Jack Nicklaus appraisal of changes

to his Gleneagles course awaited

FROM THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Bosses at Gleneagles have asked golfing legend Jack Nicklaus for his seal of approval to course changes for the 2014 Ryder Cup.
Nicklaus designed what is now known as the PGA Centenary Course, venue for the biennial clash between Europe and the United States in five years' time.

But, after Scottish course designer David McLay Kidd was hired to make alterations to the course, Nicklaus was believed to have made it known that he no longer wanted to be associated with the Perthshire venue.

Concerned about that, senior staff at Gleneagles asked Nicklaus to visit the course recently to cast his eye over the re-modelling work and now they are waiting to hear what the 18-time 'Major' winner has to say about the changes.

"Jack came here because, as we go forward to the Ryder Cup in 2014, we want to have a strong relationship with him," said Patrick Emslie, operations director of the Gleneagles Hotel.

"Jack laid out the course nearly 20 years ago and, over the course of about the last 12 years, we started to look at what else needed to happen to the course. David McLay Kidd used to work within Gleneagles and our relationship with him came about organically, I suppose.

"That relationship is great and many of the things he has done with the course has been well received and appreciated. We wanted to make sure that Jack came to see what David had done and that he could feel comfortable with the changes.

"His visit only took place a week and a half ago and we are waiting for Jack to report back to us. I expect that to happen within the next month or so."

Asked if Nicklaus had given any inidications of what he thought during the visit, Emslie added: "I think there were changes that he might not necessarily have made himself but, at the same time, they weren't changes that he was uncomfortable with, if that's the right way to put it.

"I don't think that it was a good scenario where we had a situation where we had anything other than an alignment of views on how the course was and I hope that Jack, on reflection, will say that the changes have strengthened the course.

"All golf courses evolve and the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles is no different."

The most recent change to the course, revealed yesterday for the first time during a media day for the Johnnie Walker Championship later in the year, is a re-routed 12th hole, now an excellent par-4 instead of a routine par-5.

This follows significant changes made by McLay Kidd to the seventh, 13th and 14th holes in recent years and Emslie admitted that the 18th will also be looked at with the Ryder Cup in mind.

"The 18th is a difficult tract of land and we have looked at this for at least the last 12 years to see how we can make it different through substantial changes which may or may not work in the longer term," he added.

"As things stand, it may be the case that the Ryder Cup infrastructure will mean that any changes we do make will be cosmetic rather than a re-routing. It may be shorterned to become a par-4 rather than the par-5 it is just now.

"I think that, from a cosmetic point of view, we can make it more attractive to play and also make it a hole which gives risk to reward for those who are playing it."

By the looks of things, it is unlikely that a new clubhouse will be built specifically for the Ryder Cup, which was last held in Scotland in 1973, when Muirfield hosted the event.

"We need to be realistic on our expenditure on that sort of facility," noted Emslie.

"If our golf business requires we have a new clubhouse, then we will give it consideration. Purely for the Ryder Cup, however, it is probably a step too far and, having been to Valhalla for last year's event and seen what the team requirements are, I think we are very fortunate here at Gleneagles that we have a hotel a few hundreds yards from the course."

This year's Johnnie Walker Championship takes place on August 27-30 and Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie will again serve as the chairman of the championship committee.This week Monty will be at Celtic Manor for the Wales Open and is keen to see how specific changes he's asked to be made to the course will go down with the players, some of whom will be in his side to face the Americans at the Newport venue next year.
*The full article contains 800 words and appeared in yesterday's Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.