Martin Dempster: Scotland's Challenge is to create a Ryder Cup legacy

BETWEEN the European Tour and the Challenge Tour, how many tournaments do you think are due to be staged in England this year? Well, for a country that currently boasts seven players in the world's top 50, the answer is a pathetic one, namely the BMW PGA Championship, the Tour's flagship event, at Wentworth.

I'm sure many will find that statistic astonishing but one of the reasons for it is actually quite simple: England isn't in line to stage a Ryder Cup over the next few years. Yes, the third biggest event on the sporting calendar has that effect these days on the European schedules.

Just look at what happened over in Ireland in the build up to the 2006 match at The K Club. In addition to new golf courses popping up all over the place, it staged a whole host of tournaments and, to a lesser degree perhaps, the same thing has happened in Wales over the past few years as it prepares to host the 2010 encounter at Celtic Manor.

It's happening in Scotland, too, because, even if you discount St Andrews staging the 150th anniversary of The Open Championship, this country is set for a veritable golfing feast this year in the shape of events such as the Barclays Scottish Open, the Johnnie Walker Championship, the Dunhill Links Championship, the Senior Open Championship, the Scottish Seniors' Open, the Ladies' Scottish Open and the Scottish Hydro Challenge, the latter heading back to Spey Valley for the second year running after Macdonald Hotels and Resorts agreed a two-year extension.

All that must surely have golf fans in England peering enviously over the Border at the start of a year that has little on the plate for them, but it's only right that we keep things in perspective because the reason Scotland has so much to shout about on the events front at the moment is the Ryder Cup. As part of the contractual obligations for that tournament, a host country has to be seen to "contributing to the development of golf", something that would have been hammered home to the six nations bidding to stage the 2018 match when they converged on London recently for a symposium designed to reconfirm the criteria.

Between now and the 2014 match at Gleneagles, it means Scottish golf fans will continue to be spoilt for choice when it comes to tournament golf but the big test will be what happens after that. The Open, of course, will continue to top the menu most years, while it also looks as though the Barclays Scottish Open and the Dunhill Links Championship both have a sound footing on the calendar. Only time will tell, though, what the long-term future holds for the Johnnie Walker Championship, the Scottish Seniors' Open, the Ladies' Scottish Open and the Scottish Challenge.

Four years after its Ryder Cup, golf doesn't appear to be booming any more in Ireland and you've got to wonder if Wales will still be a stop on the European Tour, the Challenge Tour, the Seniors' Tour and the Ladies' European Tour after Colin Montgomerie and Corey Pavin have departed with their respective teams following this year's encounter just outside Newport.

Robbie Clyde, the Project Director for the 2014 Ryder Cup at EventScotland, is determined to see that the Gleneagles event creates a legacy that is tangible for a long time to come in Scotland. "We don't want to get to 2014 and funding dries up," said Clyde. "It is not about a flash in the pan - it is about long-term investment and commitment so that we have a legacy for Scottish golf well beyond the Ryder Cup.

"Golf is a vital part of our economy. It is one of those unique selling points that Scotland has that everyone else in the world would like to get a bite at. We can't be complacent. We need to keep pushing the envelope and keep our game ahead of the competition."

As part of its ongoing support of golf in the build up to 2014, EventScotland is putting 150,000 into the Scottish Challenge, which welcomed Scottish Hydro on board as its title sponsor last year after moving to the excellent Spey Valley course at Aviemore after being staged prior to that at Murcar Links and Cardrona.

Having suffered an unfortunate clash with the Scottish Amateur Championship in the final week of July last year, a decision to move the event to 10-13 June this year is certainly a sensible one and it is hoped that some of Scotland's European Tour players might be in a position to miss the Austrian Open that week to play at Spey Valley, where former Open champion Paul Lawrie was the star attraction last year though the winner was another Scot, Jamie McLeary.

"The Scottish Challenge completes the portfolio of golf across every level - men, women, young and old," added Clyde, who points to Richie Ramsay as the perfect example of a player who was able to use the event to gain valuable experience. "In 2006, Richie played as an amateur and finished fourth. He played in the following years and has progressed through the ranks, winning his Tour card and now a European Tour winner. That is a great example of what this event can do to support the best of Scottish talent."

Rise in pay-and-play golf poses problem for clubs

IT CAME as no surprise really but the revenue increase at one of Scotland's leading 'pay-and-play' courses last year certainly highlights why golf clubs are finding it difficult at the moment to fill their memberships.

According to Ruaridh Macdonald, the Sales and Marketing Director of Macdonald Hotels and Resorts, the overall revenue at Spey Valley increased by 25 per cent year on year in 2009 and the forecast for this year is a rise of 30-35 per cent.

"As a business, we have seen a huge upturn across the country in people paying and playing," he said, adding it had become a preferred option for many "because they can't finance a year's membership at a golf club".

He's right, of course, and that's making life difficult for clubs but hats off to those who are trying to address the problem by thinking out of the box. Take Dollar, for example. One of the first clubs in Scotland to admit that membership loss was threatening its existence, it has just taken an enterprising step by creating a holiday flat in the upper floor of the clubhouse.

Club officials are confident 'The Glen' apartment will become an attractive tourist venue and it certainly should with golf on offer to visitors for only 10 per day and, what's more, they can play in club medals if they have an official handicap certificate.

Little things like that can have a big impact, so let's see more clubs coming up with similar money-making ideas.