French golfer Thomas Levet believes being awarded the 2018 Ryder Cup is the greatest thing to ever happen to the sport in his country.
The 42nd edition of the biennial match will be staged at Le Golf National in Versailles, just outside Paris, the venue for 18 of the past 20 French Open tournaments.
France beat Spain, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands to the vote after submitting what European Tour chief executive George O’Grady described as an “exceptional” bid.
“Maybe the biggest golfing moment for France was when Arnaud Massy won the Open in 1907, but I wasn’t there for that,” said Levet, who was part of the French delegation present at Tuesday’s announcement.
“In modern golf, this is just like second to none. Wow. It’s crazy, the craziest moment in French golf, like getting the Olympics.”
The evaluation committee’s decision to select France did not only hinge on the quality of the venue, with the event’s popularity meaning the Ryder Cup is now big business.
Each bidding nation had to give financial commitments and outline plans for a lasting legacy of the match. The French bid received government backing.
France have already secured hosting rights to the 2016 European football championships and are hoping to complete a sporting hat-trick by staging the 2018 Winter Olympics in Annecy.
“This is very important for us for the development of golf, it helps develop the sport in the country,” said Pascal Grizot, chairman of the French Ryder Cup bid.
France’s bid contained a pledge to build 100 urban courses. The event will largely be funded by the country’s own 420,000-strong golf community, who will each pay three euros a year until 2022.
The French Golf Federation have a budget of six million euros to improve the Ryder Cup course before the event.
“The creation of 100 new small golf courses inside the cities will bring a lot of people to the game. Golf is the fifth or sixth sport in France at the moment, it’s small,” said Levet.
“The expectation is to be the second or third sport by 2020 and if we have one million players, I will be so happy.
“In France we have an insurance you take every year that costs you 46 euros. We asked all the 420,000 people who play golf in France to pay an extra three euros a year from now until the Ryder Cup.
“That will cover cost of Ryder Cup without sponsors. That is how safe the French bid was.”
European Tour officials were won over by the risk-free nature of France’s bid. Madrid were deemed to be the nearest rivals but their new course has not been built.
“In these tough economic times we can see where we are going. We are leaving nothing to chance on building a new course,” said O’Grady.
“New courses can be built in that time as long as everything goes smoothly.
“If you are going to have a new course you have to be certain that everything will be in position. The plans for the new courses in Portugal and Spain are superb.
“Seven and a half years sounds a long time but developing new areas with all the hotels, offices and roads is a big ask in that time.
“That is why I think their time will come.
“You could say, in that sense, we have gone for the certainty.”