Spain was chosen as the preferred host country for the 2018 Ryder Cup by 37 per cent of the respondents, ahead of the other five candidates: Portugal, Sweden, France, Germany and Netherlands.
“For us, to be the heartland, the home of golf outside Great Britain and Ireland is important because of the tourism opportunities,” Royal Spanish Golf Federation (RFEG) president Gonzaga Escauriaza told SportBusiness.
When asked about the most important factors when planning a golf break, UK fans named weather (36 per cent), quality of golf courses (34 per cent) and proximity to local amenities (10 per cent).
“The golf fans of Great Britain and Ireland are the most experienced ones. They’ve hosted the Ryder Cup for years and years … Their view was more important for us and we saw we tick the three boxes of what they ask for,” Escauriaza said.
Madrid claims it will be the first ever city to host the Ryder Cup, should it win, by building a new course meeting European tour requirements within half an hour of the city centre.
The head of RFEG stressed the importance of the Ryder Cupfor the future of golf in Spain and in Europe.
“We have to give a weapon to the promoters of our tournaments … And, with the crisis, the promoters are struggling, it’s the same for everybody. We think we need the Ryder Cup in order to help these people to keep running these events in the future. It will give them a reason to get new sponsors and try to secure these championships. This is very important for us and for the European tour, because we have seven events.
“The European tour shouldn’t take that for granted. It demands a huge work, a lot of enthusiasm for these promoters to keep these tournaments alive, especially with the crisis.”
The host nation for the 42nd edition of the Ryder Cup will be announced in April next year.
