Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights.

Numbers don't lie. But they can of course be skewed to support either side of a discussion. In the case of next week's 2025 Ryder Cup - which will be held starting September 26 at Bethpage Black Golf Course in Long Island, New York - the data is compelling.

Shot Scope, a company perhaps best known for its handheld golf rangefinders and GPS watches, compiled statistics from tracking golfers who used its products as they played the course. And then it released a report about what people can expect during the team event.

The highlights? The par-3 3rd hole for amateurs typically plays 146 yards, and players essentially have a 67 percent chance of finding the green on their tee shot. But for pros in the Ryder Cup, the tee box will be moved back 90 yards, making it play 232 yards with little room around the green for misses. If amateurs played from this tee box, their chances of hitting the green would plummet to 2 percent.

The hardest Bethpage Black hole for Shot Scope users is the par-4 5th hole. It favors a faded tee shot, but the further right the ball travels, the longer the carry to cover the sandy scrubland. A drive missing left makes a shot into the green nearly impossible - leading to an average score of 1.6 strokes above par. Anything right almost guarantees a bogey. Thus, it's no surprise that only 7 percent of amateurs reach the green in regulation.

Then there's the par-5, 527-yard 7th hole that sees the biggest fluctuation in scoring by tee shot results. Depending on where your drive lands, you either have a chance at making birdie or more likely, way worse. Pros will play it as a par 4 - with sandy scrubland to the right and thick rough to the left. Missing the fairway makes it almost impossible to go for the green in two. Even dodging the sand, but being too far right, means there is no direct line to the green. So it's essential that Ryder Cup participants land their tee shots in the fairway.

The back nine plays 0.7 strokes harder, by the way, for amateurs who typically hit one fewer fairway on the back and two fewer greens - meaning they need to scramble more. Shot Scope data implies that if you hit only one green all day, make it the 11th. It's the hardest to get up and down on when missing the green. That's because it's one of the course's more undulating greens, with bunkers flanking almost the entire green. Plus, the green slopes from front to back and also has a false front ready to penalize anyone coming up short.

Even if reaching the fairway on the par-5 13th from the tee, amateurs still face 390 yards to the green for the second shot. That just sets the tone for the rest of the nine. The par-4s tend to play more like par-5's for amateurs. And the closing five greens are notoriously difficult to negotiate.

There's much more to this incredibly tough test of golf. Shot Scope then took all of its amateur data, and amassed statistics from 7,000 randomly selected golfers - 3,500 Americans and 3,500 Europeans divided equally into handicap benchmarks of 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 (500 per category) - and playfully pitted them against each other and how they would play at Bethpage Black. Based on 12 statistical matchups, Team Europe's amateurs captured a 6.5-to-5.5 victory over Team USA. May the real match be that tight.