Ryder Cup in 2006 will be Ireland’s biggest event
Dr. Smurfit was speaking yesterday to a lunch-time audience at the RDS when he urged support for the Special Olympics which will be held in Ireland next year and described their promotion as “the most important event up to then”.
But, he said, without denigrating the Special Olympics in any way, the Ryder Cup will be such that the biggest problem will be to keep people without tickets out of the club.
He said: “It will be a mammoth and vital task if it is not to spiral out of control because I think it is fair to say there won’t be a golfer, male or female, north or south, who won’t want to be there. That we won’t be able to accommodate those is quite clear and I fully expect a larger than usual American contingent particularly from those of Irish ancestry.”
He issued a salutary warning to those with ambitions of hunting a ticket when he said: “There’s going to be a huge demand and as for our home crowd I can see us being able to meet the expectations of at best one in five, more likely one in ten and possibly one in fifteen.
“We have to control the numbers in the interest of safety and the integrity of the event.”
He illustrated the interest already evident by saying that at a recent promotion an auction for two Ryder Cup tickets and accommodation onsite for the event led to rapid bidding up to 50,000 - 25,000. There were up to ten people in the room who would have paid that.
“In Brookline, Massachussetts, houses on the course for the week were going for $500,000. That was back then. You can imagine if you owned a house at the K Club what you would get for your house that particular week, you can ask any money from a corporate sponsor,” he said.
Dr. Smurfit dismissed the suggestion that he had bought the event but said that he had set out to influence the decision by investing in the European Tour through the European Open, first hosted at the K Club in 1995. The success of that promotion was reflected in the fact that 30,000 flocked to the final day this year and the event was now profitable.
He paid tribute to the support of Bord Failte who appreciated that the potential for golf tourism in this country was immense. Golf tourists spend fifty per cent more than regular tourists.
He spoke of the traditions behind the event and asked “should players be paid? There are a number of very prominent players like Mark O’Meara who suggest they should be paid so they in turn can give the money to their own charities.
“My answer to that both as friends and individuals is no, this is not the way to go. The Ryder Cup should be played as it is now with no money.”
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