Germany, Spain, Italy and Austria have each hosted bid inspection visits from a delegation of Ryder Cup Europe officials -- led by Ryder Cup Dir Richard Hills -- as part of their quest to host the 2022 Ryder Cup. First on the agenda was a visit to Germany, where the Golf Resort A-ROSA Scharmützelsee in Badsarrow was presented as the potential host venue. Next, Ryder Cup Europe's delegation traveled to the northeast of Spain to evaluate the Costa-Brava-Barcelona candidacy. The two-day trip consisted of a tour of Barcelona and Girona, as well as the proposed future host venue, PGA Catalunya Resort, where the delegation met with Owner Denis O'Brien. Following its Iberian trip, RCE journeyed east to view the Italian bid centered on the Marco Simone Club on the outskirts of Rome. The final stop for the delegation came in Austria and centered around the Fontana Golf Club to the south of Vienna, a venue that has already staged tournaments on both the European Tour and the Challenge Tour. One nation that will not be submitting a bid, however, is Portugal, which informed Ryder Cup Europe officials that it is no longer in the running. Portuguese Golf Federation President Manuel Agrellos said, "We have reluctantly concluded that the prevailing economic environment would prevent us from developing as strong a bid as we would wish and have therefore decided to wait for a future opportunity" (Ryder Cup).
