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Florida and New York artist Elaine Ryder-Thompson created an official art print for the 2025 Ryder Cup.Ryder-Thompson began painting golf scenes in 2002 after winning a commission to commemorate the U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park.The 2025 Ryder Cup poster was created by digitally combining a new painting of the trophy with a previous painting of the Bethpage Black Course.
She’s a golf painter who doesn’t play golf. But that hasn’t stopped part-time Naples artist Elaine Ryder-Thompson from making a name for herself in pro-golf world — including recently at the 2025 Ryder Cup tournament in New York.
Ryder-Thompson’s oil painting was one of two official art prints sold at the September tournament at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, New York. It showcased the golden Ryder Cup trophy and the 18th hole of the famously difficult Bethpage Black Course.
It’s probably her eighth painting for the United States Golf Association (USGA) and the Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA), she estimates.
And she almost didn’t do it at all.
“It’s a lot of work,” says Ryder-Thompson, 82, of Naples and Long Island, New York. “A tremendous amount of work.”
The PGA contacted Ryder-Thompson in April and asked her to paint the 2025 Ryder Cup poster — but they needed it painted and printed in about one month. That wasn’t enough time, she says.
But she thought about it more and eventually said “yes.” It was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.
“My name is Ryder,” she says. “How could I not do this?”
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The part-time Naples resident says she might actually be related to the Ryder Cup’s founder, as well. There’s a Samuel Ryder in her ancestry, but she’s not sure if it’s the same wealthy English entrepreneur who donated the gold trophy for the first official Ryder Cup competition in 1927.
“I’m still researching it,” she says. “I just haven’t had time to do the ancestry.”
That didn’t stop people from asking about her name every day in the merchandise tent at Bethpage State Park, where she spent 10 days chatting with golf fans and signing copies of her fine-art poster. Some of those people were visiting from as far away as the United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia.
“They thought I was joking, you know,” she says. “I said, ‘No, my name is Ryder.’”
How Naples’ Elaine Ryder-Thompson started painting golf scenes
In addition to golf scenes, Ryder-Thompson also paints landmarks, lighthouses and U.S. presidents. She sells postcards and small prints of her work at the Naples Art Institute in downtown Naples.
Her most famous commission, she says, came from President Ronald Reagan in 1984 to design the official poster for Washington, D.C.’s National Vietnam Veterans Memorial Statue.
She doesn’t golf, herself, she says — “I’m not really that athletic.” — but nevertheless decided to try her hand at golf paintings in 2002, soon after being laid off from her job as a graphic designer for the U.S. government.
That attempt came after a Naples friend suggested she submit a painting for a commission by the State of New York commemorating the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park. She turned in a painting of the Bethpage Black Course and won the commission.
Soon, more golf paintings followed for the USGA and PGA — mostly for New York events, including the U.S. Open and the U.S. Women’s Open in Southampton, New York.
Ryder Cup poster combines gold trophy and famous Black Course
For her Ryder Cup print, Ryder-Thompson didn’t have time to make a new painting from scratch. So she improvised.
She got permission from the PGA to adapt her previous painting from the 2009 U.S. Open showing the 18th hole of the Bethpage Black Course. Then she made a separate painting of the 2025 Ryder Cup trophy, scanned it into her computer and combined the two images using Photoshop to make a single fine-art poster.
Golf fans obviously loved the result. Ryder-Thompson sold out all of her posters by the last day of the Ryder Cup — maybe 2,000 in all, she estimates — and she’s had to resupply them at the Bethpage’s pro shop, too.
She also sells the prints at her own gallery in Bohemia, New York, the city where she spends most of her time. She comes to Naples, on and off, for maybe one or two months total every year, she says.
Ryder-Thompson says she’s been busy ever since the Ryder Cup. The international exposure has led to even more work after she turned many of those golf lovers into fans of her art, too.
“I’ve been working nonstop since the 19th of September when I first went in the merchandise tent,” she says. “I haven’t had a day off since then….
“It’s unbelievable. I get calls every day.”
To learn more about Ryder-Thompson or buy her art prints, visit elainethompsonarts.com.
Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. To reach him, call 239-335-0368 or email crunnells@gannett.com. Follow or message him on Facebook(@charles.runnells.7), Instagram (@crunnells1) and X (@CharlesRunnells).
