A day after scrapping its bid because of environmental concerns, the Turkish Golf Federation reversed course Thursday and formally expressed its intention to submit a bid for the 2022 Ryder Cup.
Instead, it was Denmark that became the first country to withdraw itself from consideration. That leaves six countries still in the running: Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Turkey.
Now, the bidding nations will host a series of meetings and inspection visits by Ryder Cup officials. Formal submissions of official bids must be made by April 30. The winning bid will be announced sometime next fall.
“The key criteria we have in place ensure we evaluate each bid equally on both its sporting and commercial merits, while allowing us to judge each bid fairly and thoroughly,” Ryder Cup director Richard Hills said.
On Wednesday, the president of the Turkish Golf Federation said that Turkey was withdrawing its bid because of environmental concerns. Officials are planning to build a $50 million, environmentally safe course that it hopes will be enough to land the ’22 cup.
