Officials from Ryder Cup Europe will, this week, begin a series of visits to the countries bidding to host The 2022 Ryder Cup.
First on the agenda, starting today, is a visit to Germany with trips to Spain and Italy carded for next week, while a trip to Austria is scheduled for the last week of this month. At present there is no date confirmed for the visit to Portugal.
Last week, Ryder Cup Europe officials received confirmation from Turkey that they have withdrawn from the bidding process.
Ahmet Agaoglu, President of the Turkish Golf Federation, said: “We have greatly enjoyed working on this project and assessing whether we would be in a position to launch a viable bid to host The 2022 Ryder Cup.
“Although we believe that Turkey is now an established golfing destination, with a collection of world class courses, it has not proven possible to secure the necessary logistical arrangements in order to proceed and so we have reluctantly decided to withdraw from the process at this time. We have enjoyed working with Ryder Cup Europe and firmly believe that the information gained during this period will one day allow us to revisit this incredible opportunity.”
Ryder Cup Director Richard Hills, said: “On behalf of everyone at Ryder Cup Europe, I want to place on record my thanks and appreciation of the hard work put in by all the representatives of the Turkish bid, and we wish them well for the future.
“Our attention now turns to the nations still in the running and we are very much looking forward to the fact-finding missions and seeing precisely the vision that each country has for the hosting of The 2022 Ryder Cup.”
Following the inspection visits, the prospective host nations for what will be the 44th staging of the biennial contest between Europe and the United States, will make their formal submission of Official Bids on or before the closing date of Thursday April 30, 2015.
Following that, a period of detailed analysis of each bid by a management team working on behalf of Ryder Cup Europe – together with the assistance of an independent panel of experts – will be undertaken, with the announcement of the successful host country and venue for The 2022 Ryder Cup expected this autumn.
Read more stories about the world of Professional Golf and latest list of Most-read stories