North London golf course hopes to host Ryder Cup in 2030s

A golf resort in Bedfordshire has revealed it has plans to build a new course that could host the Ryder Cup in 2031 or 2035.

If the course gets built it will mean that there are at least four golf clubs in the running to host the 2031 Ryder Cup, just months after it appeared to be a one-horse-race.

Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf and Spa in Bedfordshire, which is less than 30 miles north of central London, currently has an existing 18-hole golf course that is a bunkerless design created by Mike Smith in 2008 that hosted the Bridgestone Challenge 2017 and 2018, and EuroPro Tour 2017.

At the end of 2021 it was acquired by the Arora Group, which has major plans for the venue.

“Our acquisition of Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf and Spa was always with the intention to curate a luxury leisure and hospitality experience on the existing estate,” said Surinder Arora, founder and chairman of Arora Group.

“Hosting the Ryder Cup, potentially in either 2031 or 2035, would raise the profile of the area to a global audience and the opportunity to bid to host a Ryder Cup at Luton Hoo is a very real and realistic ambition.”

Richard Wenham, leader of Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “The Ryder Cup is an iconic sporting event celebrated and enjoyed across the globe. Arora’s aspirational plans to take the superb Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf and Spa complex set in its beautiful surroundings to the next level, have the scope to put Central Bedfordshire on the world stage. Securing the Ryder Cup would be an enormous boost to our thriving economy, bringing many new tourists and supporting more new jobs.”

The race to win the right to host the 2031 Ryder Cup has been playing out for months now. It was thought to be between three venues: The Belfry in Warwickshire, Hulton Park Estate in Bolton and London Golf Club in Kent. However, earlier this year, The Belfry pulled out of the running and Hulton Park Estate, which doesn’t yet have a golf course, was denied planning permission to build one, seemingly paving the way for London Golf Club to win the bid.

Since then, though, an independent planning inspector decided that Bolton Council should not have rejected plans for the venue to be built, and PGA Catalunya in Spain, which has now been renamed Camiral Golf & Wellness, has expressed an interest in being the host, along, now, with Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf and Spa.