Whilst everyone knows that golf hasn't been part of the Olympics since 1904, the history of the sport's participation in the Games is relatively unknown. We've delved into the history books to find eight facts that you probably didn't know about golf at the Olympics.
1) The first gold medalist played only two golf events
American Charles Sand won the first ever Olympic gold medal in golf, at the 1900 Games in Paris. His scores of 82 and 85 were enough to win by a single shot over Scotland's Walter Rutherford. Amazingly, the Olympics was just the second and last golf event Sands played, having made it to the final of the US Amateur in 1895 just three months after taking up the game.
2) America's first female gold medal came in golf
The Olympic Games in 1900 were the first to include women and indeed the only event prior to 2016 in which women’s golf has featured. Margaret Abbott from Chicago, USA, was visiting Paris with her mother and both entered a nine-hole golf event that they believed to be the Ladies’ Championship of Paris. Abbott, an American born in Calcutta, scored 47 and her mother came seventh. It wasn’t until after Margaret’s death in 1955, aged 78, that it came to light that she was, in fact, the USA’s first female Olympic champion.
3) George Lyon turned down an Olympic golf gold medal
Having won the 1904 Olympic golf men's gold, Canadian George Lyon made the trip from Canada to London for the 1908 Games to defend his title in a 108-hole stroke play event at Royal St George's, Prince's and Royal Cinque Ports Golf Clubs. However, a disagreement over the format meant that there were no competitors from the UK and the event was promptly cancelled. Lyon, as the sole competitor, was offered a second gold medal by default, but declined.
4) Adolf Hitler tried to host Olympic golf
Whilst golf hasn't featured in an Olympic Games since 1904, it nearly made an appearance in Germany at the 1936 Games thanks to Adolf Hitler. Despite viewing the game as an elitist sport, Hitler was convinced to try to get golf included by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. Though the IOC refused to allow golf's entry, declaring the application to have been submitted late, an event did take place two weeks after the Games in Baden-Baden. Details about the event are unclear but it is thought that seven nations took part in four rounds of stroke play with the British pair of Arnold Bentley and Tommy Thirsk taking the trophy, narrowly beating the home country.
5) One player has played the course before
Whilst the Rio Olympic Course is brand-new for this year's Games, one player has played a competitive round on the course before. Brazil's Miriam Nagl was one of nine players who played in an Olympic test event on the course back in March. Her four under par 67 was lower than any other player that day, so technicially she is also the course record holder.
6) More than a third of the field have won already this year
Whilst the field for the men's event is only 60 players, 21 of them have already won an event in 2016. Two of the year's four Majors are in attendance in Danny Willett and Henrik Stenson. The field includes a total of six Major champions, ten former Ryder Cup players and 39 European Tour winners.
7) Medals may be decided by a play-off
Should we see a tie for any of the top three spots at this year's Olympic golf event, a three-hole play-off will be used to decide the medal winners.
8) There were two golfing flag bearers this year
One of the biggest honours that can be bestowed on an Olympian is to be chosen to carry their country’s flag during the opening ceremony of the Games. Entering the Maracanã Stadium 19th out of the 207 countries to be present in Rio, Siddikur Rahman proudly led out his Bangladesh team-mates last Friday evening ahead of what he said would be “the biggest achievement of his life” in appearing at the Olympic Games. Elsewhere, LPGA and Ladies European Tour star Julieta Granada also carried the flag for her country, Paraguay.
