On the right course

Editorial, The Scotsman, 27 October 2000

It is always a pleasure to report government in swing with popular opinion. Yesterday’s announcement by the Scottish executive of substantial financial support for Scotland’s Ryder Cup bid will be warmly welcomed by everyone with the nation’s best interests at heart.

The allocation of £10 million specifically to support the bid bolsters a sum of £14 million already committed to the development of the game by the executive and its agencies over the next decade. Building on the nation’s unique place in golf’s history, it is to be hoped the funds will be sufficient to produce a package attractive enough to convince the Ryder Cup committee to chose the home of golf as their venue for the first time since 1973.

There are those who, like Mark Twain, see golf as a good walk spoiled. But even they will be convinced of the benefits the game can bring the country in 2009. Although recent trends have shown tourist numbers falling - there was an 11 per cent drop in foreign visitors last year - golf tourism retains an estimated value to the economy of £100 million. That annual figure is impressive enough. However, the most conservative estimate suggests the four-day Ryder Cup will generate an additional £67 million, and we note the 1999 match at Brookline, Boston, yielded £103 million, a third more than its projected economic impact.

For the game’s aficionados, the announcement is doubly good news. Already, more than 12 per cent of the population play the game. Now, such is the scale of resources, it is proposed that every child will be introduced to golf by the age of nine, in a move designed to secure the stars of the future.

It is snugly symbiotic relationship. With its commitment to developing the game, the executive underlines the important role golf plays in national life and by building the game’s infrastructure it demonstrates the suitability of Scotland as a Ryder Cup host. Should the tournament be held here, it will, in turn, give the game a huge boost.

The bid is yet not won, and it faces fierce opposition from England, Wales and Sweden. But the executive has taken an important first step to take Scotland to the world - and to bring the world to Scotland.

Why Scotland is pulling out the stops to cash in on the Ryder Cup jamboree

Mike Aitken, The Scotsman, 27 October 2000

Scotland promised yesterday to spend around £30 million of public and private money in a bid to bring the 2009 Ryder Cup to the home of golf for the first time since the match was held at Muirfield in 1973.

Although Sam Galbraith, the minister with responsibility for sport, stopped shy of saying the country’s bid was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he made it plain that the chance to pull off such a significant coup might not come along again for a very long time.

If Scotland fails to bring the cup home in 2009, the truth is the country might not get another chance until 2017 at the earliest. This is because the 2011 and 2015 matches will be staged in America and the 2013 contest is almost certain be held in continental Europe.

"So this is a tremendous opportunity for Scotland and we plan to give it our best shot," said Galbraith.

"Every criterion laid out by the PGA and Ryder Cup Ltd has been comprehensively addressed within the bid document. There has been no room for compromise on quality or commitment in the development of Scotland’s bid. We believe the finished product gives Scotland the best possible chance of winning the right to host the 2009 event."

All bids for the match in nine years time must be placed with Europe’s Ryder Cup committee by the end of this month. Along with Scotland, the other three contenders are Wales, Sweden and the North-east of England.

A decision on which country will be allocated the match is expected in the new year. The identity of the successful course will then be revealed during the 2001 match against the Americans at the Belfry, near Birmingham.

The biennial contest between the best players of Europe and America has changed out of all recognition since the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers hosted the match on its only previous visit to Scotland 27 years ago.

Even though great players such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino travelled to represent the USA in East Lothian, it’s understood the Professional Golfers Association still lost around £50,000 in putting on the match.

Today, the Ryder Cup is one of the most compelling and prestigious tournaments in world sport. It generates more money than almost any other event outside of the Olympics and the World Cup.

Last year in Brookline, near Boston, the new revenue from the Ryder Cup was estimated at £103 million - nearly £30 million more than the American organisers had expected.

Three years ago, when the event was last in Europe, at the Valderrama club on the Costa del Sol, the economic benefit to the south of Spain added up to £56.2 million.

Should Scotland’s bid prove successful, it’s expected that the Scottish economy would also be in profit to the tune of £67 million. In fact, this is widely accepted to be both a minimum figure and a cautious one. The impact on tourism is expected to be considerable, both leading up to the event and in the following years, when Scotland has been showcased across the world, through the vehicle of televised coverage of the Ryder Cup, as the perfect location for a golfing holiday.

Ireland, which hosts the 2005 Ryder Cup at the K Club in Dublin, expects to match Boston’s figure of £100 million. By 2009, the revenue generated by the match should be even higher - perhaps closer to £120 million.

These are staggering figures and explain why the Scottish executive is willing to raid its treasure chest and come up with the huge sums of cash needed to win the rights to the Ryder Cup and develop a far reaching programme which will enable every child in Scotland to play golf before the age of nine.

Scotland’s willingness to speculate in order to accumulate will see the executive earmark £24 million from its coffers to develop and promote the game.

This sum is made up of £14 million that was already pledged to golf initiatives and a new investment of £10 million needed to win the Ryder Cup. The Bank of Scotland, the main sponsor of Scotland’s bid, is also committed to making a significant contribution.

A spokesman for the bank would not disclose yesterday how much they expect to throw into the pot. Details are only likely to officially emerge if, and when, Scotland is awarded the match. However, it is understood that in the event of a successful bid the bank’s contribution will be around £6 million.

Although Scotland, in common with the other bids, is willing to pay the £10 million asking price for the event, the key to winning lies in its programme for growing the game and making golf available to every child in the country.

Rhona Brankin, the deputy sports minister and a keen golfer, said: "Golf is extremely popular in Scotland and we can boast the best courses in the world. We want to give every child in this country the opportunity to play the game by the age of nine. That is our 2009 pledge."

Although most Scots have kicked a football by the age of nine months never mind nine years, the guarantee to give every child born this year a chance to play golf before the end of 2009 applies to no other sport.

Brankin also promised that Scotland would lead the way in providing opportunities for disadvantaged youngsters to take part in the game. She explained that a number of inner-city projects were also in the pipeline which would ensure access to the game for everyone.

The question of which course might host the match is entirely at the discretion of the Ryder Cup committee and has nothing to do with the Scottish executive.

That said, the five venue partners who have been associated with Scotland’s bid from the start - Gleneagles, St Andrews, Carnoustie, Loch Lomond and Turnberry - are mentioned in the bid document while Muirfield isn’t. The hosts in 1973 declared a note of interest earlier this month. While the Links is one of the finest courses in the world, it would be impossible for the Scottish executive to back Muirfield because the club operates a men-only membership policy.

While the Scottish Tourist Board, sportscotland, Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Executive were all singing from the same hymn sheet, it has emerged that the biggest internal threat to Scotland’s bid came from a difference of opinion between the PGA and the Scottish Golf Union over who should or shouldn’t be involved in providing tuition for youngsters. A meeting between the two bodies during the Open championship at St Andrews in July didn’t fully resolve the matter and it wasn’t until a high ranking representative of Sportscotland intervened and was dispatched to see the PGA at the Belfry last month that the disagreement was overcome.

If this sounds like a storm in a tea cup, it’s worth pointing out the PGA and the European Tour, which both have equal shares in Ryder Cup Ltd, take it in turn to decide the venue for Europe’s Ryder Cup matches.

The choice in 2009 belongs to the PGA. Had this particular issue not been resolved to their satisfaction, then it’s not overstating the case to suggest a disagreement over the politics of the game could have derailed the entire Scottish bid.

My understanding is that there was a moment earlier this summer when Scotland’s hopes were plunging in the wrong direction. Scottish officials were told bluntly that failure to deal with the problem would be "a big block" in the path of a successful bid.

Brankin, though, disputes that interpretation of events. "There was never any question of the bid being derailed," she said.

"It was just a matter of getting all the different sides together."

It speaks volumes about the executive’s enthusiasm for the project that heads were duly knocked together and yesterday’s launch presented a united front.

This was just as well. The Scots already have a big enough fight on their hands against Wales, Sweden and the North-east of England without falling out among themselves.

Homecoming for golf that's long overdue

Former Ryder Cup player and captain believes that the time is right for the event to return to his native Scotland.

Bernard Gallacher, The Scotsman, 27 October 2000

I played in the Ryder Cup when it was last held in Scotland back in 1973, at Muirfleld, and although the event was fairly successful, I don’t have the best of memories of what happened.

I took food poisoning after the opening day’s play and didn’t play again until the singles on the final day, so although my memories may be vivid, they are unforgettable for the wrong reasons. I was surprised to be picked again after falling ill, considering I had been in bed under doctor’s orders, and it was not an ideal way to face the Americans. It was a real pity, because the team had got off to such a good start.

When I went on to become captain of the European team in the Ryder Cup, it never really occurred to me that I could have been leading the European team in Scotland. After holding the event at Muirfield in 1973, I always felt that it should go to Spain before it returned to Scotland, and to Ireland as well. It’s been to Spain, and it’s going to Ireland, and now that it seems to be a straightforward choice between Scotland and Wales for the 2009 event, it looks like both venues will eventually host the Ryder Cup. It’s just a question of which will be first.

Since that match at Muirfield in 1973, the event has gone from strength to strength commercially. It may seem like the Ryder Cup is always going to The Belfry, but the reason it is going back there next year is because it is the PGA’s centenary. Scotland deserves the chance to play host once more.

Commercially, the country has been very good at supporting events such as the Dunhill Cup and British Open. The return of the Ryder Cup would be good for the country, not just for golf but for business too. The country is entering a new era, with the parliament now in place, and the tourist board is playing a big part in promoting Scotland.

I feel very strongly that Scotland is the right place for the Ryder Cup to be held, and the main reason for that is that it will be a commercial success. We do have tremendous golf courses in Scotland, which will obviously be part of the equation, but they will also contribute to the commercial aspect of the overall picture.

With the event being held every two years, and held alternately in America and Europe, golf only gets a chance to showcase the Ryder Cup once every four years over here, and that opportunity has to be maximised.

Choosing Scotland would be much better than going anywhere abroad, and the event would be much more successful in Scotland than anywhere else. I do feel it needs to go to Ireland, where it will be held in 2005, but after that, it should come to Scotland. Past captains are a dead species - it’s a bit like being captain of your golf club, when your term of office is over and you become just another golfer again - but if there is anything I can do to help Scotland’s bid, I will do it. I will promote Scotland’s cause whenever possible.

Bringing the Ryder Cup to Scotland will be taking no chances with its commercial success, or with the potential crowds that will attend or the strength of television coverage. You can’t take any chances with the Ryder Cup, so you have got to take it to a tried and tested venue. That’s why Scotland’s bid deserves to succeed.

I hope that nine years from now, the European and American teams will be gathering at one of Scotland’s famous courses.

Ryder Cup will not be auctioned

Mike Aitken, The Scotsman, 27 October 2000

Claims that the Ryder Cup was for sale to the highest bidder were dismissed yesterday by a leading golf official who insisted that the main purpose of the bidding process for the 2009 match was to enhance the game.

As Scotland announced it would spend £24 million of public money and around £6 million from the private sector in its bid to win the contest, Sandy Jones, the chief executive of the Professional Golfers Association, said that money was not the be-all and end-all of the process.

The Scottish bid is one of four competing for the 2009 match, along with those from Wales, Sweden and the North-east of England.

Many believe if the winner was decided solely by who could write the largest cheque, then the Welsh bid backed by billionaire Terry Matthews would start firm favourites.

"I know that whatever we do, I will be attacked on the basis of a cheque-book decision," Jones reasoned last night. "But, in an effort to avoid that kind of aggressive attack, we decided to make it public that the cost of securing the 2009 event would be the same for everyone.

"It’s not a case of someone coming along and saying: ‘We’ll give you two and six more than the rest, so we’ll get it’. The reality of the situation is that if a bid meets the financial criterion then we’ll look at everything else it has to offer.

"Whatever I say, I’m not sure if some people will believe me. Of course money is needed to make these things happen. But this isn’t about who is going to grease my palm with the biggest cheque."

With all four countries willing to meet the £10 million asking price, the decision- making process will focus over the next three months on which bid delivers the best deal for golf.

Jones has not yet seen the Scottish bid, or for that matter any of the competing documents which have to be lodged with the Ryder Cup committee by the end of this month.

"What really matters is who is most committed to the development of the game," he stressed.

"Who is going to best use the game in a responsible way to promote their own country and add value to the community?

"I haven’t seen any of the bids yet, but I know that a couple of the countries regard taking part in the bid process as valuable in itself. People have told me they’ve looked at golf in a fresh way and come up with new ways to help the game.

"The match in 2009 has been valued at £100 million to a community.

"We wanted to see what different people in different countries had to offer, which explains why we’ve introduced the bidding process.

"What I would say is that the Ryder Cup isn’t just a match which happens in one week every two years. The Ryder Cup is about bringing value to the game. While I had a lot of sympathy with the critical articles which were written after the events at Brookline, the thinking that the Ryder Cup might be harmful to golf was hurtful to me.

"That’s why we’ve incorporated these new targets. Whichever bid turns out to be successful, we want to see these new programmes operating over the next nine years and in the six years after the 2009 Ryder Cup. In other words it’s a 15-year commitment which will be of benefit to young folk who may not have been born yet.

"The only difficult aspect of choosing a winner is that three of the four bidders will have to be disappointed. I just hope that when we tell people ‘no’, it doesn’t put them off."

The notion that the Ryder Cup could be good for the game’s soul was also highlighted yesterday by Paul Lawrie, the 1999 Open champion and a key member of Europe’s team at Brookline.

The Aberdonian, who attended the launch of Scotland’s bid in Edinburgh yesterday, believes that playing in a winning Ryder Cup side in his native land would be even more of a career highlight than clasping his hands on the Claret Jug.

"When you look at the quality of golfer Scotland has produced over the years, the fact that we’ve not had the Ryder Cup here since 1973 makes it a huge incentive to bring the match back to the home of golf," he said.

"In many ways, this would be Scotland’s first modern-day Ryder Cup, because it’s now such a huge event. It’s difficult to think of another tournament which makes so many headlines.

"It would be massive for Scotland to have this match. But it’s not just the Scottish golfers who want it to come here. I know that the European players all love playing here because our galleries are so fair and knowledgeable.

"There were problems at Brookline, there’s no denying that, and hopefully the match at the Belfry [in 2001] will go a long way to repairing that damage. I’m sure Sam Torrance and Curtis Strange [the respective captains] will do a fantastic job in getting everyone playing golf rather than worrying about what some guy in the crowd is shouting at you.

"My eyes were opened big time last year. In the practice rounds everyone was nice and friendly. Then on the first morning of the competition it was so different.

"Playing with Monty, who is a great player and a big threat to them, it seemed as if the Americans had to target him.

"You can be certain that kind of thing won’t happen in Scotland and I believe both sides would feel comfortable playing here."

Money a hot topic right from the beginning

Mike Aitken, The Scotsman, 27 October 2000

When the inaugural Ryder Cup was staged at Worcester Country Club in Massachussets during the summer of 1927, the event was not so much a moneyspinner as a money-drainer, writes Mike Aitken.

A public appeal for funds to send the British team across the Atlantic fell short of the target and Sam Ryder, who came up with the idea for the match against the Americans, had to spend £500 of his own cash to keep the contest alive.

One way or another, the Ryder Cup has always been dominated by talk of money. The best part of a century after the British team were given a brisk hiding in Worcester, the quest to host the 2009 match is also dominated by finance.

It took nearly 60 years for the Ryder Cup to go into the black on home territory. Indeed, it was not until the 1985 match at the Belfry, which Europe won, that the PGA turned a profit.

Originally based in offices at the Oval cricket ground, the PGA was looking for a new home in the 1970s when the Belfry considered expanding from a small country-house hotel into a larger venture.

A deal was struck between the PGA, which moved to the Belfry in 1976, and the owners of the hotel to provide office space rent-free for 99 years in return for staging two Ryder Cups at the Brabazon course.

The first visit to the West Midlands was supposed to take place in 1981, but the new course was not ready and the match was switched to Walton Heath. As usual, the Ryder Cup lost money - about £50,000.

"Strangely, in those days, the other activities of the PGA made some money, but the Ryder Cup didn’t," recalled chief executive Sandy Jones. "Now, we use the surplus from the Ryder Cup to do more for golf."

Eventually, the Belfry enjoyed its first taste of Ryder Cup action four years later. Curiously, a nominal charge was made by the venue for the hire of the course and it was not until 1989 at the same course that payment flowed the other way.

As the Ryder Cup began to grow in commercial significance, a row over the allocation of the 1993 match brought matters to a head and involved the European Tour, which provided the players, as equal partners with the PGA for the first time in a new Ryder Cup company.

The European Tour wanted Spain to host the match that year, but on the casting vote of the president, Lord Derby, the match went back to the Belfry for the third successive time.

The fall-out from that decision in 1991 saw Lord Derby resign and a new rapprochment established between the Tour and the PGA. The two bodies agreed each would have a pick in alternative home matches.

Jones’ arrival as chief executive of the PGA in 1992 and the continuing presence of Ken Schofield as executive director of the European Tour meant two Scots were entrusted with improving relations between the organisations.

So, the European Tour chose Valderrama in 1997 and the PGA selected the Belfry again to celebrate its centenary in 2001. It was the European Tour’s turn to pick Ireland and the K Club in 2005, while the final decision about Scotland’s fate will be made by the PGA.

Where the selection process differs this time round from past years is in the formality of the bidding process. In truth, there was nothing to stop the PGA deciding on a whim, or at the behest of the highest bidder, where the contest would take place in nine years’ time.

Matthews ready to roar

Mike Aitken, The Scotsman, 27 October 2000

Beware the Welsh dragon. Perhaps the greatest threat to Scotland’s hopes of holding the match in 2009 lurks in the valleys where Britain’s most secretive billionaire hopes the Ryder Cup will be to the manor born.

At Celtic Manor, a resort and leisure complex located near Newport, which cost the staggering sum of £120 million to piece together, Terry Matthews has made an epic investment in the game of golf. If he is going to enjoy a return on his spending spree, Matthews knows he needs to bring the Ryder Cup to this site.

"People want to play where the Ryder Cup is played," he says. "I have sufficient personal wealth to fund it and I will."

Unlike his fellow billionaires - men such as the Duke of Westminster, Sir Richard Branson, Bernie Ecclestone and David Sainsbury - Matthews could walk into just about any restaurant or hotel in the country and few would have the slightest idea who he was.

This is the way Matthews likes it. And with an estimated personal wealth of £2.59 billion, it is safe to venture that the Welsh entrepreneur gets what he likes more often than not.

A 57-year-old engineer who made most of his vast wealth in hi-tech businesses, Matthews is not so much a whizz-kid as a whizz-fogey. He was born at Celtic Manor when the old house was a nursing home. However, there is no sentiment about the Canadian-based businessman’s return to his roots. In fact, the resident of Ottawa claims to be about as sensitive as a brick.

"I’m hard-core solid stone," he said in one interview. "I take a spoonful of concrete with my cereal. You will hate me if you take me on because I will be there long, long after you have gone."

A former colleague says Matthew’s business philosophy is simple: "To nuke out the competition."

Accustomed to working 14-hour days and making his first million of the day before his rivals have eaten breakfast, Matthews admits that he does not have time to play much golf, but he insists that he builds great courses.

This is open to debate as far as Wentwood Hills, the prospective course for the 2009 Ryder Cup, is concerned. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jnr on a piece of land that rises and falls from the Usk valley, Wentwood Hills is not everyone’s idea of a classic.

When the Welsh Open was staged there during the summer, Greg Turner, the New Zealand golfer, took one look at the terrain and headed for the gates. "It felt like I was playing on a skyscraper, hitting shots from the ground to the 15th floor and vice-versa," he said. "If there was global warming and the sea rose 60 feet, the course might be a good option."

It should be remembered, of course, that Valderrama, site of the 1997 Ryder Cup, the Belfry, host to the event in 2001, and the K Club, where the match will be played in 2005, also have their critics.

This did not stop Jaime Patinho, owner of Valderrama, from taking the match to Spain or Michael Smurfit, owner of the K Club, from repeating the trick in Dublin. Matthews is aiming to make it a Ryder Cup hat-trick for the game’s entrepreneurs.

Of the other challengers for 2009, no-one should dismiss the quality of the bid from North-east England. Although Slaley Hall is not the only venue in the frame there, there is no doubt that the region’s hopes rest largely on the shoulders of the Belfry’s sister hotel.

With the support of Tony Blair - the Prime Minister is an MP in the area - and the involvement of Brendan Foster’s sports management company, Northumberland is a serious contender.

Sweden’s interest was the last to be publicly declared and less is known about their candidacy than the other three. Unlike the British bids, it is understood the Swedes believe they already have a successful programme in place to promote the development of the game. Hence why so many Swedish men - and even more women, for that matter - are currently involved at the pinnacle of professional golf.