Legends Helping With Golf’s Olympic Pitch
June 14, 2009 by Jeff Greenwell
Filed under Golf
Golfing legends Annika Sorenstam and Colin Montgomerie, along with tour leaders from around the world, are preparing their case for golf’s inclusion in the Olympics starting in 2016. The group, known as the International Golf Federation (IGF) will present their pitch to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board this coming Monday, in the hopes that golf will make its return to the Olympic games for the first time since 1904.
Colin Montgomerie (Image: Zuma Press)
Golf is competing with baseball, karate, roller sports, rugby sevens, softball and squash for one of two available program spots in the 2016 Olympics and beyond.
The IGF has proposed that the top 15 players in the world rankings will gain automatic entry to the games, with the remaining spots filled by the highest-ranked players whose countries don’t have two players participating in the field. Under the IGF proposal, both men and women golfers will play a 72-hole stroke play tournament, with 60 players in the field. Three-hole playoffs will be used to determine medal placement.
The IGF group has the backing of 19 major tours and amateur federations in 121 countries. The IOC will make their decision at their annual session in Copenhagen, Denmark.
