Why Have Traditional Courses Been Ignored for the Ryder Cup?

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.