Really disapointing choice . . .

[David_Tepper]

Robert -

I am certainly not asking anyone hear to like it (I don't). "Accepting it" is a more complex concept (I do).

All I was attempting to do was apprise everyone of the unfortunate reality of the situation. The K-Club, Celtic Manor & Gleneagles Centenary/Monarch courses were selected as Ryder Cup sites based on considerations far apart from the aethestics of those golf courses.

All the hand-wringing and moaning by us here is going to do nothing to change that. Maybe we could find something else to worry about?

DT
     

[Ted Kramer]

Robert -

I am certainly not asking anyone hear to like it (I don't). "Accepting it" is a more complex concept (I do).

All I was attempting to do was apprise everyone of the unfortunate reality of the situation. The K-Club, Celtic Manor & Gleneagles Centenary/Monarch courses were selected as Ryder Cup sites based on considerations far apart from the aethestics of those golf courses.

All the hand-wringing and moaning by us here is going to do nothing to change that. Maybe we could find something else to worry about?

DT
     

I'm not at all "worried about it". I just think it is lame.

-Ted

[David_Tepper]

Ted -

You are absolutely right. It is lame. Money makes the world go round. Do you think the PGA was staged at Valhalla because it is a
great golf course?

On the other hand, we probably should review these future Ryder Cup sites relative to The Belfry. The appropriate question to ask is - are these courses any more or less lame than the Belfry?

DT

[Lloyd_Cole]

Dull and a slog as it is for us mortals, I suspect the K club might provide some Valderama type circus. Which could be fun to watch on TV. The K Club also has some history - yes, really.. apparently, and I cannot reveal my sources, but a couple of well known top tier (tip toppermost) European golfers, lets call them Tam and Billy, both married, used to meet their girlfriends at the club and make use of the luxurious accomodations. Maybe Smurfit could become a verb??

[Robert Thompson]

You make some odd remarks in regards to my post, David. I don't actually think this site makes many inroads in the golf community anyway. Nonetheless, there were questions raised in initial posts about the validity of the K Club as a venue for the Ryder Cup. Mr. Cole is of the opinion it may not be too awful, and he may be right. Though I understand perfectly well there are a million or so dollar signs, I mean reasons, to go to the K Club, I still think it is a pathetic choice and a symptom of what makes modern tournament golf bad.
The great thing about professional golf is that you have great players and, if you are lucky, they get to tackle greatness when it comes to golf courses and we get to witness how they deal with it. In the case of the K Club, they are tackling a dull, American-style course in the heart of Ireland for one of the great events in golf. And though I'm not naive about the reasoning for holding it there, I still think that is a shame.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

It has to be said that the Europeans have done rather better playing modern courses such as The Belfry and Valderrama than they did at Walton Heath.  What do GCAers think of Valderrama?  I've never been there.

[David_Tepper]

As a point of information, the K-Club now has two courses: the (original) Palmer Course and the new Smurfit Course (which is supposed to be an "inland links style" course). Am I correct in assuming the Ryder Cup will be played on the Palmer Course and that the Palmer Course has been the course used for the European Open the past 10 years? Have any pro golf events  been played on the Smurfit Course yet?    

[Ian Andrew]

Money, so they say, is the root of all evil today..........

[Jack_Marr]

As a point of information, the K-Club now has two courses: the (original) Palmer Course and the new Smurfit Course (which is supposed to be an "inland links style" course). Am I correct in assuming the Ryder Cup will be played on the Palmer Course and that the Palmer Course has been the course used for the European Open the past 10 years? Have any pro golf events  been played on the Smurfit Course yet?    

The European Open is usually played on the Palmer Course, but recently was played on the Smurfit Course. I think this is an excellent course, but as I've mentioned on this thread, they actually have fake rocks on the course. Some holes are a bit linksy, but not many.

The Ryder Cup will be played on the Palmer Course.