golf at the 1900 Summer Olympics

The 1900 Summer Olympics took place in Paris, France, and was the first time ever that golf debuted in the Olympics. Two golf events were contested, individual events for men and women. As with most other events in the 1900 Olympics, few, if any, of the competitors had any idea that they were competing in an Olympic Games. Format The men's division consisted of a 36-hole stroke play tournament, while the women's division consisted of only a 9-hole stroke play tournament. Location The men's and women's event took place at the Compiègne Club, which is about 50 km (30 miles) north of Paris. This golf club was built in 1896 and is one of few golf courses built outside Great Britain or Ireland in the 19th century. The golf course was designed by M.W. Freemantle and built within the horse racing track of Compiègne. The layout of the course is flat, with dense rough surrounding the fairways and very tiny "postage stamp" sized greens. Tournament play The men's tournament was played on 2 October 1900 where they played two 18-hole rounds back-to-back. The following day, 3 October 1900, the women's tournament began, where they only played 9 holes.