Belfry to host spectator tournament for first time in 14 years
THE world-famous Belfry is set to host a prestigious tournament with spectators for the first time in more than a decade.
The golf course, near Sutton Coldfield, will host the Betfred British Masters in 2022, the second time it will have hosted the European Tour event in two years. But this time spectators are set to be allowed to attend.
The British Masters will return to the course on the Warwickshire-Birmingham border from May 5 to 8.
The Belfry is famed as the venue that has hosted the Ryder Cup most often.
The biennial golfing contest between Europe and the United States of America was held on the Brabazon course in 1985, 1988, 1993 and 2002.
The venue was also a regular host of European Tour tournaments having hosted 18 events, but there was a 12-year absence between 2008 and 2020.
It has recently been bought by two leading investment companies, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Cedar Capital Partners, which announced plans to revamp and extend the ‘‘iconic’’ resort.
During the pandemic, six tournaments in a row were hosted in England and Wales in 2020, with the
ISPS Handa UK Championship hosted at the Belfry at the end of August.
But with Covid restrictions still in place no fans were allowed last year. And the 2021 Betfred British Masters, hosted on May 15, came just before the country opened up following the third nationwide coronavirus lockdown which started in January. The last European Tour event where spectators were allowed was the 2008 Quinn Insurance British Masters, won by Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.
The 2022 event will be hosted by former Masters champion Danny Willett.
Chris Eigelaar, resort general manager at The Belfry, said: “We are very proud that the Betfred British Masters will be returning to The Belfry in May 2022.
“It will be fantastic to welcome the players back to our iconic Brabazon course and we are very excited that this time we can also welcome spectators to watch the tournament.”
Earlier this year, ahead of the Betfred British Masters 2021, the Belfry’s premier course, the Brabazon, underwent several upgrades to bring it up-to-date with new technologies and to make it ‘‘more challenging’’.
The update introduced new additional fourth tees to ‘‘greatly improve the golfing experience’’ while remaining a par 72 course.
The course was also recently awarded ‘England’s Best Golf Course’ and ‘Europe’s Best Golf Course’ for its conditioning and layout at the World Golf Awards 2021.