Netherlands Not Sending Qualified Golfers To Olympics After Admitting It Doesn't Believe They Can Contend

The Netherlands had four golfers - two men and two women - qualify for the upcoming Paris Olympics. They, in the most literal sense, earned the right to represent their country on the biggest stage imaginable, yet it's their own country telling them that they're not allowed to do so.

Anne van Dam and Demi Weber are the two Dutch women who qualified for the Games, while Joost Luiten and Darius van Driel accomplished the same on the men's side. Of those four, only van Dam will head to Paris to compete.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Golf Federation countries to have up to two representatives in the Olympics unless they have more than two in the top 15 in the World Golf Rankings. In that case, the country can have up to four players reach the 60-player field.

The Netherlands Olympic Committee/Dutch Sports Federation, however, has an internal set of standards for each sport to meet a "realistic chance" of placing inside the Top Eight in the Olympics. The Dutch committee made it as clear as possible that it doesn't believe three of the four qualified players have a legitimate chance to contend for a Top Eight spot.

"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," the federation said in a statement from NOS, a Dutch outlet.

"No other Dutch golfers will be sent to the Olympic Games in Paris besides Anne van Dam," the Netherlands Golf Federation shared in a statement. "[The Dutch Olympic federation] believes that there is insufficient reason to deviate from the national criteria."

While the field of players at the Olympics is strong, it's only made up of 60 players, making the probability of anyone in the field finishing in the Top Eight much higher than a typical tournament field of 140+ players.

Rory Sabbatini of Slovakia won silver during the 2020 Games while C.T. Pan of Chinese Taipei took home bronze honors, which directly shows players that hail from non-powherhouse golf countries can certainly contend in the Olympics.

The Dutch governing bodies have decided to meet to discuss the national selection criteria ahead of the 2028 Games on a "different, more realistic basis," but that doesn't benefit any players who qualified for a spot in this year's Games.