Golf makes the Olympic cut; now watch the game grow

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Golf will fly under the Olympic flag for the first time in more than a century at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

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Right now, we may not appreciate the enormity of the announcement on Oct. 9 that golf will be included in the Olympic Games in 2016 and 2020. After all, there is no immediate gratification, no payoff. We'll have to wait seven years before we see a gold medal hanging from the neck of a pro golfer in Rio de Janeiro.

But make no mistake -- becoming part of the Olympic movement just might be the single biggest development that grows the game of golf that we will see in our lifetimes (sorry, Tiger). PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem said more than 100 countries will now invest in the sport, and that the Olympic affiliation will "catapult the level of growth" in regions such as Asia, Eastern Europe and South Africa.

Those who focused on whether a gold medal is more important than a Green Jacket missed the point. Sure, it will be great to see Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and other big names walking in the Opening Ceremonies. It will be interesting to see how the stress of playing for both yourself and your country (usually, it's one or the other) will affect performances. It'll also be interesting to see players -- whose names are not even in our consciousness right now -- chase their dreams of Olympic glory. Some of those players may never get an invite to Augusta National or the U.S. Open, but they could very well represent their country every four years.

In looking at the big picture, though, the arrival of golf in the Olympics is not about gold medals, but about a golden dream -- to extend golf's reach into developing areas and to help children around the world learn and understand the solid core values and high ideals that set the game apart from all others. All the media attention will be aimed on who's standing highest on the medal stand, but the real news will be about the kid in Thailand or Singapore or Poland or Russia or Brazil, the kid who gains access to a set of clubs and becomes his country's version of Francis Ouimet or Bobby Jones.

Sure, there is much work to be done. Those developing countries need courses and instructors and equipment. It will take time. It will take money. It will take a focused approach, and it will take the various golf organizations around the world to maintain the unity that fueled the process just to get to this point. No one expects it to be easy.

But the payoff will be huge. Becoming part of the Olympics is a golden opportunity not just for players, but for the sport. The quicker we learn to appreciate that perspective, the quicker we can start achieving those dreams.

Mike McAllister, the Managing Editor of PGATOUR.COM, covered the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where he enjoyed watching short-track speed skating, the luge and skeleton, and the rock group KISS at the Closing Ceremonies.