Zeta-Jones v Scots as Golf war heats up; The Ryder Cup ... will it be

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Oct 22, 2000 | by James Cusick

The golf war between Scotland and Wales over the right to host the 2009 Ryder Cup will move into frontline combat this week.

Having watched the Welsh launch last week roll out everything from Catherine Zeta-Jones to Gareth Edwards, the Scots will this week unveil a multi-million pound package of promises including guarantees to stage more world-class tournament golf in Scotland and encourage new participation in the home of golf.

The stakes are high. Studies estimate that winning the prestigious Europe versus America contest would generate a minimum additional spending in the Scottish economy in 2009 of #67 million - with increased tourist revenue in the run-up to the tournament taking the value of winning the Ryder Cup to well over #100m.

The involvement of the Scottish Executive, the Scottish Tourist Board and Scottish Enterprise, battling against their counterparts in Wales, has turned the contest into an expensive political tussle that involves serious public money in both countries being used to effectively persuade the guardians of the Ryder Cup - the Professional Golfers Association and the European Tour - that they should stage the event.

Rhona Brankin, Scotland's deputy minister for culture and sport, has made the issue of the Ryder Cup a crucial one for her department. Hastings International, the Edinburgh-based PR company, has been retained by the Executive to prepare the Scottish bid. The promotion alone could cost upwards of #8m. The money is being used to persuade the Ryder Cup Committee - in Britain - that Scotland can stage a world-class golf event and has the best courses. It is as if hosting the last two Open Championships in St Andrews and Carnoustie, or the Loch Lomond Invitational, doesn't count.

With the Welsh organisations set to spend an equal amount, more than #15m of public cash is likely to be used to woo the PGA and the Tour.

The Scottish bid is based entirely on the meritocratic assumption that the best course in the best place will win.

The Scotland bid includes Gleneagles, Turnberry, St Andrews, Carnoustie and Loch Lomond.

The Welsh bid is solely focused on the Celtic Manor resort in the Wentworth Hills. So there is no contest, right? No! Wrong, very wrong.

The foundation of the cup being up for sale may have been laid in 1957 at Lindrick Golf Club. When nobody was really interested in the biennial competition, routinely won by the USA, the Sheffield steel magnate, Sir Stuart Goodwin, wrote the PGA a cheque for #10,000 and Lindrick it was.

In 1977, four years after the cup was played on Scottish soil for the first time at Muirfield, it was believed that Gleneagles would host the Ryder Cup.

Inside Gleneagles there is still astonishment over what happened. A source directly involved, who has asked not to be named, said: "We understood the Ryder Cup was coming to us. There was no mistake. But on the day the PGA announced it was to go to Royal Lytham St Annes, nobody could believe what happened. It was a total shock. There is no explanation."

Since the growth of the cup into one of sport's greatest and most watched contests, winning the venue is a valued and valuable prize. In the contest for the 1997 venue, the Spanish Tourist Office and the Spanish government played the same game the Scots and Welsh are now playing. They pumped millions into Spanish tournaments in the early 1990s. But the crucial factor was the multi-million dollar fortune of Jaime Patino, owner of the Valderrama course.

Likewise, when the PGA decided it was Ireland's turn in 2005, the personal fortune and influence of Michael Smurfit was the deciding factor.

Ireland has some of the world's greatest golf courses: Ballybunnion, Waterville, and Portmarnock on the outskirts of Dublin. Portmarnock, one of the classic links, thought about it and asked the PGA. The club asked the PGA but were told it would need a minimum of #750,000 just to be included in the contest. The private club refused to put the offer to its members.

The Jefferson Smurfit Group has pumped millions of punts into Irish golf over the last decade, including sponsorship of the European Open at the K-Club in Kildare, which is owned by Michael Smurfit.

The Ryder Cup in 2005 is to be played at the K-Club, not on a classic Irish links, but on a course designed by Arnold Palmer. Borde Failte, the Irish Tourist authority, who spent #7m to win the Ryder Cup, has had to stand back and watch as one of the world's greatest tournaments promotes Irish golf on an American-style golf course. The Welsh bid for 2009 also has its billionaire star turn. Terry Matthews, the Canadian-based Welshman, made his fortune in new technology communications companies such as Newbridge Networks, a company he recently sold to the French company Alcatel for a rumoured $US 7.1bn (#4.7bn).

Matthews himself is said to be worth just over #1bn. He is the owner of Celtic Manor and has spent #100m turning the former maternity home into a five-star hotel and a further #8m on the Wentworth Hills course itself.