There are five Ryder Cup venues, both past and future, in the top 20 of NCG’s best golf resorts in Great Britain and Ireland.
They are Gleneagles, Adare Manor, the K Club, Celtic Manor, and the Belfry. So, you’ll notice that none of them are called Luton Hoo.
You need to scroll as far as 61 places down the list to find this Bedfordshire venue. So why is Luton Hoo on course to host the Ryder Cup in 2035?
Luton Hoo Ryder Cup bid explained
Golf’s biggest event might have headed to the south of England in 2031, but Camiral in Spain has this honour now. Whoever hosts the next European Ryder Cup after that will have to wait another four years, which is plenty of time for projects such as Luton Hoo to be developed and flourish.
The Hulton Park project in Bolton was in contention for 2031 as well, a concept endorsed by European Ryder Cup star Tommy Fleetwood. But now there is momentum behind Luton Hoo, primarily because it is now shut and will be for two and a half years to be refurbished, but also because of the ambition of the owner, who is more determined than ever to bring the Ryder Cup to England for the first time since 2002.
The Arora Group, headed by businessman Surinder Arora, owns Luton Hoo and the work that looks to elevate this venue to Ryder Cup level is set to cost £170 million.
Arora made his first splash in the UK hotel business in 1993 when he developed bed and breakfasts to serve airline staff at Heathrow Airport. He saw an opportunity that came by what he describes as “a sheer accident,” having previously worked as a baggage handler.
In 2004, the thriving hotelier became the vice-chairman of Wentworth in partnership with Richard Caring, who became chairman. It was in 2014, when the club was sold to Reignwood, that Arora “missed his connection with golf.”
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The Arora Group acquired The Buckinghamshire in 2018 to invest up to £10 million in the clubhouse and the facilities. Arora maintains his investment at The Buckinghamshire came from the heart, and his desire to bring the Ryder Cup to Luton does too. He makes no bones about his passion for the game and his Bedfordshire baby.
“I knew from my previous involvement at Wentworth, if you were to hold a Ryder Cup at Wentworth, it would be virtually impossible because of all the housing around the course,” Arora told NCG in February 2024.
“From a safety point of view, I don’t think they could have more than 28,000 to 30,000 maximum fans a day because of all of the restrictions.
“But with Luton Hoo, we have 1100 acres of land, we are blessed that if you look location-wise, the accessibility from the motorway, from north and south, the train station, the airport, which is also the busiest private aircraft airport in the country, as well as commercial.
“I’ve done the journey from Luton to St Pancras and I’ve done the journey in 23 minutes or something, so it’s incredible when you have something which is tailormade.
“My dream came alive five years ago when my son took me for my 60th birthday for my first-ever visit to Augusta. I remember going there and I remember saying, ‘Oh my god’. I never knew places like that existed on the planet, and had I known about it earlier, I would have gone back to England and bought 500 acres somewhere!”
You might think that, given Arora’s commitment to shut the place for 30 months, Luton Hoo has been given at least a degree of encouragement that their Ryder Cup application will be seriously considered, if not accepted, for the 2035 edition.
In November, the site is also hosting a two-day auction, selling off over 3,000 items of furniture and assets. The clear-out is real, and so is Arora’s ambition to create Europe’s answer to Augusta National, a golf course that inspired his investment in Luton Hoo.
Luton Hoo was the original name for the 18th century country house which has now been converted into a hotel. The golf course stands at 7,107 yards and has previously hosted events on the Challenge Tour and the EuroPro Tour.
After its application to extend and remodel the golf course to Ryder Cup standard was approved by the Central Bedfordshire Council in June 2023, a nervous wait for government approval followed.
“We can make this the best Ryder Cup ever. The other dream is, I know obviously we have Adare Manor (2027 Ryder Cup host venue in Ireland) and JP (McManus) has done an incredible job and everyone who has seen it and been there, it’s incredible. All I want to do, nothing to do with ego, I want to create the Augusta of Europe in England and Luton,” he added.
“We can bring the Ryder Cup here and put Bedfordshire on the world map and create something really special as a legacy, so that’s the dream at Luton Hoo. You’ve got an amazing character and history. The main mansion is Grade I Listed, and the Capability Brown ground.”
All the signs are there to suggest this will indeed be where the 50th Ryder Cup will be held. The championship golf course is being worked on by European Ryder Cup star Justin Rose and icon Gary Player, but the layout is also designed by European Golf Design, who were behind Celtic Manor in Wales, Le Golf National in France and Marco Simone in Italy.
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The contractors, Atlantic Golf Construction from Ireland, have also been brought in, who built Adare Manor, which is hosting the next Ryder Cup in 2027.
All roads appear to lead to Luton Hoo for Europe and the USA to do battle in a decade.
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