Golf: Is Anyone Going To Show Up?

[Kromm]

Yet another golfer drops out.

Another article of the many.

[Ohwell]

Maybe Charles Barkley?

[Mittengirl]

Did the golfers, the actual players, want golf in the Olympics or was it whatever international governing body oversees golf that pushed for it?  Because while the women seem interested, most of the men do not.  And I don't think it is just about Zika or Rio.  I think there would have been many "No Thanks" from the top men no matter where the Games were being held.

[SnideAsides]

I'd imagine it's a bit of the same issue we seem to get with tennis every four years - because it's doing just fine on its own without the Olympics, the games are really an afterthought in their schedules and the big stars don't particularly care whether they turn up or not. Add in the handy excuse of Zika, and being a new addition to the games (ie, without the players having been brought up with the "represent your country!" mindset you'd get out of, say, swimmers), and it's fairly easy to see why so many aren't bothering. I think it'll have serious issues surviving in the Olympics if nobody goes to Tokyo though.

[Quilt Fairy]

Is there anyone coming from a major golfing country that isn't a professional? And it's not hard to find amateur golfers because they have to declare one way or the other.

On ‎7‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 8:05 PM, SnideAsides said:

because it's doing just fine on its own without the Olympics, the games are really an afterthought in their schedules and the big stars don't particularly care whether they turn up or not

Yeah, there's no "I dreamed of competing in the Olympics since I was 6" kind of thing going on with golf. It has it's own prizes and traditions that are much more important to them.

I give them a bit of a pass on Zika because golf is played outside in a grassy/wooded venue. It's quite different from track and field in an arena or gymnastics inside a big warehouse of a building.

Edited July 18, 2016 by Quilt Fairy

[SnideAsides]

"Oh, good. Something to stop the interminable there's-nothing-else-on weightlifting filler." - Nobody, ever.

[MyAimIsTrue]

The only good I can think of about golf being an Olympic sport (and I chuckled while typing those words) is perhaps it'll be great fodder for another epic Mary Carillo piece a la her badminton rant in 2004.  I can only hope.

[Ohwell]

There's already a golf thread.

Edited July 25, 2016 by Ohwell

[briochetwist]

Have been suffering through golf for an hour now. Not one capybara dammit!!!

[Spunkygal]

I was so happy for the way Matt Kuchar played yesterday and finished with the bronze. If I remember correctly, he was a substitute when Spieth bowed out. You could tell it meant so much for Matt to be there. One of the broadcasters said he hadn't seen a mosquito all week. Don't know that I believe that, but it was a subtle dig at Spieth, McIlroy, etc. Of course if golf is an event in Tokyo, all the big names will be fighting for a spot on the team. 

[galaxygirl76]

I liked seeing golf and the Dutch golfer thought it would be a good idea for the next Olympics to introduce country play as well to increase the 'playing for your country' feel.

[Superpole2000]

Yes, the format was a miss for me. Individual golf has its big prizes already. Leave that alone and focus instead on a more creative team-centric format. The Ryder Cup works well, and some of its principles could be used for a tournament. Maybe they could mix the men and women together.

The situation they need to avoid is to have 80% of the field playing for nothing the final day (this year it was about 90%). If they're not near the top 3 they might as well go home, and no golfer wants to be a part of that meaningless situation.

Oh, and the course was visually uninteresting. That never helps. Next time they need to pick an existing course and resist converting a nature reserve into real estate development under the guise of building a new course for the Olympics.