Getty Image / Sam Hodde
Despite 4 golfers from The Netherlands qualifying for the Paris Olympics, the Dutch will only be sending one of those golfers to compete.
Dewi Weber, Anne van Dam, Darius van Driel, and Joost Luiten each qualified for the Paris Olympics but only Anne van Dam, the 108th ranked women’s golfer in the world, will have the opportunity to represent her nation in Paris.
In messages shared with Golf Digest, Dutch golfer Dewi Weber shared that it “hurts” and detailed how her country is refusing to send her and the two male golfers to compete in Paris despite the golfers offering to pay their way through other means.
Weber said “Our own country is saying we don’t think you’re worthy of being an Olympian, and you’re not worthy of representing the Netherlands. And that, honestly, that hurts. We even asked them, ‘Hey, is this about money? Like, we will pay for it ourselves. Our Federation will pay for it.‘”
She went on to add “And they said no, we just don’t think you’re worth it going to the Olympics. That is such a hurtful and sad message to send to elite athletes like us who have proven, according to the IOC and IGF standards, that we are worthy of doing that and we want nothing more than to represent our country and do all the things that the Olympics are about.”
Why is The Netherlands refusing to send eligible golfers to the Paris Olympics?
Despite qualifying for the Olympics and meeting IOC standards, The Netherlands has its own standards by which athletes are measured. Qualifying Dutch athletes must have a “realistic chance” to finish 8th or better in their respective sports in order to go and they deemed that Dewi Weber, Darius van Driel, and Joost Luiten don’t have a realistic chance of finishing 8th or better.
The Netherlands Olympic Committee/Dutch Sports Federation said “After a careful analysis of the results in golf, it has become clear that the requirement from the IOC does not provide sufficient prospect of achieving a position in the top eight of the field. That is why the [Dutch] golf association and [the federation] agreed on an additional national requirement.” according to Golf Digest and Dutch outlet NOS.
It’s hard to understand why they wouldn’t allow these golfers to represent their country when they are offering to pay their own way. What does the Netherlands Olympic Committee lose by allowing them to go to Paris and represent their country on their own dime?
I know the Dutch are a notoriously pragmatic nation, the type of people to Venmo request money from their friends after having them over for dinner, but this is just foolish. The Olympics are a special event where people can don their country’s colors and compete against the best in the world and in this instance the country’s Sports Federation isn’t abiding by the IOC standards.
As for the actual standards themselves, which have been in place since the Rio Olympics, they are a bit unrealistic. According to Golf Digest, women must be ranked in the top 24 in the world and men must be ranked in the top 27.
None of the 4 golfers met that criteria but the Dutch have a secondary path where, if they are in the top 59 in OGR, they can pick 8 tournaments and need a top-8 finish in one of them. That’s how Anne van Dam made it in after a 2nd place finish last Fall.
I’m definitely on Team Let Them Play. Allow these athletes to grow the sport at home with Dutch fans being able to see their fellow citizens compete. The rules are apparently being reevaluated for the 2028 Olympics and there’s no reason they shouldn’t just change them now.