How many times has golf been included in the Olympic Games before 2016?

Twice the sport of golf has been in the modern Olympic games before 2016. First, it was listed as an event of the 1900 Paris Olympics. On October 2, 1900, twelve gentlemen gathered to play 36 holes of golf at the Compiègne Club, about 30 miles north of Paris. They were the first to play in the first Olympic golf tournament.

Charles Sands of the St. Andrews Golf Club in Yonkers, New York, played the Compiègne course in rounds of 82-85 to win the men’s event by one shot over Walter Rutherford of Jedburgh, Scotland. Sands won the gold medal. The next day, the ladies’ golf event took place and was won by Margaret Abbott of the Chicago Golf Club, who played her requisite nine holes in 47 strokes. She was the first American woman to ever win an Olympic gold medal in any sport.

In 1904, Olympic championships in golf were a team event of 36 holes played on September 17, and individual match play events from September 19 until 24.

In the Rio Games, like in 1900, golf was a tournament event.