Golf’s Shambolic History in the Olympics

The decision to include golf must have been based on current commercial and developmental factors, because the history of the sport in the Olympics is dire.
First included at the Paris Games in 1900, there were men’s and ladies’ events with 22 competitors, 12 men and 10 women, from four countries: nine French, eight Americans, three British and a solitary Greek.
In true Olympian style, the Greek – Alexandros Mercati – shot a 36-hole total of 246, but didn’t come last. That “honour” went to the Frenchman “Rip” Van de Wynckélé, who contrived to take 252 strokes to complete his two rounds.
Over two rounds at the Compiègne Club north of the French capital, Charles Sands of the United States shot 167, winning the gold by a stroke from Britain’s Walter Rutherford, with another Brit, David Robertson, seven shots back in third. Sands also played in the tennis event that year, losing in the first round.