Kasumigaseki Country Club, poised to host the 2020 Olympic golf events, doesn’t sit well with some people. The reason being that women are allowed to play every day except Sunday. Not really sure why, but that doesn’t sound very Olympic-like does it?
The Japan Golf council really dislikes the private club’s stance and wrote to the IOC to ask for a switch. Kasumigaseki CC is one of Japan’s premier golf courses and technically not male only, just on Sundays. But to avoid a PR nightmare, can we just move the events somewhere else? I mean it’s three years away, we’re not reinventing the wheel here, just moving it down the block.
Coincidentally, the Japan Golf Council had the same thought and suggested a new course, Wakasu Golf Club, a public course closer to Olympic Village. Admittedly, the public course does not quite hold the same beauty card as KCC but ups a notch on morality.
JGC has yet to receive a response from the IOC but with a nod from Yuriko Koike, things are looking the way of a switch. I’m not mad about it, and I bet nobody expecting to play in 2020 is either. Japanese golfers though, might be a little ticked. Not because of the women only rule, but rather because KCC is one of the finest courses in Japan. That being said, the Olympics are supposed to be a showcase for the best a country has to offer.
We have three years to think about this, and golf trends are changing in women’s favor. Golf courses that refused to allow women, sometimes for centuries, opened their doors in recent years. KCC has three years to change its mind on women members but will they consider it?
Only if enough pressure is placed on the course. Hiroshi Imaizumi, GM at KCC, told Reuters the course will not change its position, but will consider doing so, should they receive word from the IOC. Sounds pretty easy to me; if the international community steps in, they will, and if not, they wont.
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