# Olympic Golf is a joke! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 11, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673 "2016-07-11T17:45:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/1 "2016-07-11T17:45:07Z")
Jordan Spieth joins the long list of golfers who won’t participate in Rio. I’m sure the real reason isn’t Zika, but has more to do with the PGA schedule and sponsorship logos. So far, out is Rory Mcllory, Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott, and Jason Day plus others in sure I’ve forgotten. Let’s end the experiment after Rio. And thankfully The Open Championship is the week, far more compelling. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/2 "2016-07-11T18:23:44Z")
The whole damn Olympics are a joke. I can’t take credit for this thought since I got it off the radio. But the entire Olympics need to be re-done and include only sports that have no professional league associated with them. Track? Check. Swimming? Check. Gymnastics? Check. Basketball? Nope. Baseball? Nuh-uh. Golf? Nyope. etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/3 "2016-07-11T19:30:48Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > include only sports that have no professional league associated with them. I tend to agree, though it’s never going to happen. But at least there should be some distinguishing feature to the olympic version of the sports. At least basketball plays under international rules, so there’s a bit of uniqueness to it. I think the golf should be some kind of weird format - make it 2-player teams, with one round alternate shot, one round scramble, etc. As it is it’s just a normal tournament, and there’s a bunch of more prestigious ones exactly like it. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/4 "2016-07-11T20:08:18Z")
Men’s Olympic soccer is also different in that all players must be under 23, with the exception of 3. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/5 "2016-07-11T20:14:49Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > The whole damn Olympics are a joke. > > I can’t take credit for this thought since I got it off the radio. But the entire Olympics need to be re-done and include only sports that have no professional league associated with them. > > Track? Check. > Swimming? Check. > Gymnastics? Check. > Basketball? Nope. > Baseball? Nuh-uh. > Golf? Nyope. > > etc. etc. See, I wouldn’t say “get rid of those associated with a pro league.” I’d say deep six those that don’t pass the Hallmark test-- that is, eliminate sports that don’t care enough to send their very best. Both men’s and women’s basketball seem to do that reasonably well–at least I believe that lots of NBA and WNBA players take part. Men’s soccer, on the other hand… ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/6 "2016-07-11T20:30:34Z")
The Olympics used to be strictly amateur … no profession athletes of any kind … but money got in the way … not sure when that changed, 70’s or 80’s I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/7 "2016-07-11T20:34:45Z")
You do know that the majority of those sports you want to keep because there are no pro leagues actually have pro athletes participating right? The track and field championships are professional now. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/8 "2016-07-11T20:47:46Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > You do know that the majority of those sports you want to keep because there are no pro leagues actually have pro athletes participating right? The track and field championships are professional now. True. But everyone who do those national/world tournaments are all doing them knowing that the Olympics is the final goal. It’s not the same with the other league sports I’m referencing. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/9 "2016-07-11T20:49:35Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > The Olympics used to be strictly amateur … no profession athletes of any kind … but money got in the way … not sure when that changed, 70’s or 80’s I believe. Sponsorship money and advertising wasn’t the only issue; so was fundamental unfairness. Only allowing “amateurs” presents serious problems because it was often used in the past to eliminate anyone who was not wealthy enough to pursue the sport full-time without other sources of income, or was unable to obtain sponsorship by someone with deep pockets (and the sponsors often discriminated against minorities and the like). It also did nothing to prevent “shamateurs,” a term used to describe full-time _de facto_ professional state-sponsored athletes, especially in Eastern Bloc countries. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/10 "2016-07-11T20:51:50Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > The Olympics used to be strictly amateur … no profession athletes of any kind … but money got in the way … not sure when that changed, 70’s or 80’s I believe. While this was, AFAIK, technically true, the Soviet bloc flouted it in the 1960s and 1970s, and they had “full-time amateur athletes” – athletes who were employed by the state, technically at a non-athletic job, which had few (or no) actual duties. This is what led to things like the Miracle on Ice, in which the US team was college students, and the Soviet team was men in the 20s and 30s, who were amateurs in name only. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/11 "2016-07-11T20:55:19Z")
Also discussed [here](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/sports/olympics/06vecsey.html?_r=0): > [@](#): > > …Mercenary motives are here to stay, which is fine with David Wallechinsky, one of the great authorities of Olympic sports, who contends amateurism was overrated. > > “It was the English upper classes who created the myth of amateurism so they didn’t have to compete against the workers,” said Wallechinsky, who recently issued the 2008 version of his valuable reference, “The Complete Book of the Olympics.” > > The concept of amateurism was tested by quasi-professional outfits like the old Soviet Union, with its hard-bitten hockey players who were, inevitably, humble soldiers who just happened to have a wicked slap shot. Cuban boxers were allegedly amateurs, too. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/12 "2016-07-11T21:08:39Z")
I’d get rid of all sports that rely on subjective judgements ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/13 "2016-07-11T22:58:57Z")
Sweet no more boxing, gymnastics or race walking. Bye bye diving and synchronized swimming as well. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/14 "2016-07-11T23:15:06Z")
Don’t take away my diving! I think events in which there is already a more prestigious tournament in which an athlete can represent their country should be eliminated. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/15 "2016-07-11T23:57:41Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I’d get rid of all sports that rely on subjective judgements Agree. Also take away the ones involving horses (since they have the Triple Crown anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/16 "2016-07-12T01:18:39Z")
I like the Olympics because it’s one chance every four years to see sports get almost no coverage the rest of the time. For people who like to watch golf, tennis, and basketball it’s not like they’re starved for options. Basketball especially, it already takes over the whole month of March. > [@snowthx](#): > > Agree. Also take away the ones involving horses (since they have the Triple Crown anyway). It’s not quite the same thing. The Triple Crown is just to see which horse is fastest; equestrian events in the Olympics are dressage, jumping, and cross-country. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/17 "2016-07-13T13:39:47Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I like the Olympics because it’s one chance every four years to see sports get almost no coverage the rest of the time. For people who like to watch golf, tennis, and basketball it’s not like they’re starved for options. Basketball especially, it already takes over the whole month of March. > > It’s not quite the same thing. The Triple Crown is just to see which horse is fastest; equestrian events in the Olympics are dressage, jumping, and cross-country. What about those Modern Pentathletes. I agree with the OP though; The Olympics should be the the pinnacle of whatever sport is represented, which it clearly isn’t in Golf, Tennis or Soccer. I’d love to see Netball as an Olympic sport. At the top level it’s mesmerising. Well… maybe not mesmerising, but it’s well worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/18 "2016-08-16T19:00:10Z")
Sunday’s final round got the best golf ratings all year, except for the Masters. > **[Golf Gets Olympic Bump on NBC, Golf Channel](https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2016/08/olympic-golf-ratings-nbc-highest-since-masters/)** > > As it has for tennis, basketball and hockey in the past, the Olympics gave golf a major viewership bump in the sport's return to the Games. Final round This is probably the main metric that will determine if Olympic Golf continues past 2020. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/19 "2016-08-16T20:52:29Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Sunday’s final round got the best golf ratings all year, except for the Masters. > > [Golf Gets Olympic Bump on NBC, Golf Channel - Sports Media Watch](http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2016/08/olympic-golf-ratings-nbc-highest-since-masters/) > > This is probably the main metric that will determine if Olympic Golf continues past 2020. Perhaps so. Altho, I also heard that some of the top players skipping the Olympics may also affect Golf continuing past Tokyo. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673/20 "2016-08-16T21:06:45Z")
> [@robby](#): > > Sponsorship money and advertising wasn’t the only issue; so was fundamental unfairness. > > Only allowing “amateurs” presents serious problems because it was often used in the past to eliminate anyone who was not wealthy enough to pursue the sport full-time without other sources of income, or was unable to obtain sponsorship by someone with deep pockets (and the sponsors often discriminated against minorities and the like). > > It also did nothing to prevent “shamateurs,” a term used to describe full-time _de facto_ professional state-sponsored athletes, especially in Eastern Bloc countries. “I’m just a soldier, obeying all lawful orders from my immediate superior.” “Well, that’s commendable; what duties does he task you with?” “Uh, playing basketball, mostly.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-golf-is-a-joke/759673.md?page=2)