Change of course needed

Golf Correspondent

Friday 11 May 2012

RYDER CUP 2014 There have been striking changes to stem flood of criticism, writes Nick Rodger

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Nick Rodger

It never rains but it pours for Scott Fenwick, the golf courses and estate manager at Gleneagles. Even as the domestic golfing media gathered for a first glimpse of the recently re-opened PGA Centenary course yesterday, Mother Nature tried her very best to dampen proceedings with her unrelenting supply of water from above.

Yet, amid the Perthshire gloom, there was a much brighter, optimistic outlook for the hard-pressed Fenwick and his team that have been beavering away on the venue for the 2014 Ryder Cup. Since it closed for further tweaks and renovations last October, some £1m has been spent in that time, as part of a wider £25m spree on the entire resort in the build up to the transatlantic joust.The Centenary course has had a tough time of it down the years with derisory comments flying around like wild drives. Players in the annual Johnnie Walker Championship often offered fierce criticism of the greens, which suffered from heavy rain, while the much-maligned 18th was widely regarded as too bland for the finishing hole of a Ryder Cup.With over 50,000 tonnes of earth shifted in six months, it is safe to say that the Gleneagles high command have left no stone unturned in their quest to produce a fitting stage for one of the biggest events on the sporting calendar. Major overhauls to the 9th and aforementioned 18th are the most noticeable changes, while over 1000 tonnes of new sand has been used in bunkers that have had drainage improved.Yet perhaps the most significant work has taken place underground. A SubAir system, an elaborate contraption which effectively removes moisture, has been installed in all 18 greens, as well as the practice putting green, and the investment is already reaping its rewards. While the rain hammered down yesterday, and the neighbouring King's and Queen's courses had their greens covered in pools of water and had to be closed, the putting surfaces on the Centenary, which is the first course in the UK to employ the SubAir device, remained remarkably firm. With memories of the deluge at Celtic Manor, the venue for the 2010 Ryder Cup, still fresh in the mind, the potential for such biblical downpours blighting the Scottish showpiece in 2014 has led to much anguish. Of course, in this meteorological minefield of a country, nothing is guaranteed. Remember last year's Scottish Open at the height of summer? Foresight, therefore, has been key."It wasn't just Celtic Manor, we'd been planning it [the SubAir sytem] for a long time before that," said Fenwick. "Even the K Club [venue for the 2006 Ryder Cup in Ireland] was something of an influence as it showed the potential for rain at that time of year. The 10th for us was the weakest green on the golf course and now it's one of the best. After that trial it was an easy choice to install it everywhere else."Under the watchful eye of the course's original designer, Jack Nicklaus, the modifications to the holes are now complete, give or take the odd bit of fine tuning. The par- five 9th, once marked by a huge, American-style fairway bunker, now looks more suited to its Scottish surrounds with that vast sand trap removed and the lake extended.The bothersome 18th, meanwhile, has been altered radically. During last year's Johnnie Walker Championship, a five-man play-off on that hole was eventually concluded at the fifth time of asking. The raking, uphill trudge of a par-five played the same all the time; two meaty blows up the fairway and then the usual shot into the green. It was hardly a grandstand finish. Now, there is much more definition and more of a risk-and-reward element. The tee has been moved forward slightly and raised by 2.5 metres, while the final 250 yards of the fairway has been lowered by five metres. The pros will fancy attacking it in two, yet the target is much smaller, with new bunkering and run-offs. "You get to the point where you just want to see all the work done," added Fenwick. "Hopefully, we'll now get the weather, a bit of growth and we'll see the changes in their full spectacular glory."Is it asking too much for a decent summer?

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