England Golf has reignited its campaign to secure the Solheim Cup for English soil and is now appealing to the government for financial assistance to back a bid for the 2030 tournament. While the Solheim Cup has already visited seven different European nations, England remains the only country on the continent that has never hosted the biennial women's golf showdown. The venue for the 2030 edition – the next time the event will be held in Europe – has not yet been decided, and several clubs are vying for the honor.
Among the interested parties is The Grove in Hertfordshire, a prestigious venue that has expressed a strong desire to stage the competition. However, officials stress that without public funding – private investment alone is insufficient – any English bid would struggle to meet the financial thresholds required by the event’s governing bodies. England Golf’s chief executive, Jeremy Tomlinson, has been vocal about the potential benefits, insisting that bringing the Solheim Cup to England would generate "immeasurable good" for the sport and its wider community.
Tomlinson told Sky Sports that the tournament is "in a really good place and it's going to get bigger". He believes that an English edition could at least double, and possibly even triple, the typical crowd numbers seen at other European venues.
"We have several clubs that really want to put themselves forward and would love to host the event. With a bit of government help, we truly believe we could bring it to England for the first time," he said. The England Golf team is working closely with a range of partners, including individual clubs, IMG, the Ladies European Tour, and UK Sport. While they are not revealing all details of their negotiations, Tomlinson expressed optimism: "We’re feeling really positive about things and we would love to be able to bring it to England." Financially, staging a Solheim Cup is considerably less demanding than organizing a men's Ryder Cup.
The cost is estimated to be less than one‑tenth of the Ryder Cup budget, a fact that Tomlinson hopes will make the case for government underwriting more compelling. He noted that while private entrepreneurs sometimes step forward to fully underwrite such events, no such sponsor has yet emerged for the English bid.
"We are somewhat dependent upon government to be able to step forward and help us. We have some discussions with them right now and they are positive, they are constructive," Tomlinson added.
He emphasized the broader economic and social returns that could accompany a successful bid. "It’s a lot of money that you need to be able to put this on, but we truly believe – and I think the government feels it as well – that the returns from a feel‑good factor and a promotion of an incredible sport could be dynamic," he said. The recent Solheim Cup, held at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands, saw Team Europe reclaim the trophy with a 15‑13 win. The event attracted a packed grandstand and featured three English players on the victorious side, underscoring the depth of talent within the UK.
Tomlinson highlighted how the sport has surged in popularity since the pandemic, noting that more than 12.5 million people in England engage with golf in some capacity, whether as players, spectators, or casual participants. He also pointed out the gender dimension of the sport’s growth. "We have an incredible amount of women who enjoy playing golf away from golf courses. We’d love more women, more girls to be able to come to the golf courses, but they need to have heroes and they need to have people to inspire them," Tomlinson explained.
By hosting the Solheim Cup, England could provide a high‑profile platform for female athletes, creating role models for the next generation and encouraging greater female participation at the grassroots level. Tomlinson summed up the ambition: "We at England Golf truly believe that if we could get the Solheim Cup, it could do immeasurable good for the game of golf and for women in sport. It would be a very, very proud moment." The government’s Department for Media, Culture and Sport has been contacted for comment.
The next Solheim Cup after 2030 will take place in 2028 at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky, USA, from September 8‑10, before the competition returns to Europe for the 2030 edition. England Golf hopes that, with sufficient public backing, the historic moment of an English‑hosted Solheim Cup will become a reality, delivering lasting benefits for the sport, the economy, and the promotion of women’s athletics across the nation.