Campo de Golfe Olímpico

Few golf courses carry such a singular origin story. Campo de Golfe Olímpico was purpose-built for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics — the first time golf appeared in the Games since 1904 — and in the span of a single fortnight it became one of the most-watched courses on earth. Designed by American architect Gil Hanse, who beat out several marquee names for the commission, the layout was carved through the Marapendi nature reserve in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood, threading among lakes, sand dunes, and native restinga vegetation unique to Brazil's Atlantic coastal ecosystem.

Hanse channeled Golden Age principles into a thoroughly modern brief, producing wide fairways, bold contours, and greens that reward creativity over brute force. Justin Rose's gold-medal round on the final day remains one of the more dramatic finishes in recent major championship memory. Inbee Park claimed the women's title that same week. The course has since hosted PGA Tour Latin America events and remains open to the public.

Barra da Tijuca sits on Rio's western flank, far from the postcard chaos of Copacabana, backed by lagoons and the Serra do Grumari hills. Playing here means trading blows with Atlantic crosswinds while the landscape itself feels genuinely wild — an unusual sensation for a course built from scratch in a major city less than a decade ago.