CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Presidents Cup is in Charlotte. Literally.
It’s at Quail Hollow Club already in anticipation of the event coming in September of 2022.
“This trophy hasn’t been everywhere,” Executive Director Adam Sperling said. “It’s spanned the globe. It’s pretty exclusive company when you look at the facilities that have hosted the Presidents Cup. For the U.S. team it’s about that trophy.”
The match-play event held every few years between the best golfers from the United States and the best from the rest of the world.
Sperling has been living in the Queen City for a few years to get ready, and says this event will be unlike anything in the history of Charlotte golf events, which include the prestigious Wells Fargo Championship and a PGA Championship.
“I think you’re going to see an incredibly dynamic build out and activation,” he said, “beyond the scale of anything we’ve ever done at the Presidents Cup.”
The property will be transformed from team cabins near the first tee, to a re-routed course layout.
Most notably the famed finishing holes 16,17 and 18 known as the Green Mile, will be holes 13, 14 and 15.
That sets up better for match play, which can be decided earlier than 18 holes.
“The drama and emotion that is synonymous with match play,” Sperling said. “It’s an incredible stage for dramatic competition.”
Former Tar Heel Davis Love III is the captain of the Americans.
Trevor Immelman will captain the International team.
Eight members of the teams are selected through rankings, with another four coming from captains’ picks for a total roster of 12 on each side.
We won’t know the players yet, but they’ll be the best in the world.
“The Dustin Johnsons, the Justin Thomas’, the Jordan Spieths. Brooks Koepka,” Sperling said.
Now about 13 months out, Sperling is starting to see the vision for the event take shape.
“It takes a special market to pull off an event at the magnitude that we and all of our partners have envisioned,” he said. “There’s no doubt that the appetite for golf in Charlotte and the Carolinas at large is significant.”