Ryder Cup Becomes the New Swiping Ground for Singles

27 September 2025

Comedian Nina Barnett joked about wearing a “I’m single” hat to the tournament.

A surprising dating trend is sweeping across recent social media feeds single women are choosing to delete their dating apps and head to the Ryder Cup instead, hoping to meet potential partners in real life. The movement gained traction after Heather McMahan, an actress and comedian, used her podcast to encourage followers in the tri-state area to ditch their phones, take the Long Island Railroad to Bethpage Black, and immerse themselves in the golf crowd. The idea: hundreds of thousands of attendees, international flair, and ripe opportunity for face-to-face connection.

The Ryder Cup, held at Bethpage Black in New York, draws a cosmopolitan mix of golf fans and high ticket prices that often attract well-heeled men. McMahan’s pitch leaned on that allure hoping singles might find their match among men dressed in polos and enjoying the game. The tournament’s global draw, she said, means your next match might come from Europe instead of an algorithm.

Some attendees have already put the plan into action. Colleen Griparich, 36, told reporters she gazed upon a sea of men as she entered the tournament and texted her friends, “There must be 500 or 600 guys here.” She noted that men tend to look put together at golf events caps, polos, and a confident gait and that those aesthetic cues carry weight in first impressions.

Another attendee, Nathaly Del Carmen, 32, crafted a strategy: she planned to position herself near lounges and refreshments instead of chatting with players on course, where conversation is discouraged. Her outfit would be cute but low-key, enough to attract attention without seeming like a date ploy.

For people who couldn’t afford premium tickets, some have tweaked their approach by changing their dating app location filters to nearby towns. That small tweak aims to catch matches who attend the event but might be detected virtually later in the evening. One commenter on TikTok admitted she lacked a ticket but had already shifted her Hinge settings to Bethpage’s vicinity.

The growing buzz shows how social media may amplify unconventional dating strategies. The strategy draws on the idea that large public events offer more natural opportunities than swipes and small talk on apps. It casts dating as discovery rather than prediction. Many videos and comments echo the sentiment: a polo shirt and open smile may accomplish more than an endless bio scroll.

Yet this movement isn’t without critics. Some question whether concerts, sports games, or public gatherings inherently favor the socially confident or well-connected. Others say the tactic reinforces appearance and class biases, since expensive events like the Ryder Cup skew toward wealth and access. Still, for many participants it's a chance to experiment with dating outside screen boundaries.

In a cultural moment saturated by “dating fatigue,” the idea of living in moments rather than swiping through them resonates. Women abandoning dating apps if even temporarily for in-person experiments at large, festive gatherings could signal a pushback against algorithmic courtship. Whether the experiment yields love matches or just stories, it’s already changing how people frame where love and attraction might begin.