Rain on the parade

Alan Campbell, The Sunday Herald, 23 September 2001

European golf will hold itself up to scrutiny this week if, as has been strongly suggested, the Ryder Cup committee awards the 2009/10 tournament to Celtic Manor. Despite strenuous denials to the contrary, key figures in the sport are now convinced Wales will win the day ahead of Scotland and the outside contenders, England.

Until the decision is formally announced, probably on Thursday, most of those involved in the Scottish bid are resolved to hold their counsel. But should the decision go in Celtic Manor's favour, there will be outrage and even bitterness north of the border.

Imagine, if you will, a scenario in which Uefa were taking a decision on where to stage the Champions League final in eight years' time. Five of the candidate stadiums were already built, fulfilling the criteria in every way. The sixth was deemed unsuitable, and to meet the requirements would have to be substantially rebuilt - a development which was certain to incur the wrath of environmentalists and lead to high-profile protests.

Which stadium would Uefa be least likely to choose? Correct. Yet these are almost precisely the circumstances in which, it is report-ed, the Ryder Cup committee are set to award the 2009/10 event to Celtic Manor.

To those of a cynical disposition, the decision would at least have some logic if Wales, via Celtic Manor, was offering the most money to stage the event. But even that doesn't appear to be the case, with the Scottish Executive claiming to have topped the Welsh offer.

No doubt the statistics can be manipulated both ways, but never-theless it would be extraordinary, and almost beyond comprehension, if Celtic Manor was to emerge as the winner of this very ugly beauty contest.

The course is too hilly, seven new holes need to be constructed on environmentally sensitive land, and when the Wales Open was held there in early August the tournament was restricted to 36 holes because the course couldn't stand up to the rain.

All, one would say, pretty compelling reasons why the Welsh bid team should have been taken quietly aside and told to resubmit an application for 2013/14.

Instead, leading figures on the European Tour have been hinting strongly for months that Celtic Manor would be the successful venue. The Tour's executive director, Ken Schofield, said as much to a tabloid newspaper in May; other influential Scots, including Sam Torrance, Colin Montgomerie and Bernard Gallacher are also understood to believe the Welsh, and Terry Matthews, owner of Celtic Manor, are going to snatch the prize.

None of this should matter, however, because the casting vote on 2009/10 lies not with the European Tour, but their Ryder Cup partners on this side of the Atlantic, the PGA. Yet another Scot, Sandy Jones, leads this organisation, although as an official he, like his counterpart Schofield, does not actually sit or vote on the six-man committee.

The casting vote is instead held by Coventry club professional and PGA chairman Phil Weaver. Despite the steady stream of press reports this week suggesting a decision has already been reached, Weaver, like Jones, is adamant it has not.

'It is absolutely correct to say no decision has been taken,' Weaver told the Sunday Herald. 'We are due to meet on Tuesday and an announcement probably to be made on Thursday. Anything else is pure speculation.'

For the moment at least, those involved in the Scottish bid -- including Carnoustie, Gleneagles, Loch Lomond and Turnberry -- are having to maintain a dignified silence and take Weaver at his word. Behind the masks, though, scep ticism is growing that there is already a done deal to award Wales the 2009/10 event and Scotland the tournament four years later.

To many, such a compromise would be unacceptable, and especially so given the potentially very serious damage to golf tourism in the wake of events in America. It took five years for the tourist industry as a whole to recover from the 25% drop in US visitors after the Gulf War -- which makes the award of the 2009/10 Ryder Cup even more important to the Scottish economy than it ever was before.

There was, then, considerable disquiet and dismay behind the scenes when Gavin Hastings, whose company, Hastings Inter national, is the public face of the bid, broke ranks during the week and appeared to accept the compromise scenario in a BBC interview.

'From our perspective,' said Hastings, 'we are going to be successful in the ambition to host the Ryder Cup.

'If you look at it in a positive way, we now have an extra four years to plan for this great event.'

With the English bid of Slaley Hall never a serious contender, Hastings' remarks were interpreted as the equivalent of expressing satisfaction at finishing second in a two-horse race.

There is no such rose-tinted thinking at the Scottish Executive. Having spent £1m of public money this year funding tournaments, and committed to spending in excess of £10m over the next decade on youth development regardless of the outcome of this week's decision, there may not be the political will to spend further taxpayers' money up to and including 2013/14.

Although unwilling to comment on that specific issue, a spokes-man said: 'We have received assurances that no decision on the 2009/10 Ryder Cup has yet been taken. We believe Scotland has the best bid and we are still focused on winning the right to host the event in 2009/10.

'We are not thinking about 2013/14 and are completely focused on 2009/10.'

The reason, of course, that the Ryder Cup years are now being bracketed is that the events in America caused next week's match at The Belfry to be postponed for a year. The tournaments due to be held in 2003, 2005 and 2007 have all been put forward by 12 months, and it is now expected that all Ryder Cups will in future be staged on even years.

Golf on both sides of the Atlantic is dependent on the Ryder Cup to generate much needed funds, hence the decision to play the 2001 event next September rather than cancel it altogether and resume in 2003.

In the circumstances, and with the American players believed to have been advised by President Bush not to make the journey to The Belfry, the Ryder Cup committee was left between a rock and a hard place. The postponement is unfortunate, and is likely to have a deflating effect on the next 12 months with the 2002 teams already chosen, but has been forced on the committee.

There will be no such sympathy for the six-man panel, at least not north of the border, if a decision is taken to go with Celtic Manor and its still to be built course this week.

All along, and perhaps very naively, those involved in the Scottish bid have believed repeated assurances that the Ryder Cup decision would be 'a clear and transparent process'.

By contrast, billionaire Matthews, who lives in Canada, has made it clear he is prepared to do whatever it takes to realise his dream and bring the Ryder Cup to Wales for the first time.

To achieve that end, without a course to show for it, would be one of the most amazing achievements of an already remarkable career.