Tour event is still in sights for owners of Renaissance

IT may have missed out on becoming the new home of the Barclays Scottish Open but The Renaissance Club in East Lothian is still likely to play host to a big professional event in the not too distant future, according to the American entrepreneur who heads its consortium of owners.

In an exclusive interview with The Scotsman, Jerry Savardi has revealed that he tried to get the European Tour to share the event between The Renaissance Club and Castle Stuart over the next six years before a three-year deal was struck to stage it over the Inverness course.

While disappointed, initially at least, to have come so close to landing one of the Tour's biggest events, Savardi and his team have taken the positives from the process and he is confident it won't be too long before the course hosts some of the game's biggest names, hinting that could be in the form of a new seniors' tournament.

"Something is going to happen here, though I'm still not sure what it is going to be. Directionally, it is one of our goals. But, at same point in time, one of the things we've done here and attempted to do from the beginning is try to be methodical and let things evolve rather than create things that might not fit in," he said. "Our intention when we built the course was to host an event, though not really knowing what type of event that might be. What happened with the Scottish Open is that we got a call last year from a couple of representatives of the European Tour asking if we wanted to be considered.

"I subsequently met with the Tour representatives and we went over what exists here today with all of the different things they'd need as basic requirements. A short-game area, for example.

"It then went back and forth for several weeks, months actually, and, at the end of the day, I got a call to say they had selected Castle Stuart and had a three-year deal there. To some extent, from our perspective that was fine. We felt like we'd rather have had it in 2012 than 2011. In fact, we made a written proposal to the Tour right before they made their final decision.

"The proposal was for 2012, 2014 and 2016. There had been some conversations directly with Barclays representatives and we feel it is better to do it every other year, for a lot of reasons. Part of the discussions we had is that having the Scottish Open at different locations around the country is good for the game and we agree with that."

The return of The Open to neighbouring Muirfield in two years' time was another factor Savardi was taking into account with his proposal. "We thought it better to do it one year then let it go somewhere else the following year, especially from our perspective with being so close to Muirfield, which has The Open in 2013," he added.By the time the golfing spotlight turns on East Lothian as it stages the world's oldest major for the first time since 2002, Savardi is hoping The Renaissance Club will not only have some spectacular new holes close to the River Forth but also a clubhouse. "Originally, it was always scheduled for the clubhouse to be finished about 90 days prior to the Open Championship in 2013. We then thought about trying to get that done for 2012 but are now back to the original schedule," he said. "We are are looking to raise 7-10 million from investors and members to build the clubhouse and, hopefully, another lodge.

"As for the new holes, while we feel the exisiting course could easily stage a tournament, there is no question that the new holes, due to their proximity to the Firth of Forth and the views, will make it even better. With regard to that, we have now made final decisions with (designer] Tom Doak. We have been through all the options and there will also be changes to make the routing work properly. We are going to build the green sites this summer, let them grow in through 2012 and open the holes at the beginning of 2013. The cameras are going to be pretty close. There are significant opportunities for us to showcase The Renaissance Club prior to The Open at Muirfield in 2013."

While delighted to be heading to Castle Stuart after the event's run at Loch Lomond came to an end, Peter Adams, the championship director for the Scottish Open, reckons there is a strong possibility that a European Tour event will be held at East Lothian's newest championship course at some point.

"We had very productive meetings with Jerry Savardi and it is fair to say we were very impressed," he said. "It is definitely in our thoughts for something in the future. We could have gone to The Renaissance as it is. But if, at some stage, they build a clubhouse and some new holes as well, it will just further enhance it as a venue."