NEW COMPETITION CEMENTS RYDER CUP 

LEGACY AT PERTHSHIRE VENUES
NEWS RELEASE
Two of Scotland’s brightest golfing talents have hailed the introduction of a new competition for club amateurs, which will build on the massive interest generated by the 2014 Ryder Cup year.
Over 600 million viewers watched Europe triumph on The PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles last September, while Blairgowrie’s Rosemount course hosted one of the best attended Junior Ryder Cup events in history.
Now both Perthshire venues, in conjunction with Ryder Cup Europe and sponsors Highland Spring, have introduced The Legacy Cup, which will ensure 2014’s achievements create lasting benefit.
The new two-round Stableford competition for amateurs, boasting a prize pot to the value of £2000, will enable golfers to play both courses over two days - September 6-7, refocusing the interest once again on Perthshire.
Homegrown starlets Bradley Neil and Carly Booth, who have both savoured Junior Ryder Cup occasions, believe the new trophy, launched today at The Scottish Golf Show, will build on the buzz created around Scottish golf last year.
“It is really important now to build on 2014 and keep people coming back. Giving golfers from across the UK the chance to play these two great courses on the same weekend is brilliant,” said 19 year old Blairgowrie member, Neil, taking time out of preparations for his US Masters debut in Augusta next month.
“The Junior Ryder Cup at my own club and the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles were up there with Scotland’s greatest moments of 2014, alongside the Commonwealth Games, in Glasgow. They showed what a great county, and country, we have,” said the Amateur Champion, part of the Junior Europe side that lost to USA at Rosemount.
European Ladies Tour player Booth (22), who grew up in the Perthshire village of Comrie, watched last year’s Ryder Cup from Spain but was proud of her home county’s time in the spotlight.
The new Legacy Cup, she believes, maintains momentum.
“It was incredible thinking that there were some of the world’s biggest superstars just 15 minutes from my home,” said the player, who starred in the 2006 and 2008 Junior Ryder Cups.
“Having the Legacy Cup means people get the chance to play two of the best courses in Scotland.”
With Sheffield Hallam University set to publish its Economic Impact Study from the events, both clubs are already seeing benefits.
Blairgowrie Golf Club’s school and community links have strengthened and Managing Secretary Douglas Cleeton is excited at the prospect of welcoming newcomers through the competition.
“The trophy is precisely what it says; a legacy to 2014, the most exciting year in golf Perth and Kinross is ever likely to have.”
Gleneagles’ Golf Marketing Manager Billy Murray, who has seen a significant shift in volume of play on the Centenary Course, agreed: “2014 was an incredible year for golf in the county and for Scotland, as a whole. The Legacy Cup aims to prolong that success for years to come.”
All parties are hoping the weather will once again show Perthshire in its most favourable light.
Perth and Kinross Provost Liz Grant, said, “Perth and Kinross is home to world-class golf courses, set in unrivalled scenery. This is sure to be a wonderful event and ensures that the many benefits from golf tourism are long-lasting in our area.”
Richard Hills, Ryder Cup Director hailed the work of the hosts at the two Ryder Cups held in Scotland, in 1973 and 2014.
“We hope that by donating The Legacy Cup we can, in a small way, preserve the memory of friendship and teamwork that have flourished during these treasured moments we have shared at The Home of Golf.”
+The format for the Legacy Cup will be Stableford (full handicap); entry fee is £150 per person and all players must hold a national handicap in accordance with CONGU recommendations. Maximum handicap allowance is 24 for men and 36 for ladies.