GMCA sinks £70m into Bolton’s Ryder Cup dream
A big chunk of cash from the combined authority’s Good Growth Fund would pay for the Park Avenue link road, seen as a crucial component of Peel Land’s Hulton Park proposals, which are dependent on securing rights to host the famous golf tournament in 2035.
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority will pump £70m into the project in a bid to help bring the Ryder Cup to Bolton.
The project is one of several in line to receive a share of £485m from the Good Growth Fund in the second wave of allocations.
Read more about the projects GMCA is backing
A decision on where the 2035 edition of the tournament will be held is expected this year, and the GMCA is hoping its infrastructure funding could tip the scales in Bolton’s favour.
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said conversations with Ryder Cup organisers had been “promising”.
“It will only be possible with the right infrastructure. We’re doing our bit to make it happen,” he said. “We’re committing up to £70m to deliver a transport package to not only help spectators get to the site but deliver major benefits for the people living in the surrounding areas.
“The success of the BRIT Awards in Manchester shows that we can we attract and deliver international events to a brilliant standard.
“Culture and sport will be major drivers of our good growth, and that’s why we’re bidding to host the biggest ever Ryder Cup in Bolton in 2035.”
The development project, which also includes around 1,000 homes, is consented, despite facing a difficult time at planning committee initially. September 2025 saw Peel start a minor works programme in order to keep the consent live.
Absolutely no way Bolton is getting the R.C! Disingenuous to continue maintaining its got a chance. Waste of a good £70m.
By T.D.Smith
Hello PNW!
Could you please confirm if this is a cheap loan to people not exactly short of cash or if Andy Burnham is actually committing £70 million of taxpayer’s money for free to Peel’s permanent massive luxury housing estate on Green Belt, supposedly justified by a highly unlikely to happen golfing jolly which lasts all of three days?
By Hulton Nark
Is there supposed to be a link to the GMCA projects in this article?
By Todd
It’s quite laughable that Burnham now thinks there’s a chance of getting the RC. What will happen here is that all this money will be sunk into the infrastructure and then unsurprisingly they won’t get the RC. The bombshell will be that we’ve spent all this money and we don’t want to waste it, so let’s build 3000 homes instead of the golf course, leaving Westhoughton and Over Hulton to live with the consequences. This has been Peels plan all along and it should be stopped dead in its tracks.
By Bob
Wasting their time better courses and facilities on the Merseyside coast
By Anon
£70m to build a road to help Peel Land (of all people!) and maybe host a golf tournament (probably not). How on earth is this a priority for a public body? Call me old fashioned but in the middle of a housing crisis surely it would make more sense to spend this on social housing?
By Anonymous
How many NW potholes would £70m fill ?!?
By Anonymous
Being that these are private businesses, I feel the other courses across the UK have every right to argue that public money going to a competitor in such a way is distorting and unfair. There are already no fewer than three global quality golf courses in proximity – two in the Liverpool region, and one in Blackpool. Why should public money go to subsidise another, just because otherwise would mean the Ryder Cup being held outside of Greater Manchester. Hardly a “one north” view, is it your majesty.
By John