Ryder Cup: 2026 match in… Bolton?!

– Property giant wants to build resort to host Ryder Cup
– Peel Group are targeting the 1,000 acre Hulton Park Estate
– Plans have been branded ‘over-ambitious’ by one local

The next two Ryder Cups to be held on European soil will be Paris in 2018 and Rome in 2022 – but could the 2026 Ryder Cup really be staged in… Bolton?!

Well, reports in local newspaper The Bolton News suggest it could be on the cards.

They say major plans are being put forward by the Peel Group – one of the UK’s largest property investment companies – to build a new world-class, 18-hole golf course on the Hulton Park Estate on the outskirts of the Lancashire town.

Read more -> 2022 Ryder Cup to be held in Italy

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According to the article, the company has so far refused to make any public comment on the matter but its sources suggest the Peel Group are ‘very serious’ about bidding to host the biennial match in Bolton.

The Peel Group built the Trafford Centre in 1998 and sold it for £1.6b in 2011 – making it the largest property acquisition in British history – while other projects from the company include MediaCityUK in Salford and Scout Moor Wind Farm, the second largest onshore wind farm in England.

A shareholder at nearby Regent Park Golf Club, Andrew Dickson, sounded surprised by the news.

“If they can pull this off then it will be fantastic for Bolton, but I do think it is a little over-ambitious,” he told The Bolton News.

“ Ryder Cup is the biggest event in world golf, it is huge and there are a lot of other courses in the country that would want it.

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“It also takes a good four or five years for a new course to bed in, but if they make it a stunning course then it could work — good luck to them.”

The announcement that the 2022 Ryder Cup was to be staged in Italy came late last year – seven years in advance of the match – meaning if similar protocol was to take place this time around, the 2026 Ryder Cup venue would be announced some time in 2019.

So, that’s three years for ‘detailed development plans’ to at least begin to be transformed into a world-class golf facility. As Mr Dickson says, good luck to them!

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2026 Ryder Cup :: Where would you like to see it?

With a return to the UK possible in ten years’ time after forays to the continent, where would you like to see the 2026 Ryder Cup held? Leave your thoughts in the ‘Comments’ section below.