A large fire broke out within a hospitality tent at Marco Simone Golf Club, the site where Team Europe took home the 2023 Ryder Cup.
2023 Ryder Cup venue Marco Simone Golf Club set ablaze
A large fire broke out at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, where the Europeans won the 2023 Ryder Cup.
Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
The structure that caught fire sits to the right of the first tee.
Luckily, nobody was hurt.
“A fire was reported in one of the temporary hospitality structures to the right of the first [hole] at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club earlier [Thursday],” a statement from Ryder Cup Europe reads.
“Local fire crews were called to the scene at [5:07 p.m.] local time and quickly brought the blaze under control. There was no damage to the golf course or any other structure. The cause of the fire is currently being investigated.”
The smoke from the fire rose thousands of feet above Marco Simone, making the blaze visible to anyone within a few miles of the course.
Thankfully, this incident occurred after the Ryder Cup. Had it happened before, or during the competition, tournament organizers would have had a catastrophe on their hands.
Still, cleaning up from Thursday’s fire will likely take some time, as the hospitality structure that caught fire is quite large.
When professional golf returns to Marco Simone remains to be seen.
The Rome-area course has hosted the DS Automobiles Italian Open for three consecutive years, but a venue for the 2024 edition has yet “to be confirmed,” according to the DP World Tour website.
When more information is made available, this article will be updated.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
