NEW YORK, NY—The Olympics are supposed to represent the pinnacle of any sport, unfortunately in the case of the recent inclusion of golf for the forthcoming Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro they don’t.
The issues are now coming into focus as several of golf’s leading players have opted to bypass the games for a range of reasons. Others may follow.
Seven years ago, golf was voted back into the Games it had previously appeared in 1904. The push for the inclusion came from key organizations within golf such as the International Golf Federation, the United States Golf Association, The Royal & Ancient Golf Club, the PGA of America, the Ladies Professional Golf Association and Augusta National Golf Club. The belief centered on the Olympics as a mechanism to spur interest in the sport for countries with little to no connection to the game and with only those from upper income people playing. Examples include China, Russia, major areas of Africa and Eastern Europe and large areas of Central and South America.
