After a 112-year absence, golf is returning to the Olympic programme in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro!
To mark this event, The Olympic Museum, in collaboration with the International Golf Federation (IGF), is devoting an exhibition to golf. The exhibition will be on at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne until 31 January 2016.
Staged at two editions of the Games (Paris 1900 and St Louis 1904), golf is getting its Olympic swing back.
A SIX-HOLE COURSE DESIGN
The design, with its six “holes”, offers a “walk through the course” to visitors, enabling them to discover everything about this sport before the upcoming Games: its origins, the equipment, Rules, courses and the biggest golfing icons. No “green fee” is required to enter, as the exhibition is free of charge.
After its time at the Olympic Museum , the Swing exhibit will have a lasting legacy . It will be presented in the fan zone at the golf venue during the Rio 2 01 6 Olympic Games and following that will visit the museums, tournaments and offices of a vast number of the IGFs 168 members around the world.
AN INTERACTIVE EXHIBITION
With its interactive quizzes to test one’s knowledge about golf and the OMEGA Putt Challenge, this exhibition has something for everyone.
A GAME OF VALUES
“The IGF is extremely grate ful to the IOC for the wonderful opportunity this exhibit provides to show case the return of golf as an Olympic sport . As you will see in this exhibit much has changed in our sport since it was last in the Olympic Programme. But what has not changed are the values of golf and the spirit in which golf is played and governed. Integrity, Respect, Excellence and Solidarity
are values that are in harmony with those of the Olympic movement and on display in this exhibit. Golf’s admission to the Olympic Programme has unified our sport . This exhibition is a great example of this unity and how daily the IGF collaborates with its membership in fulfilling its mission” , as Peter
Dawson, IGF President no ted during the inauguration ceremony of the exhibition.
“The return o f Golf to the Games is not o nly good news for all Golf fans around the world, but this exhibition also highlights values that are really important for the development of the Olympic spirit”, echoed Francis Gabet , IOC Director o f Culture & Heritage. “I would like to take two examples that you will discover or re-disco ver in our exhibition: One is gender equality as golf was one of the first sports to have female athletes competing at the second edition of the modern Olympic Games in 1900 . The second is the birth of Golf which is linked with the desire of peace by the people: in fact, the first official mention of golf was in 1457 when K ing James the second banned it because people were playing golf instead o f training to defend cities and villages!”
PRODUCTION AND CONTRIBUTORS
This exhibitio n was created by the Olympic Museum in partnership with the International Golf Federation (IGF), with the scientific help of the Wo rld Golf Hall of Fame & Museum (USA), The British Golf Museum (UK) , USGA M useum and Golf Canada. The scenography was imagined by «L’atelier Caravane» (FR).
