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The 2023 Ryder Cup is in Rome and the packages are steep. These are things that fans could purchase instead of a package to Italy.
A trip to the Ryder Cup is expensive, but just how much does it cost? Maybe not quite an arm and a leg, but how about an arm or a leg.
This year, the Ryder Cup is just outside of Rome at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club Sept. 29- Oct. 1, 2023.
There are so many things people can buy for what it’ll cost to go to Italy for five nights to see the Ryder Cup. Of course, an event like the Ryder Cup is a once-in-a-lifetime experience worth the expensive prices.
Fans can buy single tickets, but package options exist for those traveling.
There are hotels that feature five-day rates with transportation and tickets included. The only thing not included is the flight.
There are also ticket upgrades that can be added as well, depending on the size of the party going and what kind of amenities they want.
The 2023 Ryder Cup is quickly approaching, so let’s first dive into costs.
The cost of a Ryder Cup trip
The average round-trip price is around $1,800 per person. Of course, this is dependent on where you live in the United States. If you are on the west coast, you likely are paying a bit more, as you need to fly cross country to switch flights. Yes, you can get slightly cheaper flights if you fly certain airlines. But let’s be real. Are you really going to go cheap on your crazy long flight.
It’s also unlikely you are just traveling alone. So, we are building in two round trip tickets at $3,600.
There are six hotels that the Ryder Cup travel packages listed. They are the Augusta Lucilla Palace, Roma Lifestyle Hotel, Sheraton Parco De Medici Rome Hotel, Ibis Roma Fiera and the Marriott Rome Park.
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Each hotel varies in price, but they all have the five-night package with standard Ryder Cup tickets to the final practice day, the opening ceremony, the three Ryder Cup match days and the trophy presentation.
The average price among those six hotels is $4,142 for a room. That brings our total for travel, hotel and tickets to $7,742.
Then, it would be more to budget food and random purchases like merchandise at the Ryder Cup or gifts to take home. Let’s say the budget is around $2,000 for food and gifts.
You know the saying, ‘When in Rome.’ Well, you are in Rome.
Now your total is $9,742.
It’ll be even more if someone wants to upgrade those tickets. There are quite a few options from seats at the Garden, a spot positioned between the Fan Village and the 9th fairway. It includes a grounds pass and access to two indoor spaces with private facilities. The average price for that ticket is $500 per person.
Going up a level to the Vista Terrace will include a grounds pass and access to the Vista Fanzone, featuring live entertainment, DJs, private bars and food stands. The average price for that ticket is $565 per person.
So, if the couple taking this trip wants to upgrade to the Vista Terrace, it’ll add $1,130, bringing the total to $10,872. Go big or go home, right?
That will be our ballpark price for the rest of this piece.
What clothing could you buy for the cost of a Ryder Cup trip?
So, $10,872 is a large chunk of change. That’s a nice used vehicle or a hefty down payment on a dream car. However, let’s get into some things golfers can buy instead of a Ryder Cup trip.
Nike is an extremely popular clothing brand, and their shoes are what people love. While their prices range from under $100 to well over $300, let’s go with an even $200. At $200 a piece, someone could buy 54 pairs of shoes.
Are shoes not your thing? At $85 a polo, someone could buy 127 of them. A pair of pants with Nike costs around $100, so 108 pairs of pants. However, no one buys 108 pairs of pants or 127 polos. Of course this just puts things into perspective.
Next, Peter Millar is another brand a lot of players love. Those shirts start at $110 a piece and go up to $140, depending on the type of fabric they want. So let’s say $120 for now. At that price, someone could buy 90 shirts.
So, suffice it to say you could your entire family a brand new wardrobe with some of the swankiest clothing out there.
What equipment could someone buy for the cost of a Ryder Cup trip
Alright, enough with the clothing, let’s talk golf clubs.
Most players know that clubs are one of the most expensive pieces of equipment you can buy. So we’ll take a gander at a set of clubs from three top brands — Titleist, TaylorMade and PING.
First, let’s look without the fitting, just the basic prices of the clubs with a bag.
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A complete set of Titleist clubs with a TSR4 driver, a TSR3 fairway wood, a TSR3 hybrid, a full set of T100 irons and a Scotty Cameron Newport Plus putter will run a player about $3,496 before taxes. Adding a Players 4 StaDry stand bag costs $295, so $3,791 before any sales tax is added.
A complete set of TaylorMade clubs with a Stealth driver, a Stealth 2 Plus Tour wood and Stealth 2 plus rescue hybrid, a new set of P790 irons and a TP reserve B11 putter will be around $3,379 before taxes. With a FlexTech stand bag, it would be $3,668.
A PING hoofer lite bag with a G425 Max driver, Max Fairway, Hybrid, G425 irons and PING Anser 2 putter will run around $2,770 before taxes.
With a club fitting, it would cost, on average, $275 a bag. That still leaves a little over $5000 in the bank account.
How many balls could you buy? Well, the Prov V1 from Titleist costs $60 a dozen, so someone could purchase 237 dozen balls for the price of a Ryder Cup trip. That’s more than enough to lose in the woods for a lifetime.
While the Ryder Cup trip would be more memorable than all this materialistic stuff, it’s still interesting to see just what someone could buy for a trip.
As a golf fan, what big-ticket purchase would you rather have than going to the Ryder Cup? Let us know in the comments below.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
