PGA Tour "Frustrated" Over Rio Golf Course Delays

(ATR) Executive VP Ty Votaw tells Around the Rings the PGA Tour is "frustrated" over construction delays with the golf course for Rio 2016.

Two weeks after Olympics organizers announced work is underway to clear the land of non-native vegetation, Votaw confirmed Tuesday only a single, limited-purpose permit has so far been issued.

The permit does not yet allow machinery on the Barra de Tijuca site, ATR understands.

"We’re frustrated that it has taken everything this long to get everything in place so that full construction can start," said Votaw, also a VP of the International Golf Federation.

Asked how worried he is about the timeline, he denied building is behind schedule and said he’s "encouraged" by the initial permit being granted and by the clearance work commencing last month.

According to Votaw, the PGA Tour has received "every assurance" from Rio 2016 that the ongoing ownership dispute over the site is not an issue of great concern.

His comments come five months after a Brazilian company announced its intent to erect a housing complex atop land set aside for the Games.

Elmway Participacoes, the firm fighting Olympics organizers for ownership, said at the time earlier plans to negotiate over the course will be abandoned if its ongoing suit proves successful.

Lawyers are seeking a court order to bar any building on the site, a move that has so far failed in the three-plus years of this dispute.

Rio 2016 has insisted all commitments will be delivered despite the legal wrangling, but the IGF, the IOC, course designer Gil Hanse and now the PGA Tour are all expressing frustration over the delays.

Asked at what point stakeholders must begin exploring other venue options, Votaw said he’d "rather not deal in deadlines and just make sure we continue to work with Rio 2016 and the landowner-developer on getting started" at the chosen site.

"The construction work is due to begin on the Rio 2016 Olympic golf course during the month of April, and this remains the case," a Rio 2016 spokesperson told ATRlate Tuesday.

"We will of course let you know as soon as we are in position to announce the start of this next phase of work."

Votaw, who led the IGF’s bid for Olympics reinstatement, was instrumental in getting golf back in the Games for the first time since St. Louis 1904.

He now oversees the PGA Tour’s involvement in the 2016 tournament, which includes providing design and consulting services to the landowner-developer in Rio, the IGF as well as Hanse.

Reported by Matthew Grayson

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