大象传媒

And this is only the practice day...on a day with terrible weather which might dissaude some...I really fear for the weekend.

No offence to the organisers but it's not like they couldn't see this coming is it?! (Talking with Gerry Byrne, the head greenkeeper, last night, he was at least planning for inclement weather on the course).

To be honest I think they've spent so much time making sure the TV rights were in order, the uniforms were pretty (ish!) for the cameras that the fee paying punters have come a long way down the list of priorities. This is only further backed up by the feeding frenzy over here for any official information on facilities and transport.

Hopefully they can pull this one together quickly for the fans at home as much as for the TV audience.

John
www.ryderdiary.com

Nearly every sporting tournament is like that! Queue after queue, people scrambling to see the biggest Golf competition that only happens every two years. Why are you trying to make the Irish look like they have organised the Ryder Cup really badly? They have put serious time and resources into all aspects to ensure that this event runs as smoothly as possible. Can't do anything about the weather obviously and, incidently, the whole ticket/ID mess is courtesy of our American buddies!

"K CLUB - Inefficient, badly planned and poorly run"

I think that is a bit harsh! first off you can't blame the K Club for the bad weather and secondly the fact that they put health and safety measures as their top priority would show that they are well planned. The weather was always going to be a problem and obviously the delay was the back log of cars and buses that were meant to leave this morning.

Don't worry, because by Friday the sun will be shining and will continue to do so for the rest of the weekend. All weather sources are saying the same thing. This won't be a sign of things to come, it will get better and remember the real action has not started yet so you have not missed anything important!

Cheer up!

I appreciate you were there and I wasn't but......
Isn't is a little unfair to expect a little town like Straffan to have the road network and infrastructure to cater for bad weather delay to 40000 people. I accept that the traffic in and around Dublin is chaotic but the problems at Straffan have been mainly compounded by the poor weather and the closure of the course.
So I think it's improper to allege that it's "Inefficient, badly planned and poorly run"

Hello Rob,
Don't pull any punches. Tell it as it is. I'm going there Thursday & Friday. Nothing like solid B.B.C. reporting.

You can hardly hold the K club responsible for the tail end of a hurricane...

I have been to every Ryder Cup, in Europe, since 1987. Me and my gang all applied for tickets for the K Club by using the computer as we all had to. Eight of us individually applied. Not one of us was successful. Fishy?? I think so...

The very next day, you could get tickets on e bay as easy as "that". At somewhat inflated prices as you can imagine.

Something is wrong here. What about support loyalty over the years? What about the fact that genuine golf fans are shut out by people on a scam wanting to just make money.

I see that all tickets are scanned at the course so that they match the ID with the person. These golf fans are being penalised as they may not get in having paid three or four times over the odds. And the people who bought them and then put them on E bay may get off scot free.

What made it worse for me and my chums is that, so dedicated are we that we actually went to the K Club a year ago to look at the lie of the land and have a lovely meal in the club house.

The icing on the cake was that I had a text as I was tucking into my pudding to say that I had been unsuccessful!!

It's a shame and a shambles.

As I said, what about loyalty and the true fan. PGA - hello - there has to be a better way!!!

Some UK journalists are choosing to fill their column inches (and ubiquitous blogs - oh, the blogs! Will they never end??) with a lot of negative drivel, lightly sprinkled with 'top of the morning' and 'pint o' the black stuff' banalities. I am not entirely sure that the UK has all the bragging rights when it comes to organising sporting events, weather, traffic, public transport systems etc etc anyway. Ireland is a small country which for the most part is very proud of being able to stage this year's Ryder Cup. The K Club is an excellent venue (which, to be quite frank, knocks seven shades of you know what out of the Belfry to name but one recent dull venue) and it will provide excellent drama. Given what is being written and broadcast at the moment, I am inclined to ignore all newspapers/TV etc until the thing actually starts.

I would suggest the hurricane has only a small part to play. Security looks arcane and whilst rightly we should all be responsible it appears that the organisers pay little attention to the needs of the paying customer and are unable to deliver pragmatic security measures.

I agree in part. They indeed cannot be held responsible for 'Hurricane Gordon' however, late September date in Dublin should have always posed questions about the weather as it's notoriously bad year in year out. What the K Club should have done was ensure that a contingency plan was in place before the week got underway to ensure that the paying spectators (bearing in mind the huge prices and demand for tickets) get to see some of the action they paid hard earned money for. As for security measures, it goes without saying that the a common sense approach should be addopted and it seems as this is lacking somewhat. Lessons to be learned come Celtic Manor 2010. Take note Terry Matthews...

Hi all,

I'm not blaming the roads in the slightest.

I'm pointing out that the time it took to load people onto buses was criminal.

There were plenty of buses, the roads were clear and the course was open from 10am, so from then on there were no safety issues.

The problem was the way the queue was managed and the way a flow of people from cars was filtered to a trickle getting onto buses.

Yes, it was exceptional weather, but
once the all-clear was given, things should have speeded up, not ground to a halt.

Ryder Cup organiser Richard Hills insisted in his news conference that he was happy with the way the system worked.

He said in a statement: "We would like to thank the public for their patience, especially those who were compelled to wait in the park-and-ride facilities."

There wasn't much patience in the one I was in, but let's just hope it was a one-off because I think the paying public deserve better.

Are you not being too hard on the K-Club? It is not their fault that Ireland as suffered the tail end of a hurricane.........

The minute they announced the ticketing arrangements for this Ryder Cup, myself and a few of the diehard fans ruled it out.

It is cheaper to go to USA in two years time than be ripped off here.

They are an absolute joke, and I fell sorry for all the fans going to this over the next few days.

Save your money and head over to the states in 2 years time and get behind the team where they will need it most.

You cant hold the K club responsible for a hurricane..... but Ireland is not adverse to its share of bad weather. Fans will wait in all conditions for the chance to see their heros in action. Therefore the K club should of expected the crowds today.

I wonder which countries are responsible for creating the climate that has led to absurd security measures appearing at every two-bit international event? Can anyone remember? Hmm.

Just back from the Ryder Cup practice days. Now where do I start? I'm not at all critical of the health and safety measures taken today which are there to protect us. However, some of you readers might be interested to read our experience. We set out early Tuesday for the 1st practice day, having stayed in an airport hotel. Little did we know the Dublin ring road would be a complete crawl going south. Follow the well positioned signs, keep left as the signs say, then follow the next exit left toward the city, just as the sign said, and find yourself going exactly the opposite way from the golf course!! Turn around, get stuck in even more traffic jams. Try to avoid the stationary traffic in the ring road by going cross country and get even more caught up than ever before.

Now, Ireland is hosting this event, the biggest sporting event they've had for many a year if not ever, so what does South Dublin County Council do.... yes, they carry out major road works between the two junctions used to carry Ryder Cup transport taking most people to the major 2 park and ride locations. You just couldn't make it up!!! We know because we sat in the traffic jams for hours. Got there early afternoon, saw far too little golf, crowds far too big. Spectator mounding not great. Made way to the practice ground to watch, but some bright spark has positioned the grandstand to see the backs of the players - all except Phil Mickleson! Too many spectators gathered around Tiger Woods on far too small a putting green that's raised, so those at the back see nothing.

Tuesday morning we were determined to beat the traffic. Easy journey to golf course because we started out at 6am - got the golf course in darkness. Golf course closed, stood in wind and rain, then watched teeming rain from our car, then just gave up!! Came home instead.

This is a great golf course for the Ryder Cup, with a well designed layout. Sadly, the infrastucture of Ireland is simply not ready for this event. On our return trip to the airport we passed thousands of stationary cars learning the same lesson.

Hello, I was at the K Club yesterday and with fine weather i really enjoyed the whole experience. I am a native of Dublin who regularly uses public transport and i found the combined operation between the bus and rail service excellent.
The main problem with today was the bad weather, something which everyone knows in Ireland can start to get very "dodgy" near the end of September. With the "Major season" ending in August the Ryder cup should have been scheduled for the first or second week in September. We only have to remember the horrible winds and disruptions to play at the Irish Open a few months back to know that weather considerations where paramount to setting the dates of the competition held here.
In this part of the world the Ryder cup should have been held earlier and i just hope the weather doesn't ruin a great contest. trevor.

I would be more worried if there wasn't increased security. I am afraid this is a symptom of our times and like in UK airports over the last weeks people accept this as a necessary requirement for their own and everyone else's security.

I have spoken to friends who were there yesterday who were thought the organisation inside the K club was fantastic. The course is fabulous and the friendly and welcoming inside the venue made up for the slight inconvenience on entering the course.

The above article seems closer to a tabloid headline grabber than a balanced view

I have two x Sat/Sun combo tickets and can't attend on Saturday. Phoned the ticket line and they point blank refused to allow me to transfer the Saturday tickets to two family members (same surname). 100% refund was offered but then I wouldn't have a ticket for Sunday (Doh..!!). I suggested a 50% refund but this was also refused.
Maximumise revenue...!! Welcome to Ireland..!

I have tickets for the Sunday which my girlfriend applied for so are not in my name. I read that they are checking all the tickets but does anyone have experience of people being refused entry?

I was at the K club yesterday and I was happy with the security arrangements. The venue is great and the course is in excellent condition. What has not been mentioned is that if you show up at the bus park with a ticket that is not in your name, you can simply show some ID and the security guy will put a code on the back of your ticket and you can get in. Many of the tickets have no names on them so there has to be a system for people to get in.
One thing that i was not happy with is the difficulty in getting some thing to eat. Bring your packed lunch!

Aggh! If I hear any more about the "tail end of Hurricane Gordon" being blamed for today's delays I will scream!

Ex-hurriane Gordon is at present a tropical storm off the north west coast of Spain, a good few hundred miles away from Ireland. Today's rain and strong winds has nothing whatsoever to do with ex-hurricane Gordon!

"Gordon" is due to deepen and move quickly northwards toward Ireland overnight. So, tomorrow morning when conditions are even worse than today we can talk about the impact of ex-hurricane Gordon!

I was there on Tuesday and I thought the whole thing was very well managed. People have to realise that this is not like a normal golf tournament and expectations should be tempered accordingly.

This is not a tour event with 160 players all milling around for everyone to see. There are 24 players who all play at roughly the same time so the opportunity for watching golf all day is simply not there. Yesterday the US team was finished playing at noon. In fairness some of them stayed around a while to sign autographs but by 12.15 there wasn't a US player to be seen. The Europeans were playing until about 3. But at the end of the day there were 6 fourballs and 20,000 spectators - you can't expect to see as much as at a tour event or major. At the Open they go out in groups from 6am to 5pm.

In all other respects the tournament is organised like the Open. Same catering tents, same stands, same merchandise tent, same tables, chairs, toilets and everything. Most of the same staff even. This is old hat to these organisers.

There was tight security all around. This is because of American concerns and not Irish concerns. Last Sunday 83,000 people thronged to Croke Park to see the All Ireland Football Final and they were in and out of the CENTRE of Dublin city in no time at all. It's unfortunate that american foreign policy dictates how sporting events in Ireland are to be run but there you have it - that's the world we live in and we will have to get used to it. But don't blame the Irish organisers. Ireland has hosted huge events wih no trouble for years. Even the European Summits are less tightly policed than the Ryder Cup has to be this week.

America might be the land of the free but it has resulted in less freedom for the rest of us.

Feel free to think about that one.

Reading most of the comments a few things spring to mind
1. The weather-out of everyone's control, all golfers have had to put up with high winds and rain and should realise the consequences
2. Security measures were well documented in all information packs that all attendees would have recieved
3. Refunds on tickets, the policy on this again was well and truely documented so stop whining now
4.Traffic,the K Club is very close to Dublin, Dublin is a vibrant busy cosmpolitan city with a high dependency on the car, get to the car parks at 6.30am, no traffic....
5. In conclusion it seems that there is a lot of jealous people out there who are far too quick to criticise Ireland's efforts at staging an event that caters for 40,000. Last Sunday we staged an event in the city centre with 83,000 attendees, no whining no problems.
Get on with enjoying the spectacle

With all the bad weather forecast, it will be a real anti-climax if the event goes into the Monday.
I know I'll only be an armchair viewer, but would I be bitterly disappointment if I missed the conclusion. Here's to the weather clearing ASAP.

W.R. numerous reports are being posted of people who have successfully changed their tickets - further details on the site. HTH

I also attended yesterday and had an incredible experience. I feel the comments are totally unjustified as no one could have envisaged having a situation where all spectators would converge at the same time for transfer to the venue.
We had no problems on the course there was plenty of room to see the action.
Can I congratulate all the players both European and American for the way they engaged with the spectators never before at a major sporting event have a group been so accessable to the ordinary punter.

Its no surprise to anyone in Ireland (or at least the greater Dublin area) that the first words reported on the Ryder Cup were to do with traffic chaos and not golf. Dubliners have been living with the apalling state of road infrastructure for 10 years now, quiet astonishingly, during the greatest period of economic boom this country has ever and will ever see. Over the last few months millions has been spent on roads in and around Straffan, for what? There is no traffic there as it is a no-go zone. I hate to say it but I am glad that the first reports from the Ryder Cup highlight (hopefully to our blind politicians all currently basking in Ryder Cup glow) that this is a thrd world country when it comes to public infrastructure and that they should be ashamed of the gross manner in which they have wasted our hard earned euro.
John

I went to the practice round yesterday and it was fantastic.

The bad weather that is preventing the operation of the event is very unfortunate and I think that the opening line of this article is absolutely ridiculous.

The event organisers and K Club themselves cannot be accused of inefficiency and running the event poorly (which to me are much the same thing, but you're the journalist). 20 minutes took us to the course from the North park and ride and 5 minutes through the gate, and this is including a security and identity checks.

Now, what is the difference between yesterday and today... The weather... And if I'm right in saying (and please let me know if I'm not Rob) that human beings... more specifically... those organising huge golfing events such as the Ryder Cup have not yet devised a way of controlling weather conditions and extreme weather conditions at that.

But what they are exceptionally good at, which you have failed to mention in your short and bittersweet article, is that they have put together a beautiful championship golf course and will do everything they can to keep it that way in order to entertain millions.

Rob you also state that the event is badly planned, on the contrary...
2 million euros alone has been spent on drainage ensuring the comfort of spectators under foot in wet conditions for the main event.

I have to agree with Ciaran who wrote:

"The above article seems closer to a tabloid headline grabber than a balanced view"

There鈥檚 a lot of plain silly complaints being placed on the board not to mention the ridiculous number of 鈥極irish鈥� clich茅s. So to clarify:

- Ryder Cup LLP is responsible for the ticketing situation, not the K-Club or the Irish Nation;
- When you stay in a hotel on the opposite side of Dublin (near the airport) do expect to get caught in weekday rush hour traffic, especially in bad weather and especially if you are heading in the direction of the city for part of your journey. You wouldn鈥檛 stay on the far side of Birmingham and then drive to the Belfry in rush hour, so don鈥檛 do it here.
- The Ryder Cup isn鈥檛 the biggest sporting event this month let alone ever. Dublin held the All-Ireland football final on Sunday. 100,000 people came to the city with little or no problem in one day compared to 50,000 per day of the Ryder Cup; and
- I spent two and a half hours queuing in Prestwick Airport security recently to get a 30 minute flight (at 06:30; hardly rush hour). The security measures are an American and, to a lesser extent, British requirement.

John Dunbar

Henry Longhurst would be proud. Mr. Hodgetts would do a better job if he knew who was responsible for ticketing / security / etc. rather than treat us to his anti Irish nonsense. Maybe he is pitching for a job with the Telegraph.

I have to laugh at Mike Palmer's comments. "Having stayed at an airport hotel. Little did we know the dublin ring road would be a complete crawl going south"

That's like saying I stayed in Essex and getting to Dover the next morning on the M25 was tough, ya think? We are talking about one of the biggest sporting events in the word, I think you might expect some traffic!!

And one last comment for Mr. W.R Individual - The ticketing for the Ryder Cup is controlled by Ryder Cup Travel Services, an English Company (www.rcts.co.uk) - Only in England!

I'm a bit fed up off Irish people trying to defend the indefensible! These journalists travel all over the world and comment on what is happening. There is no national prejudice whatsoever. Ireland has known and experienced attricious road congestion for years. It has also experienced terrible infrastructure and organisation at large events. Its about time we started to look at ourselves rather than blame foreigners. When the Ryder Cup is been and gone we will get back to complaining about the roads and all the other crap we have to put up with. It's part of growing up, we have to take the rough with the smooth and not expect everyone to like us just because we tell ourselves they do.
The Ryder Cup planning has been pathetic. Over hyped with little attention to detail. The Open is held in Scotland most years and they get crowds of 60,000 a day in small towns like Troon, St.Andrews and Carnoustie without much hassle. We should have learned from them.

I'm now regretting even applying for tickets in the first place. Paid over-inflated prices for travel and accommodation (granted not un-expected for a major sporting event), but now have prospect of my mum wasting her money on the journey as she can't come in on my sister's ticket on one of the days (similar to W.R. above). Really not looking forward to the traffic jams and queues which I think are going to ruin the whole experience. My mates who begged me to take them are now laughing as they look forward to avoiding the hassle and watching the tournament from the comfort of their own home on telly. These ticket restrictions are not about security, it's about preventing ticket touts. They only impact the tickets won through the lottery as corporate hospitality tickets can allocate names with little restriction. Who are the organisers kidding?!

Surely the weather isn't really the tail-end of Hurricane Gordon? Not yet, anyway.

Gordon just left the Azores, and hasn't reached Portugal yet.

The weather pages show it arriving off Ireland on Friday, and hanging around on Saturday. I think they're going to need to use the Monday, you know...

Hi,
Please, please take your blinkers off! I do remember see similar problems with the GB Grand Prix a couple of years ago - where people had to queue for hours to get in and out of car parks; then they had to walk across muddy field to get the Silverstone! The organisers in the K Club cannot be responsible for a hurricane (Gordon) sweeping across the Atlantic. Would it be more desirable to have thousands of cars queuing outside of the K Club gates? It is still early on in the event and thus there is still time to work out these issues.

Was at Tuesday's practice round, left Belfast at 6am, sat on M50 ring road for 90 mins from 8am then into K Club by 10am. Went straight to see Woods and co, not bad, dodgy outfits. With the exception of the M50, had no problems with transport, thought organisation at North Park and Ride was very good. Even though we had played K Club 18months ago, due to hoardings, crowds etc still difficult to navigate from memory but map inside brochure was good. Glad i went on practice day as crowds were large, especially round Woods and Clarkey's 4ball. I am content to sit at home in the comfort of my own home and watch action unfold over weekend, seeing every single shot from every match and not scrambling for a view and fighting the crowds. Class to see the pros up close, seem to hit ball effortlessly, all with 3/4 swing, us amateurs take note!!!! Caught even more action on practice ground. Excellent value and photos turned out fantastic. Go EUROPE.

P.s. As for security...we have our Eastern friends to thank for that!!!

I was there yesterday, travelled 75 miles, got bus , went to course, had cup of coffee (e2.50),had id checked 3 times all in under 2 hours and was highly impressed with traffic layout, ease of entry and professional courtesy shown at all times....and the golf banter was great too...well done k club

Here we go .. the knives are out now
for the Irish organisers from the British press .. not unexpected ...
But I do admit if you choose a course in Kildare in the middle of Dublin's commuter belt with the tail end of a Hurricane blowing through .. what do you expect. I laugh at the guy who tries to use the M50 during rush hour .. my message is: leave early to avoid the rush .. if there are 40MPH winds then I would expect there to be problems and not to go ..

Events are held in Ireland, where 80,000 and more attend. GAA matches, Concerts etc. Some of these events have problems just like any other country, however most of the time they work out a lot better than events in other places.

The difference this time is that the PGA are in charge.

How ridiculous that the first sign of a problem and the Irish are getting the blame!!

Wake up and smell the coffee! It is coincidental that Ireland happen to be hosting the event as the event organisers begin to clampdown on ticket touts. This is happening at all live events in all areas of entertainment.

We either accept ticket fraud and a few people getting into events free or we have to put up with the processes put in place to prevent them. These may not be the best ways to deal with the problem either but at least it's an attempt.

The problems today with the ticketing were massively worsened by a hurricane. A HURRICANE!!!! Admittedly only the tail end of one but I don't think things could be expected to run smoothly all things considered. Do you Mr Hodgetts??????

The 大象传媒 seems to no longer be able to present an unbiased view of news events and now it would appear sporting events are going down the same path of using sensationalism to create stories that just aren't there.

Grand Prix Day in Kent or Northamptonshire...traffic chaos !

Music Festivals at Reading or Glastonbury...traffic chaos !

Twickenham Rugby Day ...traffic chaos !

Recent Red Bull Air Show at Longleat ...HA ?! ...traffic chaos !

Pop down to the South coast on a sunny day....traffic chaos !

Getting to work in London any day of the week...traffic chaos !

Coming from a country where the trains breakdown when leaves fall on the tracks or it snows...you should spare us your 'badly organised' condescension.

So far it seems to those of us half way across the globe that K stands for chaos. Let's keep our fingers crossed and pray for plenty of the Irish Luck. May good golf be the ultimate winner by sunday.

Welcome to Ireland lads!

I totally agree that reporters should TELL IT LIKE IT IS. They can have an opinion as well, but lets always start with the facts( a la Rob H -大象传媒 Sport ) It seems pretty obvious that handling the queues was inappropriate for the conditions- there should have more lines checking ID etc BEFORE the busses, rather than having the motorway-down-to-one-lane scenario. It's basic common sense. This could and should have been planned in contingency before-hand.

Given all the other issues such as ticket allocation, main roads being dug up just at the wrong time etc etc, they might as well make the event just for TV in the future!

As much as I love attending live sporting events and realise that the boost it gives the players is invaluable, these problems, added to the ever-escalating costs and hassle associated with ticket buying, travel and accommodation, makes my sofa, beer filled fridge, and TV look better and better.

For the record I attended the Ryder Cup Practice yesterday and was in and out of the Car Park in 10 minutes, no queues. From there went on a shuttle bus to the course in 10 minutes, no queues. Departed the bus and was through security in 5 minutes and on the course. Everything ran like clockwork. Did the journalist who actually started this blog actually witness the delays or chaos he writes about or did he hear it through a third party?

"AT THE K CLUB. Inefficient, badly planned and poorly run "

Harsh Rob, Harsh...let's be honest here, the weather was exceptional today, and very unfortunate, you can't expect everything to be hunky dory

Seems to me that the majority of Rob's complaints are to do with simply not having enough employees checking IDs to keep the flow going. Hopefully this is something they'll be able to fix easily.

No need to get our knickers in a twist. (That's panties to our American friends).

One or two of you out there are being somewhat selective in defending the indefensible. The early morning weather this morning was not great, but we stood and waited. The security arrangements are necessary. All this is taken in my stride. I am quite aware I should leave early for a major sporting event, so we left early. What caught me out the most was digging up the road exactly between the 2 major junctions that feed traffic to the North and South Park and Ride car parks. I didn't expect anyone, council or organisation to be quite that thick. Like other major sporting occasions, whay not start digging up the road on lap 22 of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, or what about mowing the Wembley turf at half time, knowing it takes the groundsman 30 minutes to complete the task. For those of you that don't believe me, I'll tell you exactly which junctions were at complete standstill and you can sit in the traffic jams for a while yourselves then see for yourself. I did expect delays, I did leave early. I just didn't expect it to take 3.5 hours to get from the airport to the golf course. If Ireland doesn't want to invest in infrastructure, don't hold the Ryder Cup. Its all very well for you living in Ireland that have grown accustomed to such failure, I live in another country and such poor transport infrastructure caught me out. The question is, will those disappointed ever go back to Ireland? This has nothing to do with the K-club, as the golf course is great. Perhaps at the root of at least some of this is the greed of those entrusted with the running of the Ryder Cup - 45,000 reported tickets sold for a practice day! Perhaps time for a re-think.

Oh my God, what a petty, parochial and insecure nation we are. If you live in Ireland, we get bombarded with propoganda form our media telling us how good the country is and at the same time we criticise GB at every opportunity. It's like we are a 1st division team promoted to the premiership and don't like it when the commentators are critical. We have faults as a nation and rather than stick our head in the sand and blame others we should take a good long look at ourselves. The organisation at other events in Dublin is considered Ok but we are used to it and not open to how others organise their events. When there is traffic chaos at GB events, the media report it in the same way as this blog. I think that chip on our shoulders is indeed a whole sack of potatoes. And don't give me this Croke Park nonsense. It's 5 minutes from a major station and everyone knows where to go. I've spoken to many fans visiting the Ryder Cup and they have been frustrated and upset at the traffic chaos as well as the price of everything. Welcome to Ireland indeed!

be wary of a man with little knowledge, this event is run by Ryder Cup Ltd which is split into 3 owners:50% USPGA, 25% PGA AND 25%EUROPEAN TOUR. Not one of these are Irish run or owned. What happened today regarding the chaos at the park and ride was due to the closeure of the course for SAFETY REASONS ie. fear of TV towers, tents and 300 year old trees falling, all of which were put up by english sub contractors (even the trees were planted by the english!). Anybody with at least 1 brain cell would accept that there was going to be a delay. In regards to the security operation in place granted the park and ride was not prepared for the event of the course closing, but im sure that lessons will be learnt. so relax with all the giving out about the Irish, Ireland is the Host not the Organiser. One final thing if you dont belive what ive stated for the luckly people with tickets just read the back and see whos law is being used and remember where County Kildare is last i looked it wasnt in England.

Talk of a hurricane today is a bit rich! If anything the weather today is typical for this time of year..to call it exceptional is overdoing it. I wish the media and journalist's were not so quick for the sensationalist "hurricane" talk..it simply gives organisers an excuse to explain away deficiencies in planning and organisation. Today was a typical wet and windy day nothing more nothing less...

We went on Tuesday for the practice session, we set off from Carrickfergus (beside Belfast) at 5am, only problem was the fact that the M50 ringroad was a slow crawl, but that is to be expected ANY where in my opinion. Could have done without road works but I guess not everything can be perfect!

After about little over an hour on the M50 during rush hour we were at the north bus terminal (9.30am), were we then found out we couldn't have any bags over 8" x 8" apparently or something similar. No phones either (at all!). Queue to get onto bus was at most 20secs and then a 15-20mins bus journey to be delivered to the 2nd security checkpoint where there was metal detectors present. Took 2mins to get through it and we were in the place to see the Europeans tee off at the first.

Was a great day with great weather (nose got a tad sunburnt..) and we got autographs from big Darren and Jose Maria. Slapped the hands of Di Marco and big Phil (even though they put out the knuckles for us to do so) so that was awesome.

Leaving at around 3.30pm, it took us about 2mins to get on board a bus and then another 15mins to get back to the car park, and then we hit the queues as soon as we left the field. We headed for Lucan golf course and got a chippy as the prices of food was way too much and the queues were massive. Made our way home and got home for 8.30pm.

Good day out.

You know when you go to a pub on a busy Saturday night and the queue to get to the bar is four deep and going nowhere because the bar staff are drifting about with no urgency whatsoever?

And you know how frustrating that is and makes you want to get behind the bar yourself and get things moving along a bit.

Well, that was the scene in the car park.

Once the course was opened, the organisers should have been cracking the whip to get buses loaded and on their way.

And once they'd seen the queue grow to grotesque proportions they should have cracked it a bit harder. Or even got a bigger whip.

Anyway, I'm really excited about the golf now. The atmosphere is going to be awe-inspiring.

I wasn't there today so I'll take the word of the journalist in saying that it was a mess. What I am tiring of are the stock cliches and banal commentary on all things Oirish. Really surprised some of these guys aren't writing for my nation's favourite paper, The Telegraph...

No surprise, th park and ride disaster and general transport chaos. We in Dublin have to put up with this every working day. Would like to hear of any pleasant experiences of the M50 and Red Cow roundabout in particular. Hopefully this embarrasement will push this government on to doing something about our ludicrous transport system.

Perhaps the millenium dome or wembley would have been a better venue ? 40000 people turning up anywhere creates challenges but at least the venue is ready for the tournament. Relax all, this will improve and get better in time for Europe to lift the trophy :-)

Rob Hodgetts has got it plain wrong at the start here - the fault was not public transport, it was security.

I've been at the event both days and took the rail-bus option - from Dublin city centre to the course in just 45 minutes yesterday.

Today, the Gardai (police) closed the course, and told the buses to wait at the rail station. When they got the all-clear, the buses sprinted to the K Club in under 20 minutes, and we were too quick for the security who then held us back for about 15 mins.

Other people I know have been v happy with the Park and Ride bus transfer too - which is quick and snappy.

The transport people, who seem to be doing a good job esp today when it was quite a challenge, are not responsible for ridiculous snail-pace security, so I think you should revise your original blog and put the blame where it lies, rather than going with this lazy line.

The M50 ring-road does suck though!

They didn't even check that your ticket matched your passport yesterday, so someone must have lit a fire today. Can't believe any Irish people are actually trying to defend our infrastructure or planning. If you were all talking amongst yourselves you'ld be very quick to moan about it all!

Well, i just returned from the K-Club. True the queues were long, but as long as it was it cleared on notime. I was amazed how quickly they moved a large number of people.

The M50 does suck though - and not just at Ryder cup week !

Can people please post a few more comments on what happens with the ticket ID situation?

I'm going on sunday with a friend who got two tickets but the other 'named' lad can't make it so i'm taking his ticket.

Some conflicting advice here on the blogs - but I've yet to hear about anyone not getting in with a ticket that isn't in his/her name? What's the advice?

ta!

Nice bit of Paddie bashing, Can't wait till London 2012, probably be as successful as Wembley stadium.

I think we should call off the Ryder Cup in case Al Queda show up or a hurricane gets here before Friday or a 大象传媒 reporter gets stuck in traffic.

What a lot of baloney in the messages here. Get a good days rest lads , stay off the drink & stay away from the 19th hole !

Just for the record if Tiger Woods (The greatest sportsman in the world) was not in the US team most of Ireland would not be interested in watching. The rest of them are boring.

Seems to me that the English like to complain. but then, that`s how things improve. Irish people should complain more - give it a go. C`mon Europe!

I agree somewhat with Rob H's comments but think they are a little harsh and misdirected. I was at the practise day yesterday and was very pleasantly surprised with how efficient and organised the transport system was (I used the North car park) We arrived, parked, passed through security and were on our way on the bus in about 10 minutes! Today was a different story I agree, with thousands descending at once on the checkpoints when the all clear was given after waiting in the car park. The queue was dreadfully slow and I don't understand why they moved through one lane at a time, rather than let the multiple lanes at once. (While there were sufficient security staff to do this, there seemed to be only 2 guys from the K Club, who wanted to double check nearly everybody!)SO yes, it was a bit poor, but it was not a public transport issue as people weren't beig let through quick enough to fill the buses. Hopefully they get it sorted for the rest of what will be a brilliant week.

Oh the weather, it really only happens in Ireland doesn't it

/wiltshire/content/articles/2006/07/05/red_bull_air_race_2006_feature.shtml

Just cut and paste this link, I think you will see that this kind of thing happens everywhere!

Follow on from Phil above and my earlier post (19). Anyone any experience of getting in or otherwise when id does not match ticket?

Further clarifications for our overseas visitors....

Re Mike Palmer's (and other) comments on M50 roadworks.
The M50 roadworks began about a month ago. They have made little difference to the traffic. It is always that bad. You can only complain about the roadworks if you are comparing it to when there are no roadworks.

The traffic situation is bad in west Dublin because of phenomenal increase in population.

I'm very sorry that spectators of the Ryder Cup are going to suffer from an inability to organise anything to do with transport, be it public or private, be it by road, rail or air.

I cannot offer you any comfort and my only advice to you all is 鈥淒ON鈥橳 GET SICK鈥� because if you think the queues for transport are bad wait until you look for medical care..

Mmmm not sure I attended the same competition as you :-)

I had the chance to go for the 1st practice day

Had a sweet run on the train then bus

Had a great day

Vic

Cheer Up Rob Hodgetts
what do you know about running the biggest golf comp in the world.
beside the weather everything else is fine

A load of middle class wasters get wet and waylaid en route to an overhyped quasi sport where slightly talented and overpaid bores knock a little ball round a millionaires field. Decadence
personified. I wonder if people in Darfur are worried what woosie pairings will be? As for the traffic round Dublin. Another sign of the possessive individualism of the Irish. Supposed to be social but they all want their little half acre away from their neighbours, then are surprised when their single occupant cars are tailed back every day.

Funny how the Irish folks make allowances for travelling round Dublin to a sporting event and arrive ontime and the blow-in's think they can travel as the crow flies [minus the chopper ;)]....just skirt round the capital's main "ring road" and bingo you are there.

And you won't see any potato fields here in Straffan either, but yes hands up we're still on the "black stuff"

I was at the K Club on Tuesday and had a great day - used the North car park and was in and out in 5 mins, straight to the venue on bus and through security in 2 mins. Weather fine, even got sunburnt!
Wednesday, with the storm-force winds they clearly couldnt open the course til it was safe, so they had 40,000 people all arriving at once, rather than over the space of 4-5 hours. What do you expect? Of course there were problems - and the tight security is down to the American Secret Service - as there are at least 3 ex-presidents attending this week.
If you're going to blame anyone for the bad weather, US-style security, and queues, blame Ryder Cup Ltd, an English company, who are organising the event, and have control of the K Club for the week. On Tuesday, the only problem I had was with English staff from this company who clearly had no idea what they were at. Asked a K Club employee and got satisfaction straight away.

But what do I know, I'm only a thick Paddy (we can't organise anything right) so I'm sure you'll go on bashing us for things we can't control....

How can they honestly manage to check ID's for 40,000 people? Do they scan the tickets, check your passport like at airports??

It could take hours to get everyone through because at 8am, everyone will want in!