Locals in Straffan are annoyed that the tournament organisers have only offered free tickets to practice sessions and tickets at face value for the match days rather than free tickets for the prestigious event.

Straffan residents, who have put up with roadworks for several months already, will be subject to strict security restrictions during the event. "Ninety per cent of the people here are against it and we want to show them that we're not satisfied, " said local man John Walsh (84). "We've put up with an awful lot here, with the roads being all over the place, and this is only a small village. But all we get in return is a ticket to see them practising. It's not good enough."

High-profile golfers such as Padraig Harrington, Tiger Woods, Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke are expected to take part in the Ryder Cup at the K Club from 22 to 24 September.

During the Smurfit European Open, which is also held at the Co Kildare course, each Straffan household was given two complimentary tickets to the event, a boon many residents feel they should be receiving for the Ryder Cup.

"It was the tradition of the Smurfits that local residents were given a present of tickets, " said local TD Emmet Stagg, who says residing in the village is "like living in a building site" at the moment.

"People have been very supportive of all the developments and the security checks that we're going to be subjected to. It is the pennypinching attitude of the Ryder Cup people that is really the basis of the complaint."

"I've had to give the number of my car and my son's car and my son's wife's car to the guards just so they can come and visit me, " Walsh said. "It's getting ridiculous at this stage."

But the chairman of the Straffan Development Association, Sean Ashe, said that people had been spoilt by the special deal they had negotiated with the European Open committee and should not expect the same from the Ryder Cup.

"This is a totally different event and we have received a very generous offer, " Ashe said, pointing out that residents currently have the chance to purchase tickets that are virtually impossible for anyone else to get. "We believe the majority of people are very happy with the offer, but there is always going to be some with the opposite view."

Ashe also said the improvement works being carried out in the village for the Ryder Cup are ones that locals have lobbied for in the past. "The event may have caused the work to be done all at the one time and it may have caused a bit of hardship, there's no denying it, " he said, "but at the end of the day, Straffan is going to have a topclass infrastructure when this one week in September is over."

Both the residents' development association and local TDs rubbished claims that many residents have succeeded in renting out their homes for up to 50,000 for the event. "We have heard lots of fairytales about residents making a fortune out of this business, but that is just total codology, " Stagg said. "Out of all the residents, I have only heard of one who is renting out his house and that is a big house outside the village."