Olympic Golf Course, Rio

Avenida das Americas 899,

Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro State 22641-004

  • Office

About the course

  • The Course:

    18 holes. Open links-style. Relatively flat terrain - no effort to walk.

  • Surroundings:

    Lakeside (Lagoa de Marapendi) and residential; very limited views of the lagoon.

  • Designer:

    Gil Hanse in collaboration with Amy Alcott.

Back
tees
Club
tees
Front
tees
Yards
7350
Par
71
SSS or slope

Location

Latitude:

-23.004744

Longitude:

-43.407223

How to get there:

4 km W of Barra da Tijuca / 30 km SW of central Rio de Janeiro.

Olympic Golf Course, Rio

5-star: Fabulous – courses don’t get much better than this.

Est. 2016

The Olympic Golf Course for the Rio 2016 Games is located half-way along the Lagoa de Marapendi, a large salt-water lagoon that runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean for almost 10 km. Here in the Barra da Tijuca neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro, this relatively new golf course joined many other Olympic Games venues.

Marking the return of golf to the Olympic Games after an absence of 112 years, the Gil Hanse designed course lays down a worthy challenge for today's big-hitting professionals. The relatively open and challenging layout pays more than a passing nod to the sandbelt courses outside Melbourne. Gently-undulating good-width fairways are flanked by plenty of threatening bunkers and large sandy waste areas.

Two artificial lakes also play their part. Large bunkers sidle up alongside the fast-paced greens, while slick run-off areas will further test your full short-game repertoire.

As soon as the gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded to the respective winners of the men's and women's Olympic events, the golf course reverted to a public golf facility ... and standard bearer for raising the profile of golf in Brazil.

List of courses: Rio de Janeiro & Sao Paulo

Visitors

Who can play and when?

Visitors welcome on weekdays and weekends.

Must book in advance.

Green fees

International visitor fee, 18-holes at peak times in high season: R$700; Brazilian gofer rate R$430. Golf cart R$260.

Contact club for full details, discounts, packages, etc. [Last updated: 2024].

Other information

Golf carts available for hire.

Practice facilities

Excellent

Did you know?

The Lagoa da Marapendi (Marapendi Lagoon), which flanks the Olympic golf course, offers Rio's residents a popular venue for water sports, such as sailing, windsurfing and canoeing. High pollution levels in the lagoon have curbed bathing and fishing activities.

The most abundant vegetation around the lagoon is mangroves, of both the red and white variety. This coastal lagoon is connected to other lakes in the Barra da Tijuca district by a system of narrow canals.

Published ranking

Brazil's 2nd best course (Golf Digest, 2022).

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Tournaments

Ryder Cup: Rome plays host to the first ever Ryder Cup to be staged in Italy, with the USA defending golf’s greatest team trophy at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club (Sept 29-Oct 1).

Solheim Cup: also in September, also in southern Europe, the 18th Solheim Cup will be contested at Finca Cortesin on the Costa del Sol, with Europe defending after their surprise win in Toledo, Inverness Club (Ohio) in 2021 (Sept 22-24). 

Who's Who

Céline Boutier: with many successes as both an amateur and professional golfer, Boutier added a major championship title to her impressive résumé at this year’s Evian Championship.

Alex Cejka: buffeted by rain and high winds, especially on the high-scoring final day, Čejka prevailed over Pádraig Harrington in a playoff at Royal Porthcawl, to scoop the Senior Open Championship title.

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club: With a clubhouse that might befit a Roman Emperor, and a golf course to match, you can be sure of a memorable outing at Rome's most talked about golf facility.

Jim Fazio's original layout was much changed to create a modern Ryder Cup course ... now one of the Eternal City's (and Italy's) most revered.

Prince's Golf Club, Kent (UK)

Here at Prince’s Golf Club you'll find 27 excellent holes of links golf. Just over the fence and sharing similar terrain is Royal St George’s; but Prince’s is far from overshadowed by its venerable neighbour. The three nine-hole loops at Prince's, laid out over gently undulating terrain, are sure to bring a smile of satisfaction to all lovers of links golf.

Stay&Play at Prince's: excellent onsite Lodge accommodation available

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