IOC boss on Golf’s Olympic future

Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach on golf’s potential.

It’s been far from plain sailing since golf secured its place in the Olympic Games for Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, so who better than the IOC President Thomas Bach to provide an insight into what the future holds for the sport…

What will golf need to show to stay on the Olympic roster?

It’s about having the best players of the world and evaluating how attractive the golf tournament is on a worldwide scale. This will be a new experience for golf, to see how it does in the middle of a multi-sport event and having to nd its role. But I’m very sure that golf will nd its place.

Are you worried that the biggest names in golf may forego a place in the Olympics?

I’m very con dent that we will have the best golf players of the world
performing in Rio de Janeiro. It’s a unique opportunity to promote golf on a real worldwide scale in more than 200 countries.

Could we see a matchplay format in the future?

We are evaluating all the sports and we will discuss with the relevant international federations if we think matchplay could be a more interesting format. We can still make a change for the Tokyo Olympics.

Would you ever consider a team competition?

It’s too early to say. With the Olympic Agenda 2020, we have set very clear limits with regard to the number of participants. We also have a rule which limits the number of events and we’d have to see whether additional events would t into this overall programme.