Wednesday, July 31, 2024

A Look Inside the Men's 2024 Olympic Golf Competition

The men's golf competition of the 2024 Olympics kicks off tomorrow from Le Golf National Golf Course in France.


Here's an inside look at everything you need to know.

THE COURSE
Le Golf National - Par 71, 7,174 yards
Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines, France

Olympic Golf notes:
2024 Paris Olympics marks the third Games since golf was reintroduced in 2016. Prior to 2016, men’s golf was contested in the Olympics twice in the early 1900s (1900 and 1904).
  • 2016 and 2020 Medalists:
2020: Gold: Xander Schauffele (United States), Silver: Rory Sabbatini (Slovakia), Bronze: C.T. Pan (Chinese Taipei)
2016: Gold: Justin Rose (Great Britain), Silver: Henrik Stenson (Sweden), Bronze: Matt
Kuchar (United States)
  • Schauffele and Pan are the two previous medalists in this year’s field.
  • 32 countries are represented in the 60-athlete field (36 in 2020, 34 in 2016); Switzerland will be represented in the Men’s Olympic Golf Competition for the first time (Joel Girrbach)
  • Highest-ranked player in the Olympic Golf Ranking to medal: No. 2/Henrik Stenson/2016 (silver)
  • Lowest-ranked player in the Olympic Golf Ranking to medal: No. 43/C.T. Pan/2020 (bronze)
  • Min Woo Lee (Australia) will make his Olympic debut and watch the following week as sister Minjee Lee competes in the women’s competition. The Lees are the only brother-sister combination in the Olympic golf fields.
  • Byeong Hun An’s (Korea) parents, Jae-Hyung Ahn (KOR - bronze) and Jiao Zhimin (CHN – silver in doubles and bronze in singles) medaled in the 1988 Seoul Olympics in table tennis.
Field notes:
  • 10 of the top 15 players in the current Official World Golf Ranking, including all of the top seven
  • Four players will make their third Olympic appearance: Ryan Fox (New Zealand), Gavin Green (Malaysia), C.T. Pan (Chinese Taipei) and Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay)
  • 32 athletes will make their Olympic debuts, including three inside the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking: Scottie Scheffler (No. 1), Ludvig Åberg (No. 4) and Wyndham Clark (No. 5)
  • Five players competed at the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National: Tommy Fleetwood (record: 4-1-0), Rory McIlroy (2-3-0), Alex Noren (2-1-0), Jon Rahm (1-2-0) and Thorbjørn Olesen (1-1-0)
  • Three champions of the DP World Tour’s FedEx Open de France at Le Golf National: Guido Migliozzi (2022), Alex Noren (2018) and Tommy Fleetwood (2017)
  • Three players competed in the 2022 World Amateur Team Championship (Eisenhower Trophy) at Le Golf National: Ludvig Åberg (T7/Sweden), Adrien Dumont de Chassart (T11/Belgium), Keita Nakajima (T53/Japan)
  • Shane Lowry (Ireland) and Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay) were selected as flag bearers for their respective countries during the Opening Ceremony
  • Oldest competitior in the field: Camilo Villegas (42 years old)
  • Youngest competitior in the field: Tom Kim (22 years old)
Top player notes:

Defending gold medalist from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Xander Schauffele arrives in Paris as the No. 2 player in the Official World Golf Ranking after claiming his second major championship title of the year at The Open Championship at Royal Troon two weeks ago to go along with the 2024 PGA Championship.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler enters the Olympics with six victories on the PGA TOUR during the 2024 season. Scheffler is making his first start since The Open Championship where he finished
T7, his 14th top-10 finish in 16 starts on the PGA TOUR in 2024.

C.T. Pan is the only other former medalist in the field this week alongside Schauffele. Pan survived a seven-man playoff at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to earn the bronze medal. Five of the
six players he defeated in the playoff are in the field this week (Paul Casey): Hideki Matsuyama, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Sebastian Muñoz and Mito Pereira

Rory McIlroy returns for his second Olympics appearance after falling in a seven-man playoff for the bronze medal in his debut at Toyko 2020. McIlroy has two wins during the 2024 PGA TOUR
Season, with one coming alongside fellow Ireland Olympian Shane Lowry at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the PGA TOUR’s two-man team format event.

France’s Matthieu Pavon will compete in his first Olympics on his home soil after a career-changing season on the PGA TOUR that saw him claim his first title at the Farmers Insurance Open in January. Fellow countryman and three-time DP World Tour winner Victor Perez will also make his debut at this year’s Olympics after earning PGA TOUR membership for the 2024 season.

Gold medalist benefits:
Exemptions into 2025 major championships: Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open Championship

Exemption into THE PLAYERS Championship 2025

Exemption into The Sentry 2025, provided the gold medalist is a member of the PGA TOUR at the time of his victory in the Olympic Golf competition

Broadcast schedule:
Olympic Men’s Golf competition will air on GOLF and Peacock at the following times:
• Thursday, Aug. 1 – 3 (Rounds 1 – 3) 3:00a – 12:00p ET
• Sunday, Aug. 5 (Final Round) 3:00a – 12:30p ET (Medal Ceremony in final 30 minutes)

Live Scoring and Tee Times: Please visit igfgolf.org. 

TEE TIMES & GROUPINGS

 

Tee times for the first two rounds of the men’s Olympic golf competition were made available on Tuesday on igfgolf.org. Tee times will run from 09:00 to 12:39 for the first two rounds of the men’s Olympic golf competition. Please note, all times listed below are local for Paris.

 

Team France’s Victor Perez will hit the opening tee shot of the men’s Olympic golf competition at 09:00 on Thursday, 1 August 2024.

 

Complete list of tee times for the first and second round of the men’s Olympic golf competition:

 

09:00 Thursday / 10:55 Friday: Victor Perez (France), Matti Schmid (Germany), C.T. Pan (Chinese Taipei)

 

09:11 Thursday / 11:06 Friday: Thorbjørn Olesen (Denmark), Alejandro Tosti (Argentina), Joaquin Niemann (Chile)

 

09:22 Thursday / 11:17 Friday: Emiliano Grillo (Argentina), Alex Noren (Sweden), Ryan Fox (New Zealand)

 

09:33 Thursday / 11:33 Friday: Min Woo Lee (Australia), Corey Conners (Canada), Christian Bezuidenhout (South Africa)

 

09:44 Thursday / 11:44 Friday: Wyndham Clark (USA), Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), Tommy Fleetwood (Great Britain)

 

09:55 Thursday / 11:55 Friday: Sepp Straka (Austria), Jason Day (Australia), Tom Kim (Korea)

 

10:11 Thursday / 12:06 Friday: Scottie Scheffler (USA), Rory McIlroy (Ireland), Ludvig Åberg (Sweden)

 

10:22 Thursday / 12:17 Friday: Adrien Dumont de Chassart (Belgium), Daniel Hillier (New Zealand), Guido Migliozzi (Italy)

 

10:33 Thursday / 12:28 Friday: Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand), Gavin Green (Malaysia), Gaganjeet Bhullar (India)

 

10:44 Thursday / 12:39 Friday: Phachara Khongwatmai (Thailand), Abraham Ancer (Mexico), Dou Zecheng (China)

 

10:55 Thursday / 09:00 Friday: Yuan Yechun (China), Camilo Villegas (Colombia), Matteo Manassero (Italy)

 

11:06 Thursday / 09:11 Friday: Adrian Meronk (Poland), Sami Valimaki (Finland), David Puig (Spain)

 

11:17 Thursday / 09:22 Friday: Erik van Rooyen (South Africa), Keita Nakajima (Japan), Kevin Yu (Chinese Taipei)

 

11:33 Thursday / 09:33 Friday: Stephan Jaeger (Germany), Nicolai Højgaard (Denmark), Thomas Detry (Belgium)

 

11:44 Thursday / 9:44 Friday: Byeong Hun An (Korea), Shane Lowry (Ireland), Nick Taylor (Canada)

 

11:55 Thursday / 09:55 Friday: Xander Schauffele (USA), Viktor Hovland (Norway), Jon Rahm (Spain)

 

12:06 Thursday / 10:11 Friday: Matthieu Pavon (France), Collin Morikawa (USA), Matt Fitzpatrick (Great Britain)

 

12:17 Thursday / 10:22 Friday: Shubhankar Sharma (India), Rafael Campos (Puerto Rico), Carlos Ortiz (Mexico)

 

12:28 Thursday / 10:33 Friday: Nico Echavarria (Colombia), Mito Pereira (Chile), Kris Ventura (Norway)

 

12:39 Thursday / 10:44 Friday: Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay), Joel Girrbach (Switzerland), Tapio Pulkkanen (Finland)

 

COMPETITION INFORMATION

 

Name: Men’s Olympic Golf Competition

 

Venue: Le Golf National, Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines, France

 

Competition dates: 1-4 August 2024

 

REFEREES

 

Tournament Director / Technical Delegate: Billy Schroder (PGA TOUR), Tyler Dennis (PGA TOUR)

 

Chief Referee: Thomas Pagel (USGA)

 

International Technical Officials (Referees), sorted by organisation: David Garland (DP World Tour), Mark Litton (DP World Tour), Ben Groutage (DP World Tour), Sebastiano Torrisi (DP World Tour), Alain Rathery (Fédération Française de Golf), Ghislaine Quelavoine (Fédération Française de Golf), Davide Lantos (Ladies European Tour), Annie Giangrosso (LPGA), Kerry Haigh (PGA of America), Mike Raby (PGA of America), Gary Young (PGA TOUR), Stephen Cox (PGA TOUR), Steven Rintoul (PGA TOUR), Robby Ware (PGA TOUR), Shona McRae (The R&A), Grant Moir (The R&A), Conor Finlay (The R&A), Craig Winter (USGA)

 

Garland and Haigh will oversee course set-up for the men’s Olympic golf competition.

 

Score recorders: Tommy Tangtiphaiboontana (LPGA) & Steve Ethun (Augusta National)

 

Official starters: Heather Daly-Donofrio (USGA) & Philippe Sabarros (France)

 

LOCAL RULES

 

Unusual local rules for the men’s Olympic golf competition: There is a “no play zone” on holes No. 5 and No. 13 due to environmentally sensitive areas. The red penalty area defined by the red line (and identified by red stakes with black tops) to the left of the fairway on No. 13 and at the rear of the No. 5 green 5 are defined as “no play zones.”

 

COMPETITION-RELATED INFORMATION FOR LE GOLF NATIONAL

 

Opened: October 1990

 

Course designers: Hubert Chesneau with Robert von Hagge as a consultant

 

Course record & holder: 9-under 62 (Eduardo Romero/2005), Martin Kaymer/2009, Guido Migliozzi/2022)

 

Superintendent/greenkeeper: Lucas Pierre

 

Routing changes for the men’s Olympic golf competition: None

 

Potential major tee moves: Hole 2 may be played from a forward tee.

 

GREENS

 

Type of grass: Mix of Bent / Meadow

 

Height of cut: 3.2 mm

 

FAIRWAYS

 

Type of grass: Mix of Bent, Rye and Fescue

 

Height of cut: 9 mm

 

TEES/COLLARS

 

Type of grass: Mix of Rye / Fescue

 

Height of cut: 9 mm

 

ROUGH

 

Type of grass: Mix of Fescue / Rye

 

Height of cut (step cut): 25 mm

 

Height of cut (second cut): 63mm

 

Height of cut (intermediate): 83 mm

 

Height of cut (rough): 120 mm

 

ADDITIONAL COURSE INFORMATION

 

Per Le Golf National, the lakes are full of some of the largest carp in this part of the world.

 

Water is prevalent across the property and will be a key feature down the closing holes, including No. 15, No. 16 and No. 18. Those holes act as a natural amphitheatre, sitting beneath the main grandstand at No. 18 green. Water is also featured across the following holes: No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 9, No. 10, No. 11, No. 13, No. 15, No. 16 and No. 18.

 

OLYMPIC GOLF ON SOCIAL MEDIA

 

Please follow and engage with the IGF on social media at @OlympicGolf on XInstagram and Facebook.

 

The Olympic Golf social media channels will post the daily hole locations and weather as well as behind-the-scenes, off-course content with the athletes.

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