Turkey Withdraws Ryder Cup Bid

16 March 2015 04:43

Turkey has withdrawn its bid to stage the Ryder Cup in 2022, leaving five nations in the running ahead of inspection visits from tournament officials which will get under way this week.

Ahmet Agaoglu, president of the Turkish Golf Federation, said: "We have greatly enjoyed working on this project and assessing whether we would be in a position to launch a viable bid to host the 2022 Ryder Cup.

"Although we believe that Turkey is now an established golfing destination, with a collection of world-class courses, it has not proven possible to secure the necessary logistical arrangements in order to proceed and so we have reluctantly decided to withdraw from the process at this time.

"We have enjoyed working with Ryder Cup Europe and firmly believe that the information gained during this period will one day allow us to revisit this incredible opportunity."

In November the Turkish bid was reportedly withdrawn due to concerns over the number of trees which needed to be removed from the chosen course, only to be re-instated 24 hours later.

Germany's bid will be inspected on Tuesday with visits to Spain and Italy scheduled for next week. Officials from Ryder Cup Europe plan to visit Austria at the end of the month, while there is no date confirmed for the visit to Portugal.

Source: PA-WIRE