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his summer, after well over a
hundred years away, and after
a decade and more of work,
golf makes its long-awaited return
to the Olympic Games in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, home to the Games of
the XXXI Olympiad.
When golf was accepted back
into the fold by the International
Olympic Committee (IOC), it
was initially for a period of two
Olympiads, 2016 and 2020, with
the intention to review the success
of the experiment afterwards. So,
for the promoters of Olympic golf,
notably the International Golf
Federation (which is accepted as
the worldwide lead body for the
game), it was vitally important to
get both spot on. Rio did not have
a course suitable for the Olympic
competition, so organizers decided
to build one from scratch on a sandy
but degraded site at Barra de Tijuca,
close to the main Olympic park.
After in-depth selection process,
the firm led by architect Gil Hanse,
ASGCA, and his partner Jim Wagner,
was chosen to design it.
When Tokyo won the right to
stage the 2020 Games, the situation
was rather different, given the
Japanese capital’s impressive range
of golf courses. There, the organisers
determined to use the East course
at the Kasumigaseki Club, designed
originally in the 1920s by English
architect Hugh Alison, and long
regarded as one of Japan’s elite
courses. But the course needed a
thorough renovation to prepare it for
for the Games. Notably, the two greens
per hole system that was common in
Japanese golf as a way to deal with the
country’s extremely varied climate—
but can now be eliminated, due to the
availability of better strains of warm
season grasses. The firm of Tom Fazio,
ASGCA, was selected to handle the
Kasumigaseki work, and, though the
Games is still more than four years
away, work is almost done.
By Design
spoke to Hanse and Fazio to compare
their experiences.
Olympic Golf
|
Adam Lawrence
Golf returns to
Olympic family
OLYMPIC GOLF
16
|
By Design
With golf returning to the Summer Olympic Games itinerary for
the first time since 1904, Adam Lawrence speaks to architects
working to prepare the venues for the 2016 and 2020 games
Photo: Rio 2016