The Ryder Cup Is Charging $210 In Fees Per Ticket And Golf Fans Are Absolutely PISSED
It feels like every week there's new outrage about the 2025 Ryder Cup. First off people are pissed the tickets are too expensive. Next people hate all the Europeans that are coming stateside. Then we got the volunteers complaining about having to pay almost $400 out-of-pocket to work the event.
And now people are mad at golfers for getting paid $400,000 to play while simultaneously being forced to stomach $210 in software fees for the ticketing application.
My knee jerk is that these people will never be happy. Golf fans. Just constantly wanting more for less and always having an opinion about improving things.
The sand was a little too soft for my tastes
And don't get me wrong. I'm not paying $210 in fees to see maybe a dozen shots, total. I'm not trying to big dick anyone on money or how to spend it. But same time I think we need to be honest and accept that 99% of the people complaining would also steamroll $210 in event merchandise. You're wearing a $210 (after taxes) quarter zip right now. It's got an Erin Hills/Whistling Straights/Arcadia Bluffs/etc. logo patch on the left breast. It's a beautiful garment and probably one of at least twenty in an ever-expanding collection.
You'll add several pieces each and every year. You'll also get new wedges that need to be refitted after 5 rounds. You'll laser fit a diamond-crusted putter and enter multiple online sweepstakes for literal swag. You'll take an assessment right up the ass and overpay for simulator instruction to play poorly on an overpriced trip. And you'll love every second and dollar spent on the process.
But Ryder Cup fees is where you draw the line on golf related budget. And $210 is simply too much.
AGAIN - I agree. I'm not paying $210 in fees.
But do we at least see the irony behind the most price-agnostic fanbase complaining about the pricing for the sport's greatest event?
That's rich and creamy fellas.
But it's also true that ticket fees are out of fucking control.
I'm going to a Bears game and two concerts this weekend. I'll pay almost $500 in processing fees for what amounts to the right to have digital tickets in my apple wallet. Nevermind that I personally prefer actual paper tickets in my actual bifold wallet. Nobody cares about personal preference or history or tradition or your shoebox full of ticket stubs that remind you of grandpa. Not when there's money to be gouged on vague and unreasonable hosting fees.
Where do we draw the line? Because as it stands, this is emerging into a broader privacy issue. I shouldn't have to surrender to a biometric screening to merely show a Wrigley vendor that I'm in the correct section. That doesn't sit well with me and that's never going to change.
Neither are the overlords charging $210 for Ryder Cup fees. So maybe just join me in dealing with it appropriately by watching from the couch.