Golf was part of the Official Programme for the 1900 and 1904 editions where it was played under very different circumstances. In 1900, the men remarkably played two back-to-back rounds of 18 hole ‘stroke play’, while the women took part in a 9 hole tournament. 4 years later, in 1904, with enhanced participation, the format was modified into a ‘match play’ that followed two back-to-back rounds of 18 hole ‘stroke play’.
Read: A century long wait for golf in the Olympics
In 1900, the United States won the gold medal, Great Britain took silver and bronze for the men, while it was a clean sweep by the United States women. In 1904, Canadian George Lyon took gold, while the United States’ golfers had to be content with silver and bronze.
As golf makes a return to the Olympics after 112 years, it is essential to get geared up on the basic rules, format and qualification criteria to understand the action that we have in store for us.
Format
The men’s event to be held on 11-14th August and the women’s on the 17th-20th will both have a 72-hole individual stroke play tournament in accordance with the official rules of golf. These rules are jointly administered by the R&A (The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews) and the USGA (United States Golf Association).
Stroke play - Players will tee off and complete 18 holes each day and the golfer with the lowest total stroke count for the day will hold the leader. The golfers will then do the same for the next 3 days and the golfer with the lowest cumulative total of strokes will be declared the outright winner.
This format is followed in most of the major international tournaments, including all of golf’s Majors.
Scoring
Players record the number of strokes taken at each hole and total them up at the end of a given round, or rounds. The player with the lowest total is the winner. The scoring will be done in relation to the par of the course.
The Olympic Golf Course in Rio has a par of 71. If a golfer takes a total of 67 strokes to complete the 18 holes for a day, he will be 4 under par. If he repeats the feat for the next 3 days, he will be 16 under par at the end of the tournament. The golfer will the lowest score will be declared winner.
What happens in case of a tie?
In the event of a tie for any of the first three positions, a three-hole playoff will determine the medal winners.
Playoff - Golfers with identical scores will return to a particular hole(s) and replay it to decide the outright winner.
Qualification criteria
The IOC (International Olympic Committee) restricted the IGF (International Golf Federation) to an Olympic field of 60 players for each of the men’s and women’s competition. The field would include one place reserved for a player from the host country.
The IGF utilised the OGWR (Official World Golf Rankings) to create the Olympic golf rankings as a method of determining eligibility.
The top-15 world-ranked players will be eligible for the Olympics, with a limit of four players from a given country. Beyond the top-15, players will be eligible based on the world rankings, with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top-15.
