Ryder Cup considers strange solution to hotel shortage for 2027

When Team Europe tries to win a third consecutive Ryder Cup in 2027, 200,000 rabid fans are expected to cheer them on at Adare Manor in Ireland. A big problem has arisen: there aren’t enough hotel rooms in the area to accommodate all those fans.

To overcome this issue, Ryder Cup Europe organizers are considering an odd solution: putting fans on cruise ships docked near the course. This according to one new British newspaper report The Times.

Here’s what we know.

Ryder Cup fans can stay on cruise ships in 2027

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

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 not seen in 2023 and 2025. Adare Manor is a luxury resort with hotel rooms that will likely house the country’s Ryder Cup teams. But there are nowhere enough rooms for fans.

The resort’s home village, Adare, has a population of just 1,129 (as of 2019 figures). The much larger city of Limerick, home to over 100,000 residents, is nearby and will no doubt be part of the solution to housing hundreds of thousands of golf fans in two years.

But even Limerick’s hotels will not be enough to satisfy the huge demand for beds in September.

A new report from The Times sheds light on the many plans underway to prepare for the 2027 Ryder Cup.

The Times the report is based on the minutes of a meeting of a “steering group for the organization of the event from Ireland”.

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

Foynes is a port town located just under 30 km northwest of Adare Manor. The report also notes that accommodation decisions are ultimately up to Ryder Cup Europe.

But that’s not the only transportation initiative for the 2027 Ryder Cup. The Times reports that a “major rail transport plan” is under consideration to ferry fans to Adare Manor from Limerick and cruise ships to Foynes.

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

You can read the entire report from The Times here.

Sports and golf event cruises (see: Tiger Woods)

While housing Ryder Cup fans on cruise ships is a new idea, athletes using the ships as accommodation at major sporting events is not entirely without precedent.

At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the USA men’s and women’s basketball teams stayed on a cruise ship for the Games.