Ryder candidates to meet

THE six nations bidding for the 2018 Ryder Cup in Europe have been invited to come together at a Heathrow hotel on January 13 to share opinions, information and questions.

France, Germany, Holland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden are the candidate countries and they have to submit their bids by the end of April.

Ryder Cup Europe will announce the winner in 2011 and director Richard Hills said yesterday: “This is as thorough an evaluation process as we have ever embarked upon in determining a host nation and venue.

“The 2018 Ryder Cup bid committee is in the process of visiting each country, providing them with the opportunity to showcase their bid in their own environment, but in addition we felt that bringing them together for a symposium would provide all involved with a forum. We have already been impressed by the level of commitment and the clarity of the bids and we are keen to ensure that by providing additional information to all parties at one time they will leave London even better placed to further develop their individual tenders.”

Essential will be a commitment to the development of a world-class facility – new or existing – and an environmental plan so that the match can act as a catalyst for long-term action.

Together the countries have already hosted a total of 700 tournaments – 491 on The European Tour, 162 on the European Challenge Tour and 47 on the European Senior Tour.

Spain leads the way with a combined 196 events, 22 more than France, but they hosted the 1997 match at Valderrama. That is the only time the match on this side of the Atlantic has been played outside Britain and Ireland.