There is no more electrifying moment in golf than teeing it up to represent your country. As many of the best players in the world are set to tee it up in the 2023 Ryder Cup this year at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Italy.
As we will be glued to the television this week like so many of you, it also got us wondering about which golf courses the Ryder Cup has been held here in the United States that are accessible for vacationing golfers like you to enjoy.
We’ve taken the liberty of highlighting the options here that you and your group can play on one of your next golf stay and play vacations.
2021 at Whistling Straits (Destination Kohler)
We are coming off one of the greatest U.S. victories in recent memory as the Americans put on a show at the iconic Straits Course at Whistling Straits putting an absolute beat down on the Europeans with a 19-9 victory in Kohler, Wisconsin. While many members of the team had memorable weeks, it was Dustin Johnson who truly shined with a perfect 5-0-0 record for the week including 3 wins with Collin Morikawa during the week.
1991 Kiawah Island Golf Resort: Ocean Course
This was without a doubt one of the most entertaining Ryder Cups in the history of the event. The iconic “War by the Shore ” as it is known as today featured an epic showdown between the United States and Europe that all came down to the last putt. The Europeans were the reigning champions of the event, and in order to retain the Cup they needed to earn 14 points as a tie resulting in the previous champion taking the Cup home.
It all came down to a 5-foot par putt on the 18th hole where Bernhard Langer narrowly missed his par putt resulting in a 14.5 to 13.5 victory for the U.S. team and brought the Cup home for the first time since 1993.
1983 PGA National Golf Course
The best players from the U.S. and Europe descended upon Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and with the teams hosted by Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin, you knew it was going to be an unbelievable showdown. This was the first of four Ryder Cups in a row that Jacklin would captain the European squad, and it would be his only loss of his four captaincies.
The matches were tied up at 8-8 going into the Sunday singles session, and Jacklin opted to send out some of his top players early on while Nicklaus went the other way and loaded the back side of his lineup. The gamble paid off, and the U.S. bested Europe 14.5 to 13.5. This would serve as the last U.S. victory for 8 years until the Americans won at Kiawah Island in 1991.
1979: The Greenbrier
1979 in the Ryder Cup represented a monumental shift in the landscape of the event as this was the first year that players for all continental Europe represented the team instead of players from just Great Britain and Ireland. The change was made to enhance the profile of the event as it had been heavily dominated by the United States teams to this point, and even though the event resulted in another lopsided U.S. victory at The Greenbrier, it did bring Seve Ballesteros into the world of the Ryder Cup and his play and leadership in future years would certainly prove that they made the right decision in expanding the scope of the European team to include all of continental Europe.
1951: Pinehurst No. 2
The iconic Donald Ross-designed No. 2 course at Pinehurst Resort played host to the 9th Ryder Cup in 1951 and the U.S. team boasted some of the biggest names in the game including playing captain Sam Snead, Jack Burke Jr., Ben Hogan, and Jimmy Demaret. The U.S. dominated the event with a 9.5 to 2.5 victory in the matches, and it was one of the earlier championships on this course in the Home of American Golf that has served as host to the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open, and the U.S. Amateur just to name a few.
2025 Bethpage Black: Future Venue
The story at Bethpage Black has yet to be written in the world of the Ryder Cup, but this legendary Long Island muni has hosted many major events over the years including Brooks Koepka’s recent 2019 PGA Championship victory. As the sign located on the first hole indicates, this course is for skilled golfers only and the A.W. Tillinghast design is among the finest publicly accessible courses you’ll find in the United States. It’s a beast of a test, and it’s going to make for an incredible Ryder Cup venue in 2025.
While the event has yet to be played, here’s a look at Koepka’s final round in 2019 to give you an idea of the layout of this incredible venue.
Recommendation
As you’d imagine, this list is made up of some of the finest golf courses in America and are all worthy of consideration for your next golf getaway. It’s one of the best things about the game of golf that it allows all of us to enjoy the same courses that the game’s best can play, and the memories you can make with your friends while hitting shots from the same spots that has decided these iconic events will certainly leave a lasting impact that you won’t soon forget.