By Angelo Amante
ROME (Reuters) – Rome’s hosting of the Ryder Cup for the first time this week should provide a boost to the golf movement in Italy, the president of the country’s federation said on Friday, as the tournament bathed in the world’s sporting spotlight.
Speaking to Reuters at the Italian Golf Federation (FIG) box at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club on the first day of the Ryder Cup on Friday, president Franco Chimenti said hosting the tournament would help the venue become legendary for fans around the world.
“We hosted a huge event and this place will become a worship area. People will come to visit,” he said.
Chimenti, 84, said the Ryder Cup might be the starting point for a greater spread of golf in Italy, a football-obsessed country.
“We will gain greater consideration, especially from the non-golfers. We hope this will bring golf a huge increase in external support,” he added.
FIG had 94,046 registered members as of 2022, official data shows, of which nearly 21,000 were women and over 9,000 were under 18, playing on 368 courses across the country. The federation said they had a 4% growth in members compared to 2021, especially among women.
However, golf is sometimes seen as an upper-class sport in Italy where it is considered to be very expensive, and unaffordable for the average people.
Chimenti said, however, that it was not the case and that such beliefs have been a major barrier to the development of the sport.
“A bag of clubs can cost 600-700 euros ($635-$740) if one does not want to exaggerate, and can last a lifetime,” he said.
A lack of superstar golfers to inspire youngsters has also been something of an issue.
Brothers Francesco and Edoardo Molinari – both vice captains of Team Europe – are among the most famous but, in a real blow to the home country, no Italian made the European team this year.
“Francesco has been our best,” said Chimenti of the brother who was a crowd favourite in the Paris 2018 Ryder Cup. He added that Italy was confident that its youth development system would produce high quality players in the coming years.
Among them are Filippo Celli, who won the silver medal for best amateur at the British Open last year, and Francesca Fiorellini, who was part of the Europe team that achieved a sweeping victory in Rome earlier this week.
As the first day of the tournament drew towards a tense finale, Chimenti said watching fans arriving at the course in the early morning has been his favourite moment so far.
“When the gates opened, they stormed the stands. It was night, you could still see the moon.”
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(Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
