A mixed-team golf event could soon be added to the Summer Olympics.
The AP reports that Olympic officials are close to finalizing a competition involving both male and female players in a mixed-team format for the 2028 Los Angeles Games at Riviera Country Club.
Golf is already part of the upcoming Summer Olympics at Le Golf National outside of Paris, the same venue that hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup.
The sport was reinstated for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro and returned to Tokyo in 2020 (played in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic), featuring 72-hole competitions for men and women. Xander Schauffele and Nelly Korda of the United States won the gold medals in Tokyo.
According to the report, an announcement for an additional mixed-team event, with its own set of medals to be awarded, could be announced as soon as the Masters in April.
Details about the team competition is reportedly still being ironed out, including the format and how many teams would play.
One of the options being considered is 36 holes of four-ball (also known as best ball), a team format where two golfers each play their own golf ball with the lowest score on each hole being used as the team’s score.
A mixed-team competition is already part of the Summer Youth Olympics, where golf was first played in 2014. The format includes 54 holes made up of four-ball, and single scores from each male and female player.
Atthaya Thitikul and Vanchai Luangnitikul of Thailand beat Akshay Bhatia and Lucy Li of the United States to win the mixed-team gold medal at the 2018 Youth Games in Buenos Aires.
The PGA and LPGA Tours held its first mixed-team event since 1999 in December last year at the Grant Thornton Invitational, where male and female players competed in 54 holes of scramble, foursomes (alternate shot) and modified four-ball. Lydia Ko and Jason Day won the inaugural tournament.
