The Week That Was: May 22, 2011

ryder cup A French Toast

In a decision that I believe will ultimately be very good for golf, France has been awarded the 2018 Ryder Cup.

“In modern golf, this is just like second to none,” said Thomas Levet, a French touring pro, upon hearing the news. “It's crazy, the craziest moment in French golf -- like getting the Olympics.”

I’m not one of those people who love Paris in the springtime, but I was thrilled to hear that the matches would be played in France. As I noted in a recent blog, France’s Ryder Cup bid offers the world of golf something potentially great, something with broad, long-lasting value: a promise to build 100 driving ranges and “short” courses (six- and nine-hole tracks) in cities across the nation, in an effort to broaden golf’s appeal beyond its traditional white, male, middle-class base.

So I’m joining Colin Montgomerie in raising a toast to the decision.

“We must look forward into a new era,” Montgomerie told a British newspaper before the decision was made. “There are two mega-cities in Europe, London and Paris, and the Ryder Cup has got to this stage, this size now, that we can have economic success through it. With London not being involved, Paris is next, so it’s right it should go to France.”

The matches will be played just a short drive from the capital, at Le Golf National’s “stadium”-style Albatross course. The track is considered to be one of Europe’s finest championship venues -- it’s hosted 18 of the last 20 French Open championships -- and it’s well-liked by touring pros. What’s more, the club’s owner, the Federation Francaise de Golf, has set aside more than $8.5 million to make the property an ideal Ryder Cup host.

According to a report from ESPN, Spain probably finished second in the competition. Germany, Portugal, and the Netherlands were the also-rans.

ryder cup The Next French Revolution?

What I like most and best about France’s winning bid is that it doesn’t merely pay lip-service to the idea of “growing the game.”

France currently has about 410,000 registered golfers. By building 100 practice centers and “short” courses, and by tapping into the Ryder Cup’s promotional value, the nation believes it can increase the number to 700,000 by 2020.

In other words, the 2018 Ryder Cup has the potential to create generations of new golfers in a nation capable of changing hearts and minds. If that happens, it would truly be a transformative event.

But I’m thinking bigger. Could France’s commitment to player development spread to other nations? Could it change the world of golf?

Call me naive, but I think opinion-makers all over the planet are going to take a close look at France’s development plan. In fact, it’s already happening.

Here’s part of a column written last week by Lorne Rubenstein, a long-time contributor to the sports pages of Toronto’s Globe and Mail:

The real news -- or at least the most surprising -- was the promise that the French delegation made to build 100 six- and nine-hole courses in France by the time of the Ryder Cup. The vow to bring golf to the masses, particularly new golfers and kids, is part of any European country’s bid for the Ryder Cup these days. It has to be.

“They will be close to the cities and less time-consuming,” Pascal Grizot, the chairman of the French bid, said. “I think they will be the real legacy of 2018.” . . .

Canada could use 100 six- and nine-hole courses to bring more kids into the game, and it’s a much bigger country than France. It could probably use more than that number of developmental courses.

Would Canadian golfers get behind such a program?

I was in New York City last week, and I walked and walked and walked. Great cities invite walking. One afternoon I stopped beside a field in Harlem. Kids in uniforms were having a great time. They were playing soccer, which, admittedly, requires less space than a golf course, even one of six or nine holes. But I thought, this is the future: Kids playing soccer.

But I also I wondered why we don’t have small playing fields for golf in Canada.

Three holes, six holes, nine holes. The amount doesn’t matter. Golf Canada and the Canadian PGA have their impressive National Golf in Schools program, but we need another type of program. Call it Golf in Fields.

Meanwhile, I hope the French Golf Federation follows through on its promise to build 100 small courses. It’s quite a promise. It’s quite a task. If it happens, it will be quite an achievement.

ryder cup And What About the Losing Bidders?

If the European PGA Tour’s award had gone to Portugal, Spain, or Germany, the competition in 2018 would have been held on to-be-built courses designed specifically to host a Ryder Cup. If the Netherlands had won, the matches would have been played on a soon-to-be completed course that would certainly be suitable for the event.

Now that those bids have been dismissed, however, what becomes of the construction plans?

Only one course will definitely open: the Colin Montgomerie “signature” track at the Dutch, in suburban Amsterdam. The course, which was co-designed by Ross McMurray of European Golf Design, has reportedly been seeded and will make its debut later this year.

Still to be determined is the fate of the Dutch’s planned second course, a Sam Torrance “signature” layout that will likewise be co-designed by McMurray. Without the boost in membership sales that a Ryder Cup can bring, the addition may not immediately pencil out.

The course most at risk, at least in the near term, is the Tom Fazio-designed (and McMurray co-designed) layout at Herdade da Comporta, a huge resort community that’s to take shape along the Alentejo coast, about an hour’s drive south of Lisbon. Despite Fazio’s high profile -- he’s by far the best-known architect in the Ryder Cup mix -- Espirito Santo Group has so far committed to build just one course at Herdade da Comporta, a David McLay Kidd-designed layout that’s expected to open in 2013.

The prospects in Spain and Germany aren’t much more encouraging. Most likely, those nations don’t feel as much urgency as they did earlier this year.

The Royal Spanish Golf Federation and some private-sector partners, for example, planned to build a Robin Hiseman-designed “stadium” course at Tres Cantos in suburban Madrid. Without a world-class event in hand, however, Spain may no longer believe it’s necessary to build a track with viewing areas for thousands of spectators.

The federation had also planned to build a second 18-hole course at Tres Cantos, one suited to amateurs. But considering the state of Spain’s economy, it may not be viable, either.

Of all the also-rans, Germany’s proposed venue in suburban Munich could have the most life. For starters, the Audi course, as it’s known, has some big money behind it, in the form of Audi, the car manufacturer, and Wittelsbacher Ausgleichsfonds, a big investment firm. On top of that, Germany’s economy is improving, and its golf market is under-served.

But are those advantages enough to give the Audi a green light?