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| Sport | Golf |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | International |
| Abbreviation | IGF |
| Founded | 2 May 1958; 67 years ago (1958-05-02) |
| Affiliation | International Olympic Committee |
| Headquarters | Lausanne, Switzerland |
| President | Annika Sörenstam |
| Vice president | Ty Votaw |
| Official website | |
| www | |
TheInternational Golf Federation (IGF) was founded on 2 May 1958[1] and is the international federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the world governing body for golf.
The IGF has two membership categories representing the administration of golf internationally:
It was founded on May 1958[4] (with 2 May 1958 being the earliest documented event tied to the formation of the World Amateur Golf Council)[1] for the purpose of arranging international competitions and it organizes two World Amateur Team Championships, theEisenhower Trophy for men and theEspirito Santo Trophy for women.[5]
The Federation changed its name from theWorld Amateur Golf Council in 2002 to reflect its transition to governing all of golf.
The headquarters of the IGF is located by the shores of Lake Geneva inLausanne, Switzerland.
Unlike most internationally recognized sports federations, the IGF is not responsible for developing, maintaining or administering therules of golf. Instead, the rules are jointly developed and administered by theUnited States Golf Association (for theUnited States andMexico only) andThe R&A (the governing body derived fromThe Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, the historical codifier of the rules of golf), the two oldest governing bodies in golf history.
The globalization of the sport has meant that following a couple of failed attempts, the International Olympic Committee's executive board approved the reinstatement of golf in the Olympics by a vote of 63 votes to 27 in 2009.[6][7] The sport was included in the2016 Summer Olympics and the2020 Olympic Games, and will be included in all subsequent games as a core sport. It was also featured at the early Olympics in1900 and1904.
The World Amateur Golf Team Championships was started from 1958 for men and 1964 for women.[8]
TheEisenhower Trophy is a biennial world team championship for amateur men golfers. First held in 1958, the event is named afterDwight D. Eisenhower who was thePresident of the United States at the time.
TheEspirito Santo Trophy is a biennial world team championship for amateur women golfers. It was first held in 1964, organised by Mrs. Henri Prunaret andLally Segard, and named after Ricardo and Silvia Espirito Santo, friends of Segard who donated the trophy.
IGF comprises 132 federations from 126 countries
The following seven[9] regional association are formed with the IGF National Membership.
| Africa (AGC) |  | ||||
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| Americas (AGA) | |||||
| Arab (AGF) | |||||
| Asia Pacific (APGC) |
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| Caribbean (CGA) | |||||
| European (EGA) | |||||
| South American (SAGF) | |||||
| No Affiliation | |||||
| Others | |||||
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