Did you know? The Ryder cup is a golf tournament that takes place every other year between teams from Europe and the United States of America. It's name derives from Samuel Ryder, an English entrepreneur and golf fan, who donated the trophy in the first biannual competition between the two sides.
The Ryder Cup is a very important and one of the most prestigious golf tournaments in the world today. It is played once in every two years and is played between teams from USA and Europe. The Ryder Cup is organised and managed by the PGA of America and the PGA of Europe, while the venue keeps alternating between USA and Europe. Any golf enthusiast will be keen on acquiring Ryder Cup tickets on time so that one may bear witness to the greatest players of Golf, battle it out against each other, for the coveted cup. It is interesting to note that though the tournament rakes in a lot of money from sponsors, the winners play only for the cup and are awarded no prize money.
The tournament takes place over a period of three days - generally Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So when one is planning out one's golf trip to the Ryder Cup, one has to make arrangements for all the three days, in order to make the most out of the tournament experience.
The general format of the Cup accommodates a total of 28 matches. While on the Friday and the Saturday, 4 fourball matches and 4 foursomes matches are held in the morning, 12 singles matches get played on the Sunday morning. While the captain chooses the 8 players who play on Friday and Saturday, all the players of both the teams play it out on Sunday. The team with the highest cumulative score wins.
When booking tickets, one has to do it well it advance, before the date of application runs out. Most tickets for non-members are awarded by a random lucky draw. Therefore, one has to be ready to take a chance with the tickets. It is always a good idea to stick to the official website of the Ryder Cup when booking one's tickets. The website follows an application process for tickets and only a few applications get selected through a computerised draw.
The candidates are of course notified via email. It is not just the match days that one can attend in the Ryder Cup. In fact, one can even get tickets for the practice days apart from the regular season tickets. Generally, the website offers a second application procedure for Ryder Cup tickets. This application process is absolutely free but one person can only submit one application. The available ticket options are the International Pavilion Ticket, the Season Grounds Ticket, Daily Grounds Ticket and the Junior Ticket. One should opt for the ticket that best suits one's budget and needs.
Of course, when watching the Ryder Cup, a ticket is not enough. One also has to plan one's hospitality requirements. One can either opt for private hospitality chalets that can be reserved to accommodate almost 150 guests and will come with added benefits of a buffet lunch and drinks. There is also the more expensive and luxurious option of the Captains Club.
