should golf be added to the summer olympics

No. golf sucks, IMO =]

no

Yes and no. It is not a sport, technically. it is a game. So in that aspect, l respect golf for what it is. However, golf is way more of a sport than shooting, or ping pong. It is a competition, but no scored sport in the olympics gets the win with the low score, like golf. Maybe if it were a golf race>?????

hell no. that isnt even a valid sport.

There are enough sports in the present Olympics. Every time one turns around there is another added. Get the sports which can be played withing the immediate confines of the arena and let golf stay as it is. There are ample golf competitions without adding the venue to the Olympics.

Although l love the game of golf & think it is just as physically or mentally demanding as any sport in the Olympics, l do not think it should be added to the list. The Olympics is about fast paced, exciting, & interesting sports that will draw the eye of viewers & they will catch onto the sport easily. Golf is not an easy game to understand, especially on TV because they switch from player to player. Thus, it would be hard for viewers to understand & although l find it quite intriguing, many people don't. Also, part of the Olympics is about the audience. Golf is not an easy sport for an audience, as they either have to follow players around the course or stay at one hole the entire time. One more thing is: who would they choose to represent the USA? There r tons of Pro men & woman golfers out there, who would all be eligible to play. Simply, golf is an individual sport, not meant to be played on a team. In addition, there r not enough golfers around the world to play. Golfers come from Korea & Europe to play tournaments in the USA. Golfers come from the USA to play tournaments in Europe. Therefore, it is just a fact that golf is not to be played in the Olympics due to lack of formal ''teams'' throughout the countries.

l would say, let there be a long drive competition.the same ball to be used.conforming to the USGA standards and the longest drive win.

yes. its better than sports like judo

There r three major obstacles:

1) Window/timeframe. The Olympics occur during the peak of the US PGA Tour & the European Tour seasons. You have players pursuing Order of Merit/FedEx Cup points plus winnings. Golf already has four majors, annual team competitions (Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup; women have the Solheim Cup). August is in prime golf season; what kind of dispensation do u give to players selected to the Olympics; do they earn Order of Merit/FedEx Cup points? What about earnings? Golfers r technically independent contractors.
2) Currently the IOC is not adding any other sports; if you're going to add sports, rugby (sevens) has been trying to get in for decades. The cricket folks think they have an arguement to make. Softball & baseball r going away. It is not about what works best for American audiences; the sport must have global appeal. Golf certainly has popularity in many parts of the world.
3) Format/number of athletes. The easiest fit would be to have a 16 team competition (2 players-team); that would only add 32 athletes.
You could also do a 32-player matchplay; 2 rounds of medal play to determine seedings, then matchplay from there on.

Yes, but not for the pros. The Olympics r a celebration of amateur sports (and yes, Golf IS a sport, for all of u idiots who dont understand what the definition of a sport is.) Golf would be a perfect Olympic sport. You dont need to build a brand new arena that costs millions of dollars, there r already plenty of courses in place. You cna have individual & team competition, & it can be played in all different kinds of scoring formats. It is hugely popular sport, & would draw lots of attention from fans all over the world. Imagine the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, & all the WGC golf events grouped into one, & youve got Olympic Golf. But once again, this is only for the amateurs. The pros have too much going on in all of the big tours this time of year. It would be great every four years to get to see all the up & coming college talent that will be on the tour in the near future. We could even witness the rise of a new superstar. Could u imagine watching Tiger as a college student dominating the Olympics? It would have been his coming out party to the pros, instead of the 97' Masters..

Totally