Golf in The Olympic Games!

For the first time in more than a century, golf will be contested at the Summer Olympic Games. In 2016, the world's best golfers will travel to Rio for the chance at an Olympic Gold Medal. The last time that golf was an Olympic event was in 1904 at Glen Echo Country Club in St. Louis. Glen Echo has a neat little article about the 1904 games on its website.

Gil Hanse has been chosen to design the 2016 Olympic Golf Course. To say that Gil Hanse has been involved in some amazing projects is an understatement. Just check out this list. Locally, Hanse designed the amazing Boston Golf Club in Hingham, and was involved in renovations and restorations of the best of the best in Massachusetts.

Several holes of the golf course to be built for the 2016 Olympics in Rio Janeiro will border the shore of Lake Marapendi – the long, skinny lake between the course and the barrier island. (Getty Images)

Hanse has a relatively small portfolio, but his obsession with excellence and passion for what he does helped him beat out names like Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman for the Olympic gig. He and his family moved to Rio in 2013 and he began working on site.

What he ran into is what I'm sure a lot of people who have lived and worked abroad can relate to - things are just different. The pace at which things get done is different. Add to the situation the fact that the golf course site is in an environmentally sensitive area, and progress was really slow going. But Gil and his crew pushed though and started making headway - by the end of last year, 16 holes had been shaped.

Check out this segment that aired on 'In Play with Jimmy Roberts' recently: