Golf doesn’t need to be in Olympics

Published 12:38 pm Friday, April 22, 2016

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Call me as red blooded as the next American, but maybe I just don’t get as properly misty eyed as one should over the Olympics.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But I’m pretty sure golf shouldn’t be in it — and I love me some golf as much as anybody who ever struggled with the blasted game.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But it’s hard to understand the hoopla that attempts to turn a fine fellow like Adam Scott into a bona fide traitor in his native Australia or the finger-wagging at Louis Oosthuizen from his compatriots in South Africa.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Both golfers have respectfully declined any opportunity to “represent their country” in the upcoming Summer Olympics in Rio.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Both surely would qualify, even under the convoluted rules in play.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Scott, for instance, had the gall to say Rio didn’t really fit into his busy schedule.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">They’ve been roundly criticized, especially by American golfers, who say nothing would make them prouder than teeing it up under the red, white and blue banner. Except, perhaps, maybe winning The Masters or the U.S. Open (or even the Fed Ex Cup).</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">That’s just more proof that golf doesn’t belong in the Olympics.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Maybe you missed it.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But golf is indeed making its return to this year’s Summer Olympic Games in Rio.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Sort of.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The historians will tell you that golf was not a part of the Olympics modern revival in 1896 in Athens, probably because there wasn’t a single golf course in Greece at the time.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">It allegedly was first contested in Paris (France, not Texas) in the 1900 Games and again when the Olympic rings went to St. Louis for the 1904 affair.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But the sport’s “return” may be stretching the term a bit.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">In “Golf and the Olympic Games,” as reported by Bill Mallon, 12 gentlemen (that’s what they called golfers in the pre-John Daly era) gathered somewhere north of Paris sometime in 1900 and scratched out 36 holes of golf.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">They had no idea at the time, according to Mallon’s research, that what they were doing had anything to do with the nearby ongoing Olympics.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">There was also a World’s Fair going on in the area at the time, and perhaps they were under the impression they were playing for stuffed animals and plastic pirate swords.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But apparently they ended up with medals for their toil.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Four years later, in St. Louis, it was more clearly spelled out as an Olympic sport and not part of that city’s own World’s Fair (apparently back then the Olympics used to trail World’s Fairs like carnies).</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But there were 77 golf combatants — 74 Americans and three Canadians, not exactly a worldwide cross section — and the fool thing was won by a 10-handicapper.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">At the time, golf was probably a perfect fit for the Olympics, still something of a niche sport.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But the next Games, in 1908, happened to be in London, probably the epicenter of the sport at the time, and yet golf was canceled.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Canceled, as it were, for lack of entries.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">And that was that. The Olympics got along just fine without golf for lo these many years, and golf grew to be the world’s most frustrating participant sport without the Olympics.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">So leave well enough alone.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Golf does not belong in the Olympics. It’s certainly not the only sport that’s an odd fit, only the latest.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The criteria for an Olympic sport should be pretty simple. If the Olympics is not the ultimate achievement of a sport, it gets tossed at the gate.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">That leaves your track and most of your field, certainly gymnastics, along with all those oddball competitions you only hear about every four years.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">And, of course, we all love scratching that curling itch once every four years for the Winter Games.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Sorry, the Olympics will never be that for golf.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">For one thing, it would have to stand in line behind the Players Championship to gain entry as a “Fifth Major” with The Masters, the U.S. Open, The (British) Open and the PGA.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">And, if you’re into flag waving, there’s always the Ryder Cup and President’s Cup.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The Olympic organizers aren’t helping much.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">After much thought and discussion, they didn’t exactly think outside the box.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">If you’re thinking about moving to Ghana or someplace and getting a Jamaican bobsled spot in the Olympics, think again.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The field will be limited to 60 golfers, worldwide, based on world rankings, with no more than four from any one country. If you’re beyond No. 16 in the world rankings, you’d have to be one of the top two from your country.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Most projections have the USA as the only place that will get four, even without Tiger. They’ll keep passing over good golfers until they get to 60 with no more than two from the same place.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The best format they could come up with was a 72-hole stroke play event — which makes it another John Deere Classic, only with a much weaker field and no money.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">It doesn’t really seem worth the bother.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Maybe they should check with Putt-Putt. They might be interested.</span>

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