countries

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Bill Fields, reporting for ESPNW on the Olympic effect on women's golf notes both anecdotal and numerical evdence of note.

Reporting from the KPMG Women's PGA, Fields writes:

"Golf was a massive success in Rio, and we're continuing to support having golf on the platform because it is a global sport," said board member Angela Ruggiero, a four-time United States women's hockey Olympian who spoke Wednesday during the Women's Leadership Summit at the KPMG. "It has equal men and women in terms of [competitors]. So I think the IOC felt this is a no-brainer."

Ko called the news an "amazing step forward," given her positive experience in Brazil.

"It was just great to be in that vibe of being alongside some of the other best athletes in the world, not just in golf," Ko said. "You never really get to meet all these people in sailing or shot put. It the biggest range of sports."

Whan said he believes that the number of elite golfers from an increasing number of nations -- 45 countries were represented at 2016 LPGA Q School, compared to 26 in 2015 -- is rooted in part to the October 2009 announcement that golf was going to be played in the Olympics, which caused many countries to invest in the sport.

For all that we lament in the format, it's hard not to appreciate that kind of growth in golf diversity after just on Olympic Games appearance. Continuing the trend will require better star participation and a better format in 2020.

IOC Executive Board Approves Golf For 2024 Games

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The IOC Executive Board charted the course for future Olympic Games by returning all sports played in Rio through 2024, which means golf gets extended beyond the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

From an Olympic.org report:

In another decision regarding the Olympic programme, the Executive Board approved the overall composition of the sports programme for the Olympic Games 2024 to include all 28 sports on the programme of the Olympic Games Rio 2016.

As for which city hosts in 2024, the IOC also officially committed to awarding the Games for 2024 and 2028 to the two remaining cities bidding on '24.

The race is between Paris and Los Angeles, with Paris the frontrunner for 2024. Le Golf National will host in France while Riviera Country Club is scheduled to host the golf in Los Angeles.

PGA Tour China In Limbo, Golf's China Hopes Dimming

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Thanks to reader John for Wayne Ma's WSJ story on the latest blow to golf's China hopes.

PGA Tour China has struggled with the business practices of its China operations partner and has also been unable to get Chinese tournaments approved for its upcoming season, due to begin in May.

The game was banned by Mao Zedong as a bourgeois pastime, and more recently nearly 200 golf courses have been closed amid President Xi Jinping’s campaign against corruption by government officials and ostentatious displays of wealth.

The PGA Tour came to China with high hopes, seeking to expand the game’s popularity and perhaps find a breakout star who could do for golf what Yao Ming did for basketball.

And there was this from Shanghai University professor Liu Dongfeng on China's Olympic aspirations likely not including golf.

Seeing the potential for economic returns, China is now moving to make sports more of a commercial enterprise, he said, phasing out the old system where a government office is paired with a quasi-government association.

Liu said soccer was the first sport to abolish its government office in 2015 and basketball appears to be next, with Yao this year becoming the first head of the China Basketball Association not drawn from government ranks.

“In terms of priority, golf is absolutely not on the agenda,” Liu said. “The prospect for golf is not very bright, unfortunately.”

Kasumigaseki Has Deadline To Take Women Members

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Reading this unbylined AP story on the IOC setting a June deadline for the 2020 Olympic golf venue to change its membership policies, it feels like no matter what they do, the club will have a tough time overcoming the perception that they were forced into this change.

Quoting IOC Vice President John Coates...

"It's possible to go elsewhere but I think this is going to work," Coates said. "It's heading in the right direction for them to have a nondiscriminatory membership procedure. It would appear that we would have this result by the end of June."

The Real Rio Story Or Protest And Killings: Neil Cleverly Speaks

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If you've been on social media you've probably seen Neil Cleverly's account of the "real" Rio he experienced as superintendent of the Olympic Golf Course.

Coupled with Stephen Wade's update on all of the Olympic venues in dilapidated shape, and it's amazing the course ever got built.

Regarding the protests outside the course, Cleverly says...

The protests started as a few and built up. The rumour was that a local politician didn’t like the developer so he was paying people – 100 real a day, which is about £25, to sit outside and throw abuse. That way you get people turning up, the most they could otherwise expect was £250 a month.

The sustainability ones were the most fanatical, they were saying we were killing animals, plants and removing indigenous plants and we weren’t doing any of that. The amount of times we invited them to see what we were doing– they never came in so we knew they were just there to cause trouble, they didn’t give a shit about the environment.

Rio Olympic Golf Course Off Of Life Support For Now

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Given the shocking state of venues where just months ago the Olympics took place, it was great to read from Peter Dawson (via Rex Hoggard's GolfChannel.com story) that the Rio Olympic golf course has some new funding. Employees are getting paid again and maintenance is ongoing.

“Things are looking a little better, there’s a group of people who have come together that have a relationship with the land owner there, and they’ve re-engaged enough of the greens staff to keep the maintenance going,” said Peter Dawson, the former chief executive of the R&A and current

Hopefully this gets the course back into consideration for international amateur or professional events. Things look less promising for the swimming venue:

 

IOC Expresses Concern Over 2020 Olympic Golf Venue

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The Guardian's Justin McCurry reports that while the IOC has "reportedly expressed concern" and has contacted the International Golf Federation over Kasumigaseki's male-only and no-Sunday play membership policy.

The club's GM told McCurry that they are prepared to review their policies if asked by the IOC. However, a non-profit launched last year to "modernize" the game in Japan is calling for the event to move.

The Japan Golf Council, a non-profit organisation launched last year with the aim of modernising the game, is lobbying to have the tournament moved from Kasumigaseki to Wakasu Golf Links, a public course near Tokyo Bay. Wakasu was initially proposed as the 2020 golf venue, but was replaced by Kasumigaseki in early 2013, several months before Tokyo was chosen to host the Games.

The council’s vice chair, Yutaka Morohoshi, said staging the golf competition at Kasumigaseki made no sense given its distance from Tokyo, and the availability of an alternative course that could be used by members of the public after the Olympics had ended.

“The Olympics is all about legacy, but we won’t have that if the golf tournament is played at a private club,” Morohoshi told the Guardian. “The ban on women at Kasumigaseki is certainly a problem. It runs contrary to what the IOC stands for in spirit.”

Established in 1990, Wakasu was designed by Ayako Okamoto and is 6881 yards with a tiny 20-stall, 200-yard deep driving range. Judging by the aerial, it's a fantastic location severely landlocked and design deficient to handle the competition.