When Did Golf Become An Olympic Sport? What we Know

Golf has been officially recognized in the Summer Olympics games. When the Summer Olympics first got started, golf was not included in the competition until 1900, when it was first featured in the Summer Olympics. 

The Summer Olympics 2024 has just begun. Excitedly, golf would be featured this year after a long time. Sports lovers who were not aware of the involvement of Golf in the Olympic Games are curious about the development. Read on to learn when golf was recognized in the Olympic Games and the events surrounding this recognition.

Why Golf was not an Olympic Sport.

In the 1900 Summer Olympics games, golf was officially played although it wasn’t regarded as part of the games at the time. Moving forward to the 1904 Olympics, golf was also played as a part of the games, having Albert Lambert as the only golfer to. compete in both tournaments. In 1908, the scheduled golf tournament was canceled due to a lack of entries. This happened just two days before the tournament was scheduled to be held.

Within the 1908 and 1920 Summer Olympics Games, two golf tournaments were not held due to lack of players. Within the short period of its recognition in the Summer Olympic Games, it had 98 players.

In subsequent years after the 1904 tournament, Golf was not played until it was brought back in 2016. 

Will Golf be Played in the 2024 Olympics?

After the long break, Golf was brought back into the Summer Olympics Games in 2016, and will also be played in the 2024 Olympics. The men’s tournament began on Thursday, 1st August having Sixty of the world’s top golfers in the tournament including four American star golfers.

There are no cuts in the game of golf.  It features 18-hole rounds with a stroke play format where the golfer with the lowest number of strikes after 72 holes is crowned the winner.