Up next: Ryder Cup heads to Italy for the first time in 2023

Italy has made its impactful footprint on the Ryder Cup through the years.

Costantino Rocca took down Tiger Woods in singles in 1997, and the country never had a prouder moment in the event than in 2018, when Francesco Molinari became the first player from Europe to post a perfect 5-0 record in a rousing victory over the United States in Paris.

Italy’s presence in the event will grow in 2023 when it plays host to the Ryder Cup at newly revitalized Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, built only 10 miles outside the city of Rome. It will be the first time the Ryder Cup has been staged in Italy.

The course has undergone an extensive redesign by European Golf Design, performed in cooperation with course architect Tom Fazio II, whose father, Jim Fazio, was the course’s original designer. Marco Simone will become only the third venue in Continental Europe to play host to the historic Ryder Cup matches, joining Valderrama in Sotogrande, Spain (1997), and Le Golf National in Paris (2018). Marco Simone was originally scheduled to host in 2022, but the schedule moved back when the 2020 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits was shifted to 2021.

Work on the golf course at Marco Simone, aimed to better capture the drama of match play, began in 2018 and was completed in the spring of 2021. The layout will feature some exciting risk/reward decisions for players in a match-play setting, and will give spectators great views not only of the action on the course but of such historic Italian landmarks as St. Peter’s Basilica and the Castle of Marco Simone.

“The assignment of the Ryder Cup to Italy is a source of pride for the entire national sports movement,” said Franco Chimenti, president of the Federazione Italiana Golf. “The incredible setting of Rome will enhance the event, making it unique. The project is what we always imagined, and above all what those who believed in this project imagined.”

The finish at Marco Simone should be exciting for matches that go the distance. The 16th hole can be set up as a drivable par 4, protected by water on the right and a creek that runs across the throat to the green. The 17th is a mid-length par-3 hole of about 180 yards that will yield birdies to great tee shots. The finishing hole is a long par 5 with water down the left side next to the putting surface and a sloping green complex.

Gian Paolo Montali, general director of the Ryder Cup 2023 Project, said those who knew the course from when it played host to the Italian Open in 1994 will find a venue that is “nothing like before.” Said Montali, “The Ryder Cup will be something else. In the beginning, we thought about a light restyling of the course, but it was completely redesigned with eco-sustainability in mind and the benefits of the work will also be enjoyed after the 2023 Ryder Cup.”

According to the European Tour, the Ryder Cup at Le Golf National in Paris attracted a record crowd for a Ryder Cup in Europe, with more than 270,000 fans in attendance. The event boosted the economy in France by an estimated 235 million Euros (roughly $275 million U.S.).

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club outside Rome, Italy, will be the host site for the 2023 Ryder Cup. Photo by Marco Simone Golf & Country Club

The 2025 Ryder Cup is scheduled to be played at Bethpage Black on Long Island, New York, which has been host to two U.S. Opens (2002, 2009), a PGA Championship and twice was home course for The Barclays, a PGA Tour event.

The 2027 Ryder Cup will visit Ireland for a second time, played at The Golf Course at Adare Manor in County Limerick. Adare Manor which opened in 1995, staged both the 2007 and 2008 Irish Opens. The Ryder Cup made its first foray into Ireland in 2006, with the Europeans soundly defeating the U.S. side at the Arnold Palmer-designed K Club in County Kildare.