2016 Olympic Golf Course

The 2016 Olympic golf course in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was designed and built by architect Gil Hanse, winner of a hotly contested international competition. Hanse partnered with the Larkin Group as Sustainability Managers, acknowledging the Larkin Group, for “creating an environmentally sustainable golf course template that will set the standards for this emerging golf market.”

The Larkin Group was responsible for selecting a grass for the course that was considered revolutionary at the time, Zoysia Zeon, which uses less water and fertilizer than the average turfgrass, but creates a lush, extremely resilient playing surface. “We have the opportunity to influence golf in a way it never has been,” said Dr. Frank Rossi, turfgrass expert. “During the Olympics, the whole world will see that it’s possible to design a course that’s challenging for professionals, playable for amateurs, and with less environmental impact.”

David Fay, the former USGA Executive Director, threw his support behind Gil Hanse and the Larkin Group in the highly competitive competition to build the Olympic Course, because of their “record of demonstrating environmental concern, Fay said, “They take a golf course and treat it in a minimalist fashion, understanding that after the games are completed the course returns to the people of Rio and Brazil.”

The president of Rio 2016, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, applauded the return of golf to the Games and the potential of this course to have an impact. “As it marks the return of golf to the Olympic Games after over a century of absence, this course represents the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the sport… it will be an example of sustainability and preservation of an environmentally protected area,” said Nuzman. The golf course is several miles south of Rio at the Reserva de Marapendi, which is adjacent to a lagoon.

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2016 Olympic golf course increases Local Biodiversity: Rio2016