Women's Olympic Golf Competition Notes

The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics mark the third Games golf has been contested since it was reintroduced in 2016.

Prior to 2016, women’s golf was contested in the Olympics twice in the early 1900s (1900 and 1904).

2016 and 2020 medalists; bold = in the field:

2020: Gold: Nelly Korda (United States), Silver: Mone Inami (Japan), Bronze: Lydia Ko (New Zealand)

In 2020, Inami defeated Ko with a two-putt par on the first extra hole to earn the silver medal

2016: Gold: Inbee Park (Republic of Korea), Silver: Lydia Ko (New Zealand), Bronze: Shanshan Feng (China)

33 countries are represented in the 60-athlete field (35 in 2020, 34 in 2016); Singapore will be represented in the Women’s Olympic Golf Competition for the first time (Shannon Tan)

All medalists of the last two women’s Olympic golf competitions have all qualified within the top 20 of the Olympic Golf Ranking

Highest-ranked player in the Olympic Golf Ranking to medal: No. 1 – Lydia Ko, 2016 (silver); Nelly Korda, 2020 (gold)

Lowest-ranked player in the Olympic Golf Ranking to medal: No. 19/Mone Inami/2020 (silver)

Minjee Lee (Australia) will be making her third Olympic appearance following her brother Min Woo’s Olympic debut in the men’s competition last week. The Lees are the only brother-sister combination in the Olympic golf fields.

Nelly Korda’s (USA) mother, Regina, competed for the former Czechoslovakia in at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul; she lost in the first round to Leila Meskhi.

Mariajo Uribe (Colombia) will be retiring from professional golf following her third Olympic start in Paris. She finished 19th in 2016 and 50th in 2020. She is also one of four mothers competing, along with Noora Komulainen (Finland), Azahara Munoz(Spain) and Ursula Wikstrom (Finland).

 

Field notes:

• 12 of the top 15 players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings including all of the top seven in the world: Nelly Korda (USA), Lilia Vu (USA), Jin Young Ko (Republic of Korea), Amy Yang(Republic of Korea), Ruoning Yin (China), Hannah Green (Australia)

• 15 players will make their third Olympic appearance:Aditi Ashok (India), Carlota Ciganda (Spain),  Brooke Henderson (Canada), Lydia Ko (New Zealand), Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Denmark), Minjee Lee (Australia), Xiyu Lin (China), Gaby Lopez (Mexico), Leona Maguire (Ireland),Stephanie Meadow (Ireland), Azahara Munoz(Spain), Alena Sharp (Canada), Klara Davidson Spilkova (Czech Republic), Mariajo Uribe(Colombia) and Albane Valenzuela (Switzerland)

• 24 athletes will be making their Olympic debuts, including three within the Rolex Rankings top 10: No. 2 Lilia Vu (USA), No. 5 Ruoning Yin (China) and No. 9 Rose Zhang (USA)

• Two players that competed in the 2022 World Amateur Team Championships (Espirito Santo Trophy) at Le Golf National: Alexandra Forsterling, T16 (Germany) and Rose Zhang, T1 (USA)

• Six players who are or have reached World No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings: Jin Young Ko (Korea), Lydia Ko (New Zealand), Nelly Korda (USA), Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand), Lilia Vu (USA), Ruoning Yin(China)

• 11 past Solheim Cup participants representing Europe: Celine Boutier, France (2019, 2021, 2023), Carlota Ciganda, Spain (2012, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023), Linn Grant, Sweden (2023) Charley Hull, Great Britain (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023), Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Denmark (2021), Leona Maguire, Ireland (2021, 2023), Azahara Munoz, Spain (2011, 2013, 2015, 2019), Emily K. Pedersen, Denmark (2017, 2021, 2023), Maja Stark, Sweden (2023) and Anne Van Dam, Netherlands (2019); all three from Team USA are past Solheim participants: Nelly Korda (2019, 2021, 2023), Lilia Vu (2023) and Rose Zhang(2023)

• 15 LPGA Tour major championship winners with 22 major titles earned between the players, including three of the four LPGA Tour 2024 major champions:Nelly Korda (USA, The Chevron Championship), Yuka Saso (Japan, U.S. Women’s Open) and Amy Yang (Korea, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship)

• Ines Laklalech (Morocco) was selected as a flag bearer for her country in the Opening Ceremonies

• Oldest competitor in the field: Ursula Wikstrom, 44 years old (3 July, 1980)
• Youngest competitior in the field: Shannon Tan, 20 years old  (9 April, 2004)

 

Top player notes:

• Defending gold medalist from the 2020 TokyoOlympics, Nelly Korda, arrives in Paris as the No. 1 player in the Rolex Rankings. Korda has amassed six wins on the LPGA Tour in 2024 (14 career titles), including five in consecutive events played, which tied the LPGA Tour record. Korda earned her second major championship in April, The Chevron Championship. She is making her first professional golf appearance since a T26 result at The Amundi Evian Championship. Korda is one of three women representatives in the women’s competition, along with Rolex Rankings No. 2 Lilia Vu and No. 9 Rose Zhang. Vu, Zhang and Korda are among the nine 2024 LPGA Tour winners in the women’s competition.

• The 2016 silver medalist and 2020 bronze medalistLydia Ko is the only other past medalist in the field this week. In Rio, Ko shot a 2-under 69 in the final round to earn a medal for New Zealand to finish at 11-under par, five shots back of gold medalist Inbee Park (-16). In 2020, Ko and eventual silver medalist Mone Inami shot 65s to tie at 16-under overall. Ko won her 20th LPGA Tour victory this past January since her first in 2012 as an amateur. She is now one point away from the necessary 27 needed towards LPGA Hall of Fame induction, and has the ability to earn one Hall of Fame point with a gold medal.

• Celine Boutier is one of two players to represent France in the women’s Olympic golf competition, along with Perrine Delacour. Boutier had the best season of her career in 2023 where she earned four wins, including a major championship, The Amundi Evian Championship, in her home country. The six-time LPGA Tour winner and three-time European Solheim Cup participant claims Le Golf National as her home course.

• Following the women’s week, Mariajo Uribe, a 2010 LPGA Tour rookie and making her third appearance in the Olympics, will be retiring from professional golf. Uribe solidified her place in the Olympic Golf Ranking after her first Ladies European Tour victory at the Women’s NSW Open this past March as a sponsor exemption. In November, the 34-year-old won silver for Colombia at the Pan American Games, her third Pan Am Games medal of her career. Uribe has been an LPGA Tour Member since 2010 and earned a victory at the unofficial HSBC Brazil Cup in 2011. One of four moms in the women’s Olympic field, Uribe gave birth to son Lucca in January 2021

• Aditi Ashok is coming off a tie for 22nd at the LPGA Tour’s Portland Classic that ended this past Sunday as she enters her third Olympic start. Ashok, who had her father on the bag in 2016 and her mother in 2020, was in medal contention in Tokyo before carding a 3-under 68 in the final round to finish 15-under, just one shot off the medal places. She was 45th on the Olympic Golf Ranking back in 2020 and No. 200 in the Rolex Rankings heading into the competition. Ashok’s X account grew 204% during the Olympics, with her Instagram following grew by 873%. The native of India is in the middle of playing eight-straight weeks dating back to The Amundi Evian Championship; the Olympics is her fifth-consecutive week playing.

 

Gold medalist benefits:

• Exemptions into the 2024 AIG Women’s Open, 2025 Chevron Championship, 2025 U.S. Women’s Open, 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship and 2025 Amundi Evian Championship

• One point towards the LPGA Hall of Fame

• Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking points

 

Broadcast schedule:

Olympic Women’s Golf competition will air on GOLF and Peacock at the following times:

• Thursday, Aug. 7 – 9 (Rounds 1 – 3)         3:00a – 12:00p ET

• Sunday, Aug. 10 (Final Round)                  3:00a – 12:30p ET  (Medal Ceremony in final 30 minutes)

 

Tee Times & Groupings:

Tee times for the first two rounds of the women’s Olympic golf competition were made available on Monday onwww.igfgolf.org. Tee times will run from 09:00 to 12:39 for the first two rounds of the women’s Olympic golf competition. Please note, all times listed below are local for Paris. Team France’s Perrine Delacour will hit the opening tee shot of the women’s Olympic golf competition at 09:00 on Wednesday, 7 August 2024.

 

Referees:

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

 

Chief Referee: Shona McRae (The R&A)

 

International Technical Officials (Referees), sorted by organisation: Mark Litton (DP World Tour), Eric Coudrier (Fédération Française de Golf), Davide Lantos (Ladies European Tour), Christiane Stenger (Ladies European Tour), Joao Paulo Pinto (Ladies European Tour), Annie Giangrosso (LPGA), Sue Witters (LPGA), Missy Jones (LPGA), Kerry Haigh (PGA of America) Ted Antonopoulos (PGA of America), Steven Rintoul (PGA TOUR), Shona McRae (The R&A), Claire Hargan (The R&A), Roger Bathurst (The R&A), Thomas Pagel (USGA), Kathryn Belanger (USGA), Bryan Lewis (USGA). 

 

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

 

Score recorders: Dominic Wall (The R&A) & Courtney Myhrum (USGA).

Official starters: Heather Daly-Donofrio (USGA) & Claudia Garduño de Camargo (IGF Board Member, Mexican Golf Federation) 

 

Local Rules:

Unusual local rules for the women’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 the Women’s Olympic Golf Competition:

Opened: October 1990

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

Course record & holder: 62, which has been posted on six occasions: Scottie Scheffler (2024), Nicolai Højgaard (2024), Rasmus Højgaard (2022), Guido Migliozzi (2022), Martin Kaymer (2009), Eduardo Romero (2005) 

Superintendent/greenkeeper: Lucas Pierre

 

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): 23 mm

Height of cut (second cut): 63mm

Height of cut (intermediate): 73 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.