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Portugal among Ryder Cup host nation bidders

Portugal, along with five other nations, has this week been reported as being one of the European countries looking to host the 2018 Ryder Cup.

Portugal, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden – have reportedly all announced their intention to bid to host the prestigious Ryder Cup competition in nine years from now.

The deadline for the submission of candidatures is the end of April 2010, with the announcement expected in 2011.

Celtic Manor in Wales will be the host in 2010, and the 2014 contest is at Gleneagles in Scotland.

With the selection of two British venues in succession, it was decided that the next European home match would be staged on the continent.

Only once before has the tournament been held off the British Isles. The famous course at Valderrrama in Spain was host to the Ryder Cup in 1997.

Richard Hills, the European Ryder Cup Director, said: “We are delighted with the response and congratulate the six countries involved. We have set the date by which bids must be received in order to provide each country with the optimum opportunity in the current economic climate to present their strongest possible bid.

“In setting the sporting and commercial criteria that will be used to assess bids, we have been quite clear that each country bid must be channelled through its National Golf Federation and that no bids from individual venues will be considered”, explained Richard Ellis.

“We look forward to working with all six countries over the coming months as they develop their bids and we will shortly be launching an Official Candidate Logo to enable bids to be effectively promoted within each nation”, the European Ryder Cup Director said.

The 2018 Ryder Cup will be the 42nd edition of the biennial encounter – first played in 1927 – between Europe and the United States. Players from Continental Europe first became eligible for the match in 1979.

All six Bidding Nations for the 2018 Ryder Cup have, since 1972 when the European Tour officially began, demonstrated their support for the development and growth of the game through not only hosting tournaments but also by nurturing the supply of players onto the world stage, the European Tour explained in a statement posted on its website (www.europeantour.com) earlier this week.

Together Portugal, France, Germany, Holland, Spain and Sweden will have hosted a total of 700 tournaments by the end of this season.

Portugal, where three tournaments are on the 2009 European Tour International Schedule including the Portugal Masters at Oceânico Victoria Golf Course in Vilamoura from October 15-18, will have hosted 59 European Tour, ten European Challenge Tours and ten European Senior Tours events by the end of this season. Daniel Silva is the one Portuguese player by birth to have won on the European Tour while José-Filipe Lima has taken Portuguese nationality since his win in 2004.

Despite its world-class courses, the lack of any strong golfers could count against Portugal’s bid.

Spain’s current 27 players on the tour have won a staggering 149 tournaments amongst themselves, while Sweden’s 25 players have 79 wins, followed by Germany (six players, 54 wins), France (ten players, 22 wins) and Holland (three players and four wins).

source: the-news.net

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