Ryder Cup Venues

[Niall C]

Forfar

[Adam Lawrence]

Forfar

Four?

[Tony_Muldoon]

Why no mentions of TOC?  Surely a course brilliantly suited to match play.  Cut the rough, sod defending par, let them play.  Loads of half par holes, lots of birdies, plenty of bogeys if it blows.  Most of all, lots of holes where good players will take different scores, so plenty of movement in matches.  Purpose built for excitement.

Agree with all of this Mark, but with an Open every 5 years and the annual links tournament (September?), I think it's highly unlikely.

[Niall C]

Forfar

Four?

Yes seriously, a perfect venue. The practice ground is so big you can hit a 7 iron before you hit the back fence while the lunchtime soup in the clubhouse is lovely. What else do you need ?

Niall

[Niall C]

Tony

I think Mark's suggestion is a good one as it's one of the few that tries to identify a course that suitable for matchplay as opposed to one that simply can cope with the infrastructure requirements. Given the history of the Old Course as well, matchplay arguably is what it's all about. Playing the Open there quite so often seems to cheapen it a bit in my view. Pretty sure that not many will agree with that but a little less exposure of TOC as a stroke play venue would probably be a good thing.

Niall

[Paul Gray]

How about the Kings Course at Gleneagles.

Oh. 

[Ronald Montesano]

A lateral question, born of the question of the infrastructure needed for Ryder Cup...

Does it differ from a typical stroke-play event? Do you need as many grandstands (or as much grandstanding?) or is this a walking-fan's event?

[Wade Schueneman]

If Bandon is out, how about the followng 7 course rotas

US - Augusta National, Merion, Whistling Straits, Sebonack, Pebble Beach, NGLA, Riviera

GBI - Royal County Down (with the nines reversed), TOC (think about the energy, especially as all of the groups criss cross in the middle), Ballybunion, Deal, Sunningdale, Muirfield, Porthcawl

[Ron Csigo]

+1 on Deal

Nice suggestion Wade.

[Mac Plumart]

If Bandon is out, how about the followng 7 course rotas

Make no mistake, Bandon is most certainly IN.

[Matthew Runde]

Any course that's made up of holes like Medinah's 12th.

[Leo Barber]

US - Brookline is such a great matchplay course and has a history of dramatics.

UK/I - Cinque Ports would be awesome but money tends to dictate UK&I venues so its more likely The Grove or The London Club etc

Presidents Cup - it needs to keep moving around the world.  New Zealand needs to get an opportunity and if the governing bodies are serious about growing or maintaining the game then it needs to happen in the furthest corners.  Paraparaumu Beach, a course accessible to the masses in more ways than one and with a rich history of hosting would be both fantastic and unique.

Leo 

[Adam Lawrence]

Just to iinterject one bit of practicality: how would any of the courses people are suggesting cope with 40,000 spectators and only four matches on the course at one time, as is the case on the first two days of the RC? Money aside, this is the single biggest issue for any potential host. It's why I'm taking all the stories that Trump would like to have the RC in Aberdeen with a pinch of salt. Hard to see how 10,000 people could tramp over those dunes after each match.

[Mac Plumart]

Just to iinterject one bit of practicality:

Eh, no thanks.  I started the thread just to see what courses people would like to see the pros play on.  We can leave practicality and logistics to the people putting on the tournaments. 

 

[Lester George]

Ballyhack has proven to be a very formidable match play course.  Would love to see them tackle that.  Of course, I am biased.

Lester

[Mike Vegis @ Kiawah]

Duh!  Since The Ocean Course had a huge impact on elevating the event to what it is today, bring it back to Kiawah!

[Rick Shefchik]

Seriously - The GCA at the Ryder Cup is irrelevant. If the K Club can host a GREAT Ryder Cup, and then what's that place in Kentucky? These are awful courses and the drama was fantastic... Don't sweat it - re Ryder Cup. The players will turn up an deliver.

I think Lloyd has this exactly right. The Ryder Cup is the one event where the course is nearly irrelevant; the matches and the team rivalry create all the necessary drama. I'd love to see regular tour events at all the courses named, when the leaderboards often provide less interest than the scenery.

Hazeltine will prove this point in 2016. Very few GCA members like the course, but if form holds, that year's Ryder Cup will be as exciting as any of the recent ones. And as an added bonus, there's definitely going to be a sphincter-tightening factor when matches reach the 16th hole, with water left, right and long, and the potential for the PGA of American to move the tee up and make it a driveable par 4.