A history of golf’s role in the World Olympics

Between 26th July and 11th August 2024, the world’s elite golfers came together in Paris for the 2024 Olympics. Scottie Scheffler bagged the men’s gold medal for the United States with a course record of 62 – some have called it ‘the round of his life’ – at the host course, Le Golf National. This made Scheffler the first number-one-ranked golfer to win gold at the Olympics. Finishing 19 under, this victory beat Great Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood by a stroke, seeing him secure silver, and bronze went to Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama. Turning our attention to the ladies’ results, Lydia Ko took home gold for New Zealand. This is an impressive career trajectory for Ko, having previously won silver at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics (more on that later), and bronze before that in 2021’s Tokyo Olympics. Silver went to Germany’s Esther Henseleit, and China’s Ziya Janet Lin secured the bronze medal.

The format for Olympic golf is stroke play, counting the number of shots a player takes to finish an 18-hole course four times over four days. So, the golfer with the lowest overall number of strokes wins.

Which countries have won the most gold medals in golf over the years?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, America tops the ranks when it comes to the most gold medals that have been won in golf at the Olympics. In total, the USA has bagged 14 medals, comprised of six golds, three silvers and five bronzes. Great Britain comes in behind at the number two slot, but with only four medals won across gold, silver and bronze, there’s some serious catching up to do and the USA are clear leaders right now. New Zealand occupies third place, with one of each type of medal totalling three.

Let’s take a look at how things started with golf in the Olympics, and where it might be headed next.

The early days of golf at the Olympics

Golf first became an official Olympic sport in 1900, making its debut at the Summer Games at the Compiègne Golf Club, Paris, but over the years it has had something of a chequered history. The 1900 Olympics were only the second modern Olympics, and the organisers were experimenting with which sports to include and which ones to leave out. At the time, golf was enjoying a surge in popularity, particularly in the UK and America, so it was an obvious one to include.

At these Olympics, golf was one of only a handful of sports which included women as well as men. 22 golfers took part that year, and with little diversity in terms of which countries were being represented, the men’s competition was won by American golfer Charles Sands, while the women’s was won by Margaret Abbott, also from America (making her the first woman to ever win a gold Olympic medal).

Then, in 1904, the Olympics were hosted in St Louis, Missouri, and featured both individual and team play. 77 golfers took part this time around, a considerable increase from 1900, but this time, the women’s competition didn’t happen. Travelling to and from the event was still a challenge for many players around the world, so again American and Canadian winners featured heavily. 46-year-old George Seymour Lyon took home gold, against the odds, and he famously walked on his hands to collect the silver winner’s trophy, along with his Olympic gold medal. Lyon also made the trip for the 1908 games in London, where a golf tournament had again been scheduled, but when he turned up he found he was the only entrant. For this reason, he was offered the gold medal by default, but he turned it down.

And that was the end of golf’s presence at the Olympics for the time being, at least. The main reason for its exclusion from future events, other than a perceived lack of enthusiasm, was that the Olympics was striving to be seen as an inclusive event, while golf had the reputation of being quite elitist. At the same time, the rise of prominent golf tournaments like the Open, the US Open and the Masters meant that the world’s best golfers started to focus on these competitions (not least because they all featured a prize pot, which the Olympics never has). On top of all this, the logistical challenges of transporting a lot of golf clubs and equipment also made golf difficult to include in the Olympics. There was an attempt to bring golf back to the Olympics at the 1920 Antwerp Games, but the tournaments had to be cancelled due to a lack of entries. So, for all those reasons, golf and the Olympics were over… that is until 2016.

Bringing golf back to the Olympics

Despite golf’s ongoing exclusion from the Olympics, conversations continued to be held about the possibility of its return and there were plenty of people who were keen to get it back in the Olympic fold. As time went by, it was becoming easier for players to travel internationally, and golf itself was gaining more popularity on the world stage, reaching South Korea, Japan and South Africa. The International Golf Federation (IGF) started to lobby for golf to return to the Olympics, and in 1992 it nearly made the cut at the Barcelona Olympics, but not quite.

However, the campaigning continued, and in 2009, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to bring back golf, agreeing that it should be included in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. And so golf’s 112-year hiatus from the Olympics had finally ended.

Sure enough, golf made its reappearance at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. 60 of the world’s best golfers, both male and female, arrived in Rio de Janeiro to compete in a 72-hole individual stroke play format (the reason for this format was to ensure a broad range of representation from all around the world). But all was not plain sailing, and while many fans and players were enthusiastic about its return, some top golfers had concerns around the added layers of complication this event added to the already-busy professional calendar. many also had concerns around health risks, due to the outbreak of the Zika virus in Brazil at the time. Some of golf’s star players were conspicuous by their absence, including Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.

But despite all that, the tournaments were successful, with England’s Justin Rose taking home gold, Sweden’s Henrik Stenson bagging silver and American Matt Kuchar securing bronze in the men’s competition. For the women’s tournament, South Korea’s Inbee Park claimed gold, with New Zealand’s Lydia Ko taking silver and China’s Shanshan Feng taking bronze.

Sure enough, golf made its reappearance at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. 60 of the world’s best golfers, both male and female, arrived in Rio de Janeiro to compete in a 72-hole individual stroke play format (the reason for this format was to ensure a broad range of representation from all around the world). But all was not plain sailing, and while many fans and players were enthusiastic about its return, some top golfers had concerns around the added layers of complication this event added to the already-busy professional calendar. many also had concerns around health risks, due to the outbreak of the Zika virus in Brazil at the time. Some of golf’s star players were conspicuous by their absence, including Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.

But despite all that, the tournaments were successful, with England’s Justin Rose taking home gold, Sweden’s Henrik Stenson bagging silver and American Matt Kuchar securing bronze in the men’s competition. For the women’s tournament, South Korea’s Inbee Park claimed gold, with New Zealand’s Lydia Ko taking silver and China’s Shanshan Feng taking bronze.

2020 and beyond…

In 2020, the Olympics that were planned to be hosted in Tokyo got postponed to 2021 because of the pandemic. With broad participation (due to fewer health concerns), players from around the world flocked to the games and a sense of renewed enthusiasm for golf at the Olympics was palpable from fans and players alike. With hotshot Xander Schauffele taking gold for men, and Nelly Korda claiming gold for the ladies, golf was firmly back on the map at the Olympics, and in 2024, the world’s golfing elite headed to the Olympic Games in Paris to do it all over again.

There is now little doubt that golf will continue to be included in future Olympic games, and the strategic focus will likely be on ensuring that the world’s best players are still motivated enough to compete despite the lack of prize funds. Format modifications including mixed-gender teams are being discussed for future events.

Looking ahead, all eyes will be on the Riviera Country Club, as it again plays host to the world’s best golfers at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. And we already know that golf at the 2032 Olympics will be played at Australia’s Royal Queensland Golf Club, Eagle Farm, Queensland. As to who we think might take home gold, silver and bronze in the years to come… well you’ll just have to wait to find out!