At the 2009 IOC Session in Copenhagen, golf was re-elected as an Olympic sport with a resounding 63 to 27 vote of support from IOC members.

Golf has featured on the Olympic program twice before, in Paris 1900 and St. Louis 1904. In 1900 there were two golf events - one for gentlemen and one for ladies. The men’s event was made-up of three different competitions: a 36-hole event won by American Charles Sands; an 18-hole stroke play event won by team-mate Albert Lambert; and a professional contest was played, but only two "French" pros took part. The ladies’ event was a 9-hole contest, won by Margaret Abbott of the US. This was the first time that women had competed in the Olympics Games.

In St Louis in 1904, Lambert organised the Olympic event. The competitors consisted of 74 Americans and 3 Canadians. In the men’s 36-hole competition, Canadian George Lyon won the gold medal.

Before it's successful 2009 bid, golf had tried previously to rejoin the Olympic program, in 2005. During the 117th Session of the IOC in Singapore in July 2005, when London was announced host city for the 2012 Olympic Games, IOC members voted not to include golf on the program for 2012. Golf was one of five sports, together with karate, roller sports, rugby, and squash, hoping to be added to the program.

As part of a systematic review of the Olympic Program, the members of the IOC cast a secret ballot for each of the 28 sports on the current summer program. Twenty six of the 28 sports were retained; baseball and softball, failing to receive the necessary votes, were dropped. Previously, no sport had been removed from the program since polo was eliminated prior to the 1936 Games in Berlin, Germany.