The next Ryder Cup host? A 10-year journey inches closer to reality

More than ten years ago, before Saudi Arabia was interested in financing a golf league, before Sergio Garcia won the Masters, while Jon Rahm was still a junior in college – the dreams of the Spanish Ryder Cup were born. Other The Spanish Ryder Cup. Those dreams are alive and well, especially this week, as talks about Spain hosting the Ryder Cup draw closer to the finish line.

Undoubtedly, the biggest event in golf owes its history to the country of Spain, which was the first host of the European continent in 1997 and whose people ruined the long name for the excellence of the Ryder Cup. But ten years ago, in 2014, Spain threw its hat in the ring to build on that history by continuing to host. another one The European Ryder Cup.

The 2022 Ryder Cup hosting rights were the focus of a 4-nation campaign back in 2014, with Austria, Germany and Italy joining Spain on the road. Spain has proposed the Ryder Cup just outside of Barcelona, ​​​​​​​​Girona, in a resort that already hosts tournaments involving the world’s best golfers. Barcelona was the safest bet, considering the golf and history-obsessed Spaniards, but the European Tour felt risky. They chose Italy instead, the trophy that came out of nowhere last year.

Spain moved on, but did not forget. Fast forward to today, when the country was one of the focal points of the next yet-to-be-awarded Cup in the program – the 2031 Ryder Cup – but it’s been a rollercoaster ride.

Hosting the modern Ryder Cup requires a lot. It needs a place, it needs a serious golf course – more than 270,000 spectators – and it needs the support of the local government, which includes not only jobs but also funding. As reported in 2022, the Spanish and Girona governments were promising investments of up to €100 million. The benefit is a huge influx of economic value during the week of the tournament and in subsequent years. You just have to win the hosting rights first.

Spain’s Catalonia region – its easternmost point highlighted by Barcelona – has also been shortlisted for the 2022 Ryder Cup, with the Camiral Golf and Wellness resort the chosen host location. The plan was good – the Catalan government would green light plans for a third golf course to be built at the Ryder Cup resort. Without the Catalan government putting in a red light instead, it is refusing the new land and water resources needed just to get attention for one of the biggest events in the world of sports.

That happened 14 months ago. But recently, this program has been given a new life again.

Speaking at the launch event on October 18, Catalan Sports Minister Berni Alvarez said the 2031 Cup was “still a viable option” for Spain. Alvarez said he needed information first, then money. Following the former, Alvarez has already gone out to Calmiral to visit the site, and then went to the Spanish capital, Madrid, to talk with other leaders of the Department of Sports.

Now all that is left is the money needed to build a place for the Cup seven years from now. “We have made a budget proposal that we are discussing internally and these budgets must be passed,” said Alvarez. “The road is not easy.”

The timetable for budget approval is still being accelerated. Future host sites are usually announced eight years in advance, and this cup is one year late for that standard. “It is true that a decision must be made in the next few months, but it is not a matter of three days,” said Alvarez.

The size of the government’s investment is not yet known, but a recent report from Spanish golf website Ten Golf says the money has been set aside and contracts have been finalized. All that remains is to announce to the public that the 2031 cup is heading to Spain.

“The Catalan government, led by Salvador Illa, plans to announce the celebration of the Ryder Cup in 2031 at the end of this month of October, at the beginning of November,” said the report. The report also explains how plans now include a two-track composite course at the Camiral resort, confirming any earlier beliefs that a new course would need to be built to make the Ryder Cup dream a reality.

Is that report to be believed? We hope to find out this week. Finally, the manager of the future Cup will be chosen by the Ryder Cup Europe and the DP World Tour, as in 2014. At that time, Spain was competing with three different countries. This time it will appear to be facing only one England – but its two corners are different.

Many English teams were in pursuit of hosting the cup, one from the London area and another from the north, around Manchester. In the greater London area is The London Club, which has previously hosted the DP World Tour and is making plans to refurbish the venue ahead of hosting the Cup. Just north of London, Luton Hoo is a tourist destination with its own government-approved scheme. Its program includes a purpose-built course that does not yet exist. A similar route has been installed in north-west Manchester, in an area called Hulton Park which is also available only in symbolic form. The course has been sketched for the last 12 months, but it is still far from reality. And while it may not have the history of other prospects, it does have a useful ambassador: Tommy Fleetwood.

“It’s an amazing country,” Fleetwood said last year, “and the prospect of a purpose-built stadium here would be great for everyone involved – golf, the tournament and the game of England.”

Will it be ready to win the 2031 trophy? We will probably find out soon. And if not, England may just find solace in the tour of Spain’s golf leaders. Losing a bid once doesn’t mean you won’t try again.