Would Olympic Golf be better with Ams?

[iBanesto]

For golf to be a credible Olympic sport it needs the best players to compete and in a way also win it.

 

There was a lot of doubt to allow professional tennis players in the Olympics.

 

Tennis came back in 1988 but many top players didn't really compete in it. Only until recently you've seen the top players such as Federer (Olympic gold in doubles), Nadal (Olympic gold in singles), Djokovic (Olympic bronze in singles) and Murray (2 Olympic golds in singles) compete and it has added credibility to include the sport in the program.

 

It doesn't help when DJ and McIlroy has skipped the event.

 

[Bye]

Don’t mess up the Amateur schedule as well.

 

 

[Santiago Golf]

On paper its sounds like a great idea 

 

But lets be honest ... who watches every round wire to wire of the US Am 

 

I love Amateur golf ... If I wasn't a PGA Professional playing in the Mid Am would be a goal of mine

 

It wouldn't be as cool as you think 

 

The way to fix Olympic Golf ... its really tough to say how to when we have only see Golf in the Olympics once in the last 100 years

 

I think inviting the 3 players (women's & men's team) from 20 countries (60 players, maybe another 10 players from countries not represented)

 

First portion: 36 hole stroke play over 1 day (scoring would top 2 scores of 3 each round) award medals to teams

Second portion: Top 8 players qualify for Individual Championship, match play bracket to award medals to individuals

Third portion: 18 hole stroke play mixed alt shot (1 woman, 1 man) not sure how many teams or how to make the teams but this needs to exist in Golf 

 

If DJ doesn't want to play ... that his choice 

[James the Hogan Fan]

2 hours ago, Santiago Golf said:

On paper its sounds like a great idea 

 

But lets be honest ... who watches every round wire to wire of the US Am 

 

I love Amateur golf ... If I wasn't a PGA Professional playing in the Mid Am would be a goal of mine

 

It wouldn't be as cool as you think 

 

The way to fix Olympic Golf ... its really tough to say how to when we have only see Golf in the Olympics once in the last 100 years

 

I think inviting the 3 players (women's & men's team) from 20 countries (60 players, maybe another 10 players from countries not represented)

 

First portion: 36 hole stroke play over 1 day (scoring would top 2 scores of 3 each round) award medals to teams

Second portion: Top 8 players qualify for Individual Championship, match play bracket to award medals to individuals

Third portion: 18 hole stroke play mixed alt shot (1 woman, 1 man) not sure how many teams or how to make the teams but this needs to exist in Golf 

 

If DJ doesn't want to play ... that his choice 

 

I hear you about watching the US Am wire to wire; I certainly don't. But I think at present no one is really going to watch olympic golf in general, so why not try to create intrigue with an (on paper) more relatable group. Might even get some cinderella story Mid-Am out qualifying young guns or something. 

 

Since you mentioned formats, I had some others thought up:

 

1) 3-man teams from as many countries as you can get. 36 holes stroke play qualifies say 8 teams. Then a knockout bracket where each team member pairs off into singles matches (ie best 2 out of 3), until you have a winner.

 

2) Individual: 36 holes stroke play to qualify 24, seeding 3 x 8-man brackets. Those brackets play off in match play until 3 players remain (one from each bracket). Those 3 players play 18 holes for gold, silver, and bronze. I would be tempted to play the medal round as stableford, just to ensure a player's blow-up hole doesn't completely remove him from contention. A fun side effect is the winners have to play all 3 formats.

 

 

[KennyP]

All these alternative formats are interesting, but would make the top players less inclined to play. 

 

Golf has no place in the Olympics. There's already established schedules for professionals and amateurs, male and female, arguably with more sought after prizes than a gold medal.

[Geoff_Dickson]

"true amateurs'....Can anyone define this for me?

 

[Geoff_Dickson]

"true amateurs'....Can anyone define this for me?

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by Geoff_Dickson

[Geoff_Dickson]

"true amateurs'....Can anyone define this for me?

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by Geoff_Dickson

[Geoff_Dickson]

On 4/27/2021 at 12:42 AM, smashdn said:

Each country can send whomever they want.  In a match play type event, as most here know, a David can take down a Goliath.  

 

For the US, I would like us to send a mix of pro and amateurs.  Maybe 2 and 2 and make it a team event.  Would make for a compelling storyline I think to have a pro paired with a high level am.  (So long as the pro isn't a d-canoe about it.)

Not quite....the qualification system/criteria is defined by the IGF...so each country cannot send whomever they want.

 

[smashdn]

6 hours ago, Geoff_Dickson said:

Not quite....the qualification system/criteria is defined by the IGF...so each country cannot send whomever they want.

 

I mean they can choose whether it is ams or pros within a given criteria.  Why couldn't they choose to send 2 of each and have a mixed foursomes matches for a cumulative country score?  

 

We are talking about changing the rules to make it a more compelling olympic event, I didn't confine my thoughts to what is currently "within the rules."

[golfortennis]

Amateur myth-"The gentleman competitor who participates for live of the game, not for monetary reward."

 

Amateur reality-"When these were first conceived, those who were not of means were required to work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, and thus had no time to develop skill in a given sport.  Using the "amateur" shield will allow the rich people to keep the lowlife poor people out of their competitions."

 

Look at the disdain with which club pros were looked upon as recently as the 50s.  A lot of love to romanticize the Bobby Jones stuff, but why do you think he was one of the few great players who were amateurs?  He was probably richer than most of the pros combined.  He would have been looked down upon in the circles he travelled and grew up in were he to sully himself as a professional.  

 

   Jay Bilas had a good column about the amateur stuff recently that was spot on.

[bigred90gt]

On 4/26/2021 at 5:57 AM, Aviador Naval said:

Olympic golf would be better canceled.  It is not an Olympic sport.

 

All Olympic events would be better with true amateurs.  I recognize this is hard to define given appearance money, sponsorship, etc.

I am 100% on board with this. There are several Olympic endeavors that should be excluded.  
 

if it has to be there, for the love of all that is holy make it something other than another 72 hole stroke play event. 

[Geoff_Dickson]

Fire in the hole....a true amateur cannot be someone playing NCAA golf on scholarship.

 

Edited May 1, 2021 by Geoff_Dickson

[bscinstnct]

On 4/26/2021 at 11:30 PM, Bigjim1022 said:

I would tend to agree but a sport like golf already has the best golfers from around the world competing on the PGA tour.  Basketball to some extent also.  It’s not exactly on topic but golf IMO doesn’t really belong in the Olympics.  
 

As for Ams, as mentioned that ship has sailed.  Would it be better?  I guess the question would be, for me, from what standpoint?  Better competition?  Probably not.  Better fan appeal? Probably not.  From a pure “this is what the Olympics was meant to be” standpoint?  Sure.  
 

I haven’t followed the Olympics closely in awhile but these “amateur” athletes are only amateurs in a loose sense.  It’s not like they are working a 9-5 job and doing the giant slalom on the weekend.  These athletes are just that, full time athletes.  They just don’t happen to be under contract to a particular team or organization.  Unless there is some contract they sign to be in say the US National team?  

 

Many Olympic athletes with full time jobs,

 

 

Accountant, Postal Worker, Bellhop, Home Depot. Take a look,

 

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/84182/day-jobs-15-olympic-athletes

 

 

[farmer]

Golf is about the only Olympic sport that the Russians have not doped their athletes into medals, so it's got that.  Otherwise, it's just another 72 hole event, generally with the guys you watch every week.

[MUNIGRIT]

Olympic golf would be better if it went away. 

[TourSpoon]

Olympic Golf would be better served with having a 4 man scramble with 2 mulligan tickets per player to be strategically used throughout the 18 hole event. Best team wins the gold medal along with a pro shop credit  of $75 dollars each. 

 

Seriously, Golf doesn't belong in the Olympics. 

[golfortennis]

24 minutes ago, TourSpoon said:

Olympic Golf would be better served with having a 4 man scramble with 2 mulligan tickets per player to be strategically used throughout the 18 hole event. Best team wins the gold medal along with a pro shop credit  of $75 dollars each. 

 

Seriously, Golf doesn't belong in the Olympics. 

 

Does winning also carry qualification points for the Tecate Cup?

 

[llewol007]

Well you want the best players at that sport in the world. The Olympics really have lost its shine. Before you wanted the publicity of having a gold medal and the media attention. With so much media out there, the big names would much rather skip it and rest themselves. 

[ohioglfr]

The Olympics should have never let the professionals in.  For me, I love to see a relatively unknown athlete shine in competition.    

[Superbrit]

Should have been mixed pairs alternate shot, one team from each country, would have been quite interesting i reckon