Golf Tees Off at Youth Olympic Games

(ATR) Golf returned to the Olympics for the first time in more than a century.

Panama’s Marcos Cabarcos, 17, and Guam’s Nalathai Vongjalorn, 16, had the honors as men’s and women’s Youth Olympic Games tournament play began simultaneously on holes one and ten at the Zhongshan International Golf Club.

The three-day, 54-hole stroke play tournaments began just after 8:30 AM on Tuesday at the pristine private course located approximately 30 minutes northeast of the Nanjing city center.

Although skies were overcast as the opening tee shots were sent down the fairway, the sun made an appearance shortly thereafter. The young golfers were fortunate to play their opening rounds on the nicest day of the YOG thus far.

Thirty-two boys and 32 girls from 34 countries comprise the fields with medals to be awarded on Thursday afternoon.

Antony Scanlon, the executive director of the International Golf Federation tells Around the Rings that that there has been a special feeling during practice rounds in the days preceding Tuesday’s start of competition.

"As soon as I arrived here, all I noticed was smiling faces and they haven’t stopped since," Scanlon said. "They’re so excited to be here and every one of them here says I want to qualify for the Olympic Games. If they didn’t have a goal before, they certainly have one now."

"To see these golfers teeing off with the Olympic Rings in the background is very new and something that these golfers are very excited about," said IGF communications director Malcolm Booth. "It’s great for golf and we’re very excited to be involved in the Olympic family."

Norwegian Sandra Nordaas, who began her round as part of the seventh of 11 ladies groups at 9:30 AM, compared the YOG to golf’s most elite competitions.

"It’s amazing, it’s like playing in a PGA tournament for me," said Nordaas, a 17-year-old from Oslo.

Scanlon said that despite Nanjing’s summer heat and humidity – which makes it difficult to grow grass properly – the course is in excellent shape.

"We had an agronomist work closely with the club here; the fairways are in good condition, the greens are in great condition," Scanlon said.

Upon the conclusion of the stroke-play tournaments and following a one-day break, a three-day team tournament will also be contested with one boy and one girl paired together per country.

Golf’s lengthy hiatus from Olympic status dates back to the 1904 Games in St. Louis. The sport was also played in Paris in 1900. In less than two years, the game will return to the traditional Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

"It’s been a long wait," Scanlon said.

It should be a memorable day for the sport, the young golfers and the Olympic movement.

Written by Brian Pinelli

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