U.S. architect Gil Hanse “will design the 2016 Olympic golf course in Rio de Janeiro, winning the selection” yesterday over seven other finalists, according to Tales Azzoni of the AP. Hanse will “team up with Hall of Fame player Amy Alcott to build the first Olympic golf course since the sport was dropped following the 1904 St. Louis Games.” The announcement by Rio 2016 organizers “was made at the site where the new course will be built, in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood, which will hold most of the Olympic venues.” Hanse Golf Design was created in ‘93 and “built the course at the Tall Grass Golf Club in New York.” The firm was recently hired by Donald Trump to “help renovate the Blue Monster course in Miami.” The seven other companies which "made the final shortlist" were Gary Player Design, Greg Norman Golf Course Design, Hawtree Ltd., Nicklaus Design, Renaissance Golf, Robert Trent Jones II and Thomson-Perret Golf Course Architects. Nicklaus was “set to team up” with Annika Sorenstam, while Norman “had a partnership” with retired golfer Lorena Ochoa. The winner was announced as IOC delegates “made a three-day visit to Rio to receive updates on the city's preparations.” After the ‘16 Games, the course “will be used as a public facility” (AP, 3/7). Hanse said that his family “will move to Brazil” early in ‘13. He confirmed that the course "will be on treeless property that is mostly sand...where wind will be a huge factor.” Hanse said as long as they meet plans to break ground in October, “the timeline that’s been articulated is comfortable” (GOLFWEEK.com, 3/7). Hanse said: "It’s a situation where we’re going to have a lot of casual sports fans who, you know this may be the only time they watch golf, and in countries where they never see golf on television. So I think that’s the opportunity that we’re looking to capitalize on” ("Golf Central," Golf Channel, 3/7).
PRAISE FOR HANSE: Golfer Brad Faxon said, “I’m so proud that the Olympics (group) did not go with a PR statement and instead chose Gil, because he’s the right choice.” Phil Mickelson said, “I’m a big fan of Gil Hanse. I give (Rio 2016) a lot of credit, because it would have been easier to go with a big name. Instead, they went with the best.”(GOLFWEEK.com, 3/7). SI.com's Gary Van Sickle wrote Hanse is “an unexpected good call.” He was Golf Magazine's Architect of the Year in ‘09 and “he's as highly thought of as anyone in the golf-design business.” Van Sickle: “In other words, you're not going to hear much second-guessing of the 48-year-old Hanse” (SI.com, 3/7). Golf Digest Architectural Editor Ron Whitten said, "This guy has been the hottest architect for the last few years, and this is just another feather in his cap” (“Golf Central,” Golf Channel, 3/7). GOLFWEEK.com’s Bradley Klein wrote Hanse “landing the plum assignment of the 2016 Olympics golf course in Rio de Janeiro is a stunning career achievement.” Though much of the sports world “doesn’t know him, he’s respected within the deeper recesses of the golf-course design community.” He is “a traditionalist, a student of classic design values and equally at home with the classic books in golf-course architecture or sitting atop a bulldozer shaping out his own features” (GOLFWEEK.com, 3/7).
