Was golf an olympic event once?

**Stacey_E** · August 11, 2008

I could Google this, but I'd rather ask you guys.

I remember having a Sports Illustrated subscription in 1984. There was an Olympic issue that gave a run down of all the events and who the USA athletes were. I poured over this issue, since I was a sports fan in general. It was the Carl Lewis, Willie Gault 4x100 year. Mary Lou Retton too I think. Anyway.....

So, wasn't golf an Olympic sport once or am I just imagining this. Maybe it was just an "exhibition" sport? You guys will know.

**nico002** · August 11, 2008

Yes it was.

**GaijinGolfer** · August 11, 2008

http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/2...ina_dobereiner

**Chilli Dipper** · August 11, 2008

Golf, indeed, was an Olympic sport during the 1900 games in Paris and the 1904 games in St. Louis. During the latter games, Chandler Egan, who would go on to become a prominent golf course architect during the 1920s and 30s, won the silver medal in the individual event and the gold medal as a member of the Western Golf Association's entry in the team event.

Fon Duc Tow · August 11, 2008

that a sport must be played in 40 countries and have an international governing body.

Is this not true of Golf now?

After reading the article I still don't understand why Golf is not an Olympic sport.

**michaeljames92** · August 11, 2008

Well i don't believe sports such as handball, hockey, soccer or golf should be an olympic sport. I think just the aquatics, athletics and sports such as cycling should be events

**DJYoshi** · August 11, 2008

Well i don't believe sports such as handball, hockey, soccer or golf should be an olympic sport. I think just the aquatics, athletics and sports such as cycling should be events

soccer? hockey? then they should take out other things like:

snowboarding, beach volleyball, curling (i don't believe that one should be a sport in the games), and all the relatively new games. The other sports are the mainstay of the olympics, but as they said: the prestige of being an olympic athlete is declining. kids don't wanna grow up to become gymnasts anymore. they wanna grow up to be ball players, etc. so let them do what they like and then incorporate that into the games...b/c millions watch it and its an audience that they wouldn't have had. as for golf..i think it'd be cool to send 2 am's from each country into it. that'd be pretty cool i think.

**Chilli Dipper** · August 11, 2008

The IOC has shown a tendency to include "niche" sports in recent years because including them in the Olympic curriculum greatly improves their profile to the general public. While the likes of badminton and table tennis are not known as popular elite sports outside of east Asia, golf is undoubtedly in the global mainstream. When a sport is in the global mainstream, being an Olympic event doesn't do much to enhance its image. Golf certainly qualifies to be taken into consideration for inclusion into Olympics, but the only way it would work is if all of the world's elite players guaranteed to attend. The lack of top-level competition, not so much the steroid issue, is what has doomed baseball at the Olympics. While the basketball tournament attracts the top professionals in the game, baseball competes with amateurs and minor leaguers. Golf would not survive in the Olympics as a second-tier event.

**tbjohnston** · August 11, 2008

Absolutely.

Men's results from 1904:
The Western Golf Association is the current holder of the team event, the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association holds the silver and the USGA the bronze. For ndividuals, and the late Chandler Egan (also of the WGA) is the current holder of the individual gold medal. Doug Cadwalader (WGA) and Daniel Sawyer (USGA) tied for the silver.

Women's results from 1900:
Margaret Ives Abbott took gold, Pauline Whitter took silver, Daria Pratt took bronze.

**glebert** · August 11, 2008

It would be an Olympic sport but they are afraid they would then have to allow bowling in as well.

**pjsnyc** · August 13, 2008

...Golf certainly qualifies to be taken into consideration for inclusion into Olympics, but the only way it would work is if all of the world's elite players guaranteed to attend. The lack of top-level competition, not so much the steroid issue, is what has doomed baseball at the Olympics. While the basketball tournament attracts the top professionals in the game, baseball competes with amateurs and minor leaguers. Golf would not survive in the Olympics as a second-tier event.

It all comes down to whats important to the particular athlete in question -

money or a gold medal for your country (though some Olympians have gotten some pretty lucrative sponsorships from it).

**DJYoshi** · August 13, 2008

MANY have made lucrative deals off of it. look at bruce jenner. most turn their careers to broadcasting after they're done. you don't see nadia looking like a slob. jenny k has a skating rink in frisco, does tours and clinics. mary lou is a staple on broadcasting for gymnastics... and well the greatest olympian of all time mike phelps is a superstar and signed million dollar deals after athens.
most ppl will play their sport overseas... like men's volleyball.. most play in baltic or the european leagues.
and if all else fails after....they can always turn to porn like tanya harding

**ganjagolfer** · August 13, 2008

i don't think any golfers of interest would show up to play and hence not much interest. pga players moan and gripe so much about having to play in the rhyder cup and not get paid and so they would not show up for the olympics.

**Wazzu8** · August 14, 2008

Okay there is the Ryder Cup, then there is the Olympics. Who wouldn't want to be playing golf for an Olympic Gold?

**Stacey_E** · August 14, 2008

Okay there is the Ryder Cup, then there is the Olympics. Who wouldn't want to be playing golf for an Olympic Gold?

I agree. I'm finding few people I know (your friends may be different) are interested in the Olympics. But honestly it combines the two things I love the most, sports and America (insert your own country here). Can you imagine a finals match play for Gold vs. Silver and a consolation match for Bronze? That's a consolation match I would actually watch!

**JessN16** · August 14, 2008

It would be an Olympic sport but they are afraid they would then have to allow bowling in as well.

And bowling should be included. It and golf are the two most glaring omissions from the list of sports.

If the Olympics are truly a test of what great sports are supposed to be, they cannot leave out golf and bowling, yet expect me to tune in for synchronized diving. That's a total farce. How many people worldwide compete in synchronized diving? What crowds show up to watch such a thing? Where are the synchronized diving leagues? By and large, they don't exist, nor does roughly half of what is included in the games currently. The Olympics seem to be concerned more and more with what is "artistic." If a sport is popular in the Americas, but not necessarily elsewhere, it is handicapped (see the fight over whether baseball is included, regardless of its popularity outside the USA). Both bowling and golf have been around for more than at least one century, and are played across the world. As popular as bowling is in the U.S. (it's the No. 1 participatory sport in this country, outflanking even golf and running), it enjoys a great following in Australia, Japan, the Middle East, Europe and the Pacific Rim. In fact, one could argue -- particularly since it wouldn't take much effort to build a special place to house the contest -- that bowling has a bigger beef about the Olympics than does golf. But both should be included. Otherwise, the Olympics loses credibility as an arbiter of sport. I haven't made it a point to watch the Olympics now in 20 years. I'll only tune in if nothing else is on. Jess

**pjsnyc** · August 14, 2008

...The Olympics seem to be concerned more and more with what is "artistic." If a sport is popular in the Americas, but not necessarily elsewhere, it is handicapped (see the fight over whether baseball is included, regardless of its popularity outside the USA)...

If the Olympics were in fact concerned with being 'artistic' wouldn't golf be in there as we speak?

Also I don't think popular sports in the Americas not being in the Olympics is because its a popular sport in the Americas...baseball never really took off in the Olympics because the best of the best just were not allowed to play (mainly their contracts with MLB teams). I'm surprised they were even allowed to play in the World Baseball Classic! Big Stein almost got an ulcer allowing his beloved Yankees play in the WBC. Get him a calzone!

**JessN16** · August 15, 2008

If the Olympics were in fact concerned with being 'artistic' wouldn't golf be in there as we speak?

Let me clarify: If the IOC feels Americans will dominate, they are slow to let the sport in (at least in the summer games; the X-Games-like stuff in the winter games plays right into U.S. hands, although the U.S. isn't viewed historically as the top winter threat anyway).

More so bowling than golf, but who would you say would be the favored nations in those two sports? In golf, it would be primarily the U.S., the England/Ireland/etc. and South Africa. Sure, there would be others, but I'm talking about the bulk of the field. In bowling, it's even more pronounced. The U.S. and Australia would be my first two picks, and even then, it would be a heavy advantage to the U.S. When the U.S. bowlers bowl the Japan Cup, they typically mop up, to the point that the Japan Cup changed its format recently to ensure the brackets were set up so the TV finals wouldn't be all-USA. As for golf and "artistic," golf is indeed "artistic" when it is compared to tennis, bowling, football, etc. But not when compared to ice dancing, gymnastics or synchronized anything. Jess

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Was golf an olympic event once?

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