The first tee at Le Golf National during the 2018 Ryder Cup

The Ryder Cup: Should You Go?

Introduction:

Along with golfs major championships, the Ryder Cup is the pinnacle of men’s golf. As a result, many of golfs most famous moments have happened at the Ryder Cup:

The Nicklaus concession vs. Jacklin in 1969.
Darren Clarke at the K Club, Ireland in 2006.
The Miracle at Medinah in 2012.
Moliwood in 2018.

I was fortunate enough to go to that last one at Le Golf National in 2018. During this blog post I’ll tell you about my experience and an honest opinion of whether you should go.

Before I start, I’ll caveat this next statement by saying I have been fortunate enough to see my team win an FA Cup Final at Wembley, England play at Twickenham in the Six Nations rugby, Federer at Wimbledon and the NBA in America.

The Ryder Cup experience is BRILLIANT.

I attended the Thursday practice day and first day of play on the Friday.

Ryder Cup Thursday Practice Day

I remember arriving at the course on the Thursday morning buzzing. My bucket list item was about to be ticked off. However, the endless walk from the park and ride drop-off point did test my enthusiasm. I felt like I’d walked 18 holes before I even arrived at the entrance.

But when you see the entrance all is forgotten – you’re at the Ryder Cup. When I got in, I marched straight through the fan village and headed to the course.

The first view I got of the course was the famous 18th green and 15th hole. I love golf course design and architecture and its fair to say my first glimpse of Le Golf National was stunning. The early morning sunrise reflecting off the water felt like the calm before the storm.

My first glimpse of Le Golf National, host of the 2018 Ryder Cup – 15th Hole

After taking a few photos it was straight over to the driving range to get my first glimpse of the players. Arriving there and hoping to see Tiger club twirling his driver, I was immediately disappointed. It was empty…

It turns out professional golfers don’t get onto the practice facilities at 7am on a practice day!

In truth, during the next few hours there was very little action to report. So if you do go to a practice day I wouldn’t bother getting there too early. But this gave us a chance to get used to the course, pick out vantage points and grab breakfast. Yes its pricey, but not as bad as you’d think.

Finally, at 10am the groups were out. The Americans first playing in three fourballs, followed by the Europeans. I’m a massive Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler and, like everyone else, Tiger fan. So seeing these guys walk the fairways, laughing and joking with the occasional brilliant golf shot thrown in, right in front of me was exactly what I came to see.

I managed to get a high five off DJ and a fist bump off JT as they walked between holes. I was 30 years old at the time, but acting like a teenager at a One Direction concert. The Ryder Cup had done that to me in the space of a couple of hours. It had turned me back into the child who used to chase autographs. AND I LOVED IT!

As a result of having such little exposure to the American players normally, we decided to follow them. A few observations:
When DJ and Brooks hit driver it goes like a rocket
Rickie is so bloody cool
And Tiger really does have some kind of aura about him.

After watching them play 9 holes, we took a late lunch in the village and our first trip to the merchandise store. Be prepared to remortgage the house, because you’ll want to buy everything.

Thanks to a lot of self-restraint, mainly caused by my missus reminding me we were in the process of buying a house, I didn’t spend too much. For this reason a mug, flag (did I mention my chase for autographs?) and a golf polo shirt was all I bought. But I could have spent thousands – and many seemed to be!

The afternoon closed out with the opening ceremony in the village. We heard the speeches from Thomas Bjorn and Jim Furyk. In truth these were a little bit dull – very much like a politicians speech. Afterwards we cheered the introduction of the players and then got to watch the music concert.

The Kaiser Chiefs were our chosen act and as much as they are alright, ‘I Predict a Riot’ didn’t really align to your typical golf fanatic crowd.

As a result we left halfway through, knowing we had another 20 min walk back to the Park and Ride and wanting to be fresh for the next day.

Ryder Cup Friday Foursomes and Fourballs

Despite getting up just as early and seemingly having plenty of time, we somehow only arrived on the course 10 minutes before the first tee shot. But after a bit of jostling past people we had a spot by the first tee. Another tick in my Ryder Cup bucket list.

The noise as Rose, Rahm, Koepka and Finau hit their opening tee shots was insane. Louder than many football stadiums I’ve been in, despite not having the benefit of stands on all sides to keep the noise in. Being there on the first tee was everything I hoped it would be. You have to do this if you go!

In truth our viewing position meant that all I saw of the opening shots was the club at the top of the backswing and the ball fly off down towards the fairway. But this didn’t matter. I was there.

Whilst it didn’t matter for that first shot, that is the only negative with attending the Ryder Cup. You have to work hard to actually see a good amount of golf.

With 65,000 people mostly congregated around four matches, spread out across no more than three holes, its more challenging than a regular tour event. Despite this, we were lucky that Le Golf National is a stadium course with steep banks meaning it was designed for fan viewing.

But even with that luxury you still don’t see as much golf as you would if those fans were spread out over 18 holes. If you are prepared for this and accept it, you’ll have a great time.

During the morning we found a vantage point and watched all four matches come through, before jumping ahead and doing the same again. Because of this we had a chance to see all of the course, cheer some birdies and feel like we were involved in all the action.

Frustratingly, Europe were 3-1 down with only Moliwood winning their match, the last of the session to prevent a whitewash.

Tiger Woods hitting his approach into the 1st Hole

In the afternoon, with legs a little tired from the last day and a half we took a different approach. Settling in next to the ropes around the Par 3 11th green we watched a lot of the action on the big screens, moving only for a few minutes to watch the groups come through the neighbouring holes.

It was a worth it. When the groups came through our hole we saw a flurry of great tee shots and great putts. For about 30 minutes you felt like you were in the epicentre of the atmosphere. As a result of our decision, there was no peaking over shoulders, no running ahead as the groups walked to their ball. Just you, your group and the best golfers on the planet. We even got ourselves on the TV coverage in the background celebrating a holed birdie putt.

Due to Europe wrapping up three of the matches quite early we got away from the course just as a the final match was finishing. Because of this we benefited from a lack of crowds by doing this. I hate queues; so missing a few shots in a match Europe were already guaranteed not to lose felt worth it.

And just like that my two days at the Ryder Cup were over…

So Should You Go?

If you love golf or just major sporting events then YES! Of course!

The best players in the world playing pin seeking golf in a football/rugby like environment has to be seen. If like me you’ve never seen some of your golfing idols in the flesh, you’ll definitely be more in awe of them afterwards.

Then there is the price – tickets for a whole day aren’t much more expensive than you’ll pay for a high profile football game or England rugby game. This is great value when you get a whole day of golf versus 80/90 minutes. The food and drink isn’t as overpriced as you’d expect and the merchandise is out of this world.

Dustin Johnson giving me a high-five as he makes his way to the first tee

On the other hand, the only negative I can think of is that you do have to plan your day if you want to see lots of groups up close. Otherwise you need to accept you’ll feel like part of a herd of cows being moved around the course looking for a sneak peak of that crucial putt. But this is fine – its golf. You know you aren’t going to be sat in your warm seat with a perfect view and your prawn sandwiches.

When 2022 comes around in the outskirts of Rome get your tickets and go! So why not, register your interest here.

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