A men's golf tournament was held at the 1900 Summer Olympics. It was the first of the three times such a tournament would be featured. There were 12 competitors from 4 nations.The count of 4 nations includes Alexandros Merkati as Greek. He was a Greek national who was affiliated with the French golf club of Compiègne Club. The IOC lists him as competing for Greece but other sources (such as Olympedia) consider him a competitor for France, which would result in 3 nations competing in this event. The event was won by Charles Sands of the United States. Great Britain took the next two spots, with Walter Rutherford finishing one stroke behind Sands and David Robertson in third at 8 strokes behind Sands.

Background In the preparation for the 1900 Games, a Special Advisory Committee led by Jacques de Pourtalès (a cousin of Hermann de Pourtalès, who along with his wife Hélène de Pourtalès won a gold medal in sailing in 1900) proposed a golf tournament be included given that the sport was popular in many countries (though not well known in France).Official Report, pp. 77–78. The result was the first Olympic golf tournament, held at the Compiègne golf club. Divisions for both men and women, as well as a men's handicap division (not considered Olympic) were set.Official Report, p. 79.

Golf would be held again in 1904. In 1908, a dispute among the host nation's golfers resulted in all the British competitors boycotting and the event being cancelled. The sport would not be held again at the Olympics until 2016.

Competition format The men's event consisted of a 36-hole stroke play tournament. The scores for each of the 36 holes were summed to give a total for each player, with the lowest score winning. In the event of a tie, a replayed hole would be used.

Schedule Date Round Tuesday, 2 October 1900 Final

Results The men played two rounds (36 holes), summing the scores. The entire competition was held on 2 October.

Rank Player Nation Round 1 Round 2 Total Charles Sands 82 85 167 Walter Rutherford Unknown 168 David Robertson Unknown 1754 Frederick Taylor Unknown 1825 John Daunt Unknown 1846 George Thorne Unknown 1857 William Dove Unknown 1868 Albert Bond Lambert 94 95 1899 Arthur Lord Unknown 22110 Pierre Deschamps Unknown 23111 Alexandros Merkati Unknown 24612 J. Van de Wynckélé Unknown 252

References

Sources International Olympic Committee medal winners database