Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf and Spa is bidding to end the almost 30-year absence of the Ryder Cup from England after launching a bid to host the biennial matches in 2031 or 2035.

Located just a short direct train ride from central London and a few minutes’ drive from the M1 and Luton Airport, the luxury estate is set in over 1,000 acres of parkland, woods and lakes in Bedfordshire.

The estate is currently home to an 18-hole championship course and in line with the Arora Group’s ambition to create something special on the estate, it plans to design and build a completely new championship course worthy of hosting the Ryder Cup.

Surinder Arora, founder and chairman of the Arora Group, which owns the venue, commented: “Our acquisition of Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf and Spa was always with the intention to curate a luxury leisure and hospitality experience on the existing estate. We want to continue building on the already rich history of Luton Hoo and to ensure that any future investment into the estate will bring economic benefit to Bedfordshire and surrounding areas.

“Hosting the Ryder Cup, potentially in either 2031 or 2035, would raise the profile of the area to a global audience and the opportunity to bid to host a Ryder Cup at Luton Hoo is a very real and realistic ambition.”

Cllr Richard Wenham, leader of Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “The Ryder Cup is an iconic sporting event celebrated and enjoyed across the globe. Arora’s aspirational plans to take the superb Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf and Spa complex set in its beautiful surroundings to the next level, have the scope to put Central Bedfordshire on the world stage. Securing the Ryder Cup would be an enormous boost to our thriving economy, bringing many new tourists and supporting more new jobs.”

The Arora Group, the UK’s largest private hotel owner-operator, purchased Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa from Elite Hotels in December 2021. Its championship course previously hosted the Bridgestone Challenge 2017 and 2018, and the EuroPro Tour in 2017.

Originally known as a specialist airport hotel owner operator, the Arora Group bought The Buckinghamshire Golf Club in 2018.

Luton Hoo’s Ryder Cup bid is likely to come up against a rival English bid from Hulton Park in Bolton, which has announced plans to build a brand new course to accommodate the matches.

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The 2023 Masters and 2023 Open Championship grew by a spot on Sunday as Harrison Crowe (-13) of Australia won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship by one stroke over Bo Jin (-12). That sounds like a straightforward outing for the 21-year-old, who was set to turn pro after this tournament until those Masters and Open bids waylaid his plans, but it was anything but simple.

Crowe needed a 33 on the back nine — including four birdies in five holes at one point — to surge past Jin, who led by three at the turn, and claim the trophy. Even that doesn’t fully describe the drama.

Jin, still leading by one Sunday as he teed it up at the 17th hole at Amata Spring Country Club in Thailand — a true island hole where players have to take a boat to the green — hit his shot in the water on the par 3 and disappointingly finished double bogey-par to slip from 14 under to 12 under. Crowe, on the other hand, closed par-par on the last two holes to stay at 13 under and win by a stroke.

Crowe’s par at the last was an up and down that itself nearly went in the water and could have cost him invites into perhaps the two biggest golf tournaments of 2023. He hung on with a nervy putt at the last that touched off a massive comeback over Jin.

On Saturday after Round 3, Crowe did a bit of foreshadowing when the No. 43 amateur in the world openly discussed how he was going to turn pro but wouldn’t do it if his final round went like the first three. (He opened 69-67-67.)

“I would turn pro almost as soon as I get back home,” said Crowe after taking a two-shot lead entering Sunday’s final round of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. “… I would love to delay that decision.”

While round No. 4 wasn’t quite as stellar, his even-par 72 was enough to make a dream come true. Now, he will as he’ll have to wait six months for the Masters and nine months for the Open.

“It means so much. I played a lot of really good golf early in the season, but towards the middle of the year when I traveled overseas, I didn’t play very good golf at all. So, I came out here this week with something to prove, and I’m just really proud of myself the way I handled myself on and off the course,” said Crowe.

The Australian joins an impressive list of former winners of this tournament.

• 2021: Keita Nakajima
• 2020: N/A
• 2019: Yuxin Lin
• 2018: Takumi Kanaya
• 2017: Yuxin Lin
• 2016: Curtis Luck
• 2015: Cheng Jin
• 2014: Antonio Murdaca
• 2013: Chang-woo Lee
• 2012: Tianlang Guan
• 2011: Hideki Matsuyama
• 2010: Hideki Matsuyama
• 2009: Chang-won Han

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The divergent worlds of LIV Golf and golf’s two most dominant tours, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, look on course for another major fallout after LIV Golf announced the formation of a new ‘strategic alliance’ with the little-known Middle East & North Africa Tour that could potentially see LIV Golf events being accorded Official World Golf Ranking points.

With LIV Golf events currently not qualifying for OWGR points due to their unique set up and format – 54 holes with no cut and qualification by invitation only – by aligning with the Mena Tour, players on the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series could conceivably be allowed to earn OWGR points, which are used in the qualification process for the four majors and other high-profile events, including the Ryder Cup.

The Mena Tour was launched in 2011 and traditionally stages around 15 events each season, with total prize funds of around $75,000 per event. The tour, whose events are also 54 holes, has been recognised by the OWGR since 2016, although due to the weak fields does not attract anywhere near the points on offer on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour or even the Challenge Tour. The Mena Tour was suspended during the pandemic, and has so far only staged four events this year.

The alliance with the LIV Golf Invitational series will see the MENA Tour run as normal, with LIV Golf events interspersed within the Mena Tour’s schedule – almost as a tour within a tour. The alliance could come into effect as early as this Friday (October 7), the first day of the LIV Golf’s next event in Thailand, but it would require the board of the OWGR to ratify the new alliance before any points might be awarded.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Mena Tour said: “The Mena Tour today announced a strategic alliance which will result in LIV Golf Invitational events becoming part of and sanctioned by the Mena Tour, a Dubai-based golf tour which has been recognized by the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) since 2016.

“The alliance will boost the Mena Tour’s development programs and immediately qualify LIV Golf for OWGR points, starting with the LIV Golf Thailand event at Stonehill this week.

“The final field for LIV Golf Thailand, the opening event of the 2022-23 Mena Tour season, will be submitted to OWGR by the Mena Tour ahead of play commencing on Friday when the final field rating and winners’ points are expected to be confirmed. As a result of the alliance, all LIV Golf players have joined the Mena Tour.”

Atul Khosla, the president of LIV Golf, said: “We are taking this mutually beneficial action to support the game at the developmental level and because of the importance and fairness of LIV golfers qualifying for OWGR points. We’re pleased to create pathways that give more opportunities for young players, while also giving fans rankings that include all the world’s best golfers.”

Neither the PGA Tour nor the DP World Tour has so far commented on this latest development, but as both bodies have board members on the OWGR it is likely that they will have a major role to play in whether LIV Golf’s latest move is successful or not.

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