By every measuring stick and metric, the 2025 Ryder Cup at 1,477-acre Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, New York, will be the biggest buildout of infrastructure and the biggest logistical special event in history for the PGA of America.
PGA of America Chief Championships Officer Kerry Haigh, 2025 Ryder Cup Championship Director Bryan Karns and 2025 Ryder Cup Tournament Operations Manager Evan Crowder began preparations for the 45th Ryder Cup one day after the 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage Black concluded – on May 20 of that year.
Since that time, a team of more than 2,000 has systematically transformed Bethpage Black and the surrounding area into a small “golf town” dedicated to providing a special experience for 250,000 spectators, players and players’ families, volunteers, officials and worldwide media members at the Super Bowl of Golf on Sept. 23–28 on Long Island, just a driver and 5-iron from New York City.
Teams Unite for Ryder Cup
Various staffs from the PGA of America have collaborated with the state of New York, numerous vendors, the staff at Bethpage State Park, the staff at Bethpage Black, the New York State Police, staffs from Nassau and Suffolk County in New York, various New York transportation agencies and a coalition of public golfers/volunteers to stage a golf festival unlike any other in late September that will be televised in some 89 countries.
“As a public golf course and state owned, Bethpage is an incredibly rare host site for major championships and Ryder Cups,” observes Karns, the PGA air-traffic controller of the event. “We are more commonly at private clubs and work directly with memberships and traditional golf club staff. In my opinion, it has been the perfect recipe for this Ryder Cup because of the level at which the state of New York is involved in helping us plan and execute the event, and the commitment they have to seeing it succeed.
“Host governments are typically supportive of the events we run, but it’s a different level of ownership with a place like Bethpage State Park. It has allowed us to really expand the number of people who are willing to jump in and help. We have an army of people who consider this their home course and have added an incredible grass-roots energy and excitement to the planning.”
Abundance of Space
Indeed, the fact that the 2025 Ryder Cup is able to utilize the four courses at Bethpage State Park (in addition to Bethpage Black for the actual matches) for corporate chalets, parking, shuttle stops, vendor-supply storage and all other support and staging facilities such as a media center, team locker rooms, security hubs and concessions contributes to the massive Long Island state park becoming the perfect venue.
“While there may only be 24 players participating in the Ryder Cup itself, the amount of work and the size of the infrastructure that is required is simply massive,” explains Haigh, who oversees course preparation at Bethpage Black for the matches.
“The PGA of America has an incredible team on site at Bethpage who have been there for three-plus years. Working with the staff at Bethpage has been a delight, and their passion and love for the park is contagious. The people of Farmingdale and Long Island, and the support from the state of New York has been wonderful and will hopefully make this one of the most exciting Ryder Cups we have experienced.”
Some 60 PGA of America staff members have been involved in Ryder Cup operations, with another 50-plus back at the Home of the PGA in Frisco, Texas, contributing from their offices.
“There are about 15 on-site PGA team members focused entirely on the Ryder Cup,” says Karns, who adds that formal buildout began on May 18 with some 2,000 workers at Bethpage Black.
The 2025 Ryder Cup will be arguably the most technologically advanced golf event in history. The grounds at Bethpage Black will feature 25 large video boards so spectators on-site won’t miss a single shot. Some 20 helipads have been constructed at Bethpage State Park with special access for officials, celebrities and government officials. In all, the buildout at Bethpage Black includes 1.5 million square feet of tenting; 45,000 linear feet of fencing and barricades; eight double-decker and two triple-decker hospitality and spectator structures with 1.6 million square feet of decking; a main merchandise pavilion with more than 75,000 square feet of floor space; more than seven miles of chain link fencing; 1,000 temporary restrooms and 70 executive trailer restrooms; and nearly 30 concession stands.
Huge Scope and Scale
“The scope and scale of the Ryder Cup is always big, but the 2025 Ryder Cup in New York is taking it to a whole new level,” insists Karns. “It will definitely be the biggest Ryder Cup by almost every metric we use (tents, flooring, hospitality, transportation, security, etc.).
“One of our biggest early challenges was transportation. How do we get all of the workers, all of the spectators, all of the officials and all of the team members and their families to and from Bethpage Black in an efficient, timely manner? We have worked out a good plan with the New York State Police, the Long Island Railroad and all of the stakeholders to make it as easy and seamless as possible.”
When you add more than 30 staffers from the office of New York State Parks & Recreation Commissioner Erik Kulleseid and Bethpage State Park Director Scott Matson; 20–25 workers under the guidance of GCSAA member Andrew Wilson, who oversees all the golf courses at Bethpage Park, and Michael Hadley, Bethpage Black course superintendent; and another handful of professionals under Bethpage Black PGA Head Professional Justin Koff (pictured, above left), you have a legion of highly experienced professionals who have been working every day to make the 2025 Ryder Cup a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Koff, Wilson and Hadley have juggled their daily duties of making Bethpage Black a unique experience for public golfers while simultaneously preparing the course for the Ryder Cup. Koff points out that the five courses at Bethpage State Park were scheduled to remain open for public play until Sept. 2.
“Bethpage Black has an extremely knowledgeable and talented team who manage and operate the five golf courses on a day-to-day basis,” says Haigh. “Andrew Wilson and Michael Hadley were both at Bethpage Black for the 2019 PGA Championship, so they have a lot of experience and knowledge in helping prepare the golf course for the best players from the USA and Europe.
“They have also organized a large volunteer team of superintendents from throughout the country and other parts of the world who will come in for the week of the Ryder Cup to help make sure everything is properly managed and prepared.”
New York City Events
Karns and Crowder noted that the large 2025 Ryder Cup footprint will extend well beyond the 1,477 acres that comprise Bethpage State Park. A special Ryder Cup Fan Experience is being built at Rockefeller Center in New York City, where an interactive first tee patterned after the expansive first tee at Bethpage Black, a Ryder Cup store, large video boards and plenty of food and beverage will allow fans who don’t have tickets to enjoy the full Ryder Cup experience and watch the matches live Sept. 26–28.
“The Ryder Cup in New York is bigger than anything we have done at the PGA of America,” notes Crowder, who moved to New York in November of 2022 to begin oversight of on-site construction and preparations for the 2025 Ryder Cup.
“The Ryder Cup is a completely different logistical challenge and a completely different atmosphere than the PGA Championship. For example, we have built two team rooms in the normal parking lot at Bethpage Black – one for the U.S. and one for Europe. Each is a 15-meter-by-15-meter tent that features team lockers, dining, physio and other amenities for the players and their families. When the teams are on site at Bethpage Black, that will serve as their headquarters. They will have similar team rooms back at the team hotels in Garden City, too.
“Past Ryder Cup captains and celebrities, and PGA officials will use a locker room upstairs in the Bethpage Black clubhouse that has been refurbished for Ryder Cup Week.”
Karns and the 2025 Ryder Cup team had no trouble recruiting volunteers to assist during Ryder Cup Week. More than 3,400 are ready to go, with thousands more on a waiting list.
“The number of worldwide people who stepped up to serve as volunteers during Ryder Cup Week was simply amazing,” says Karns. “We had people from virtually every state and 26 countries sign up.”
Led by Executive Director Jeff Voorheis (pictured, above right) and his staff, the Metropolitan PGA Section has assisted in the run-up to the 2025 Ryder Cup by distributing tickets and other community-engagement efforts. During Ryder Cup Week, Met Section members will manage the practice tee at Bethpage Black, provide on-course shuttle services for players, players’ families and officials, and will oversee the PGA Member Club at Bethpage Black.
“The Met Section played a vital role in the success of the 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage Black, and Met Section members will be our eyes and ears on the grounds throughout Ryder Cup Week,” explains Karns. “We are creating a great experience for PGA Members at the Ryder Cup through the PGA Members Club at Bethpage Black, and the Met Section will be overseeing that while serving as informal hosts for many other associated events.”
—Roger Graves
