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

More than a decade ago, before Saudi Arabia was interested in funding a golf league, before Sergio Garcia won the Masters, while Jon Rahm was still an underclassman in college — dreams of a Spanish Ryder Cup were born. Another one Spanish Ryder Cup. Those dreams are alive and well, especially this week, as discussions about Spain hosting a Ryder Cup edge closer to the finish line.

Perhaps the biggest event in golf owes much of its history to the country of Spain, which became the first continental European host in 1997 and whose countrymen have long burnished a reputation for Ryder Cup greatness. But a full decade ago, in 2014, Spain threw its hat into the ring to build on that history even further by waiting another one European Ryder Cup.

The rights to host the 2022 Ryder Cup were the focus of a 4-nation campaign in ’14, with Austria, Germany and Italy joining Spain on the trail. Spain proposed a Ryder Cup just outside Barcelona, ​​in Girona, in a resort that already hosted tournaments with some of the world’s best players. Barcelona was the safer bet, given the population and history of golf-mad Spain, but the European Tour felt risky. Instead they chose Italy, a Cup that came to fruition in epic fashion last year.

Spain moved on, but did not forget. Fast forward to today, when the country has been one of the main points for the future Cup not yet awarded on schedule – the 2031 Ryder Cup – but it’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride.

Hosting a modern Ryder Cup is asking a lot. It requires space, it requires a serious golf course – for more than 270,000 spectators – and it requires the support of local government, involved not only with operations but also with financing. As reported in 2022, the Spanish and Girona governments they promised an investment up to 100 million euros. The payoff is a massive influx of economic value during the week of the tournament and in the years after. You just need to earn hosting rights first.

Spain’s Catalonia region – its eastern corner highlighted by Barcelona – has been chosen to host the Ryder Cup again in 2022, with the Camiral Golf and Wellness Resort as the resort of choice. The plan was grand – the Catalan government was to give the green light to plans for a third golf course to be built at the resort expressly for the Ryder Cup. Except The Catalan government flashed a red light in the countryrejecting the new land and water resources needed just to gain the attention of one of the biggest events in the world of sports.

That was 14 months ago. But recently, the plan was given a new lease of life once again.

Speaking at a presentation ceremony on October 18, Catalan Sports Minister Berni Alvarez declared that the 2031 Cup was still a “possible option” in Spain. Alvarez said he needed information first, then money. In pursuit of the former, Alvarez has already been to Calmiral for a site visit, and then traveled to Spain’s capital, Madrid, to discuss with other leaders of the Ministry of Sports.

Now all that was left was the money needed to create a Cup berth seven years from now. “We have made a budget proposal that we are negotiating internally and then these budgets must be approved,” said Alvarez. “The road is not easy.”

However, the time frame for the approval of the budget is accelerated. Future hosts are often announced eight years in advance, and this Cup is already a year late for that standard. “It is true that a decision must be made in the coming months, but it is not even a matter of three days,” said Alvarez.

The size of the government’s investment remains unknown, but a recent report from Spanish golf website Ten Golf says that the money has been reserved and the contracts have been finalized. It remains only to inform the public that the 2031 Cup will go to Spain.

“The Catalan government, headed by Salvador Illa, plans to announce the celebration of the Ryder Cup in 2031 at the end of this October, at the latest at the beginning of November.” the report says. The report also details how plans now include a two-track composite course at the Camiral resort, putting to rest any earlier belief that a new course would need to be built to make the Ryder Cup dream a reality.

Should that report be believed? We hope to find out this week. Ultimately, the next host of the Cup will be chosen by Ryder Cup Europe and the DP World Tour, just like in 2014. At that time, Spain faced three different countries. This time it will look like he will be facing not just one – England – but two different corners of it.

Numerous English teams have been in pursuit to host the Cup, one from the London area and another from further north, near Manchester. In the greater London area there are The London Clubwhich has previously hosted the DP World Tour and is making plans for a major renovation of the property ahead of hosting a Cup. In north London, Luton Hoo is a resort with its own government approved plan. His plan includes a purpose-built course that doesn’t yet exist. A similar approach has been taken in northwest Manchester, in an area called Hulton Park that also exists exclusively in fictional form. The course was shown in artistic images 12 months ago, but it is still far from reality. And while it may not have the history of other prospects, it does have a handy ambassador: Tommy Fleetwood.

“It’s an amazing landscape,” Fleetwood said last year, “and the prospect of a purpose-built stadium course here would be fantastic for all concerned – for golf, for the tour and for the game in England.”

Would it be ready to win approval for the 2031 Cup? Maybe we’ll find out soon. And if not, England may just have to take solace in the trip to the Spanish golf leaders. Losing an offer once doesn’t mean you can’t try again.