Keep Golf OUT Of The Olympics!
It’s been over a hundred years since the last Olympic medal was awarded to a golfer. But with the next Olympiad being held in 2012, a growing number of supporters want golf added back into the Olympic roster.
The argument usually boils down to something like this: golf is continuing to build in popularity around the world, while the Olympics are the top showcase for international athletics – a perfect match!
Hold the phone. Golf’s already doing pretty well with international concerns, if you ask me. The leaderboard at your average PGA event has a wide variety of flags next to those names, even more so in the LPGA. Don’t forget all the major events and tournaments with global interest like the Ryder Cup, the President’s Cup, the British Open, etc. The PGA European Tour is still going strong… So there’s no lack of golf & golfers from outside the US.
But even the Olympics would depend on the superstars showing up. That means the PGA would have to clear at least a couple weeks out of their prime time summer season, or risk running some events without the big names.
Also, what if those stars don’t show up? Tiger’s made it known he really only cares about winning majors, and while I’m sure he’d love a gold medal (if only to shut Michael Jordan up), an Olympics without Tiger Woods just doesn’t do it for me. Would a gold medal really count the same if it came against a Tiger-less (or Mickelson-less, or whoever-less) field? Not to this Caveman!
Alright Rock Heads, I’ve made my case, now it’s YOUR turn! Should golf be an Olympic sport?
-Scratch
I have to disagree on some points. Now, as for the current sponsors and tournaments it would effect with golfer’s playing in the Olympics, I agree 100%. Something will have to be figured out by the PGA and LPGA pretty quick. Now, as for the countries competing with each other for gold, I don’t think there could be a bigger stage to show off the great game and the drama of golf. I think it would have a huge jolt to the number of people taking up golf in other countries, which translates to more sales of clubs, balls, clothing, etc. A huge economic influx for the game of golf, and the companies, and the economy in general.
More and more, we would be seeing stories of kids breaking onto the golf scene in many nameless places, great stories, and people learning the game and leading it into the next decade!
Yes, I believe it should be a part of the Olympics -with one stipulation: amateurs only.
This business of allowing ‘professional’ athletes to participate in the Olympics should be reversed. But, that is another topic for your blog.
I think the Olympics would provide a venue for some really good amateur athletes to compete.
So what if the winner’s name doesn’t have the major broadcasters’ major advertising client’s seal of approval?
Any sport is welcome, including golf; but keep the pros out of the Olympics.
It is best suited to the original spirit of the games when money/fame is not the primary motivator.
It’s ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’
And what would the pro golfers do without all of the pampering?
I’d laugh, if they had to stay in the Olympic Athlete Village like regular folk…
no courtesy BMW’s to drive them to the course? What then?
ie.
Watching the pro NBA players walk all over the rest of the world, however amusing,
seems like a departure from the original intent.
It would never be amateurs only, The whole Pitch the PGA used was the major stars of golf powering the event, and the game to new levels across the world. They should Tiger Wood’s Fist pump side by side with Michael Phelp’s Fist Pump as their ending. It will be pros or there will be no Golf in the Games at all.
The title says it all: Keep golf out of the Olympics! I’ve been waiting for an article like this. Whether or not a top athlete begins his/her journey with fortune & glory as the primary motivators, in our modern approach to sports this is no doubt for many the gradual course of this path. Today’s pro athletes are often so peppered with corporate logos one could mistake it for some sort of skin condition. I’ve always had fun watching certain Olympic events but I’m a golf snob and shudder to think of it being associated with a substantial number of Olympic sports. For one, the Olympics has essentially become a daytime rave for jocks. Let’s face it, when the Olympics gathers every few years, that’s a lot of hidden pharmaceuticals in one place. Golfers only do non-performance enhancing drugs or they refrain from even drinking an occasional beer as I suspect is the case with Tiger Woods. There is absolutely no way of getting lower golf scores by using performance enhancers & thus far I’ve heard of no such thing as a golf lobotomy. Secondly, the Olympics needs to step up & figure out a way to stop leaving its always temporary ceremonial & competitive facilities as ghost towns of futility & environmental waste. Perhaps the Olympics should be permanently held in Beijing; the facilities would continue to have use & the dirtiest place on Earth might have a shot at breathable air. Golf is no stranger to & continues struggling with environmental issues like water conservation, chemical fertilizers, etc. However, as golf forges ahead with open space preservation and positive land-use contributions, the Olympics is mired in a pattern of anti-planet undertakings in a world becoming less-tolerant of such behavior. Imagine one of the Olympic villages receiving sanctuary status from Audubon Intl group.
Adding Golf to the Olympics is a great idea, and one that has taken too long to come to fruition. While we do see many International Golfers on the leader boards at almost every golf event, whether it be the European, U.S., or L.P.G.A Tour, there are still many more that are not represented not only on the leader board but the field in general.
Let us not forget that there are many smaller countries that participate in the Olympics even if only on a limited basis. Olympic Golf for those non-represented in the International Tours, would be an excellent introduction for the youth in the country to experience the exceptional qualities that make golf what it is. It teaches self discipline, honor, sportsmanship, and gives the non-football playing individuals an opportunity to participate in a sport that does not really have to cost an arm and a leg to play.
I admit that the 2012 Olympics would not be represented dynamically by a new world of young golfers from mostly unheard of countries in the far away reaches of the world, but the Olympics telecast would be seen by billions of youth around the world and could quite possibly expand the sport yet further. The 2016 or 2020 Olympics could be fantastic events with young guns from countries such as Bahrain, Mali, Tadzhkistan or any other numerous countries not currently represented on the Tour leader boards.
I am a firm believer that the Olympics should be returned to what it was for so many years, which was a showcase for the AMATUER Athlete and the likes of Tiger Woods and crew could sit out as far as I am concerned. Let’s face it the only reason the Dream Teams play in the Olympics is for Ego and Greed. We should return the Olympics to the purest of sporting events. A test of the best amateur athletes from every country to battle it out and leave with bragging rights for 4 years, and not a showcase for professional athletes that already have enough bragging rights with their grossly overpaid salaries and flash lifestyles.
Chukker
The Olympics, along with most other major televised sporting events have become simply a commercial media event with the sport it showcases taking the back seat. If not for the mega millions TV pumps into televised sports, many sports as we know them would cease to exist. Can you imagine the Fed-Ex Cup laying out 10 Million dollars to the winners if not for its televised blanket coverage of every commercial product known to man.
No way, Jose!!!
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?2016nogo
*** Response From Scratch ***
Thanks for the link Alan! Interested Rock Heads can sign this online petition to keep golf out of the Olympics…
Nice site – Like what you did. Here’s wishing you and yours a very happy and prosperous new year !
Hi Friend, I am writing from Noosa, Australia. Thanks so much for the thoughtful article. It helped me a lot with my school internet research research 🙂
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