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Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood at the Amphitheater of Aspendos. The European Tour/Twitter
U-turn

It seems Turkey can't make their mind up whether to submit a bid to host the 2022 Ryder Cup or not

The Turkish Golf Federation have decided to build a new course costing €100 million.

A DAY AFTER pulling out of the running to host the 2022 Ryder Cup due to environmental concerns, Turkey have performed an u-turn and re-entered the bidding process to stage the biennial event.

Having nominated the Montgomerie Maxx Royal course as part of their bid, the Turkish Golf Federation were informed they would need to cut down between 6,000 and 15,000 trees at the venue in order to meet the criteria set by The European Tour.

Ahmet Agaoglu, the President of the Turkish Golf Federation, insisted that wasn’t an option and instead revealed they would concentrate their efforts on building a new course to stage the 2026 Ryder Cup.

However, with the news Denmark are no longer interested in hosting the tournament, Turkey have now formally expressed their intention to submit a bid for 2022.

“I don’t think that we will shy away from it,” Akif Cagatay Kilic, Turkey’s minister for youth and sports said. “And we are going to be in the race for this, and I think it will put a positive note on the future prospects of golf in Turkey, as well.”

As part of the bid, a country must also host tournaments on the European and Challenge Tours. This week, the Colin Montgomerie designed Maxx Royal course is staging the Turkish Open and it’s expected the bid will cost the Turkish Golf Federation between €100-200 million.

There are six countries in the running after Denmark’s decision to withdraw. Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Turkey will now vie to host one of the highlight’s of any golfing year.

The bidding nations will host a series of meetings with Ryder Cup officials between now and April next year, by which time official bids must be submitted. The final decision on who will stage the 2022 Ryder Cup will be made next Autumn.

The next Ryder Cup in Europe takes place at Le Golf National in Paris in four years time.

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