Golf is getting ready to present a pitch for golf’s inclusion in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board Monday in Lausanne Switzerland.
Retired legend Annika Sorenstam and European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie are joining tour leaders from around the world who are travelling to Lausanne for the presentation. A six-strong bid team is being led by Ty Votaw, International Golf Federation (IGF) executive director and Peter Dawson, chief executive of the Royal and Ancient club at St. Andrews.
Votaw told The Associated Press Thursday, “we feel good about the story that we have told. But we don’t have any sense of where we are in the process. I don’t get too high with the positive rumours, I don’t get too low with the rumours that say we’re long shots”.
Votaw said he believes golf has a “compelling” argument that it can deliver what the IOC is looking for, reports The Associated Press. He said, “it’s the commercial appeal of our sport. It’s the celebrity of our top players. It’s the global reach”.
He said, golf is played by 60 million people in 120 countries, and televised to 550 million homes in 230 countries. “That would be a wonderful platform to promote golf’s participation in the Olympics and the Olympic ideals on a year-round basis”, he said.
“If you play golf you play by the rules,” said Votaw, adding that 18 months of drug-testing programs on the major tours have shown the sport to be clean.
The IGF proposal calls for 72-hold stroke play tournaments for men and women, with 60 players in each field. Three-hole playoffs will decide the medal places.
The Associated Press reports the world’s top 15 players will gain automatic entry with remaining places filled by the highest ranked players whose countries don’t already have two players in the field.
All the players have promised to adjust their tournament schedules to give Olympic golf exclusive status should it return to the Olympic Games for the first time since 1904.
