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    Le Coupe de Ryder

    Off to Paris in 2018, then.

    Highly appropriate that the competition should go to continental Europe again, not to Britain and Ireland, given the contribution continental golfers have made to it (as I think I said ad infinitum on the other thread, Seve, made the competition what it is.)

    But France? really? Okay, Jean van de Velde and Thomas Levet were both a shot off becoming Open Champions in the last twenty years, but I can't help feeling that golf is still a pretty minor deal in France. And is likely to remain so, while they have so few players competing at the world level.

    By 2018, the Molinari brothers and that lad Manassero could all quite conceivably not only be mainstays of the European team, but all major champions in their own right.

    Golf could be huge in Italy by then, if so.

    #2
    Le Coupe de Ryder

    I would be willing to bet a tidy sum against that outcome.

    Golf remains a completely alien sport for Italians, with minimal infrastructure, and significant structural impediments to its development (land use, housing patterns, interference with country house weekends, difficulty in fitting in rounds around lunch with your mom, etc . . .) A number of developments have already gone bust, and a few titles won by people who 99% of Italians couldn't identify won't change that at all.

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      #3
      Le Coupe de Ryder

      Golf will never be big in any European country outside the British Isles until they invent the concept of council golf courses and pitch & putt.

      There's a lovely golf course in the village where I live, left over from when the British army was stationed here. But I'm fucked if I'm going to pay €1500 for a year's membership, which is the only way you can get in. If they let me in.

      Whe I was younger I had a set of second-hand clubs and used to go out and play a round with my dad for a couple of quid*. You just can't do that in any other country.

      * Which was good value for money, but couldn't compete with crown green bowling in Leeds, where we used to pay 10p for a whole day.

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        #4
        Le Coupe de Ryder

        Exactly. The raison d'etre of many Continental clubs is to be exclusionary.

        A version of "golf for the people" has made the game popular in Sweden, but their season is dreadfully short.

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          #5
          Le Coupe de Ryder

          There was quite a bit of coverage given to today's decision from Wentworth. Is this a new thing? I can't recall the announcement of previous Ryder Cups getting any attention in the media, let alone the sense of anticipation in the days beforehand. I wonder has golf seen how the 24hr news channels create drama in something as mundane as the announcement of a venue, which in turn provides great advertisement for the event.

          Anyway, I wouldn't dismiss the decision on the basis that France doesn't have a collection of top golfers. It's about the course, surely. And Le National has hosted the French Open for 18 of the last 20 years. Plus the other courses weren't finished, and golf courses, unlike football or athletics stadia, need 'bedding-in' time. Not to mention the serious question marks over whether the Spanish would have the funding to complete the project. In all, it was a sensible choice, I feel.

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            #6
            Le Coupe de Ryder

            I recall a significant to do (and a Rogin thread) when the K Club and Celtic Manor got their turn, so I don't think that it is that new.

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              #7
              Le Coupe de Ryder

              I remember when the K-Club was announced for the 2005 Ryder Cup (as it was then), there was great celebrations in the Irish media. However, I don't recall any build-up to the decision, let alone a TV-friendly process of voting, complete with live announcement, which is what we got with this one.

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