After 1904, golf returned as a Summer Olympic sport in 2016.
The comeback took place at the Rio de Janeiro Games, where men’s golf was played from August 11 to 14 and women’s golf from August 17 to 20. Both competitions used individual 72-hole stroke play, with 60 men and 60 women in the field.
Golf’s absence lasted 112 years. A men’s competition had been planned for the 1908 London Olympics, but a dispute among golfers led British competitors to withdraw, so the event was canceled. Golf then disappeared from the Olympic program rather than returning in 1908.
The International Olympic Committee voted in 2009 to reinstate golf for the 2016 and 2020 Games. Great Britain’s Justin Rose won the men’s gold medal in Rio, while South Korea’s Inbee Park won the women’s event. The 2016 return is therefore the answer, not 2008, 2012, or 2020.