Ryder Cup: Historic golf tournament takes over Long Island

September 28, 2025

By Michael O'Brien

FARMINGDALE, NY- The Ryder Cup is a biannual PGA golf tournament in which professional golfers from across the world compete as teams, with the United States of America pitted against Europe in a battle for bragging rights and pride.  It was also probably the reason traffic made you late to work during this week.

Bethpage Black, a world renowned local golf course, was the selected host for the tournament, which was estimated to host between 250,000 and 270,000 fans throughout the course of the week. This amount of fans from across the world calls for extra measures, with streets closed, extra police brought from upstate New York, locals renting out their houses to the highest bidder, restaurants and bars preparing for a heavily increased week of business, and even Farmingdale State College closing down its campus for a week to assist with parking and transportation.

Even with this large undertaking, there couldn’t have been a bigger buzz around the community and state at large. New York State Governor Kathy Hochul said, “New York is proud to host the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black and welcome fans from around the world to experience all that Long Island and New York State have to offer. It is a great distinction that the PGA of America selected a State Park golf course for this world-class competition.” “Partnering with the PGA of America on The Ryder Cup has truly been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Long Island,” said Discover Long Island Interim President & CEO, Mitch Pally.

Beyond the excitement of hosting a unique and global event such as the Ryder Cup, the Long Island community is also expected to have a large boost in their economy due to the event being held locally. According to Forbes, 200 million dollars is expected to be generated for the state of New York, and some other estimates stating that 160 million dollars will be generated for Long Island on its own.