The USGA announced on Monday that the U.S. Open will return to Winged Foot in 2028, filling out the entire slate for the 2020s with a golf course that has been the site of some of the most famous major championships in history. This will be Winged Foot’s seventh U.S. Open with the first coming in 1929 when Bobby Jones took down Al Espinosa in a playoff.

Winged Foot joins a big hitter’s list of golf courses the USGA has lined up over the next seven editions of its most prominent golf tournament. Here’s a look at the venues that will host U.S. Opens for the remainder of the decade. 

• 2023: Los Angeles Country Club
• 2024: Pinehurst No. 2
• 2025: Oakmont Country Club
• 2026: Shinnecock Hills golf Club
• 2027: Pebble Beach Golf Links
• 2028: Winged Foot Golf Club
• 2029: Pinehurst No. 2
• 2030: Merion Golf Club

This is an extraordinary list. All elite golf courses, all worthy major championship venues. If we’re being completely honest, Pebble Beach might actually be the worst course on this list. If Pebble is the worst course in your group of venues, then something has gone very well for your organization. I realize it sounds nuts to disparage one of the most iconic golf courses in the country, but I’m not sure what option I’m left with considering this group of heavy hitters.

Winged Foot has traditionally been one of the most interesting tests in major championship golf. Its crazy slopes, mind-bending greens and crisp edges have provided the best players in the world some of their biggest challenges over the years.

“Winged Foot has provided the backdrop for some of the most dramatic moments in the history of our sport, with many of golf’s legendary champions being crowned on the club’s iconic West Course,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA chief championships officer in a statement. “We strive to provide players with the greatest stages on which to compete for a national championship, and there are few stages as grand as Winged Foot.”

This is certainly true, although Winged Foot — all 7,500 yards of it — isn’t what it once was. Most recently, Bryson DeChambeau torched the course en route to his first major victory in 2020 over Matthew Wolff and Louis Oosthuizen. Much consternation emanated from that major given DeChambeau’s style — hit it as far as humanly possible on a course with few penalty areas, find it and do it again — seemingly did not fit a classic, iconic venue the way many people thought it should.

“I don’t really know what to say because that’s just the complete opposite of what you think a U.S. Open champion does,” said Rory McIlroy at the time of DeChambeau’s victory. “Look, he’s found a way to do it. Whether that’s good or bad for the game, I don’t know, but it’s … not the way I saw this golf course being played or this tournament being played. It’s kind of hard to really wrap my head around it.”

Was Winged Foot, gasp, outdated?

The real answer is that a lack of restriction on equipment is eventually going to make all courses — modern, historic or otherwise — outdated eventually, and it’s going to be fascinating to see where we’re at with the golf ball and golf clubs when this U.S. Open comes around again five years from now. Winged Foot’s big problem is that its footprint can’t really expand any more than it already has.

None of that should matter in 2028, but it certainly will in 2048 or 2068 when golfers are driving the ball 450 yards with ease.

All of that is neither here nor there at the present moment. Winged Foot rocks, and having another U.S. Open there should be a tremendous addition to the major championship schedule for both the USGA and major championships in general.

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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 Netherlands is to host the Solheim Cup for the first time in 2026, with Bernardus Golf named as the venue for the biennial contest.

Bernardus Golf, located in Cromvoirt close to Eindhoven, opened in 2018 and has hosted the Dutch Open on the DP World Tour on two occasions, with it scheduled to be that tournament’s venue once again in 2023.

Robert van der Wallen, the owner of Bernardus and the chairman of PSV Eindhoven, said: “We are very excited to be hosting the Solheim Cup in 2026 and to partner with the Royal Dutch Golf Federation, IMG, the LET and LPGA. The opportunity to host such a globally significant sports event is a huge honour for our whole team. Experience is what we are all about at Bernardus and our preparations are already under way to ensure we play our part in providing the stage to host a best-in-class Solheim Cup experience in September 2026.”

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Players with an official handicap are invited to pair up into teams of two and take to the hotel’s 18-hole championship links for a weekend of golf hosted by former European Tour player, and The Machrie’s course architect, DJ Russell. 

Participants can also enjoy an exclusive dining experience on Saturday evening, with renowned golf journalist and host of the ‘Things About Golf’ podcast John Huggan in conversation with DJ Russell. The evening will give a fascinating insight into DJ’s golf career before becoming a respected course architect with three of Scotland’s finest links in his impressive portfolio. The tournament will draw to a close with an official prize-giving ceremony on the final afternoon. 

The Machrie Pairs experience includes three nights’ accommodation with full Scottish breakfast; three rounds of golf across the weekend; and a three-course dinner on Saturday hosted by John Huggan in conversation with DJ Russell

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