Green, oxygen, sunny, athletic: that is golf.
Fashion, history, romance, elegance: that is Paris.
A magic encounter of golf and Paris: that is SCC Ryder Cup Paris VIP Tour.

Contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the US and Europe, Ryder Cup is a major golf event between teams from the United States and Europe, gathering supreme professional players from the two regions. This time the event was held between 27th September and 30th September on one of the finest golf course in Europe, The Albatros, in France. This was only the second occasion that Europe hosted the event outside UK (the first time was in Spain).

Swiss China Center, a non-profit organization introducing the quality lifestyle and culture of Switzerland and European countries, organized the 7-day Ryder Cup Paris VIP Tour. With this elaborated program, SCCenter brought its guests to feel the Ryder Cup experience with the stars and watched the final act of the Ryder Cup drama. At the same time, the guests were immersed into the true charm of Paris, the City of Lights.

Via Julien Clément, General Manager of SCCenter Geneva, SCC and its hosts enjoyed top access to meet the pros and play on the same course right after the event.

Julien Clément ranked #1 Swiss Golfer from 2002 until 2011. He is the first Swiss golf player to score a round of 59 (Milano Open) in 2016 and again a round of 59 in Switzerland in the same year, making him the only golfer ever to score twice 59 in the same year.

ARRIVAL

On arrival, SCC guests checked in at Bedford hotel. In this stylish and characteristic Parisian hotel located right in the center and close to the luxurious boutiques, a warm and friendly welcome dinner announced the beginning of the Ryder Cup. Bernard Kretz, SCC Senior Shareholder, gave a small speech welcoming the guests and sharing the value of SCC for family, friends and sport.

RYDER CUP

On the 1st day of the event, the guests could already feel the strong atmosphere and heard fans supporting their team during the training.

On the 2nd day of the event, the show was on! As Arnold Palmer, a great American professional golfer, once said, "The game brings out the best in us, and the best will always bring out their games at the Ryder Cup." The 3rd day witnessed intense atmosphere and intriguing matches on the course. Finally the European team reached 14.5 first and won the Ryder Cup.

After the exciting matches, the guests enjoyed the privilege to play golf on the same Ryder Cup course.

SCC also organized for its guests to play at Les Bordes, one of Europe’s top 5 international golf courses, and at Joyenval, one of the most characteristic golf courses in Paris.

PARIS

While golf journeys are more than fascinating, Paris exploration is also full of surprises.

The small group of non-golfers experienced Paris a bit differently than just the Eiffel Tower or Disneyland. The guests took the time to enjoy the ambiance of the city, to walk through small streets with flowery houses, ate where local eat, used alternative mode of transport such as the subway and blended with the crowd.

They magically discovered the real Paris in the legendary French 2CV, stopping for a typical French picnic in a charming place of Paris facing the cathedral Notre Dame, and capturing aesthetic memories as a top model through the lens of a photographer from the Paris fashion shows.

The guests didn’t miss to visit the most historical and popular monuments such as the Arc de Triomphe, built by Napoleon and from where they admired a breathtaking bird’s-eye-view of the city, Sacré-Cœur Basilica, which stands at the top of the tallest hill in Paris, the Louvre, a former royal residence transformed into the world’s most visited museum, the Musée d'Orsay where they discovered the largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist painting in the world.

For a romantic atmosphere, the guests all met for a nice dinner through the lights of Paris, on an authentic Parisian boat called “peniche” on the Seine with some music in the background.

SIGHTSEEING BUS

They enjoyed a gastronomic meal on a double-decker bus that stands out in particular for its panoramic glass roof. The bustronome drove the guests into the Parisian’s most impressive monuments. The unprecedented marriage between beauty and pleasure on board this luxury bus-restaurant, pleased the adults as much as the children.

CLAUDE MONET’S GARDEN AND HOUSE

A visit to Claude Monet’s garden and house located in Giverny, a small village outside Paris, was a pure shot of nature and wellness. Claude Monet, the famous French Impressionist painter did not like organized nor constrained gardens. He married flowers according to their colors and left them to grow rather freely. The water garden is full of asymmetries and curves. It is inspired by the Japanese gardens that Monet knew from the prints he collected avidly. In this water garden, our guests discovered the famous Japanese bridge, Monet’s inspiration for more than twenty years. 

MACARON DIY

On the last day, the guests joined a private cooking class to learn how to bake the real French macaron like a pro! The macaron is a delicate French pastry. This is Paris most iconic and stylish treat. It is made of 2 light crunchy and chewy cookies, filled with a delicious ganache. Flavors can say from classic chocolate ganache to more exotic perfumes like passion fruit. Macaron is not hard to make but you need to know the little secrets behind these delicious cookies. The guests enjoyed learning them and after 2 hours of cooking, their macarons were nice and perfect!

LIDO SHOW

To mark the full closure of the 7-day SCC Ryder Cup Paris VIP Tour, all our hosts assisted to a breathtaking show in an iconic cabaret on The Champs-Elysees: The LIDO. While the guests entered the Lido Parisian cabaret, they discovered a treasure: a theatre decorated by thousands of shinny and glittery mosaics with over 1’100 seats. The show is an ode to a Paris of sparking lights and glittering feathers. At the same time sensual, intimate, elegant and spectacular, this waking dream took the spectators away and left them dazzled, in total admiration in front of the most beautiful girls in the world.

TO CARE, TO BE TRUSTED

All those amazing activities strengthened relationships among team members, family and SCC guests. It’s a perfect representation of the core value of SCC: “To Care, to Be Trusted”.

SCC brings as always to its guests the most exclusive and unique experience.