Golf returned to the Olympic Games in 2016 held in Rio De Janeiro after a 112 year absence.
Was this the original modern "grow the game" initiative? Maybe. And if it was, it's worth wondering what "grow the game" meant in an entirely different world, even if it was only eight years ago. If the powers wanted to have a large variety of nations represented at the Olympics, to give access to a grand stage of golf for nations not necessarily considered "golfing countries," then mission accomplished. The qualification system of limiting nations to two golfers per gender ensures a multi-national field.
With a chance to showcase the game to the world and opportunity to create an Olympic event essentially from scratch, the powers that be selected the most mundane, common, routine, uninspired format: 72-hole individual stroke play. Yawn.
But in a post-pandemic, LIV Golf, TGL, Top Golf, Popstroke, YouTube golf world, "grow the game" has taken on a different meaning. And now it's time to showcase that golf can be different, adaptive to the current times, fast-paced (maybe not Sha'Carri Richardson fast, but not an endeavor that takes 5 hours), and exciting.
And it's true, that over decades, that it has been well established that 72 holes of stroke play is the ideal format for individual golf tournaments. Four rounds of golf allows for the better players in the field to rise to the top of the field, still have the opportunity for a "surprise" winner, and eliminates randomness of lower-ranked players to perform well in a shorter event.
That being said, let's throw that all out. Let's change Olympic golf.
Individual Events
Golf is, at its core, an individual sport. If golf is going to be in the Olympics, there should be an individual competition. Stroke play. Three rounds. 54 holes.
Wait. What?
Didn't he just extol the benefits of a 72-hole stroke play event? Yes. And, sure the LIV bots will be happy that this proposal is only 54 holes. And the PGA Tour bots will be mad.
But the shorter individual event will allow for something that Olympic golf needs: mixed-team match play. (After all, some of these golfers can't be asked to play too much golf for no pay.)
Mixed Team Match Play
One of the things that makes the Olympics great is national pride and countries facing off against countries. That kind of national competition isn't found in an individual golf event. The mixed-team match play gives that competition.
Thirty-two pairs of golfers, one male and one female from each country, will compete in the event. Nations can enter up to two teams. The teams will be formed by the Olympic Golf Ranking. Using the United States as an example, Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda, both ranked first, are a team.
Using this team formation system gives some intriguing pairs: Rory McIlroy and Leona Maguire (Ireland), Ludvig Aberg and Maya Stark (Sweden), Jon Rahm and Carlota Ciganda (Spain), Tommy Fleetwood and Charley Hull (Great Britain), Matt Fitzpatrick and Georgia Hall (Great Britain), and Min Woo Lee and Minjee Lee (Australia). How much fun are those?!
Groups
The teams are seeded by their combined Olympic Golf Ranking. From there, teams are divided into eight pots to be drawn into eight groups, similar to the FIFA World Cup draw. The top eight seeded teams are in Pot 1, the teams seeded ninth through 16th are in Pot 2, and so on. When drawing the groups, teams representing the same nation cannot be in the same group.
Using the 2024 Olympic Golf Ranking and this proposed format, the following teams and group can be created and drawn with the combined ranking listed.
Group A Pavon/Boutier (FRA) (18) Taylor/Henderson (CAN) (32) Noren/Grant (SWE) (46) Yu/Chien (TPE) (68) | Group B Day/Green (AUS) (21) Aberg/Stark (SWE) (22) Jager/Henseliet (GER) (49) Sharma/Ashok (IND) (71) |
Group C An/Yang (KOR) (21) Fitzpatrick/Hall (GBR) (34) Lowry/Meadow (IRL) (55) Olesen/Koerstz Madsen (DEN) (65) | Group D Scheffler/Korda (USA) (2) Lee/Lee (AUS) (30) Straka/Spitz (AUT) (55) Schmid/Forsterling (GER) (66) |
Group E Fleetwood/Hull (GBR) (18) McIlroy/Maguire (IRL) (24) Hovland/Borge (NOR) (51) Aphibarnrat/Thitikul (THA) (71) | Group F Matsuyama/Saso (JPN) (19) Fox/Ko (NZL) (43) Bezuidenhout/Buhai (RSA) (55) Detry/De Roey (BEL) (63) |
Group G Kim/Ko (KOR) (18) Yuan/Yin (CHN) (44) Naakajima/Yumashita (JPN) (48) Perez/Delacour (FRA) (60) | Group H Schauffele/Vu (USA) (5) Rahm/Ciganda (ESP) (29) Hojgaard/Pederson (DEN) (54) Van Rooyen/Reto (RSA) (65) |
Some of those groups and pairings seem like a lot of fun and worth watching. Just look at Group E!
Matches
Matches are played over nine holes. If Rugby can be in the Olympics by playing the sevens version with its seven-minute halves, and 3x3 basketball can be in the Olympics with 10-minute games, why can't golf have nine-hole matches? Matches can be best ball or alternate shot. The challenge and chaos that can be alternate shot seems preferable for this, though. If we're gonna get weird, let's get weird.
This reduces the amount of holes and shots played over the course of the Olympic games as players will be competing in both individual and team events.
Each team plays a match against each other team in their group. The two teams with the best record in each group advance to the knockout phase.
Bracket
With the top two teams advancing, there are 16 teams in the bracket. Matches will still be alternate shot played over nine holes. Win and move on. Lose and be eliminated. (Except in the semifinals, the losing teams in those matches will play for the bronze medal.)
Olympic Golf Schedule
This seems like a lot of golf to be played in a short amount of time. But, by reducing the individual tournaments to 54 holes and playing nine-hole matches in the mixed-team match play, these events can fit into the two-week Olympic schedule.
Using the 2024 Olympic schedule as an example:
Men's Individual: July 27, 28, 29
Mixed-Team Match Play: August 1 (Group Matches 1 & 2), August 2 (Group Match 3), August 3 (Round of 16 and Quarterfinals), August 4 (Semifinals and Medal Matches)
Women's Individual: August 7, 8, 9
This schedule maximizes play on weekend days to minimize interruption to various Tour schedules around the world while still allowing time for rest and rescheduled rounds due to inclement weather.
With the current reimagining of the PGA Tour and evolution of professional golf as an entity; popularity of YouTube golf; and growth of non-traditional golf such as the TGL professional league and recreational pursuits such as TopGolf and Popstroke, the Olympic golf schedule must be evolve to match the trajectory of the game and be a leader in innovation of its sport on the grandest international stage.
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