CUP PER CLASS; Gleneagles will be perfect Ryder venue.Byline: ALASTAIR FORSYTH Alastair Forsyth (born 5 February 1976) is a Scottish golfer. As an amateur was a member of a winning Great Britain & Ireland Jacques Léglise Trophy team in 1994 and he won the 1996 Scottish Amateur Stroke Play Championship. ; Neil Cameron
WHEN Celtic Manor in Wales was awarded next year's Ryder Cup Ryder Cup Biennial team golf event first held in 1927. It was originally played between teams of golfers from the U.S. and Britain; since 1979 players opposing the U.S. have been chosen from all of Europe. The trophy was donated by the British seed merchant Samuel Ryder. one thing struck me as rather unusual at the time. The fact that when the announcement was made in 2001 the golf course had yet to be built. Small matter I know but last week's JohnnieWalker Championship at Gleneagles reminded me of this when the 2014 venue came in for more criticism and doubts were raised about whether it will be fit to host the event. But don't worry about Gleneagles. It will be ready in time. Hey, at least the course is already there, even if some work is still required to get it up to Ryder Cup standard. The Centenary Course was much better than last year at the Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky produced in Kilmarnock, Scotland. It is the most widely distributed brand of Scotch whisky in the world, sold in almost every country and with yearly sales of over 120 million bottles. . The only real problem was drainage.We've had terrible weather, a lot of rain, and it did affect the greens. There was a lot of traffic over them and that means a lot of footprints. Most regular golfers don't realise how much of a problem that can be. There were 130-odd players, plus caddies, and that's too much traffic for soaked greens to take. On Thursday I was out at 7.30am and the greens were perfect. At the Ryder Cup there will be only 16 players on the course for the first two days and 24 on the Sunday. Colin Montgomerie said it was a five-year plan and, while there is still work to be done, I have no fears Scotland will have a tournament they can be proud of in 2014. Gleneagles is one of the most famous names in golf and I always enjoy playing there, although missing the cut by one shot on Friday when I thought I'd done enough made me like it slightly less. The hotel is stunning.Whoever is in the American team five years from now are going to be blown away by the surroundings. They are different class. I only wish I could have stayed around for another two days. I was so sure that I'd be around for the weekend I left my clubs up there. It was looking like I would just go through the motions again on Friday when I went on a run of birdies which came from nowhere. I stood on the par-five 18th tee thinking that even a bogey would have seen me safely inside the cut at one over for the tournament. But I hit my second shot into rough - and at Gleneagles that is not something you want to do. My lie wasn't bad but about six inches behind the ball there was a solid obstacle and I couldn't get my club beneath the ball. So I didn't get it out first time and had to take a six. It turned out to be one shot too many. But I am a bit more positive after playing the back nine so well. That's why you should never give up on your round. It only takes one good hole for things to click into place. I was really glad to see my good pal Steven O'Hara stick around on the leaderboard lead·er·board n. A board that displays the leaders in a competition. leaderboard Noun a board displaying the current scores of the leading competitors, esp in a golf tournament . It's a shame he couldn't buy a putt on the Sunday but he hung in there and showed what we have all known for years.The guy is a good player. I'm playing the BMW BMW in full Bayerische Motoren Werke AG German automaker. Founded as an aircraft engine manufacturer in 1916, the company assumed the name Bayerische Motoren Werke and became known for its high-speed motorcycles in the 1920s. in Germany next week and between now and then will be on the range every day. The weather forecast looks really positive for the tournament! There have been heavy showers and wind, then torrential rain. Oh the joys. As told to Neil Cameron CAPTION(S): RAINING AGAIN: The wet weather caused problems on the greens |
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