{"id":485573,"date":"2026-03-20T09:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T09:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/485573\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T09:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T09:25:09","slug":"why-bolton-residents-are-still-dubious-about-ryder-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/485573\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Bolton residents are still dubious about Ryder Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n A momentous step towards bringing the golfing tournament to Hulton Park took a huge step forward this week<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham spoke of ‘promising conversations with organisers’, but locals still believe plans for the 2035 Ryder Cup are unlikely to come to fruition.\n<\/p>\n

\n A fresh bid has been made for Bolton to host the Ryder Cup in 2035 this week.\n<\/p>\n

\n Mr Burnham has unveiled a funding package focused on infrastructure, including a \u00a370million link road between the M61 and M6, to support plans for a purpose-built course at Hulton Park.\n<\/p>\n

\n If successful, it would bring the biennial event to England for the first time since 2002, but it could face competition from London Golf Club in Kent and Luton Hoo in Bedfordshire.\n<\/p>\n

\n The town was previously put forward as a potential host for the 2026 and 2031 editions but those efforts failed to materialise.\n<\/p>\n

\n This latest push is being framed as a more credible attempt, with significant investment aimed at addressing earlier concerns around transport and infrastructure.\n<\/p>\n

\n Mr Burnham said: \u201cWe\u2019ve had promising conversations about bringing the tournament to a bespoke, world-class course at Hulton Park, but it will only be possible with the right infrastructure.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n But near the site concerns were also raised about the town’s infrastructure, with a common complaint being the major tournament’s effect on traffic – which locals say is already considerable.\n<\/p>\n

\n Nick Richardson and Bertie the dog (Image: Dan Dougherty)\n<\/p>\n

\n David Elphick-Moore, 70, said: “It’s the stupidest idea I’ve come across – why build another golf course when they’re closing them down throughout the country?\n<\/p>\n

\n “And the town is so full already – if you ring up the doctor you’d be lucky to get an appointment until next week.\n<\/p>\n

\n Dawn Elhpick-Moore, 65, added: “The roads can’t take the traffic as it is – all it is is money in Peel’s pocket.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Hulton Hall used to stand on the park grounds until it was demolished in the 1950s.\n<\/p>\n

\n Infrastructure was a big concern for people, especially what would be done with the excess crowds attracted by the Ryder Cup.\n<\/p>\n

\n Resident Nick Richardson – with dog Bertie – said: “Where’s everybody going to park?
“I don’t know what Peel are planning to do.\n<\/p>\n

\n “There’s no infrastructure for it – you can’t even get to Wigan at the moment.\n<\/p>\n

\n “The A6 is bad – all the roads will be so busy.\n<\/p>\n

\n Sign in Westhoughton (Image: Dan Dougherty)\n<\/p>\n

\n “They either need to put in another roundabout or something else to control it – the roads won’t hold the crowds they’re expecting to get.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Not only was there concern around infrastructure, several residents were still sceptical the Ryder Cup would come to Bolton at all.\n<\/p>\n

\n Michael Smith – himself a golfer – said: “I think it’s a bit of a joke to be honest.\n<\/p>\n

\n “I play myself at Westhoughton and I don’t think it’s going to happen.\n<\/p>\n

\n “I don’t think they will give it to somewhere where the weather is this bad.\n<\/p>\n

\n Michael also had opinions on the infrastructure of the plans.\n<\/p>\n

\n “I don’t think Westhoughton can cope -” he said, “maybe in 20 years, but not in 2035.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Michael Smith, Westhoughton resident and golfer (Image: Dan Dougherty)\n<\/p>\n

\n Michael did point out, however, that it would not be unprecedented to award the Ryder Cup to a golf course that has not yet been built.\n<\/p>\n

\n Former resident Carol, who now lives in Bromley Cross but returns to Westhoughton to have her car cleaned, said: “I think the roads are terrible as it is.\n<\/p>\n

\n “My daughter has just moved and she has to use the Chequerbent roundabout and she says it’s awful.\n<\/p>\n

\n “With all the new cars<\/a> and homes it will just be a total standstill.\n<\/p>\n

\n “Whenever I come to Westhoughton the traffic up Newbrook Road is horrendous.”\n<\/p>\n

\n One resident – who works for a construction company and did not want to be named – had a different perspective on the scheme.\n<\/p>\n

\n “I’m happy about it,” she said, “I hope it will happen.\n<\/p>\n

\n Land next to Manchester Road near Chequerbent Roundabout (Image: Dan Dougherty)\n<\/p>\n

\n “I think it would be fun if they do put there, as well as the link road, which we do need.”\n<\/p>\n

\n This refers to the plans for a link road between Bolton and Wigan, for which \u00a370m has been allocated under the plans, according to the latest statement.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n “I look forward to having a new road,” she said, “if they get that in it should free things up in the town.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A momentous step towards bringing the golfing tournament to Hulton Park took a huge step forward this week…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-485573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}