Judge gives Olympic golf course developers deadline to agree to design changes
The fate of the Olympic golf course and its finished design may well be known this week.
A Brazilian judge has given Rio de Janeiro officials and the developers of the 2016 Olympic golf course an opportunity to settle with prosectors on an altered design to the course that would protect land prosecutors say has been developed in violation of the country’s environmental laws.
The judge has asked if three holes of the course can be moved and redesigned so that a nature reserve can be established on the property.
Judge Eduardo Antonio Klausner asked for the city and developer, Fiori Empreendimentos, to make their decision by the end of the week, according to the Associated Press.
The course, designed by renowned architect Gil Hanse, is 60 percent done and construction continues while the suit drags.
The entire project, which is part of welcoming golf back into the Olympic program after a 112-year absence, has been mired with problems, from acquisition of the land from a rightful owner, to further ownership disputes, to development delays, now culminating in this lawsuit. The course is to have a test event played there in 2015 in anticipation of two Olympic tournaments played there during the ’16 Olympic games.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
