Rio Olympic golf course handed over to games organizers

Rio de Janeiro's Olympic golf course, slowed by environmental lawsuits, land ownership disputes and doubts it even needed to be built was handed over today to organizers of next year's games.
Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes spent 15 minutes defending the course, built in the wealthy neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca, where most Olympic venues will be located.
"If you are in politics, you always have to spend some time defending your point of view," Paes said.
Paes spoke to several hundred guests and repeatedly thanked billionaire developer Pasquale Mauro, who stood alongside him. The developer is spending about USD 16.2 million to build the course. He is also constructing luxury marble and glass high-rise apartments around the layout, which was created from a nature reserve.

The course is to remain public for at least 20 years, joining two private clubs in Rio, and took almost three years to build. It started six months behind schedule.
Environmentalists filed suit, and there were several legal disputes about who owns the property, some of the most expensive land in the western Rio suburb.

The stops and starts took some of the glamor away from golf's return to the Olympics after a 112-year absence.
Paes, who is mentioned as a possible candidate for Brazilian president, denied today several reports that Mauro had donated to his political campaigns.
"No, not at all," Paes said when asked by The Associated Press. "But it was not a problem if he had."

Paes insisted today that, although some of the nature reserve was bulldozed to shape the course's grass mounds, the lion's share was degraded land that had been a sand quarry.
"I think during the Olympic games there's always going to be lots of controversy," Paes said. "But people finally understood that this is a great environmental legacy, that this is a great golf course."
The legacy for the sport is unclear.
Few people play golf in Brazil, and Paes has acknowledged the game probably has little future in the South American country. Some have compared building a golf course in Brazil to setting up a bullring in Finland.

"In Brazil I don't think there's much legacy for a golf course," Paes said. "I've always said that. I don't think this is something Brazil is very famous for, delivering courses. It's not a popular sport in Brazil. But there are some things you need to do when you deliver the Olympics."
Carlos Nuzman, the head of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, contradicted the mayor just minutes later.