(ATR) International Golf Federation and Rio 2016 officials tell Around the Rings the golf test event has what's needed for success.
Scheduled Mar. 8 the field of nine Brazilian golfers, five men and four women, will play one 18-hole round in stroke-play format. The IGF had hoped to bring international golfers for the event, but logistics and a crowded schedule doomed that effort saysIGF vice-president Ty Votaw.
Even with an all Brazilian event, the IGF believes the event will leave Rio 2016 more than prepared to handle the Olympic golf tournaments.
"This is a good next step in the process," Votaw added. "We expect to test 99.9 percent of the venue."
Votaw said while there were hopes international pros could make the trip, the Brazilians are all high level players.
"We hope it helps create a legacy for Brazil by having Brazilian players compete in the test event," he said.
He said that the IGF hopes to stage some fundraisers with the Brazilian Golf Confederation between the test event and the Olympics.
Rio 2016 Executive Sports Director Agberto Guimarães told ATR he did not believe the quality of the test event would suffer due to the number of participants.
"The level of the event and the amount of athletes and the quality of the event is pretty much dictated by an agreement between Rio 2016 and the respective international federation," Guimarães added. "So if the IGF feels comfortable with what we set up with them I think Rio 2016 has nothing against them."
Delivering the Olympic golf course to the test event has been a long, drawn-out process for the city of Rio de Janeiro. Environmental groups originally tried to block the construction of the course, asking for holes to be moved to accommodate the wildlife in the area. One hole was eventually moved, and a wildlife corridor was created on the course. Eventually the lawsuits were thrown out paving way for the course to be completed.
The course will be the only public golf course in Rio de Janeiro. Golf was last played at the 1904 Olympics. The sport was added in 2013 to the 2016 and 2020 Olympics along with rugby.
Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro
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