Hazeltine National Golf Club: Golf Considered for 2016 Olympics

by Alyzee | August 13, 2009 at 10:12 am

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The International Olympic Committee have recommended golf for inclusion in the 2016 Olympics. The committee will meet for its final vote in Copenhagen in October. The last time golf featured as a sport in the Olympics was in 1904 at the St Louis games, after which it was excluded in 1908 and has not been part of the games since. The Professional Golfers`Association (PGA) is proud and elated by IOC recognition and support.

"I've said there is no singular decision or singular program that can globalize the game of golf like a nod from the IOC to join the Olympic Games," PGA of America CEO Joe Steranka said

Tiger Woods has been invaluable in publicizing golf worldwide, and helped to vie for golf's re-inclusion in the 2016 Olympics. He was also joined by other players in his effort, such as Lorena Ochoa, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Annika Sorenstam, according to the Miami Herald. Woods also announced that he would play if his and other players` efforts were successful.

"Golf is a truly global sport, and I think it should have been in the Olympics a while ago," Tiger Woods said at Hazeltine National Golf Club. "If it does get in, I think it would be great for golf and especially some of the other smaller countries that are now emerging in golf."

Should golf be added to the Olympics, there would be 72-hole stroke-play tournaments for both men and women, with 60 players in each field, the Washington Post reports. Prominent gold players are no doubt excited at the prospect of becoming Olympic athletes.

Under the current plan, the top 15 players in the world would be automatically eligible.

"I'd love to be an Olympian," said Irishman Padraig Harrington. "Doesn't that sound good? Imagine us being Olympic athletes."