Olympic Course Site In Jeopardy

April 23, 2012

It was with great fanfare a couple of weeks ago that Gil Hanse was announced as the designer of the course being built in Brazil for the 2016 Olympics. His design and willingness to live on site gave him the edge over more well-known celebrity designers such as Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman.

Now it appears that it all may have been too much, too soon. There’s a dispute over ownership of the land the Olympic course is supposed to be built upon.

The timeline for resolving the dispute is unclear. It could come quickly, or drag on for months. The worst case scenario is that it drags out, with the result being that the course has to be relocated. If that happens, Hanse will have to draw up completely new plans. That’ll threaten the readiness of the course for pre-Olympic test events.

Not good.

Posted By The Original Golf Blogger