The Ryder Cup is coming to Hazeltine National in Minnesota

Things to Know about TheRyder Cup

2016

by Larry Berle

The Ryder Cup will be played at Hazeltine National Golf Club Sept 26- Oct 2, 2016.

Hazeltine has hosted several other major golf tournaments  but  this, by far, seems to have the highest level of interest.

Here is just a taste of what has gone into the preparation of this event.

1. The course has been lengthened  to  7674 yards.  I will be surprised if anyone ever plays it again at that length,  in fact The Ryder Cup wont be played at that length because I can see that the first tee bleachers have been built in front of the back tee box on #1
2. It’s August  28 and carts are no longer allowed out on the course.  The only play allowed is walking  and at that they must carry a mat and place their ball on the mat to hit from the fairway  (you can hit it from the rough if you land there)
3. After Labor day  the golf course will be closed to all play.
4. Many of the corporate,  media and merchandise tents are already up and in place  (but I have been told there are more to come)  Its huge.   
5. The course has been rerouted. Please note this does not mean that  holes have been changed, just rerouted for crowd control and viewing purposes.  (for example the front 9 is now 1-4 followed by the old 14-18.and  #9 and#18 have been interchanged. It is undetermined if Hazeltine will go back to the old routing after the Ryder Cup or not. They wanted to be sure that the old number 16 (their signature hole)  would be played in every match  (many matches don't go past #15)
6. The General Public Parking Lot for the 2016 Ryder Cup is at Canterbury Park located at 1100 Canterbury Road, Shakopee,  This is a half hour bus ride from the course.  There will also be no bike riding to the course and no walking either.

1. There are 28 matches in total in the Ryder Cup, 8 on Friday 8 on Saturday and 12 singles matches on Sunday.   The amount of golf a spectator will be able to see in person seems to me to be severely limited.  I think this will be much better on TV.
2. If you are going, and if you are a Prince Fan then you may want to know that Paisley Park is 3 or 4 miles from Hazeltine National. at the intersection of Highway #5 and Audubon Road
3. With the 2016 Ryder Cup, Hazeltine will become one of two courses in the United States to have hosted the U.S. Open, PGA Championship, U.S. Senior Open, U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Amateur, and Ryder Cup Matches.