Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, the 80th Italian Open begins. Countdown to the Ryder Cup
From 4 to 7 May the stars of the “green” arrive at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Guidonia Montecelio to compete for the 80th Italian Open. The event will also start the countdown for the 2023 Ryder Cup which in exactly 118 days will be played on the same field, just outside Rome, with a view of the Eternal City. Thus DS Automobiles 80th Italian Open anticipates the great event which from 29 September to 1 October will host the third most important sporting event in the world after the Olympics and the soccer World Cup. The Open will be a test for several of the players in the field who aspire to a place on Team Europe under the watchful eye of the old continent’s coaching staff. It will not be just golf, but an all-round show with competitions for the very young, moments of social inclusion and initiatives that will involve families.
156 players representing 31 nations on the field
The Scottish Robert McIntyre will defend the title in a field with many quality players including twelve season winners: the Danish Thorbjorn Olesen, who scored in 2018, the South Africans Thriston Lawrence and Ockie Strydom, the only one with two titles, the French Victor Perez and Antoine Rozner, the British Daniel Gavins, Dan Bradbury and Matthew Baldwin, the Germans Marcel Siem and Nick Bachem, the Spanish Jorge Campillo and the Pole Adrian Meronk. All candidates for the title together with the Danish twins Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard, the first winner in 2021, the British Jordan Smith and Callum Shinkwin, the Spanish Rafa Cabrera Bello and Adrian Otaegui, the German Yannik Paul and the Chinese Haotong Li and Ashun Wu. Two other past winners: the Iberian Gonzalo Fernandez Castaño (2007, 2012) and the transalpine Gregory Havret (2001). On the field 156 competitors representing 31 nations.
Italian players
There will be 16 Italians competing with Edoardo Molinari (three successes on the circuit and a Ryder Cup won in 2010) and Guido Migliozzi (three titles for him too), both interested in the next Ryder Cup, the first committed to following candidates for the continental team and the Venetian interested in entering it. In addition to Molinari and Migliozzi there will be Renato Paratore, two titles on the circuit, Francesco Laporta, Lorenzo Gagli, Andrea Romano, Aron Zemmer, Gregorio De Leo, Stefano Mazzoli, Filippo Celli, Jacopo Vecchi Fossa, Enrico Di Nitto, Andrea Saracino, who just celebrated his 29th birthday, and Emanuele Canonica for many years on the DP World Tour and winner of the Johnnie Walker Championship in 2005. With them the amateurs Pietro Bovari and Marco Florioli, team world champions with Celli in 2022.
Race and prize money
The tournament will be played over a distance of 72 holes (18 per day). After the first two laps, the cut will leave the first 65 classified in the race and any tied for 65th place. The prize pool will be $3,250,000, of which $552,500 will go to the winner.
The “Golf4Autism” initiative
The “Golf4Autism” initiative – at the heart of the Ryder Cup 2023 Project – will be the protagonist at the DS Automobiles 80th Italian Open with Edoardo Molinari who met three young golfers on the autistic spectrum in the Media Center, dispensing them with technical advice, signing autographs and posing with them for souvenir photos. An event, in the presence of Gian Paolo Montali, General Manager of the Ryder Cup 2023 Project, which strengthened the message of a sport accessible to all and unifying. An unforgettable experience for Ricky, Nicolò and Andrea who were unable to play hole 1 of the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club with Dodo due to bad weather, but felt the thrill of shaking hands with their idol, chatting with him about golf as between “old friends”.
On TV and on the web
The DS Automobiles 80th Italian Open will be broadcast live on Sky channels and streaming on NOW. First day: Thursday 4 May, from 1pm to 6pm on Sky Sport Golf and on NOW. Live from Marco Simone G&CC “Studio Golf” from 12.45 to 13 and from 18 to 18.15 on Sky Sport Golf and on NOW.
Double television exposure, the highlights of the competition on Rai Sport – Rai Sport will send a deferred summary in the first three days of the competition, while on Sunday 7 May the final 18 holes will be broadcast live on the web starting at 1.30pm.
The Family Open for children and families
The Family Open organized by the Coni Lazio Regional Committee will add a celebration of sport and entertainment. From 9 to 19 the children, with the support of qualified educators from Coni Lazio and federal technicians, will be able to carry out dynamic and engaging disciplines and recreational activities such as, among others: basketball, fencing, sailing, tennis, target shooting, rugby, athletics, bowls. For an engaging and exciting Open, even for the little ones which, thanks to the US KIDS equipment and the proposed preparatory activities, aims to bring more and more children closer to the world of golf. Free golf trials with the PGAI instructors – At the entrance to the Commercial Village, the PGAI instructors will be available to let all those who want to experience the thrill of their first swing try golf.
Sunday 7 May “The Junior Road to the 2023 Ryder Cup”
“The 6th Junior Road to the 2023 Ryder Cup” is scheduled for Sunday 7 May, a match between the 10 best Under 14 players of Team Lazio and the 10 best Under 14 players of Team Italy. Among the objectives of the event, that of recreating the magical atmosphere of the Ryder Cup, working as a team and comparing young talents on the national golf scene, actively involving them in the Ryder Cup 2023 Project.
“Hole in one”, the sponsor’s award
The first player to score a “hole in one” on hole 7 (par 3 of 203 metres) will win a DS 4 Puretech Bastille Business automatic offered by DS Automobiles, Title Sponsor of the Italian Open. In 2021, Edoardo Molinari signs the feat, at the same hole during the first round.
Free admission for all
Admission is free. To obtain free access, simply register on www.openditaliagolf.eu. At the same link you will also find all the information for parking: the parking area reserved for the public is in via Nomentana Bis and from here there is a shuttle service that will take spectators to the “Welcome Point”.
