'Built with the Ryder Cup in mind' - Europe vice-captain Edoardo Molinari on Marco Simone course

With the Ryder Cup a little over a year away, European captain Luke Donald and vice-captain Edoardo Molinari have been out scouting the Marco Simone track, host venue of the event, ahead of this week's DS Automobiles Open d’Italia. Marco Simone Golf Club was originally built in the 1980s when acres of Roman countryside was transformed into a Championship course on the outskirts of Rome. After securing the right to host the prestigious event, a re-design was undertaken in 2018 with the full 18 holes being completed early last year.

Ad As Donald and Molinari meticulously plotted their way across the full 18 there will no doubt be a lot of thoughts and ideas that Team Europe want to implement. With the team being dealt their heaviest defeat in Ryder Cup history at Whistling Straits in 2021, Donald and his captains will leave no stone unturned as they look to take back the trophy. Ryder CupMolinari and Donald walk the Marco Simone course33 MINUTES AGO The pair were part of a crew that included lead architect Dave Sampson, head Superintendent Lara Arias and Director of Agronomy, Alejandro Reyes, who also lent his hand to Le Golf National, the Ryder Cup venue back in 2018.

The Ryder Cup being in Italy marks just the third time the event has been staged in continental Europe. It follows in the footsteps of Real Club Valderrama in Spain (1997) and Le Golf National in France (2018). The course was met with mixed reviews last year when it hosted the Open d’Italia.