Golf should be kicked out of Olympics

[Lihu]

8 minutes ago, newtogolf said:

I'd prefer to see amateurs compete in Olympic Golf with a gold medal and pro card to the appropriate tour for the winner.  

I was going to say this exact same thing.

It seems like it was intended to be an amateur sport designed to allow young and up coming athletes to shine without any monetary incentive. There are plenty of kids who could use the boost. Perhaps, these athletes could be considered at a level below web.com or something? They could possibly be the best of the D1 schools and the equivalent in other countries.

[Grndslmhttr3]

1 hour ago, Lihu said:

Rio in the summer is kind of like winter in northern Mexico?

I think that's a pretty good comparison, not that their winters are particularly cold.

[Shindig]

1 hour ago, Grndslmhttr3 said:

I'd give golf another shot at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, where players won't be traveling to hell on earth to compete for a gold medal.

Yeah.  There are lots of things going on with the 2016 Olympics that shouldn't be indicative of whether or not anything in particular is a good idea.  I don't think players are avoiding it because it's the Olympics or not important.

Also, can we get a format more interesting than 72 holes medal play for the Olympics?

Lastly, and unrelated to golf but related to the Olympics, can professional wrestling finally be added to the Olympics to replace the amateur wrestling they removed?

[chilepepper]

4 hours ago, rkim291968 said:Gold should be out of the Olympics?   List your reasons as to why, or why not.

For me, golf just does not have the numbers to be in the Olympics.   Top stars avoiding the event also speaks volumes.  That is, I am all for getting the golf out of the Olympics which already has too many events.  

I don't care but.......golf is a lot more mainstream of a sport than say rhythmic gymnastics, sync diving, sync swimming to name a few. They DO have what I consider some goofy a**ed sports represented there. 

 Don't get me started on the professional athlete aspect of the olympics. That's an absolute abomination that we can thank the one time Eastern block  countries for starting in the 60's

Edited June 30, 2016 by chilepepper

[Aguirre]

I voted "don't care" because having the event does no harm. But it's probably not going to be a major priority for top players because the Olympics are not the center of the sport. The Majors are. The same applies to tennis, BTW. While the Olympics are more important in tennis than golf nobody is trading their Wimbledon title for a gold medal.

And it applies to other sports, too. The Copa America and Euro are both bigger tournaments than Olympic soccer. Nobody is trading their NBA championship for a gold medal, etc.

1 hour ago, chilepepper said:

I don't care but.......golf is a lot more mainstream of a sport than say rhythmic gymnastics, sync diving, sync swimming to name a few. They DO have what I consider some goofy a**ed sports represented there. 

 Don't get me started on the professional athlete aspect of the olympics. That's an absolute abomination that we can thank the one time Eastern block  countries for starting in the 60's

Well, they're called the Olympic Games, not the Olympic Sports.

2 hours ago, Shindig said:

 

Also, can we get a format more interesting than 72 holes medal play for the Olympics?

Lastly, and unrelated to golf but related to the Olympics, can professional wrestling finally be added to the Olympics to replace the amateur wrestling they removed?

Oh, they totally blew it with the format. I was hoping for a team and individual event. So many options, such a boring decision.

BTW, I'm pretty sure wrestling is in the 2016 Olympics. It was only temporarily eliminated in some sort of bizarre procedural move that only the IOC would think makes sense.

[Golfingdad]

8 minutes ago, Aguirre said:

BTW, I'm pretty sure wrestling is in the 2016 Olympics. It was only temporarily eliminated in some sort of bizarre procedural move that only the IOC would think makes sense.

You're right.  I just did a little googling, and it appears that it was never removed from 2016 Olympics, but it was removed from the 2020 Olympics back in February of 2013.  Only to be reinstated to the 2020 Olympics in September of the same year.

[CarlSpackler]

If Curling is OK for the Olympics, why not golf. I guarantee the golf has a larger following.

[saevel25]

10 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

If Curling is OK for the Olympics, why not golf. I guarantee the golf has a larger following.

Don't be dissing curling 

[Aguirre]

Are you guys aware of skeleton? It's the crazy winter olympic sport where guys go down the bobsled tracks headfirst on a sled. A few years ago, I heard that the estimated amount of people who actually do this to be ~200 in the entire world. That's the ultimate niche sport. 

[DrvFrShow]

Funny that the LPGA players are looking forward to playing. Lexi Thompson is looking forward to representing the USA! Lydia Ko is also stepping up to represent NZ. It hurts them financially more than it hurts the men when you figure that their tournaments don't pay as much to begin with.

[iacas]

1 minute ago, DrvFrShow said:

Funny that the LPGA players are looking forward to playing. Lexi Thompson is looking forward to representing the USA! Lydia Ko is also stepping up to represent NZ. It hurts them financially more than it hurts the men when you figure that their tournaments don't pay as much to begin with.

What's funny about it?

They have a lot more to gain by getting a little exposure. The men, not so much. The men have the WGC, two majors, the FedExCup, etc. too.

Like I said, comparing apples to oranges. Just like comparing the other sports to golf. Apples and oranges.

[Rainmaker]

4 hours ago, newtogolf said:

I'd prefer to see amateurs compete in Olympic Golf with a gold medal and pro card to the appropriate tour for the winner.  

 

4 hours ago, Lihu said:

I was going to say this exact same thing.

It seems like it was intended to be an amateur sport designed to allow young and up coming athletes to shine without any monetary incentive. There are plenty of kids who could use the boost. Perhaps, these athletes could be considered at a level below web.com or something? They could possibly be the best of the D1 schools and the equivalent in other countries.

Me, too - except there wouldn't even need to be a tour card - sponsor's exemption(s). 

If it were an amateur event, it would be really important to the players.  As it stands, it has kind of an exhibition feel to it. 

[natureboy]

6 hours ago, Groucho Valentine said:

 The Olympics has an opportunity to grow the women's game tremendously, though. So thats why i think it should remain. 

I wonder with a little drama / buzz from the women's side of the game over a few Olympiads if the men's tours will start to take it more seriously.

They have to open up space in the schedule for that to happen though. If they don't want to maybe just amateurs for the men.

[stealthhwk]

I say kick it out. Its not so much the game shouldnt be there as its the participants. Imho, an olympic athlete is someone who trains and performs with only one goal in mind, the olympics. Golfers dont really do that. They train and perform for their respective tour and or individual tournaments. The olympian is always looking at just olympics and events that qualify them for such.

[triadmizuno]

I,m not much of an summer Olympics Fan but I do think it should be only for the amateur golfers.

[rkim291968]

There are other sports which don't deserve to be in the Olympics.   But let's stick to golf for this thread.   I voted no but would have voted yes if only amateurs are allow to participate.  

[CarlSpackler]

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

Don't be dissing curling 

OK. How about one of these?

http://www.sbnation.com/london-olympics-2012/2012/7/27/3178000/summer-olympics-events-sports-gymnastics-trampoline

 

[Patch]

I am of the opinion the whole current idea of the olympics should be dismantled. Let world opinion select one permanent site for the winter competition, and one for the summer competition. Just keep using those two locations over, and over. 

As for what individual sports should be included, again let the member countries decide what should be included.