Olympic Golf - A Day In The Life

Have you caught the bug?  The intense heat hear in the east and a relatively light schedule allowed me to catch the front and back ends, though of course I managed to miss both of the signature shots.

But you can feel the game growing, no? 

Shack sets the scene with this header:

Golf in the Olympics finally resumes 112 years later, tears shed

 Do tell....

Years of meetings, brouhahas, a little begging and international media attention branding

golf all but the greatest calamity to hit the Olympic movement, the sport returned after 112 years in unspectacular but gently emotional fashion when Brazil’s Addison da Silva struck the opening tee shot. 

Upon hitting his ball up the right center of the fairway, the 44-year-old chosen to open golf’s return to the Games walked back to his bag near International Golf Federation officials, let out a sigh, and pulled off the moment without a hint of great stress. But watery eyes suggested the moment had understandably gotten to the 12-time Sunshine Tour winner playing before his home nation that greeted him with a louder ovation than playing partners Graham DeLaet and Ben An.

OK, the man deserves credit for avoiding a smother-hook, but when that three-ball is carrying the sports hopes and dreams, you might want to reconsider your assumptions.

But take heart dear reader, because all of your favorite folks are there... You know, the ones responsible for the exciting format and depleted field:

On hand were a collection of 150 or so spectators and seemingly just as many photographers and media. Greeting the players at the first tee were the IGF’s Peter Dawson, Ty Votaw and Antony Scanlon, the three most important figures in getting golf to this moment. In a dignitary stand adorned with Rio’s festive color palette immediately behind the tee stood PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, future commish Jay Monahan, PGA of America CEO Pete Bevacqua, PGA President Derek Sprague, USGA Executive Director Mike Davis, USGA President Diana Murphy and many other international executives. In the spectator grandstand, architect Gil Hanse sat with his family along with several of the shapers who built the long delayed, much-scrutinized Olympic course in Barra di Tijuca.

Our game perhaps dodged another bullet, as no microphones were placed in proximity to Ms. Murphy's mouth....  They were assembled to watch the 7:30 a.m. game, but as the t-shirt notes, it's five-o'clock somewhere.....

As for our first day leader, well it's just pitch-perfect:

Four mates from Australia had to opt out of playing in the Olympics for Marcus Fraser to get to the Rio Summer Games. 

He took full advantage Thursday in the first round. 

Fraser set an Olympic Golf Course record with an 8-under-par 63 to grab the clubhouse lead early in the first round. Fraser, who got to Rio when world No. 1 Jason Day, Adam Scott, Marc Leishman and Matt Jones decided not to play, birdied five of his first six holes and then added four more birdies on the back nine to more than offset his lone bogey on the second hole. 

“That first tee shot … I was a little jumpy,” Fraser said. “Right now I have the Olympic record. That’s pretty cool. Every week we play for ourselves. This week we’re playing for you country … and yourself. This is one of the best rounds I’ve ever played, given the circumstances.

There's quite the buzz, at least among the Frazier family, but you'll note that the lede is the four guys not attending....

Here's Shack's highly upbeat take on the day:

Anyone with a sense of the many meetings, conversations and politicking undertaken by

these folks had to congratulate all involved for getting us to a very special morning. Furthermore, as players continue to offer their praise for the Games experience, these leaders can proudly say they created something that has evolved into a life-changing few weeks for 120 golfers and their assorted families and countries.

Even more heartening was how quickly the course filled up with over 6,000 energetic, eager and curious spectators who were greeted by live music, interactive hitting bays and putting greens, and the chance to take a photo under the Olympic rings. Considering how difficult Rio is to traverse, the attendance was admirable and merely getting all of the volunteers in place was a minor miracle (a few told me some wise soul made a Wednesday night call to employ Uber to ensure early attendance at a tough venue to reach).

Geoff is on-site and no doubt the guys are digging their Michael Phelps and Team Handball outings, but he acknowledges the elephant in the corner:

As for the competition, the surprising on-site energy apparently didn’t quite translate to television based on the reactions I heard. From the press center, the television images I saw were very crisp while the golf course showed the world that nature-based design can look and play well on a grand stage. However, the combination of a nine-hour telecast with only sixty players on day one of Olympic Broadcasting’s first foray into golf was no doubt imperfect, though most of you who wrote said it was not the telecast you took issue with. Instead, it was the stroke play format when set against the other Olympic competitions you’re watching.

Oh, it's not the golf course....it's the format and the field.  The Golf Channel commentators keep referring to the "elite field", yet when I gaze at my Samsung I'm seeing Siddikur Rahman, jaco Van Zyl and Danny Chia.  I don't think they're using the word "elite" correctly....

Alistair Tait, a grizzled veteran of the golf beat, also goes week-kneed on us:

Adilson da Silva was in tears Thursday after the first round of the Olympic golf competition. That’s how much it meant to the 44-year-old to have golf back in the Olympics in his home country. 

The Brazilian had the honor of hitting the opening tee shot at the Olympic Golf Course in the company of Canada’s Graham DeLaet and South Korea’s Byeong Hun An at 7:30 a.m. In front of a sizable crowd that grew throughout the day, da Silva found the middle of the fairway.

That was the memory that caused da Silva to break down. He was in full flow until that moment. He had to pause for about 60 seconds to collect himself and wipe tears from his eyes before he could continue. 

“It was hard,” he said after regaining his composure. “We used to cut a branch in the shape of a golf club, put loft on it and hit it. Sometimes it would break if the wood was too soft. We learned a lot and were very lucky.”

That's a great story, but does it give us a reason to watch between now and Sunday?

So, I missed da Silva's opening drive, and I also missed this noteworthy swing:

Golf fans were guaranteed to see some history on Thursday no matter what as golf

returned to the Olympics for the first time in 112 years. But it didn't take nearly as long for the tournament to present a couple noteworthy accomplishments of its own. Australia's Marcus Fraser shot the event's first-ever 63 and England's Justin Rose made the event's first-ever hole-in-one. 

Rose's highlight-reel shot came on the 189-yard, par-3 fourth hole of Gil Hanse's new Olympic Course and required a 7-iron. It's also believed to be the first ace made by someone wearing sunglasses that big. Needless to say, Rose was pretty happy about it.

Video is here, though they missed the best part.  Rose's caddie tells him as he's approaching the ball, "I'm not even interested in the pin".  he might not have been, but apparently his player was....

The Americans sucked, if you care about that sort of thing....

I'm going to eschew non-Olympic content for the most part, except to note the U.S.Senior Open is being contested this week at historic Scioto.  Early round coverage is on FS1, if you're trapped indoors because of the heat.