Dates announced for 37th Ryder Cup at Valhalla Sept 2008

The PGA of America, recently announced the dates for the 37th Ryder Cup to be played at Valhalla GC in Louisville, Ky. The biennial event is scheduled to take place Sept. 19-21, 2008. The Ryder Cup will be the largest international sports event ever held in Kentucky. Valhalla is located approximately 20 miles east of Louisville, opened in 1986 and was named one of the top three new private golf courses in the U.S. in 1987 and has remained the No. 1-ranked course in Kentucky and one of "America's 100 Greatest Courses", according to Golf Digest (2005).

The course - Valhalla Golf Club

Valhalla, the great hall described in Norse mythology where the souls of Vikings feasted and celebrated with the gods, is now the namesake of a modern paradise for championship golf. It is a Jack Nicklaus design on 486 acres of rolling Kentucky terrain.
The course is owned by the PGA of America and has been the site for the 1996 and 2000 PGA Championships, the 2002 PGA Club Professional Championship and the 2004 Senior PGA Championship.. With the Ryder Cups, the course becomes only the third such in the nation to host a PGA Championship, a Senior PGA Championship and a Ryder Cup.

Travel

4 nights accommodations, Breakfast daily, Ryder Cup Season Badge (valid Thurs-Sun) Transportation to / from your hotel to Valhalla All taxes

Courtyard by Marriott, Louisville Airport - $2440
Non smoking hotel. .Michelin 3*.150 rooms, pool, exercise room

Best Western Louisville airport - $2440
150 rooms. outdoor pool; exercise facility, with weight machines

Country Inn & Suites ,7 mins from downtown Louisville - $2300
121 rooms. indoor pool & spa

Dates announced for the Ryder Cup in Wales 2010.

Five years in the making
On Friday, 28th September 2001, the Ryder Cup Committee made the historic announcement that the 38th Ryder Cup Matches would be held at The Celtic Manor Resort in the autumn of 2010. For the first time, the famous match play tournament will be held in Wales and the event is destined to become one of the most significant occasions in the country’s illustrious sporting history.
A central component of Wales’ successful bid was The Celtic Manor Resort’s commitment to build a golf course to host the Ryder Cup. Almost five years to the day since that landmark announcement, the finishing touches are being made to the first course that has ever been designed and constructed specifically to play host to the Ryder Cup Matches.

A course to challenge the very best
An overwhelming desire amongst those behind the design of the Ryder Cup course was to develop 18 holes that would provide a supreme challenge to the world’s best golfers in match play conditions. This wish manifests itself in the extensive use of water features that have been designed to present players with classic match dilemmas. Long-driving players are offered the opportunity to chance their arms over long carries of water but those that do so will be spurning the safety-first approach and will do so at their own risk.

The new course will be a par 71 and will measure 7,459 yds in length. It features nine brand new holes (1st – 5th and 14th, 15th, 16th and 18th) that have been developed along the floor of the Usk Valley, as well as nine holes from the former Wentwood Hills Championship Course that have been extensively remodeled (6th – 13th and 17th). The course features no fewer than six signature holes (the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 14th, 15th and 18th), each of which features a notable water hazard.

The course has been designed by European Golf Design (EGD) under the guidance of its head designer, Ross McMurray who enjoyed regular consultations with Robert Trent Jones Jr, the architect of the original Wentwood Hills course that hosted The Celtic Manor Wales Open on five occasions between 2000 and 2004.

Access all areas
A stroke play tournament will typically present a golf spectator with an enormous range of viewing options and opportunities. The format of the Ryder Cup, however, with just twenty four players performing over three days, tends to limit the scope for spectators, especially given the huge number of golf fans that wish to witness the matches taking place first hand.

To address this, the designers have sought to ensure that the course offers better viewing than at any previous Ryder Cup match.

Away from the course, the excellent transport links that the region already enjoys are being augmented by the construction of a new road that will connect The Celtic Manor Resort to the A449, meaning that the influx of spectators will not result in undue traffic congestion.

A massive undertaking
As the attention to detail that characterized the planning and design stage of this project might suggest, the development of the Ryder Cup course at The Celtic Manor Resort was also a considerable physical undertaking.

The construction phase of the project, which was led by Russell Phillips, Vice President of Facilities and Development at The Celtic Manor Resort, and Jim McKenzie, the Resort’s Director of Golf, commenced in September 2004 and has been completed on schedule just two years later.

By the completion of the project, The Celtic Manor Resort will have invested over £16 million in designing, developing and constructing the new course, a new clubhouse and associated infrastructure schemes.

Ready for play
In June, The Celtic Manor Wales Open, one of the leading events on The European Tour, will be played on the new course and this will be the case for consecutive years as the Ryder Cup approaches.

In November 2007, some of the world’s biggest names will converge on The Celtic Manor Resort for the second Goodwill Trophy, the annual match play tournament between a team representing the Ryder Cup countries of Europe and America and an International side selected from the best players from the rest of the world.

The Ryder Cup course itself will also be open to play for the general public for a limited period following The Celtic Manor Wales Open before it becomes exclusive to members, residents and corporate golf days from January 1st 2008.

Frequently Asked Questions

Exactly what date is the Ryder Cup on?
It is likely to be held during the last week in September in 2010.

When will tickets / packages go on sale and how much will they cost?
Tickets / packages go on sale in 2009. The cost will be confirmed by Ryder Cup Limited nearer the time.

What changes are planned for the course and other parts of the resort?
Re-development of the course is underway and will be completed in the Summer of 2007.

History of the Ryder Cup

In 1926, Samuel Ryder, a St Albans seed merchant, visited Wentworth for a pre- British Open qualifying tournament. In an attempt to inject a touch of friendly rivalry between British & US golfers, he set up a competition with a prize fund of £5 for the winning team along with a champagne and chicken sandwich lunch after the match. The British won easily by 13½-1½, though Scotland's George Duncan was still moved to suggest he make it a regular event - and the Ryder Cup was born. The first tournament was not recognized as official because the US team was not representative. In 1927, the first official Ryder Cup match took place and the US defeated Britain. The US dominated the event so much so that to make it more competitive Ireland joined Britain in 1973 and in 1993 the team was extended to Europe.

The Ryder Cup takes place every two years, alternating locations between Europe and the US. Future events are scheduled for Valhalla , KY (08), Celtic Manor, Wales (10), Medinah, IL (12), Gleneagles, Scotland (14), Hazeltine MN (16) ,Europe tbd (16) and Whistling Straits WI (20)