While the PGA Tour takes a short hiatus, men’s professional golf is still in full action. A stacked field of elite stars will take on Le Golf National in hopes of securing a medal for their home country. Here is a preview of the 2024 Men’s Olympic Golf competition and a guide to betting on the tournament.
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2024 Men’s Olympic Golf Preview
The Golf Course
At the 2024 Olympic Games, the golf competition will take place at Le Golf National in Paris, France. The golf course was built in 1990 by Hubert Chesneau and Robert von Hagge.
Construction of the golf course required 300 tricks per day of materials from downtown Paris for three years to add elevation to the flat farmland. This is another way of saying that there’s pretty much nothing natural about Le Golf National and that they moved a ton of dirt to create it.
What they created was a difficult golf, narrow golf course that can be extremely penal if one is spraying the ball all over the property:
The course will only play to about 7,100 yards. But it will be made longer not just because of the deep rough and the multiple water hazards that will swallow up errant tee shots but also because of the narrow fairways.
That should neutralize the big advantage off the tee that bombers could have at the golf course. In fact, Justin Thomas said that he only used driver seven times during the French Open and was forced to lay back off the tee with three-wood and iron to get into proper position.
If there was a close comparison in the United States, Le Golf National reminds me of some of the Florida golf courses like PGA National and TPC Sawgrass. These two golf courses also feature narrow fairways, tight sightlines, and multiple hazards that must be avoided off the tee. In fact, the closing stretch of holes certainly reminds one of what players face at the Bear Trap at PGA National:
Those who are hitting the ball consistently and accurately can get around Le Golf National without much trouble. Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood took this approach to great success at the 2018 Ryder Cup:
But for those who are used to a more American style of bomb and gouge, they could be in for a long day. As several members of the 2018 United States Ryder Cup team found out:
There are so many ways to get in trouble at Le Golf National: water, thick primary rough, even thicker fescue rough, and steep hills flanking many fairways that can lead to awkward stances (in said thick rough). Le Golf National is a golf course where players can compound errors very, very quickly.
While the setup won’t be quite a penal as the Europeans set Le Golf National up at the 2018 Ryder Cup, it’s not advisable to try and bomb and gouge the golf course.
Below is a video of the match between Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy on Sunday at the 2018 Ryder Cup. This match went all 18 holes, so it’s a great reference point to see exactly how Le Golf National plays from start to finish. We will refer to the components of this video below in the betting strategies:
Betting Strategies
Tournament Format: 72 Holes, Individual Stroke Play, No Cut
- In the event of a tie for a medal position, there will be a sudden death playoff. In 2021, seven players were tied for 3rd after 72 holes. What ensued was a chaotic, and surprisingly entertaining, seven way sudden death playoff for the bronze medal.
Par: 71
Length: 7,174 Yards
The golf course will play about 160 yards shorter than it did for the 2018 Ryder Cup and about 70 yards shorter than it does for the Open de France on the DP World Tour
Architect: Hubert Chesneau and Robert von Hagge (1990)
- Renovated in 2015 by the European Golf Design Company
Tournaments Hosted
- 2018 Ryder Cup (European Victory 17.5-10.5)
- Cazoo Open de France – 1991-present (except in 1999 and 2001).
Average Green Size: 6,500-8,600 sq. feet
- On average, Le Golf National features some very large green complexes.
Agronomy:
- Fairways: Ryegrass/Fescue
- Rough: Graduated Ryegrass/Fescue Rough: 2.5″, 3.3″, 4.7″
- Collars & Approaches: Ryegrass/Fescue
- Greens: Bentgrass/Poa
In addition, the area has had one of the wettest years in recent memory, with almost 23 inches of rainfall from January 1st through June 27th. The grass, particularly the rough, should be lush and healthy.
Average Scores:
The following are the scoring averages from the 2017-2023 Open de France at Le Golf National:
- 2023: +0.54
- 2022: +0.40
- 2019: +0.92
- 2018: +1.68
- 2017: +1.33
The scoring is generally very tough at Le Golf National. Part of that is due to weaker fields overall on the DP World Tour. But most of that has to do with the difficult and penal nature of Le Golf National.
Over the years, the scoring averages have dropped fairly significantly. Modern technology allows professional golfers to hit the ball farther and straighter than ever before. Nevertheless, Le Golf National has proven to be a very difficult test.
Valued Skillsets
Unfortunately, there is very little ShotLink measured rounds at Le Golf National. But there is much to take away from the match between Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy in the video above.
Here is a breakdown of club choice selection for Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas in their Sunday Singles match:
- Driver: 4 holes
- Less Than Driver: 14 holes
Excluding the Par 3s, both Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas pulled less than driver 10 times on the Par 4s and 5s. This includes pulling iron and/or fairway metal on two of three Par 5s on the golf course.
Much of the conservative play off the tee has to do with how the Europeans set up Le Golf National. The fairways were pinched in significantly. And there was very little room off the fairway before players faced nearly unplayable lies in the thick rough. Players truly had to hit straight shots, and to do that they pulled less than driver often.
The 2024 Olympics should offer a much gentler Le Golf National setup. But the overall composition of the course remains relatively the same. Several holes bottle neck severely to still discourage players from pulling driver.
Water hazards loom all the way down one side of the hole or cut back into the fairway. This will also discourage players from pulling their drivers often. While the rough shouldn’t be as penal, given some of the awkward areas off the fairway, there will still be a significant penalty for an errant tee shot.
As such, expect much of the same off the tee at Le Golf National. Players will most likely club down and play conservatively to keep the ball in play.
Next, here is a breakdown of the types of approach shots both Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy hit in their Sunday Singles match. While both players were incredibly long at the time, each of them were forced to club down significantly. As such, their yardages are likely comparable to what everyone else in the competition faced during the 2018 Ryder Cup:
- Less than 100 Yards: 0%
- 125-150: 5 times (27.8%)
- 150-175: 6 times (33.3%)
- 175-200: 3 times (16.7%)
- 200-225: 2 times (11.1%)
- 225-250: 2 times (11.1%)
Once again, the Europeans’ golf course setup contributed to a heavier concentration of shots between 125 and 200 yards. In 2018, the Americans thrived in driver/wedge conditions or with longer approach shots. To counter this, the Europeans set up Le Golf National to favor intermediate approach shots, which was a significant strength of the Europeans.
Nevertheless, expect Le Golf National to still emphasize the ability to hit mid-irons at a fairly high rate. Given how players should still take a conservative approach off the tee, they’ll face moderate yardages into greens despite the short overall scorecard yardage.
Lastly, here is a list of top players by overall strokes gained at Le Golf National who will compete at the 2024 Men’s Olympic Golf competition (per DataGolf). This list will preview potential horses for courses at the event:
- Rory McIlroy: +2.91 (8 rounds)
- Jon Rahm – +2.30 (8 rounds)
- Tom Kim – +1.63 (4 rounds)
- Byeong Hun An – +1.10 (4 rounds)
- Alex Noren – +1.04 (30 rounds, 1 victory)
- Thomas Detry – +0.77 (30 rounds)
- Adrian Meronk – +0.67 (4 rounds)
- Thorbjorn Olesen – +0.55 (25 rounds)
- Ryan Fox – +0.48 (16 rounds)
- Matteo Manassero – +0.11 – (28 rounds)
In addition, fellow competitors Tommy Fleetwood and Guido Migliozzi have each won at Le Golf National, and Tommy Fleetwood starred in the 2018 Ryder Cup there.
If you follow the tips in this preview, you should put together a solid betting card or DFS lineup for the 2024 Men’s Olympic Golf competition.
