Eagles, Birdies & Blue Whales: CT’s Ryder Cup in numbers

As the dust settles at Le Golf National in France, we reflect on the 2018 Ryder Cup, as this year’s event was one of the biggest and most successful in history.

Fans of the competition know all about the two teams, 24 players, 28 matches, and the 17½ to 10½ European win, but Creative Technology, the production company supplying the team behind the competition, have put together some stats that are as jaw-dropping as some of the golf:

• 425 tonnes of equipment was taken to Le Golf National by fourteen 45ft trucks. That’s a vehicle convoy the length of the Sky Tower in Auckland delivering the bulk of two-and-a-quarter blue whales

• 726 crew days were needed to set up and manage production throughout the competition – that’s only four days short of two years solid work 

• 447 television screens were installed around the ground, the same as putting a TV in every bedroom of the Hilton, Park Lane, London

• 26,000m of temporary cabling was laid; it would take Usain Bolt 41 minutes to run the length of that at his World Record speed, and Mo Farrah would need 57 minutes, so not too far behind

• A total of 1,464 sqm of LED screens were used on site – that’s a larger surface than an Olympic sized swimming pool

• 425 journalists covered the Ryder Cup with each having the option to tune into 10 audio channels; that totals 4,250 channels, which is more FM radio stations than the whole of the US has access to

Dave Crump, Creative Technology’s European CEO, said:

The Ryder Cup is undoubtedly one of the world’s premier sporting occasions, and the team running the event is totally dedicated to delivering an outstanding fan experience. We at Creative Technology are proud to have supported every European Ryder Cup since 1985 and have played a key role in delivering much of the technology on course, enhancing the fan experience.

Edward Kitson, Ryder Cup Match Director, added:

The golf course at Le Golf National provided some spectacular amphitheaters around many of the holes. Working with long time supplier CT (a veteran of nine previous European Ryder Cups) we were able to devise a layout and solution which provided optimal screen viewing for all spectators on the course without compromising direct line of sight viewing of the action on the ground. The state of the art displays performed superbly and CT‘s team dealt with all of the challenges we threw at them.

Images of the 2018 Ryder Cup, courtesy: Creative Technology (CT)

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