The 2025 Ryder Cup Teams Up with Cohesion for Championship Sound Reinforcement

	Ryder Cup crew. Photo: courtesy Paul Cervenansky

Cohesino PS provided coverage for the ceremonial stage of the 2025 Ryder Cup, held in September at the Bethpage Black Golf Course on Long Island.

The PGA, who administers the biennial competition, entrusted production of the ceremonies and fan participation to LEO Events. Technical director Jim Dorroh, who worked for years directly with LEO Events before freelancing, explained the significance of selecting a reliable, high-performing professional audio system for this significant week:

"The PA is integral to the Ryder Cup for setting the mood from the moment the gates open at 6am to keeping the excitement going all day. You don't get that at many other golf events, which are quiet and reserved. The PGA was clear about their desire for loud, fun, and exciting to get fans fired up. That meant we needed a PA like Cohesion."

Kelly Epperson, front-of-house engineer and general audio lead for LEO Events, adds, "I do a number of high-profile events for LEO, and they always place a high degree of importance on the audio. There are lot of great speaker systems out there. When I saw the investments Clair had made -- the software, the ground-up architecture, the people who would pull this off -- that gave me the confidence to advocate for Cohesion. It was a natural fit, and it was a logical one."

The PA, deployed by Clair Global, featured 14 Cohesion CO12 left-right on the mains, which were hung from cantilevers "pretty far upstage, which is not typical," as system engineer Paul Cervanansky explains. "The nice thing about Cohesion is we choose our horizontal dispersion. I used mostly 80 degrees and a few 120 degrees where we needed extra coverage. The bottom two enclosures are 80 degrees to keep the energy, and we used some near-field shading and other tools to overcome any challenges."

A dozen additional CO12 were placed on the stage right side hang, but the stage left side hang needed to be relocated to account for a broadcast booth placed there. Instead, four CO12 were placed on each of two field carts. "The CO12 worked well and provided great coverage. We knew there were going to be some audibles, and the versatility of the system was so important."

"We knew that broadcast booth wasn't going to move, and they still needed that coverage," says Dorroh. "That's when Kelly and Paul put their heads together and changed to the carts on the ground."

Due to rigging limitations, the subwoofers were ground-stacked only, with three Cohesion CP218 II+ in cardioid configuration on either side providing the low end. "They needed consistent, not necessarily loud, SPL, so we didn't need extra subs flown," says Cervenansky.

Six Cohesion CF14 were placed across the stage for front and lip fill, and four Cohesion CM14 stage monitors were used as foldback for anyone on stage to hear video and playback content. The stage functioned as the site of the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as a DJ set that energized the tens of thousands of spectators each day.

More than 500 feet separated the ceremonial stage, situated at the confluence of the first tee box and the eighteenth green, from the edges of the grandstands and the suites, and fans were dispersed in an area nearly 270-degrees around. "There was really only one way to do this," says Dorroh. "That was to get a true, touring rock and roll PA."

"The first day we listened to the PA, I walked the entire area and was really pleased with the vertical coverage across the horizontal plane," says Epperson. "As I walked from the front of the stage to the farthest area we covered, it was nice and even. I give full credit to Paul."

"That's why we did 14 deep on the mains, to get that extra coverage," says Cervenansky. "The CO12 on the sides got us to the front of the suites, and we had good, clear, full-range audio. The PA was awesome and did exactly what it was designed to do, and the clients loved it."

"I take great pride in the spoken word; I live my life around caring how the message sounds," says Epperson. "I also wanted a full, visceral experience for the audience. I'm about full frequency response as much as possible."

Dorroh describes the challenge of delivering that experience to such a large footprint: "This year, we were front and center, surrounded by both spectators and the tournament itself. We knew that delays or a distributed PA would not be an option, so we had to fire it like an end-stage or stadium system to cover such a wide area."

The audio team contended with Long Island's uncooperative weather, as the PGA accelerated the opening ceremonies 24 hours because of forecast rain. "It was an easy yes. I knew we could do it," says Epperson. "We fought wind and some rain for two-and-a-half days, and Paul, Scott Diamond [system tech and front-of-house for closing ceremonies], and Jay Yochem [system/RF tech and A2] have incredible skill sets. The Cohesion system was engineered to work well outdoors. It helps to redefine what a speaker can sound like in the elements, and I never got any sense of a trade-off. Cohesion was purpose-built to support the most challenging and complex events on earth."

The European squad held off a US comeback on the final day of the competition to win 15 to 13, with upwards of 250,000 fans streaming to Bethpage Black during the week-long event and millions more enjoying the broadcast streamed worldwide.

"You can't disappoint the audience, whether it's live or broadcast, at a world-class event. They have an expectation for a high level of quality," summarizes Epperson. "With Cohesion, the process, the workflow, the construction, the team all instilled confidence that we were moving in the same direction. I slept very well at night knowing how the PA would perform the next day. I'd use this system again in a heartbeat."