Rome, Italy: Next week’s Ryder Cup at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club will be played on a course whose bunkers have been lined with the Capillary Bunkers system.

Outside the Italian capital of Rome, Marco Simone, originally designed by American architect Jim Fazio, was completely rebuilt by Dave Sampson of European Golf Design during 2019 and 2020.

The course’s back nine was entirely grassed by the end of the summer of 2019, but the Covid-19 pandemic made phase two, the front nine, a little trickier. 

“I was on site in March 2020, the day Italy shut its borders, so I had to get out of the country very, very quickly,” said Kneale Diamond, EMEA Sales Manager at CapillaryFlow, an Associate Business Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.

“But SOL Golf, the contractor who built the course, are very experienced and extremely good at what they do, so all was well.”

Around 8,000 square metres (86,000 square feet) of bunkers were built and lined.

“Obviously, the bunker drainage is vital for the Ryder Cup. Given the time of year when it is played, there isn’t a lot of spare time if it rains heavily,” said Diamond.

“But even more important than that is the quality of surface in the bunkers. This level of competition demands a perfect sand surface, and only Capillary Bunkers can combine outstanding drainage performance with world-class, consistent surfaces,” he added.