DECISION 2016: Golf highlights their common values with Olympic Games

EVERY day this week, we'll be hearing from the seven sports who are campaigning for inclusion in the 2016 Olympic Games. Yesterday, we heard from baseball - today it's golf.

SUPERSTAR SUPPORT: Tiger Woods has been a major supporter of golf's bid to included at the 2016 Olympic Games

Next week, the IOC's Executive Board meet in Berlin to trim their shortlist of seven down to two.

Those sports will then require a simple majority of the IOC's 108-strong voting membership to gain prized Olympic status in Denmark later this year.

Tomorrow, we'll hear the case for karate, followed by roller sports, rugby sevens, softball and squash.



And you can have your say, vote in our poll or leave a comment.
 

THERE are many reasons why the time is right for golf to be brought back into the Olympic Games, including worldwide participation and diversity, the sport's economic and charitable impact and its commitment to the youth of the world.

LEGEND: Jack Nicklaus - the most successful major winner of all-time - is campaigning hard for golf's bid at inclusion at the Olympics (Getty Images)

Golf has grown significantly in each of these areas and would continue to grow as an Olympic sport, thus furthering the relevance and attraction of the Olympic Games.

Furthermore, leading players throughout the world are voicing their support for reinstating golf as an Olympic sport, including a number who very well may be in a position to represent their respective countries in 2016.

It has been more than 100 years since golf was part of the Olympic programme and the global landscape has changed dramatically.

Golf truly is an international sport that continues to grow in terms of interest and participation.

An estimated 60 million people participate in golf worldwide, in over 120 countries.

And it continues to expand with new initiatives being implemented throughout the world to teach the sport to young and old alike.

Nowhere is the internationalisation of golf more evident that in professional golf.

Whereas only the United States and Canada were represented at the 1904 Olympic Games in St Louis, today no single country can lay claim to dominating the sport.

Golf championships for both men and women have been and continue to be won by players from around the world.

In fact, the recent top ten world rankings for both men and women featured players from as many as 12 different countries.

Moreover, professional golf is televised each week in 231 countries, translated into 30 languages, with the reach of nearly 231 million households.

Finally, golf's inherent values align perfectly with the ideals of the Olympic movement, including honesty, integrity and sportsmanship.

Golf is a sport in which athletes call penalties on themselves, whether an infraction is visible to others or not.

It is a sport in which competitors shake hands and congratulate each other at the conclusion of each and every round, tournament or match, without fail.

And it is a sport that faithfully teaches each generation of participants from the earliest age that its rules are uncompromisable.

For these reasons, golf is a perfect fit for the Olympic Games.

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