In the United States, the USPGA still select traditional courses to stage Ryder Cup Matches.
Sadly, in Europe, the last match to be played on a traditional course was in 1981 at Walton Heath. Since then the venues selected are modern layouts designed and constructed during the past 30 years.
The Belfry has hosted the cup in 1985/89/1993/2002. Valderrama, Spain 1997, The K Club, Ireland and in 2010 the match is scheduled for Celtic Manor, Wales.
All these venues are owned by private entrepreneurs, who are prepared to pay massive sums of money and other "incentives" to The PGA/European Tour to gain the rights of staging such a prestige fixture.
Needless to say, traditional clubs such as Portmarnock, Royal Lytham, Royal Birkdale, Royal County Down, etc. cannot compete with the "speculators", who rake in huge profits from exorbitant green fees, etc. for years afterwards.
Those who suffer most are the ordinary fans, who are not only "pay through the nose" to watch, but also food and sustenance. A good example of fan exploitation was at The Belfry in 2002, when those travelling by car had to use a car park 15 miles from the course !
Valderrama had also tremendous traffic problems and the toilet facilities at both venues were disgraceful to say the least.
The only people to gain from the new complexes are the officials, sponsors, VIPs and of course the media.
The "authorities" argue these modern set-ups are ideal because they are capable of dealing with the huge "interest" generated by The Ryder Cup and the crowds attracted by it.
How come The British Open Championship is staged yearly by The R&A on traditional courses with over a hundred competitors playing over the week of the championship, the VIPs and media have no complaints and the ordinary fans get much better value fo their money ?
In essence, The Ryder Cup has been turned into a money making extravaganza for speculators, sponsors and officials.
Samuel Ryder's objective in donating the cup was "to foster goodwill and fellowship between professionals in Great Britain & The United States of America.
Sadly, commercial greed has destroyed his noble ideals.
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2 months ago
Good article Peter. I wasn't aware of this until now. I do find it surprising!
2 months ago
Nice article Peter. The Ryder Cup has gotten amazingly expensive. Two years ago at The K Club you could easily wind up dropping 20eur (around $30) for a lunch consisting of a burger, fries and drink. Ireland is ridiculously expensive to begin with but the price of things at the K Club was shocking.
I think recent Ryder Cup host courses in Europe have been selected largely for ease of viewership for fans, media, etc.
I've never been to Royal Lytham or Royal Birkdale but I have been to Royal County Down and Portmarnock, and both of those courses would be virtually impossible to host spectators at. The high grass, huge dunes, cliffs, ect. would make it very difficult for spectators to attend an event at these courses, which is why I think they have not been chosen to host a Ryder Cup.
From what I saw at The K Club two years ago though, the Ryder Cup has turned from a respectable event to an event that appears to be solely concerned with ripping everyone off.
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