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Golf Returns To The Olympics In August

Golf returns to the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil in August after a 112-year hiatus. Golf has been played in the Olympic Games twice previously, in 1900 in Paris and in 1904 in St. Louis.

This year, a maximum of 60 men and 60 women will compete as individuals, representing their respective countries, over four 18-hole rounds of stroke play. The players with the three lowest scores after 72 holes, separately for men and women, will receive gold, silver and bronze medals for first, second and third places, respectively. Any ties amongst the low three scores in each event will be resolved through a three-hole playoff.

Up to four men and four women from each country can qualify to play, if all four are among the top 15 ranked players in the Olympic Golf rankings as of July 11, 2016. If there are less than two players from a given country in the top 15, up to two players from that country may participate, up to the maximum total of 60 men and 60 women for each event. Brazil, as the host country, is guaranteed one player in each event and each of the five major geographical regions of the Olympic Movement (Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceana) are also guaranteed at least one player in each event.

The events will be played on a brand new golf course built specifically for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games at Reserva de Marapendi in Barra da Tijuca near Rio. The par 71 golf course was designed by Hanse Golf Course Design. The course will play 6,522 meters (7,133 yards) for the men and 5,944 meters (6,500 yards) for the women. Due to the quality of the irrigation water in the area of the course, salt tolerant grasses have been used on the tee boxes, fairways and greens and other environmentally sensitive features have been included.

The men’s event is scheduled to take place from August 11 – 14, while the women’s event will take place from August 17 – 20. In the U.S., television coverage will primarily be on The Golf Channel, which will provide over 120 hours of live Olympic golf coverage and over 300 hours of total Olympic golf programming.

An event visitor/media guide covering the golf venue and area information is available as PDF download.

If you plan to travel to Rio for the Games, we wish you safe travel and hope that you have a great time!

We wish the men and women of Team USA good luck and look forward to the return of golf in the Olympics!