All roads leading to Rome, it was perhaps inevitable that the Ryder Cup, golf’s most prestigious event, would eventually swing by the Eternal City. But when the biennial event’s 44th edition, the first in Italy, gets going at Rome’s newly redeveloped Marco Simone Golf & Country Club this September, the US and European teams won’t just be competing for continental supremacy. Organizers say they’ll also be playing for the future of Italian golf. 

“Golf doesn’t have huge awareness in Italy,” says Guy Kinnings, the DP World Tour’s Ryder Cup director. “It’s the 16th most popular pastime. What’s the legacy we want to leave? We want to improve that.”