Ryder Cup considers strange solution to hotel shortage for 2027 event

When Team Europe attempts to win the Ryder Cup for the third time in a row in 2027, 200,000 passionate fans are expected to cheer them on at Adare Manor in Ireland. One major problem has arisen: there are not enough hotel rooms in the area to accommodate all those fans.

To solve this problem, Ryder Cup Europe organizers are considering a strange solution: allowing fans to stay on cruise ships docked near the course. That is according to a new report from British newspaper The times.

Here’s what we know.

Ryder Cup fans could be staying on cruise ships in 2027

The 2023 Ryder Cup, the last to be held in Europe, was hosted by Marco Simone. While as many as 270,000 fans flooded the course that week, its location near the Italian capital Rome made spectator logistics relatively easy.

The same can be said for this year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black near New York City.

But the 2027 Ryder Cup presents problems that you won’t encounter in 2023 and 2025. Adare Manor is a luxury resort, with hotel rooms likely to house the Ryder Cup teams on site. But there aren’t nearly enough rooms for fans.

The resort’s home village of Adare has a population of just 1,129 (according to 2019 figures). The much larger city of Limerick, home to over 100,000 residents, is close by and will undoubtedly be part of the solution to accommodate hundreds of thousands of golf fans within two years.

But even Limerick’s hotels won’t be enough to meet the huge demand for beds in September.

A new report from The times sheds light on the many plans underway in preparation for the 2027 Ryder Cup.

The times The report is based on minutes of a meeting of a “steering group for the Irish host of the event.”

And at that meeting it was revealed that an “option for large cruise ships to dock at Foynes remained under consideration” to alleviate the lack of spectator accommodation in the area.

Foynes is a port town just under 20 miles northwest of Adare Manor. The report also notes that decisions on housing are ultimately up to Ryder Cup Europe.

But that’s not the only transportation initiative in the works for the 2027 Ryder Cup. The times reports that a “major rail transport plan” is being considered to take fans from Limerick to Adare Manor and cruise ships in Foynes.

The Irish government has also approved the “accelerated construction” of the Adare Bypass project, which would see a new road built past the village of Adare to improve traffic conditions for the Ryder Cup.

You can read the entire report from The times here.

Cruise ships at sporting and golf events (see: Tiger Woods)

While the idea of ​​housing Ryder Cup fans on cruise ships is a novel idea, it is not entirely unprecedented for athletes using ships for accommodation at major sporting events.

The US men’s and women’s basketball teams played at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro stayed on a cruise ship for the Games.