JTOG Day 12: The Olympic Spirit of Golf…

Thank you Mike Hulbert! Mike was one of eleven Champions Tour players I interviewed to get their reaction on golf becoming an Olympic sport and their thoughts on how to define the “Olympic Spirit of Golf.” It was his gesture to his heart that said it all to me. The “Olympic Spirit of Golf” is hard to define with words as you can see in the full video interview below. Olympic Golf was last played in 1904, what will be 112 years ago when another Olympic Golf shot is struck on the Gil Hanse-Amy Alcott-designed Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro. Nobody on this earth has played Olympic Golf or for that matter has had an opportunity to interview any one like George Lyon, Olympic Golf Gold Medal Champion from 1904, that did play Olympic Golf. CLICK here for the VIDEO INTERVIEW with Mike Hulbert, Champions Professional Golfer. Based on my visit to Atlanta, host city of the 1996 Summer Olympics; Glenn Echo CC, host club of Olympic Golf in 1904; and seeking inspiration from Bobby Jones and Jack Fleck; and the likes of Olympian Dennis Berkholtz and professional golfers like Mike Hulbert, here is the first cut on the definition, limited to 100 words, of the “Olympic Spirit of Golf.” The ‘Olympic Spirit of Golf’ will be present in Rio de Janeiro for the first time in 112 years. One can look back to history—to the origins of sport itself and the game of golf for the context of what is to come in Rio for the game we love. Nearly 3,000 years ago in Olympia, Greece the games had a secular character and aimed to show the physical qualities and evolution of the performances accomplished by young people, as well as encouraging good relations between the cities of Greece. After 1,200 years of competition, such "pagan cults" were banned by Emperor Theodosius in 393 A.D.. Another 500 years later, in 1896, the modern Olympic Games were resurrected when Baron Pierre de Coubertin was inspired to found the International Olympic Committee (IOC). During the dormant Olympic period golf, as we know it today, was founded in St. Andrews, Scotland with the earliest documentation being in 1457. There was Olympic Golf in 1900 in Paris and in 1904 in St. Louis. Now, in Rio in 2016, the game of golf, at age 560, will join the world of its sporting parent who has been around six times as long. What does this have to do with sport and golf in 2016? Absolutely nothing other than can you imagine where sport and golf will be in another 500 years? I can’t but suffice it to say, that with its inclusion in the Olympics, golf is as bonafide a sport as any other. The ‘Olympic Spirit of Golf’ is sport as close to perfection as Bobby Jones winning the Grand Slam in 1930; it is hickory-shafted George Lyon walking on his hands transitioning to Jordan Spieth tipping his cap to acknowledge the spectators at the Australian Golf Club and the patrons at Augusta National; it is Jack Fleck triumphing as the underdog at the Olympic Club; it is an eternal club as Dennis Berkholtz commented “once an Olympian, always an Olympian; it is the emotional thump of one’s heart not in competitiveness but in community as demonstrated by Mike Hulbert; and it is much more, something to be found as we look beyond where we are looking today. Golf is a simple game of hitting a ball with a stick and chasing it to hit it again until it falls into a hole. The same could be said about life—we are born, we breathe, we eat, we grow, we decline and we die. Beyond the obvious lies the spirit within. Like life and golf one has to live and play it to begin to comprehend its significance. To know the reality of the ‘Olympic Spirit of Golf’ we will have to wait until August, 2016.  I can’t wait, how about you? Well that was 460 words but I hope to whittle it down to 100 words as I continue on my way to Rio. Before I head to Mexico I am heading over to Houston because I got an insightful tip that there was something right up my alley that I needed to see there. And lo and behold that person was right! More pictures below with ten more Champions Tour golfers and their thoughts on the 'Olympic Spirit of Golf.' I am looking for 100 new friends in the next 100 days to make a $100 donation (or any amount that you are able to make) to The First Tee. Each day I will be reliving the original “Journey to Olympic Golf” and hope to find a new friend in golf. Is that you? Please join me in giving back to the game we all love. CLICK here to make a donation to The First Tee. Please select ‘Andy Reistetter’s Journey to Olympic Golf’ on the drop-down menu for the question ‘What inspired you to make a gift today? This is for tracking purposes only, Andy does not receive any part of your donation or anything financially from The First Tee organization. There are interesting incentives for making your donation to the First Tee… PLEASE click here to make a donation to The First Tee.

Thank You!