Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes handed over the $10.6 million golf course to the organizers of the 2016 Rio Olympics on Sunday, declaring that “the course is ready for the Olympic Games.”
The 970,000 square meter course includes an artificial lake and is located in Barra da Tijuca, just to the west of the city of Rio. It was designed by American golf architect Gil Hanse. Built with private financing, after the Olympics the course will become a public facility for at least 20 years.
Carlos Nuzman, the President of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee, praised the course for giving the game of golf a chance to grow in Brazil.