GOLF
Golf consists of striking a ball into a series of holes using a selection of clubs and counting the number of strokes it takes to do so.
An official sport at the Paris 1900 and St. Louis 1904 Games, golf then vanished from the programme until it returned at Rio 2016.
There are two main tournament formats: match play, in which two golfers compete against each other hole-by-hole; and stroke play, in which the total number of shots taken is counted. Stroke play is used at the Games, with athletes playing four rounds of 18 holes over four days, giving a total of 72 holes. 60 men and 60 women participate, based on the world rankings as compiled by the International Golf Federation.
Ireland’s best known Male Golfers are Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Padraig Harrington (who represented Ireland at the Rio Olympic Games), while in the Women’s Game Stephanie Meadow and Leona Maguire lead the pack.
In Ireland, the Men’s game is administered by the Golf Union of Ireland and the Irish Ladies Golf Union.
National Federation: Golf Union of Ireland
International Federation: International Golf Federation
GOLF NEWS
DIFFICULT DAY AT LE GOLF NATIONAL FOR MAGUIRE AND MEADOW
Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow were back in action at Le Golf National in round two of the women’s singles today. Meadow carded a round of 74; four better than yesterday, but Maguire will be frustrated after signing for a round of 79 today. GOLF It was another unforgiving day for Stephanie Meadow and Leona [...]
KATE O CONNOR MAKES HISTORY AS FIRST IRISH OLYMPIC HEPTATHLETE
Team Ireland’s Kate O’Connor made history today becoming Ireland’s first ever heptathlete to compete at an Olympic Games. The Newry native competed in two of the seven events this morning; 100m hurdles and High Jump to sit on 1908 points (19th overall) ahead of the next two events this evening. Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow are back [...]
DAY 12 EVENING REPORT FROM TEAM IRELAND
Irish track star Rhasidat Adeleke finished second in her semi-final of the women’s 400m to advance to her first ever Olympic final on Friday night. In doing so Adeleke becomes the first Irish woman ever to make a sprint final at an Olympic Games. In Taekwondo in the repechage round Jack Woolley put in an improved performance, but ultimately [...]
Day 8 – Team Ireland Paris 2024
Team Ireland’s Gymnastics superstar Rhys McClenaghan has won an Olympic gold medal in the Pommel Horse final this evening, with a magnificent score of 15.533, becoming the first Irish gymnast to ever win an Olympic medal. Cyclist Ben Healy secured Ireland’s best ever result in an Olympic road race with a brilliant 10th place finish this afternoon. Team [...]
SELECTED ATHLETES
Stephanie Meadow
BIOGRAPHY Stephanie’s family moved to South Carolina when she was thirteen to further her golf talent, and she was the University of Alabama’s first four-time first-team All-American. She was third in the US Open on her LPGA debut in 2014, winning her LPGA tour card in 2015, but also sadly lost her father Robert that [...]
Shane Lowry
BIOGRAPHY Shane won the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009, and turned professional a week later. In 2015 he won the prestigious World Golf Championship (Bridgestone Invitational), and his career highlight so far is his Major win at the 2019 British Open at Royal Portrush. He has had eight top ten finishes in Majors [...]
Leona Maguire
BIOGRAPHY While on scholarship at Duke University in America Leona, who is now based in Orlando, spent 135 weeks at number one in the world amateur rankings. Two professional wins and seventh place on the Symetra Tour in 2019 earned her first card on the LPGA Tour in 2020. In her first full season she [...]
Rory McIlroy
BIOGRAPHY Rory has spent over 100 weeks at world number one since turning pro in 2007, is a four-time Major winner (the 2011 US Open), the PGA Championship (2012 & 2014) and the British Open (2014), and was runner-up in the 2022 Masters. He started 2024 by winning the Dubai Desert Classic, was tied 12th [...]