To participate in the contest, companies must provide evidence that they have the qualifications and experience necessary to design an elite golf course, as the Rio 2016 Olympic venue must meets International Golf Federation (IGF) specifications.

The golf course must be capable of becoming an international centre of excellence for professional and community use after the Games, respect the environmental law in force and the local ecosystem and must be capable of promoting Rio internationally, which is an area that currently boasts no major golfing facilities.

Consortiums of firms will be accepted and if the winning participant is an individual international firm, they will be required to have an office legally established in Rio.

"This is a very exciting project and a chance to be a major part of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games," Rio 2016 President Carlos Nuzman told insidethegames here where he is attending the Pan American Games.

"I am sure that there will be a number of high standard entries and I wish every bid good luck in the contest."


The golf course will be built at Reserva de Marapendi in Barra da Tijuca (pictured), which is the district that will concentrate the largest number of the 2016 Olympic venues.

The course will be located approximately five kilometres from the Athletes' Village and seven kilometres from the Main Press Centre (MPC) and the International Broadcast Centre (IBC).

It will be an 18-hole golf course staging both the men's and women's Olympic golf competitions and after the Games, the course will be managed by a private operator with the chief purpose of promoting golf in Brazil and in South America

Candidates' proposals will be examined by a jury formed by representatives of the IGF, Rio 2016, Rio City Hall and the Rio 2016 Golf Advisory Committee (GAC).

The successful candidate will be awarded the prestigious contract to develop the design of the course at a fixed price of $300,000 (£191,000/€217,000).

The deadline for submission of documentation for the contest will be October 28, while an announcement of the shortlist of the firms selected to take part will be made next month on November 8.

The shortlisted candidates will be invited to a workshop in mid-November to present project briefing to participants and a deadline for the final proposal submission will be on November 16.

The jury will interview the participating firms and carry out a final review of proposals before the announcement of the successful candidate will be made on December 23 this year.

The Rio 2016 gold course contest comes shortly after British firm AECOM won the international competition to design the masterplan for the Rio 2016 Olympic Park earlier this year.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
September 2011: Legal dispute throws Rio 2016 Olympic golf course into uncertainty
July 2011: Rio 2016 chooses venue for golf course