Top 100 Clubhouse - Golf Podcast · Top 100 Golf Courses

Episode 80: Designing A Course For The Ryder Cup

July 6, 2025·1 hr 14 min·2 clips

At nine years old, I fell in love with golf and never stopped sketching course designs

Dave Sampson of European Golf Design discusses his path from sketching golf course routings at age 9 in South Africa to becoming a professional course designer. The conversation covers what makes courses memorable (proper balance of challenge and enjoyment with time to appreciate landscape), the specific pressures of designing Ryder Cup venues, how his 20-year South African experience shaped his philosophy of designing with terrain rather than against it, and the ongoing challenge of adapting course design for modern equipment and player skill levels.

As heard by us

A golf-design conversation about Marco Simone, spectator flow, sightlines, and how a hill shapes the walk.

The episode takes a clear look at Marco Simone and the spectator experience around it, with James Henderson and Dave Sampson spending much of the time on flow, sightlines, elevation, and how a hill can shape the way a course is walked.

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Why you'd press play

For when you want a Ryder Cup venue tour from the ground up.

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