Golf coach to the stars rages at 'horrendous' Ryder Cup venue: "It's too hilly!"

Legendary tour coach Peter Cowen - who has instructed the likes of Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka - is not a fan of the 2023 Ryder Cup venue.

Ben Smith

16 Sep 2023

Golf coach to the stars rages at 'horrendous' Ryder Cup venue:

Would it be unreasonable to suggest legendary tour coach Peter Cowen isn't a fan of the 2023 Ryder Cup venue?

The 44th contest between United States and Europe takes place over 29 September - 1 October in Italy.

It will be held at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome.

As expected, the Europeans will set up the course in their favour. The thick rough means there will be a premium on finding the fairways.

Cowen is not a fan and in explosive comments to bunkered's Ben Parsons poured gasoline over the venue then lit the match.

Cowen had many criticisms about the course. He reckons the layout is 'too hilly' and he fears some players might tire quickly if they are needed to play multiple matches.

The instructor, whose clients include major champions Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen, Danny Willett, Sergio Garcia, Darren Clarke, Henrik Stenson, Gary Woodland and Brooks Koepka, told the publication:

"I don't like the course, I think the course is horrendous. It's too hilly, too many blind shots, it's not my favourite course.

"The caddies will find it very very demanding. If you're caddying for four rounds in two days, I think on the third day you'll be in a bad way.

"It's very hard work, it really is. For the players as well if they're playing four or five matches.

"That's what happened to Rahm at Whistling Straits, he'd played all four matches then he played in the singles and he was knackered."

Cowen also said he believes Europe do not have an advantage at the venue.

So that's Cowen's opinion, but what have the players and captains said?

Viktor Hovland was one player who agreed somewhat with Cowen's assessment.

Six things you need to know about Marco Simone

"It's very blind," he said before the BMW PGA Championship. "And for a stroke-play event, I was not a big fan."

But he added: "But for match play, I think it's going to be super exciting because there's a good mix of the holes that are easy that you can make birdies and you can make eagles, but there's also some extremely difficult hose where if you make a par, you could win the hole.

"So I think that makes for a really good Ryder Cup because you're not going to see too many halved holes. I feel like there's going to be a lot of movement, and I think that makes for an exciting Ryder Cup, especially the shots required, as well.

"They are very demanding. You have to drive it well off the tee or else it's going to be very, very difficult."

Read more:

Watched our latest YouTube video?