While the International Olympic Committee hasn't officially
approved golf for inclusion in the Olympic Program for the 2016 Summer Games, a
vote is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 9, the odds are equal to the likelihood that
Tiger Woods walks away with PGA Tour Player of the Year Honors.
The bigger question is whether or not Chicago will host the 2016 Summer Games. Tomorrow in Copenhagen, Denmark a delegation led by President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle will be present to make a final plea for the Games and to witness the subsequent voting that will determine the winner. The Obamas will be joined by parties from other cities vying for the Games which include Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.
If the Windy City does come out on top in the voting, Cog Hill Golf and Country Club is making a strong case to be the Olympic Golf venue. On the heels of a multi-million dollar renovation spearheaded by Rees Jones and a successful BMW Championship won by Woods, Golf Magazine listed Dubsdread among its Top 100 Courses in the U.S. And, Cog Hill was the only public course among the six Illinois courses that made the list. The other courses that were ranked are; Chicago Golf Club (No. 15), Medinah No. 3 (No. 36), Shoreacres (No. 43), Olympia Fields North (No. 86), Butler National (No. 93).
Having the Olympics on a public course is the logical route to take, and that idea is also backed by the world's first billionaire athlete.
"I think you would have to have it on a public venue," Woods said prior to last month's BMW Championship. I don't think you could have it at a country club. I think you'd have to have it a public venue just because of what the nature of the Olympics is all about. Certainly this golf course is stand-alone in public venues here in the Chicago area. I don't know another golf course that could rival this one as far as difficulty; a public course."
Back to the matter of who gets the games. Mr. Obama has already received his fair share of criticism for embarking on what many on the right are deeming a trivial voyage considering the urgent debate on health care that is taking place in the halls of Congress. Earlier this week I read a viewpoint that really leads me to believe that such a media savvy and image conscious President wouldn't make the trip to Denmark if the victory wasn't already a certainty.
The National Review's Ramesh Ponruru writes, "Some people seem to think that the president is taking time away from more important things to go get the credit for bringing the Olympics to Chicago. Does anyone seriously believe that the president would take a quick trip to Copenhagen with the possibility of coming back empty-handed? If the president is going, it's because he knows that Chicago has already won. He's going.
If that's the case, do we really want to see a 40-year-old Tiger Woods teeing it up on a regular PGA Tour course that he'll have won at roughly 213 times by 2016? I certainly don't.
After careful consideration, I am almost 100 percent sure the games are headed to Chicago. And that means golf will make its debut in the U.S., most likely at Cog Hill.
Sorry to sound so unpatriotic, but it would be far more beneficial for golf and the world to have Rio de Janeiro host the 2016 Summer Games. It would be the first time a South American nation has hosted the games, and would in a way legitimize a whole continent and provide funding for Brazil to upgrade critical infrastructure. At this moment, Brazil is very limited in the amount of public golf courses it offers and doesn't have any professional players of note that I can think of. Playing Olympic Golf in Brazil would lead to major growth of the sport in South America.
Plus, I'd like to see if a middle-aged Tiger Woods could make the trip to South America and win the gold medal. It would certainly be more of a challenge than winning gold in Chicago. If Woods wasn't fond of Liberty National, he probably won't be too pleased with a brand new course carved out of the Brazilian jungle.