The Ultimate Golf Resort

The Belfry is an iconic venue located in Sutton Coldfield, North Warwickshire.  It is also home to the headquarters of the PGA and has hosted the Ryder Cup on four occasions – more than any other venue in the world.  The resort was purchased by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Cedar Capital Partners last year, and they have many exciting plans for the future.  

The facilities are dramatic and cover an extensive area.  There are three 18 hole courses, the best known being the Ryder Cup course The Brabazon (named after Lord Brabazon, a past PGA President), which was laid out in the mid seventies by Peter Alliss and Dave Thomas, and has matured and improved substantially since then.  With a par of 72 and measuring 7255 yards, the majestic fairways and super smooth and lightning quick greens of The Brabazon have provided the stage on which some of golf’s most exhilarating dramas have played out.

There are plenty of water hazards, undulating fairways and greens to challenge the best of players, and is a total pleasure to play. Despite the harshness of this summer’s hot weather, the fairways remain green and lush and is a testament to the hard work of the greenkeepers and no doubt the amount of water used to irrigate the course; in order to meet the environmental targets and run the business more effectively, all of the complex’s ‘grey water’ is used to irrigate the course.  

The PGA National course, which was designed as an inland British links layout and is another championship layout, and finally there is the Derby course, named after another past president of the PGA, Lord Derby, which is slightly shorter but and maintained to the same excellent standard.
 

There is also a superbly appointed driving range; substantial retail shop offering all of the major brands at great prices, and an extensive array of Belfry branded merchandise; an adventure putting course and several short game areas; an award winning hotel with 300+ luxurious bedrooms and suites, along with several restaurants and bars, events and meetings spaces, a leisure club and The Belfry Spa.

On the golf range, along with its Toptracer facilities there are four major fitting studios that operate in tandem with the retail shop to ensure that golfers are offered the very best possible advice and expertise when they are selecting new golf equipment.  Head professional Daniel Warwick and his fellow PGA colleague Jack Roberts cater for various different groups, with specialised clinics for men, women, seniors and juniors as well as offering individual tuition. Both are expert custom club fitters, as the two disciplines of fitting and teaching are completely linked.

With the PGA headquarters also onsite, there are often dozens of PGA trainees and tutors using the facilities and capitalising on the outstanding facilities that are on offer at the resort.  The PGA’s offices, training and conference rooms and accommodation were added by The Belfry as part of the reinvestment that was made to secure the early Ryder Cup matches. The PGA and the Belfry have an outstanding relationship and both are hugely supportive of each other.

As with many modern golf ranges, the Belfry has embraced technology and has TopTracer in all of the 34 bays. The technology allows you to see the flight path of your golf ball and gives you valuable shot data to refine your swing. Whilst the technology is invaluable to avid golfers looking to check their stats and hone their technical ability, the real benefit is the attraction to newer golfers with a variety of fun games.  Games include everything from ‘Go Fish!’ and ‘Points Game’, suitable for children and families, to ‘Approach Shot Challenge’ where golfers can hit their best approach shot on nine different virtual golf holes, suitable for golfers and competitors. Up to 8 players can use one bay, where they can play these interactive games against each other. These games are far more interesting to new golfers who can get genuine enjoyment and fun out of a session with their friends.  The Belfry is a highly prestigious venue, but one that also caters for those looking for fun and a wider group of leisure interests.

The range has good quality golf balls, a pleasing outfield and superb short game facilities on either side of the approach to the golf range. Sessions on the range can be booked online, and there is a discounted rate between 1-4pm.  

The hotel is award winning and a great place for a golf break, business meeting, event, or party.  The rooms are all very well appointed and the suites are particularly stylish and opulent. Running large golf resorts involves having large numbers of well-organised and thoroughly trained staff.  It is very refreshing to see the team at the Belfry taking such great care of customers and going the extra mile to ensure that their stay is great fun, making them feel special: there is far more to customer care than just smiling sweetly at customers – also involved are high standards of cleanliness, a thoroughly prepared golf course, immaculate rooms, banqueting suites, and with gardens all in tip top order.

There are a number of options for dining at the Belfry. The Ryder Grill, (pictured left) which enjoys stunning views across the 10th green of The Brabazon course, is a classic á la carte restaurant combined with an up-market and very popular buffet. There is also an Italian themed restaurant called Rocca’s which serves stylish pizza and pasta, as well as Sam’s Clubhouse Bar, which offers an informal environment for food and drink, particularly before and after golf. It is a classic sports bar, with giant TVs providing the latest golf, football and cricket, etc. The main Brabazon Bar dominates the main hotel atrium and has previously won Hotel Bar of the Year, and it is easy to see why: offering light bites and Afternoon Tea by day, the Brabazon Bar is a wonderful place for meetings or celebrating special occasions. At night, you can immerse yourself in the vibrant and sophisticated surroundings, with live music and an impressive selection of fine wines, Champagne and cocktails. All these food and drink havens have fabulously attentive and well trained staff, and are truly great places to relax and socialise.

There is a very popular spa that includes a swimming pool, whirlpools, steam room and sauna, along with spa treatments. The Fire & Ice Experience involves a 60 minute relaxation experience through a varied selection of bio thermal rooms, all designed to enhance your mood. There is also a gym with state-of-the-art equipment and a full range of exercise classes on offer. Memberships are on offer for the fitness club and spa, which include a range of discounts in the restaurants, bars and on green fees.

The adventure golf course is located centrally, close to the spa and is a great asset to guests staying at the hotel.  Families and also corporate clients use the course for valuable team building sessions.  Further leisure activities are planned to broaden the options for guests of all types. Golf Features spoke to Resort Director, Chris Eigelaar:

“It is a great privilege to be Resort Director at such a prestigious venue. I am also very lucky to have such a wonderful team who are all committed to delivering exceptional customer care.  We look forward to improving the overall facilities and burnishing the Belfry brand even more brightly in the years to come.”

The Belfry has hosted the Ryder Cup four times and has provided images etched into the memories of all those that saw these great matches. The golf resort attracts players from the UK and beyond looking to relive the Ryder Cup magic. There is plenty of Ryder Cup memorabilia to enjoy inside the hotel: there is great pride in our fine golfing history.

Overall, The Belfry Hotel & Resort seems to have got everything pretty much perfect. It is a rare experience to be in such a thriving, buzzy golfing environment: even on Sunday evenings the restaurants and bars are full, a wonderful noisy hubbub of activity, everyone enjoying themselves, discussing their day on the courses, ladies indulging in afternoon teas or celebrating special birthdays, families coming together to have some family time. It says a lot about The Belfry, and their ethos. We are sure that the resort will just keep going from strength to strength, and we wish them well with their plans for the future.

For more information, please visit: thebelfry.com

The Ryder Cup at the Belfry

Abe Mitchell was the PGA professional at Verulam Golf Club in North London. A very good golfer in his own right, but perhaps his biggest claim to fame is that he taught a wealthy seed merchant called Samuel Ryder. Ryder got increasingly keener on golf and, despite being a poor player himself, presented the PGA of Britain and America with a marvellous gold cup, complete with a small statuette of Abe Mitchell on the top, which has forever more been known as the Ryder Cup and has been contested by American and British golf professionals since 1927.

The Great Britain and Ireland team performed poorly against the Americans and lost the game heavily at Royal Lytham Saint Anne‘s in 1977. It was here that the idea of including the Europeans was first discussed seriously. With the magnanimous backing of Jack Nicklaus, strong support from John Jacobs, our late OGRO president, the 1979 fixture at the Greenbrier in West Virginia was played out between the USA and Europe for the first time.

The matches were noticeably closer and the Americans got the fright of their lives at PGA National in Florida when Tony Jacklin’s rampaging Europeans got within one point of the American total two years later. The event was played at the Belfry for the first time in 1985, with Tony Jacklin leading Europe to a magnificent 16.5 to 11.5 points victory against Lee Trevino’s Americans. Seve was in his pomp, the Europeans were emboldened, and a great team performance saw remarkable celebrations at the Belfry.

The following match was played at Jack Nicklaus‘s home course at Muirfield Village in Ohio, with Nicklaus skippering. Once again the Europeans triumphed and two years later the 1989 contest was again held at the Belfry, where a remarkable tie took place leaving the European team holding the Ryder Cup for a further two years.

In 1993 the Belfry was selected as the venue for the Ryder Cup for a record third time; the Europeans lost in a tight match 13 points to 15 against Tom Watson‘s American team.

In 2002, the event having been delayed by a year due to the terrorist outrages in America, the Belfry was chosen once again to host this great match. Sam Torrance’s European team comfortably defeated Curtis Strange’s American visitors by a margin of 15.5 points to 12.5 points. This was the last time that the Ryder Cup was staged at the Belfry, but it is such a magnificent venue that only a fool would bet against it staging future events. Also, as home to the British PGA, the historical links are strong and even in these times of LIV and global uncertainty as to how golf will evolve in the years to come, I feel confident that the Ryder Cup will return again to the Belfry.