Irish authorities have until the end of August to decide if they are willing to enter a bid to stage the 2022 Ryder Cup.
Tournament organisers have published the timetable of the process which will be considerably more streamlined than the first competitive pitch process that resulted in the award of the 2018 tournament to Le Golf National in Paris.
Only one bid from each country is possible and clubs wishing to put themselves forward will have to do so centrally.
Full bid dossiers will be required by the middle of February 2015 with a final decision made in the Autumn giving seven years to build up to the event.
Guarantees
It is likely that the Ryder Cup organisers will look at financial guarantees of greater then €20 million to stage the event which could be the third major international event to be staged in Ireland in four years if bids for the European Championships in Soccer in 2020 and the Rugby World Cup in 2023 are successful.
Germany and Turkey are expected to bid. Both were interested in the 2018 renewal but a lack of Government support in Germany happened their bid. Turkey staged its first European Tour event last year with the support of Turkish Airlines and appears to be fully committed to growing the sport.
Ireland would have an advantage in that the crowd figures at successive Irish Opens have been the highest in all of Europe, and the courses that might be interested, including Fota Island and Carton House, as well as Lough Erne are already set up for extensive TV coverage and walk up crowds.
Trump International at Doonbeg would perhaps be tempted but whether the transport infrastructure would be strong enough to satisfy the organisers is a question that would need addressing.
K Club
Ireland hosted the event in 2006 at the K Club though the world economic collapse 12 months later may have prevented the course and the country taking full advantage of that.
The 2011 Solheim Cup was played at Killeen Castle in County Meath and was watched by over 200 million worldwide viewers.
No indication has emerged yet from Ireland, Britain or Spain, all of which are previous hosts as to whether a bid will be forthcoming but now the clock is ticking.
