With our attention spans soon putting Olympic golf aside until Tokyo in four years, now is the time to consider a few tweaks, enhancements and bold ideas to make the next Olympic golf competitions better. My colleague Jaime Diaz made the shrewd point that things went so well, the IGF will have more wiggle room with the IOC to propose improvements.
It should be noted that organizers ran a golf tournament that professional in nearly every way to the players. Officials from all over the world contributed, though it was largely a PGA Tour operation.
Media and scoring issues were expected, partly a Rio situation and mostly a first-time-for-golf-in-the-Olympics situation. Some of the telecast issues were also related to the Olympic Broadcast Services following IOC guidelines, perhaps combined with telecast windows that were incredibly long given the field size.
But in the name of making golf more interesting to more people, here are a few suggestions:
—Introduce A Team Format. Golf wants to “grow” but how about a more modest goal of trying to sustain and entertain? In randomly polling those who were in Rio attending other sports, two words came up most when considering golf's four-day 72-hole format in the context of Olympic competition: team format. Since the IOC does not want to give up more than 60 spots to prevent Olympic Village overpopulation, we are likely needing to keep the format at two-person teams consisting of the current fields. Another word that came up repeatedly: “disciplines” that expose skills other than playing 72 holes for oneself. The consensus for team is there, now we have to find the best format.
—Alternate the order of play. That means women go first in 2020 and men first in 2024 should golf return to the Games. Cases could be made for either order having benefits for both genders, fans and the global tours. However, the IOC will pick the order based on scheduling demands*.
—Do not schedule competing tournaments by tours during Olympic week. Every tour complied on this front in 2016, except the PGA Tour. The John Deere Classic, an event that has grown in prominence, took an unnecessary backseat this year. Two players skipped the Games for the Deere because their careers were on the line, and they didn't regret the decision, but also lamented not being in Rio. The FedExCup “race” was even impacted, as Justin Rose lost ground in this points race because he played in the Olympics. The LPGA's Commish noted that this was a concern for his tour, and his tour set aside a nice window for Olympic golf. If the PGA Tour wants the world to take a competition they worked hard to successfully produce, next-Commish Jay Monahan has to tell his members, sponsors and TV partners he'll be shutting down his tour one week every four years.
—Convince the IOC to allow for the latest cut-off date possible. The Tokyo games in 2020 will be played just two weeks after The Open. This means there is no chance of that Open impacting the field. But hopefully the U.S. Open will be allowed to count toward ranking points prior to a cutoff.
—Even more blatantly patriotic uniforms. Seeing the Rio golf course dotted with splashes of national colors made for an unusual sight. Some of the uniforms were quite distinctive, like H&M’s subtle stamping of Sweden on Henrik Stenson’s final round shirt. The Adidas effort was distinctive for the Great Britain team, downright strange for the USA women. Let’s see even more color, nation branding and emphasis on athletic cuts. How great was it to see the golfers looking like athletes in official team medal tracksuits?
—Get Golf In The Paralympics. We’ve seen what the game has done for wounded warriors and how heroes like Dennis Walters inspire. It’s somewhat mind-boggling that the Paralympics, contested next month in Rio, do not include golf. Get on this IGF. Chop chop!
—Start making the case for Long Drive as a separate sport for inclusion by 2024. If you want higher, stronger, faster then long drive is the sport. Imagine Long Drive under the lights in an exotic locale. Say, the Champ de Mars at the foot of the Eiffel Tower or in a refashioned portion of the soon-to-be reimagined L.A. River facing the downtown skyline? Long drive would be the beach volleyball to traditional golf’s indoor volleyball. Music, screaming, athleticism and a strength-meets-skill discipline that would appeal to an entirely different audience.