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When golf returns to the Olympics for the first time in 112 years, it will include men’s and women’s stroke-play formats for gold, silver and bronze medals.
The venue will be the new 18-hole Rio 2016 Olympic Golf Course, designed by American Gil Hanse. With spectator seating for 15,000 fans, the challenging course features two man-made lakes and a host of obstacles sure to test the world’s top golfers this August.
Qualifications for the competition have been set by the International Golf Federation. The IGF will utilize the official world rankings as its method of determining eligibility, with the top 15 world-ranked players granted automatic berths in the Olympics.
Beyond that, players will be eligible based on world rankings, with a maximum of two from each country that does not already have two or more players among the Top 15. No country can have more than four golfers. The host nation of Brazil is guaranteed a male and female entrant, if they aren’t already eligible by the rankings.
At press time, qualifiers from the U.S. were Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson in the men’s competition. The USA women’s team would include Stacy Lewis, Lexi Thompson and Cristie Kerr.
Qualifying for the Olympic games ends July 11. The final list will be available at www.igfgolf.org.
