The final phase of improvements and alterations to the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles in preparation for the 2014 Ryder Cup began this week as the course was closed for six months.
With only the second time Scotland has hosted the matches between Europe and the USA less than three years away, the Gleneagles Hotel greenkeeping staff will try to have the course in a state of readiness for the matches by late spring.
The works will entail recreating the 18th hole as suggested by the course’ original designer, Jack Nicklaus. The 18-major-winning golf legend was brought back to look at completing renovation works on the course 18 months ago.
His primary task was to tackle the final hole, a 580-yard uphill par five which has come in for considerable criticism in recent years not least when played five times in a play-off before Thomas Bjorn won the Johnnie Walker Championship in August.
Plans have now been received by hotel general manager Bernard Murphy and his director of golf Russell Smith, but the actual detail of the changes had not yet been determined.
Mr Murphy said the six-month closure was an attempt to complete all the works required to have the course ready for the Ryder Cup, which would allow two full golfing seasons to be played on it before the event takes place in the late September of 2014.
”We’ve opted for a full closure for six months this time because of our experience of the last two winters, which were quite severe and disruptive to the maintenance works we had planned,” he said.
”We’ve given ourselves extra time to make sure everything is completed, hopefully for reopening in April.”