Ryder Cup Diary » Ryder Cup Course

Ryder Cup Parking

John — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:31:02 +0000

Parking is always a hot topic around Ryder Cup time – Free Parking is available for all Ticket holders at the Kentucky Exposition Center (KEC) with a complimentary shuttle service running from the KEC and downtown Louisville to Valhalla Golf Club.

View Larger Map

The shuttle service starts at 6.45 am and runs through to 7.30pm Tues 16th to Thurs 18th and 8.00pm Friday 19th to Sunday 21st.

The shuttle takes approximately 30 mins each way.

Strict parking restrictions are in place and there is no public parking near Valhalla Golf Club.

Ryder Cup Map

John — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 14:11:42 +0000

This is a map of the Lousiville area and specifically of the Valhalla Golf Club. If you are lucky enough to be getting a corporate hospitality package to the Ryder Cup or are hoping to get tickets through the lottery for the 37th Ryder Cup Matches at Valhalla in Kentucky, you might want to do some research on the area. I love to see where I’m going on a Map – it’s a really useful way of seeingwhere you hotel is in relation to the course, where the course is in relation to the airport etc…

Center of map
map: Clarksville
map: Charlestown
map: Crestwood
balloonless marker airport
map: Corydown

This is an interactive map of the area – you can move around the map by clicking on the map and dragging. You can also zoom in or zoom out using the controls ( + or – ). You can also change to a satelite or Hybrid view of the map.

Valhalla Golf Club

John — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 16:11:16 +0000

Valhalla Golf Club is located in Louisville Kentucky in the USA and will play host to the 37th Ryder Cup Matches in 2008.

Valhalla is a private club and is now owned by the PGA of America. Valhalla is a feature of Norse mythology and one might wonder at the wisdom of holding the Ryder Cup in the namesake of the feasting hall of dead Viking warriors – after all there’s likely to be at least one “Viking” on the marauding European team who will be coming to defend their title and hold on to the trophy!

The Club was the brainchild of Louisville business luminary Dwight Gahm who dreamt of creating a golf only venue back in 1981. The course was designed by famed golfer and course designer Jack Nicklaus and was opened for golf in 1986. The PGA of America purchased the club over the course of the last
The course has hosted various high profile events over the years including:

2004 – The Senior PGA Championship
2002 – The PGA Club Professional Championship
2002 – PGA Championship
1996 – The PGA Championship

Technorati tags ryder cup, golf, ryder cup valhalla

Ryder Cup 2008

John — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 15:22:14 +0000

The 37th Ryder Cup Matches will be held at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville Kentucky. The dates have been set for 19th-21st of September in 2008. This should be a cliff hanger of an event as the US Team try to win back the trophy on home ground. Who will captain the US team? How will he motivate the US stars to victory over the weight of European Ryder Cup experience. Nick Faldo captains the Europeans and will be gearing up to lead the Europeans in their attempt to hold on to the trophy.

The Valhalla course was designed by Jack Nicklaus and has a links style front 9 with a more traditional parkland layout on the back 9. The club is private and is owned by the PGA of America.
The tickets for this event have not gone on sale yet but you can register your interest at the PGA here.

Technorati tags ryder cup, golf, ryder cup valhalla

Ryder Cup Course Guide

John — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 17:47:15 +0000

The 36th Ryder Cup will be played out on the Palmer or North Course at the K Club

Let’s hope the weather holds off and the teams get to play some decent golf. Here’s a brief overview of the course on which the two teams will do battle:
No. 1 (Bohereen Road) par 4, 418 yards – The fairway of this par 4 has extensive water along on the left and is protected by trees down the right. A powerful drive will give the player a great chance of an opening birdie. The green is well protected with a bunker to the right. For the big hitters there’s a water hazard cutting into the fairway just over three quaters of the way to the green.

No. 2 (The Tunnel) par 4, 413 yards – This hole is quite similar in style to the opening hole. A slight dogleg right that also offers a good birdie chance following an accurate drive and a short approach. There’s a bunker halfway down the left hand side of the fairway to give you something to think about. The green is very receptive but is guarded by a single but deep bunker on the left. A decent drive in the fairway would give you a short iron to a green so there could be a chance for a birdie here too.

No. 3 (The Island Beach) par 3, 170 yards – A challenging par three with a shallow hour-glass green protected by a lake and a bunker front and rear. Club selection can be tricky if the wind is blowing – which seems likely at this point. The green is divided by a ridge with putts on the right side breaking to the right and putts on the left breaking to the left.

No. 4 (Arnold’s Pick) par 5, 568 yards – This is Arnold Palmers favourite hole and is the first of the par fives. No 4 is an ‘S’-shaped or double dogleg hole with a fairway that bears left and then right before reaching the raised green which is protected by a well-bunkered hill and a very narrow entrance. The agressive driver can expect an eagle here.

No. 5 (Square Meadow) par 4, 440 yards – A challenging dogleg left which plays into a strong prevailing left-to-right wind. A draw down the left off the tee sets up a tricky approach into an elevated green which slopes away from the front and is not protected by any bunkers.

No. 6 (The Liffey Stream) par 4, 478 yards – Another tough par four where it’s all about the T shot if the green is to be reached in two. Water hazards protect the front of the green and can be difficult to clear with the approach if the tee shot ends up in the rough.

No. 7 (Michael’s Favourite) par 4, 430 yards – Dr. Smufit’s personal favourate and also the hardest hole on the course. A difficult par four which plays into the prevailing wind with trees lining the left and water on to the right. The green is protected by water on almost three sides. Par here is a good result.

No. 8 (Mayfly Corner) par 3, 173 yards – This hole is all about the wind, and the river. The water hugs the right edge of the hole all the way up to the green. With the windy conditions this will be a tough hole and the temptation to play it safe out left brings the long and winding bunker into play.

No. 9 (The Eye of the Needle) par 4, 461 yards – A long par four where a huge oak tree in the middle of the fairway needs to be avoided, making accuracy off the tee is paramount and the need to thread your ball through the proverbial gives this hole it’s name. The green, guarded by bunkers to the left and front right, is difficult to hold as it slopes away from the front.

No. 10 (Mick Holly) par 5, 584 yards – Named after a founding member of the K Club. This hole has a slight dogleg to the right where a big drive offers the chance of reaching a well-protected green tiered green in two. The narrow fairway is well defined between two rows of trees and the entrance to the green is protected by bunker and is very narrow.

No. 11 (Lily Pond) par 4, 415 yards – A sharp dogleg left and a green that is well protected by water on the left. A new tree has been installed to the left of the fairway, barring the big hitters from cutting off the dogleg. The approach can be difficult as the green slopes towards the water on the left. Note that winds make this hole very tricky.

No. 12 (The Domain) par 3, 182 yards – The easiest hole on the course, A par 3 where water lurks in front of a two-tiered green that slopes from right to left. Bunkers lie in wait to the right and back left.

No. 13 (Laurel Heaven) par 4, 428 yards – This par four, a pronounced dogleg left, requires a decent drive off the tee if the green is to be opened up for the approach. The green, which slopes to the right, has two bunkers on the left and water on the right.

No. 14 (Churchfields) par 3, 213 yards - This is the last of the 4 short holes and is relatively straightforward. The waterfall and creek are mainly decorative but the green has a deceptive slope from the front to the back and two deep bunkers in front and to the right.

No. 15 (Pheasant Run) par 4, 446 yards – This par four hole has a fairway that slopes slightly towards the water on the right and this demands accuracy off the tee. The approach is played uphill to a sloping green partially hidden by grassy mounds.

No. 16 (Inismor) par 5, 555 yards – An great double dogleg, which veers first to the right and then to the left. This is one of the great holes of this course and should see some exciting Ryder Cup action. There are new trees planted down the right side of the fairway which force the big hitters to favour the left off the tee. Any attempt to reach the contoured green in two must clear a leg of the River Liffey.

No. 17 (Half Moon) par 4, 424 yards – The River Liffey borders the lefthand side of the fairway and makes this par four bend gently to the left. The green slopes severely from right to left towards the water with a little mound just short of the green, with two bunkers positioned behind it.

No. 18 (The Hooker’s Graveyard) par 5, 537 yards – An exciting finishing hole for this Ryder Cup. The 18th is a dogleg to the right and plays uphill to a green which is protected by a large water harzard to the front and left. There’s also a cluster of bunkers to the right of the green which slopes right-to-left. This should be the stage for some great clashes as the competition unfolds.

Technorati tags ryder cup, golf

Palmer to attend Ryder Cup at K Club

John — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 14:04:05 +0000

Arnold Palmer has confirmed that he will attend the Ryder Cup Matches at the K Club in September.

Having both designed the course for the K Club and starred on the victorious Team USA side a record six times, Arnold will have a particular interest in the unfolding drama at the K Club. As the architect of the course, he seems confident that the fine tuning of the parkland style course will provide the platform for an exciting competition. In light of some of the sniping about the suitability of the course, it’s interesting to note that he is very proud of his work on the Straffan course and feels that it is one of his best. It was after all designed specifically to host a major tournament from the outset.

Arnold is now 77 and will be flying in from the states for the event. What’s really interesting is that instead of lounging around in first class Arnold will be piloting his own Cessna Citation X across the atlantic! He has had a facinating and wide ranging career. He has done an amazing amount of charity work as well as running a range of businesses – it’s all comprehensively documented on his webite arnoldpalmer.com

Strike Threat to Ryder Cup

John — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 15:15:38 +0000

The pay dispute between greenkeeping staff and management at the K Club has just escalated with the threat of Strike action in the run up to the Ryder Cup event in September. We spoke to Colm Quinlan of the Amicus Trade Union who represents half of the 24 greenkeeping staff at the K Club. Colm told us that the pay dispute has been dragging on since January of this year. His worry is that the K Club management have not embraced the process and that the parties are now deadlocked after three rounds of mediated negotiations. The dispute was referred to the Labour Relations Commission in March and is now headed to the Labour Court for a recommendation. The problem is that the Labour court is unlikely to make a recommendation before August, a recommendation which will not be binding – this will bring us perilously close to the run up to the Ryder Cup Matches in September. Naturally the union will be trying to leverage the importance of the Ryder Cup to the club as a bargaining chip and any slipup in the brinksmanship of the negotiations could result in a disruption of the Ryder Cup.

The dispute centers around the pay rates. K Club greenkeeping staff are being paid less than €10 ($12.72) per hour which is not much more that the minimum wage (other clubs are paying over €15 ($19.07) per hour) which does appear ironic given the green fees charged for a round of golf at the K Club. Management have agreed to a 3% pay rise from April of this year but are refusing to backdate the raise which would cost €12000 ($15298).

We tried to contact the K Club for a balanced view on this issue but have so far not had a response from them.

Ryder Cup – The Course

John — Wed, 17 May 2006 10:29:08 +0000

The 36th Ryder Cup Matches in September 2006 will be played on the Arnold Palmer designed North course at the K Club. The course was finished in 1991 on what was then a 330 acre estate with mature woodlands and the river Liffey flowing through it. Arnold Palmer and his right hand man Ed Seay designed and delivered an immaculate parkland course which utilises the river and mature woodlands to specatular effect. The course is unmistakably American in design ethos (which you will either love of hate!). In the early days the course suffered from waterlogging (a function of the relentless Irish rain), spurred on by media sniping the owner Dr. Michael Smurfit wheeled into action and installed a state of the art drainage system and re-built many of the greens. This resulted in a course which is playable in all weathers – bear in mind that doesn’t mean it’s fun for specators in the driving Irish rain – so we better all pray for an Indian summer for Kildare!

Ryder Cup – How to get to the K Club

John — Thu, 11 May 2006 12:31:57 +0000

If you’re travelling the the 36th Ryder Cup Matches and want to know how to get to the K Club this article is to help you figure out where it is and what resources are available online to get you there. First of all here’s a map of the route from Dublin.

The K Club is in Straffan and Straffan is 18 miles from the Dublin the capital of Ireland. There are a number of routes out of Dublin which will get you there – either the N4 or N7 a good routfinder is available from the Automobile Association have a very good route planner at http://aaireland.com/routes/

Dublin Airport information is available at www.dublinairport.com

Dublin Taxis can be found at www.goldenpages.ie – this is the Irish telephone directory

There are a number of Bus services from the Airport to the City Centre www.aircoach.ie

K Club – Venue for Ryder Cup 2006

John — Wed, 10 May 2006 09:21:42 +0000

The K Club is one of Ireland’s premier golf clubs, boasting a five star hotel and spa as well as two courses designed by the legenday Arnold Palmer.

The club is located in Straffan, Co. Kildare in Ireland and is the brainchild of Dr Michael Smurfit, one of Ireland’s best known businessmen. Smurfit originally aquired the 330 acre estate back in 1988 and proceeded to develop his dream country club. The estate had a long history stretching back to feudal times and Norman nobility. Since the eighties the estate has been enlarged to it’s current size of over 550 acres.
In 1991 it opened for play on the Palmer or North course, which is the venue of the 36th Ryder Cup in Sept 2006.

Smurfit’s vision for the K Club now revealed in all it’s glory, with a 5 star hotel, 2 club houses, 2 championship golf courses, a spa and a magnificent setting on a mature estate on the banks of the Liffy everything is in place for an amazing Ryder Cup.