In an unprecedented piece of forward planning, the PGA of America has announced that the 2036 Ryder Cup will be held at the Congressional Country Club in Maryland.
This means that the venues for the next five American-based Ryder Cups are already set and Congressional – the course where Rory McIlroy claimed his first major title, the US Open, in 2011 and a short distance from Washington – has a remarkable 18 years to prepare. Never in the history of the matches has any golf course had half a generation to make ready for the contest.
It will be the first time a course in the state of Maryland will host the biennial tournament, but Congressional has plenty of big-tournament experience, staging the US Open three times since 1980. The venue’s Blue Course also hosted the PGA Championship in 1976 will stage the same tournament again in 2031. In addition, Congressional will welcome the Women’s PGA Championship twice and the Senior PGA Championship twice during the next few years.
There has yet to be any explanation from the PGA of America about why so many Ryder Cup courses have been named as hosts so early. Until recently, organisers on both sides of the Atlantic have been two venues ahead, but the US list currently reads as follows: 2020 – Whistling Straits (Straits Course), Kohler, Wisconsin; 2024 – Bethpage State Park (Black Course), Farmingdale, New York; 2028 – Hazeltine National GC, Chaska, Minnesota; 2032 – Olympic Club, San Francisco, California; and 2036 – Congressional GC, Maryland.
By contrast, only the next European host club in 2022 has been named, Marco Simone Golf & Country Club near Rome in Italy. Further venue announcements are not expected from the European Tour until next year which means the 2026 venue will have a maximum of seven years to make ready – the same timeframe that this year’s venue Le Golf National enjoyed when it was given the hosting assignment in 2011.
Speculation about Europe’s 2026 venue centres around Adare Manor in Limerick in the Republic of Ireland, but other Irish clubs in the north of the island such as Royal Portrush or Royal County Down have also been mentioned in press reports.
Congressional Country Club https://www.ccclub.org/