The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which will be held in 2021, will feature 33 sports and Golf is one of them. Who are the athletes to keep an eye on? When is the competition going to be held, and where is it going to be hosted? Have you ever been curious about the Olympic history of a sport? You’ve come to the right place. Here’s our rundown of the most important things to know about Olympic golf.
The 2020 Olympics were originally planned to be held in Tokyo. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo organizers, however, opted to postpone the 2020 Olympics by a year because of the COVID-19 epidemic. Currently, the mega-event is scheduled to take place in Tokyo in 2021.
Olympic golf history:
The Olympic golf tournament will be held for the fourth time in Tokyo in 2020. In 1896, the sport was not included in the inaugural modern Olympic Games, but it was added four years later in Paris. The men’s tournament was a 36-hole stroke play competition, while the women’s was a nine-hole competition staged on the grounds of the Compiegne racetrack. With rounds of 82 and 85, Charles Sands of the United States won the men’s gold medal.
Margaret Abbott, who was born in India and competed with her mother Mary, shot 47 to become the first American woman to win an Olympic medal. Abbott, who was studying art in Paris at the time under Degas and Rodin, received a porcelain bowl instead of a gold medal and mistook the event for a regular tournament rather than the Olympic Games. Her children were not informed of her feat until after her death in 1955, according to Team USA. At St Louis 1904, golf consisted of a men’s match play individual competition, in which players won, lost, or halved holes rather than using total scores, and a men’s team event, in which ten players’ 36-hole totals were totaled.
Individual gold was awarded to George Lyon, a well-known former cricketer from Canada, who beat American Chandler Egan 3&2 in the final (three holes up with two to play). In the team event, Egan’s Western Golf Association won gold, beating out two more American teams, the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association and the United States Golf Association.
Golf was the last sport to compete in the Olympic Games until Rio 2016. In his first round on the Barra da Tijuca course; Justin Rose created history by hitting the first hole-in-one in Olympic history. Rose then won gold for Great Britain in a thrilling final round against Ryder Cup teammate and 2016 Open winner HenrikStenson, with USA’s Matt Kuchar taking bronze. After the match, the 2013 US Open winner, who is vying for one of Britain’s berths in Tokyo, said, “Oh, my God, that was better than any medal I’ve ever received. It’s been the most enjoyable tournament I’ve ever experienced.”
The Sport’s Essence Fine talents and little margins:
Due to the distinct natural elements of each course and the continuously changing climatic circumstances, golf is frequently described as a very complicated sport. Rough terrain, water features, slopes, and bunkers (sand-filled concave places) give courses their own personalities and obstacles. Rain, sun, and wind may all alter how a course performs, forcing players to adapt to changing weather conditions regularly.
Players can bring up to 14 clubs with them, including drivers that can hit the ball long distances, irons that emphasize accuracy and putters that can be utilized to hole a shot on the fast greens. To select which club to use and the style of a stroke to use, players must use all of their judgment and experience. Golf is also a sport in which mental toughness plays a crucial role in the outcome: players must be able to handle high-pressure circumstances successfully.
The absence of judges is one of golf’s most appealing qualities. This emphasizes the significance of fair play in golf, as well as the assumption that all players act in good faith and would never deliberately participate in dishonesty. Golfers are legitimate and deserving Olympians in this regard.
Olympic golf venue at Tokyo 2020:
The East Course of the Kasumigaseki Country Club, a private club in Saitama 50 kilometers north of Tokyo, was hosting golf at Tokyo 2020. It was founded in 1929 and hosted the Golf World Cup (then known as the Canada Cup) for the first time in 1957, making Japan the first country to host the event. In 2016, the East Course was rebuilt and lengthened to provide a greater challenge to the world’s best golfers. After being notified by the IOC that failing to do so might result in the tournament being transferred to a different location, the club opted to welcome women members in March 2017. In November of that year, US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo played golf in Kasumigaseki.
Olympic golf tournament format at Tokyo 2020:
Both the men’s and women’s golf tournaments in Tokyo 2020 will be four-day 72-hole individual stroke play contests. There are 60 competitors in each competition, and there are no eliminations or cuts halfway through. The participants go out in scoreboard order for the remaining two rounds, with the leaders teeing off in the final group. If the winners are still tied throughout 72 holes, the winner will be determined by a three-hole playoff before sudden death.
Olympic golf schedule at Tokyo 2020:
The golf events at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be held from July 29 to August 7, 2021. The men’s tournament runs from July 29 to August 1, while the women’s competition runs from August 4 to 7.
Competition for men:
Round 1 of Men’s Individual Stroke Play began on July 29.
Round 2 of Men’s Individual Stroke Play was on the 30th of July.
Round 3 of Men’s Individual Stroke Play was on the 31st of July.
Round 4 of Men’s Individual Stroke Play began on August 1st.
Competition for women:
Round 1 of the Women’s Individual Stroke Play began on August 4th.
Round 2 of the Women’s Individual Stroke Play began on August 5th.
Round 3 of the Women’s Individual Stroke Play began on August 6th.
Round 4 of the Women’s Individual Stroke Play began on August 7th.
