ROME — Italy will bid to hold the 2022 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone club just outside Rome.
Turkey, meanwhile, withdrew its bid on Wednesday because it would require cutting down up to 15,000 trees.
Located in Guidonia, northeast of Rome, Marco Simone hosted the 1994 Italian Open won by Eduardo Romero of Argentina.
Turkey nominated Montgomerie Maxx Royal course, the venue for this week’s Turkish Airlines Open. But Montgomerie was a resort course, and not designed for major tournaments, said Ahmet Agaoglu, president of the Turkish Golf Federation.
There were no grandstands at Montgomerie, and no room for them because of the amount of trees, Agaoglu added.
He said it would be impossible to get permission to cut down the required amount of trees to make it possible to host a Ryder Cup.
Instead, he said Turkey will bid for the 2026 Ryder Cup by building a new golf course, estimated to cost 30-40 million euros ($37-50 million), without any environmental concerns.
Turkey’s withdrawal left six countries interested in hosting the 2022 event: Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy Portugal, Spain.
Ryder Cup officials will undertake inspection visits before the end of the year. Formal submissions must be made by mid-February, and the winning bid will be announced later in 2015.