The 45th Ryder Cup is a week away until it starts. The two-year wait for America to regain the holy grail of golf in its home soil will begin in earnest on September 26th at Beth Page Black in Farmington, New York.
Longtime State Parks Manager Joseph Burbank is consulted by renowned architect AW Tillinhurst, ranked 8th in Golf Week’s Top 100 Best Courses and 26th in Golf Week’s Best Classic Course List. It was a beast when it opened in 2002 and 2009 and held the PGA Championship in 2019, but was nominated for the PGA site in 2033.
One of the benefits given to the Home Rider Cup team is that they can speak up in the golf course setup. Usually, Europeans tightened the fairways by stretching the coarser thickness to take away the American advantage from the tee. The Americans chose to have hidden flagsticks to widen the fairway and allow for more birdies. Former European Ryder Cup player and 2014 Captain Paul McGinley will be dual missions next week as an analyst for UK NBC and Golf Channel and Network Sky Sports, serving as strategic advisor to Captain Luke Donald of the European Ryder Cup.
In that secondary role, McGinley was on the scene at Beth Page Black when the 12-man European Ryder Cup team met on this week’s two-day scouting/bonding trip. He considered the course soft, but said it could solidify before the team meets for their first official practice session next Tuesday.
“Rough isn’t like that at the US PGA or US opens that were previously played,” he said in a media conference call Wednesday. “The fairways are soft and are pretty generous at the moment.
“At the moment, the green speed is probably around 12 times, and it moves to about 13. Some of the tee boxes are rising. No. 17 is rising. It’s about 30 yards shorter than the US open when the US played in 2002, and the first TEE box went up about 35 to 40 yards due to being behind the tee.
“So, that’s what we expected. It’s right from the American playbook of what they do when they play at home. And they’ve been very successful in doing that. So, that’s why they generally try to encourage a fast pace with low scores.
In fact, the US has won three of the last four Ryder Cups performed in the home soil, with the home team winning eight of the last nine Ryder Cups overall. Course setup can be a key factor in your outcome.
