Gil Hanse designing 2016 Olympic golf course in Rio

[xxsoultonesxx]

Looks like they opted for the deepest resume. Just caught the press conference on GC. Seems like they selected a good group for the job.

Gil mentioned courses such as The Old Course, Augusta, and Royal Melbourne as influences. And alluded to a series of "half par" holes for a finishing stretch.

I am officially excited about the idea of Golf coming back to the Olympics.

[Beachcomber]

Will the Olympics be match or stroke play?  Or both?  Does anyone have any details on the format and how they are selecting who represents what country?  I remember hearing John Maginnes talk about how professionals will be able to enter, but can't recall the way the selection is being made.

[xxsoultonesxx]

Quoting from About.com:

http://golf.about.com/od/tourmajorevents/f/olympicformatfield.htm

The format proposed by the IGF is this (quoting the IGF's language):

"A 72-hole individual stroke play for both men and women, mirroring the format used in golf's major championships. In case of a tie for either first, second or third place, a three-hole playoff is recommended to determine the medal winner(s)."

Now, here is how the IGF proposes selecting the field for such an Olympic golf tournament:

"A field of 60 players for each of the men's and women's competitions, utilizing the Official World Golf Rankings as a method of determining eligibility. The top 15 world-ranked players would be eligible, regardless of the number of players from a given country. Beyond the top 15, players would be eligible based on world ranking, with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top 15."

[johnclayton1982]

Thats too bad.  It would be pretty cool if it was like some other sports, with the top X American finishers in the US Open making the US Team, etc....

This is a very strange thing for an olympic event and I'm not sure I like it.  Usually, the number of competitors isn't capped really - they just have a max per country.  It won't seem like the olympics if you have 11 americans in it.  It will *feel* closer to the John Deere classic than the olympics IMO.  Much better would be max 2, maybe 3, from each country, determined by placing of that country'ls players in their national open (like figure skating).

We don't send five seperate men's basketball teams because we could field the 5 of the 15 best "Teams" in the world, because that would be silly and not feel like the olympics.  I fear this will have the same feel.

Think about what it would add to the British Open to have Leonard, Westwood, Donald and Rock battling it out down the stretch to see who would make the Olympic team.  Pretty cool.

[xxsoultonesxx]

Originally Posted by johnclayton1982

Thats too bad.  It would be pretty cool if it was like some other sports, with the top X American finishers in the US Open making the US Team, etc....

This is a very strange thing for an olympic event and I'm not sure I like it.  Usually, the number of competitors isn't capped really - they just have a max per country.  It won't seem like the olympics if you have 11 americans in it.  It will *feel* closer to the John Deere classic than the olympics IMO.  Much better would be max 2, maybe 3, from each country, determined by placing of that country'ls players in their national open (like figure skating).

We don't send five seperate men's basketball teams because we could field the 5 of the 15 best "Teams" in the world, because that would be silly and not feel like the olympics.  I fear this will have the same feel.

Think about what it would add to the British Open to have Leonard, Westwood, Donald and Rock battling it out down the stretch to see who would make the Olympic team.  Pretty cool.

Check out the link I posted above. I'm not sure what I quoted fully explains how it works. The thing that I found to be a little screwy, was that between Britain/Northern Ireland, they only get one team of 2. The way they are selecting players will bring in players from every country, which, no doubt will bring in players that basically have no chance of winning. It will be like a major, in the way they will have the top players in the world, but once you look at the total field of 60, add in the top ranked pros, and all the ams/low ranked pros, who will fill in the blanks in the countries who lack ranking professionals, you will have a very diverse field.

I can almost certainly guarantee one of the top 15-20 will take gold. There won't be much depth to the back of the field.

Curious how this will fit in with the rest of the standard golf schedules, and how it will go as far as TV viewing.

[mvmac]

Here's an Article on some background info on Hanse and how he was the right choice

Quote:

According to Hanse, the course may look like something from Australia's famed Sand Belt area and he doesn't intend to plant a lot of trees. There are some mangrove trees on the site already, which run along the edge of a lagoon.

"I don't want to sound pretentious in any way, shape or form," Hanse said. "All we are doing is providing a stage for these players to display their talent. We don't fixate on a score. If the golf course identities a top-notch player as champion, that's all you can ask for. I'm hopeful that the course is part of the story. Will it be the entire story? No. When the medals are handed out, hopefully we're talking about who won as opposed to the course."

[soloredd]

I've been throwing the idea around to my wife about trying to go to Rio to watch the golf. Will it be neigh impossible for tickets? Never been to an Olympic Games before.