A Chat with the Designer of the Ryder Cup Venue

The Fried Egg Golf Podcast

thefriedegg.com

Golf, Sports

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 19 September 2023

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, outside of Rome, Italy, is this year's Ryder Cup host. In preparation for this rather high-profile gig, Marco Simone underwent a redesign by European Golf Design, in cooperation with Tom Fazio II. European Golf Design's lead architect for this project was Dave Sampson, and in this episode, Dave joins Garrett for a deep dive into the course. Dave talks about the most attention-getting holes at Marco Simone, the thought that went into building the spectator and hospitality infrastructure at the venue, whether he believes the course will actually favor the Europeans over the Americans, and some of the criticism Marco Simone has received from European Tour players. Garrett also asks Dave about his general philosophy of championship course design, including his take on the role of narrow fairways and thick rough in challenging elite players.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'm Mr. Green, for example. I'm already upset. When I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset.
0:05.0	And when I find my ball in a fried egg.
0:07.0	Fried egg. The dreaded fried egg.
0:09.0	Fried egg. Fried egg.
0:10.0	Fried egg. Fried egg.
0:11.0	Fried egg. Fried egg.
0:12.0	I'm about ready to run off the golf course.
0:30.0	Welcome to the fried egg golf podcast. I'm Garrett Morrison.
0:37.0	And today we're talking about the design of Marcos Simone Golf and Country Club in Italy,
0:44.0	which will host the Ryder Cup next week.
0:47.0	My guest is Dave Samson, who's a designer for European golf design.
0:51.0	Dave was the lead architect in the recent redesign of Marcos Simone.
0:56.0	This redesign was done with the Ryder Cup specifically in mind.
1:00.0	And I'm really grateful that Dave took time out of his busy schedule this close to the event to talk to me.
1:06.0	Now, I'll put my cards on the table.
1:09.0	I have not been to Marcos Simone, but just looking at it from afar,
1:14.0	it doesn't seem like the kind of golf course that I tend to enjoy,
1:18.0	at least as it's presented right now.
1:21.0	It's got narrow fairways, thick rough, the whole deal, right?
1:26.0	But the thing is, this is a course purpose built for the Ryder Cup, not for my enjoyment.
1:32.0	So even if I'm not a huge fan of its style of architecture,
1:36.0	it might very well be an outstanding host for this event.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from thefriedegg.com, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of thefriedegg.com and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.