Bid to bring Ryder Cup to Flaxby Country Club in Yorkshire

Property developer The Skelwith Group has unveiled plans to bring the Ryder Cup tournament to Flaxby Country Club, its buy-to-let hotel in Yorkshire that opens in 2011.

The company's bid to bring the biennial Europe vs USA golf tournament to the county for the first time since 1957 is being backed by Yorkshire Forward and The Yorkshire Tourist Board (YTB).

The group hopes to secure the Ryder Cup within the next 20 years and an official bid will be made to British and European PGA, with 2018 and 2022 pencilled in as the potential years to host the tournament.

Skelwith, which is expecting to announce the hotel operator for Flaxby in the "next few weeks", also aims to attract other major golfing events to the hotel including PGA tournaments, the Solheim Cup and the Open.

Paul Ellis, managing director of The Skelwith Group, said: "If we can get the Ryder Cup it will provide a massive catalyst to further investment in the area and boost hundreds of local businesses as well. We are in talks with the major events team at Yorkshire Forward and we are all very excited by the bid."

The Ryder Cup, which has a global TV audience of more than 435 million people, is estimated to boost the local economy by between £100-120m. This year's tournament, in Kentucky, kicks off tomorrow.
The Flaxby Country Club operates a similar model to that of GuestInvest, with all 303 rooms being sold to investors.

The Celtic Manor resort in Newport, Wales is hosting the 2010 Ryder Cup.

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By Gemma Sharkey

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