The Common Golfer

Earlier today, in Berlin, Germany the International Olympic Committee executive board recommended that golf be added as an Olympic sport in 2016.  In October, the full IOC will take the recommendation and vote to make it final.  By the time the games start, golf will have gone 112 years without being in the Olympics.  Also in October, the 2016 host city will be named – finalists are Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, and Tokyo.

The proposed format is four rounds of stroke play, although that could change. There would be a 60-player men’s field and a 60-player women’s field; teams would feature the top two eligible players from each country. That also could change.  That leaves me seven years to get my game in gear!

Golf’s biggest names are all joining in a global effort to make golf an Olympic sport for the first time in 105 years.  On Thursday, August 13, the executive board of International Olympic Committee will vote on which two sports they will recommend be added to the Olympics as soon as 2016.  The full committee will then later vote to make the recommendations final.  Seven sports are being considered for two available spots, the other sports being rugby, softball, baseball, karate, roller sports, and squash.

A 4 1/2 minute video was sent to the IOC last month, presenting why golf should be an Olympic Sport.  The video featured Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Anthony Kim, and Paula Creamer spoke on the video on behalf of American golf.  In addition, to present a “global front” for what is a global game, some of golf’s biggest international stars also spoke, including Annika Sorenstam, Ernie Els, Camilo Villegas, Lorena Ochoa, Karrie Webb, Sergio Garcia, Mike Weir, and K.J. Choi.

First off, I’m not even sure what the hell “roller sports” are, but I’d be shocked if they were voted in.  The same can be said for squash, rugby, and karate.  However, given that softball and baseball have recently been in the Olympics, it seems that three sports are vying for two spots.  It’s odd, though, that softball and baseball are considered separate sports, when softball is basically women’s baseball.  Golf, on the other hand is one sport.  It will be very disappointing if golf doesn’t make it, and it seems the IOC could satisfy more people if they grouped baseball and softball as one.  Regardless of if golf returns to the Olympic rotation or not, it’s definitely absurd that it’s been out of the rotation for so long when you look at other summer Olympic sports (like table tennis, and beach volleyball to name a few).