Race hots up for 2015 Solheim Cup

Clubs in the UK and Spain, such as La Manga (left), could soon be slugging it out for the right to stage the 2015 Solheim Cup, which is being staged next year at Killeen Castle in Ireland.

The London Golf Club, a private members club near Ash in Kent, is reported to be preparing a bid to host the Solheim Cup, the biennial tournament which is women’s golf’s equivalent to the Ryder Cup, where the best women golfers from the United States and Europe play each other in a series of matchplay contests.

The London Club wants to host the Solheim Cup the next time it returns to Europe, in 2015. England has yet to host this tournament and if the London Golf Club bid succeeds it would be a huge boost for golf in southern England with The Open Championship returning to Kent at Royal St George’s next summer.

The London Club, near Brands Hatch in Kent boasts two Jack Nicklaus-designed courses, which opened in 1994. It has previously staged four events on the European Seniors Tour and two events on the main European Tour with all events staged there attracting large crowds due to the course’s close proximity to London. Whether the bid for the Solheim Cup is successful could yet depend on the London Club’s application to build a 130-bedroom hotel with spa and conference facilities. Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council are said to be still considering the proposals.

Clubs must submit a bid for the 2015 Solheim Cup by October 29 this year to be considered, with the host venue to be announced in 2011. The London Golf Club is owned by the Spanish Bendinat Group and, ironically, its main opposition for the 2015 Solheim Cup is likely to come from Spain. La Manga in Murcia (below) and the Costa Del Sol Tourism authority, which is reported to be readying itself to back a bid from one of with its host of stunning courses around Marbella and Estepona, are in the frame, as are several other as yet unnamed resorts in Europe, says the Ladies European Tour.