London Golf Club is the clear favourite to host the 2031 Ryder Cup after a rival bid from a yet-to-be-built golf resort in Bolton was scuppered when local planners turned down permission to build a course on the proposed site.
With The Belfry already having withdrawn from the bidding race, and plans for proposed Bolton site now quashed, it leaves London Golf Club as the last venue standing to become the first club in England to host the biannual competition since The Belfry in 2002. A final decision on the venue for the 2031 matches will be announced by Ryder Cup Europe in July.
London Golf Club has a long and successful association with the European Tour, having hosted numerous top-flight tournaments since it first opened in 1994. The Heritage Course staged the European Open in 2008 and 2009, and the Cazoo Open, a tournament that was formerly known as the English Open, in 2021. The International Course hosted the 2014 Volvo World Matchplay Championship and the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship in 2018 and 2019.
The Brands Hatch-based club was left as the front runner to host the 2031 Ryder Cup after revised plans to develop the 800-acre site at Hulton Park in Great Manchester were rejected by a margin of 15-1 by Bolton Council, with the planning committee citing the impact on the greenbelt land on which the venue would have been built.
A spokesperson for Ryder Cup Europe said: “We have received considerable interest in staging future editions of the Ryder Cup from several countries and venues across Europe. Discussions with all interested parties will continue in the months ahead before any decision and announcement is made.”
The next two Ryder Cups on European soil will be at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome in 2023, followed by Adare Manor in Ireland in 2027.