Championship VenueBucket List

The Belfry — Brabazon Course

Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire · Designed by Dave Thomas & Peter Alliss (1977) · Est. 1977

The Brabazon at The Belfry has hosted the Ryder Cup four times — 1985, 1989, 1993 and 2002 — more than any other venue in the world, and for a generation of fans it is the stage on which the modern Ryder Cup grew up. Designed in 1977 by Dave Thomas and Peter Alliss on former farmland in Warwickshire, and refined since, it is a big, American-style parkland course of water, trees and stadium finishes, built for drama and for crowds.

And drama it has delivered. Sam Torrance's arms-aloft winning putt on the 18th in 1985, Seve Ballesteros driving the green at the short par-4 10th, and Paul McGinley's clinching putt in 2002 are woven into golf's memory — and the water-guarded 10th and 18th are among the most recognisable and photographed holes in the game.

It plays to 7,255 yards, par 72, and, unlike the private championship links and heaths, it is a resort course anyone can play: a hotel, spa and three courses in one, an hour from the heart of England. Standing on the 10th tee, or over that approach across the water to the 18th, is a genuine bucket-list thrill.

Holes worth knowing

110th (par-4) — the short, water-guarded par 4 Seve Ballesteros famously drove; a genuine risk-and-reward temptation that has decided Ryder Cup matches.
218th (par-4) — the stadium finish, an approach across water to a green ringed by grandstands, where Sam Torrance (1985) and Paul McGinley (2002) sealed European victories.

Highlights

Host of four Ryder Cups — more than any venue
The iconic water-guarded 10th and 18th
A resort course anyone can play
Hotel, spa and three courses in one

Good to know

→The Brabazon has hosted more Ryder Cups than anywhere on earth — you are walking the fairways of 1985, 1989, 1993 and 2002; take the plunge and try to drive the 10th.
→It is target golf built for the amphitheatre: water guards the 10th and 18th, so take enough club, respect the carries, and enjoy the drama of the famous finish.
→It is a full resort — stay-and-play packages bundle a night, dinner and rounds across the three courses, plus a spa and the long-running Bel Air nightclub on site.
→Central England is on the doorstep: Warwick Castle, Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare's birthplace) and the NEC are all within half an hour.
→Its central location — 25 minutes from Birmingham and its airport, and easy off the M42 — makes it the easiest bucket-list round in England to reach.