After hosting the inaugural LIV Golf event at the Centurion Club in Hertfordshire in 2022, and returning to the Hemel Hempstead-based course again in 2023, next year will see the Saudi-funded tour move to a new venue in the UK – JCB Golf & Country Club in Staffordshire.
Although the full schedule for LIV Golf’s third season, which will feature 14 tournaments, has yet to be officially announced, it is understood that JCB has already signed up to host the UK leg of the international series that sees 48 players compete over three rounds of stroke play for a prize fund of $25m across individual and team competitions.
JCB Golf & Country Club is owned by British billionaire Lord Bamford, chairman of JCB, a manufacturer of construction and agriculture machinery. The ultra-exclusive club – visitors are not allowed – only opened four years ago but its championship course has already hosted a Legends Tour event for the past two years.
Centurion is understood not to have bid to extend its two-year contract with LIV Golf, but it will continue to host the UK leg of the Aramco Team Series, a Ladies European Tour competition which has been staged in the immediate week following the club’s hosting of the LIV Golf London event over the past two years.
LIV Golf’s schedule for 2024 will include a number of new stops, including Mayakoba in Mexico, Las Vegas in Nevada and as yet unnamed venue South Korea. It is understood that Valderrama in Spain will remain in the schedule for 2024, while new venues in Nashville and Houston will be among the six events due to take place in the US, with Doral in Miami being one of the venues to give way.